Response to Questions

On this page we respond to some of the questions we have been asked about our vision of the afterlife and our project.

How are you different to the ‘repent and be saved’ crowd?

The main difference is that we are not appealing to anyone to ‘be saved’. This is because we do not understand salvation in terms of making a simple decision to ‘accept Jesus’ and praying a ‘sinner’s prayer’ for forgiveness. There is no doubt that there can be powerful moments of decision and turning away from destructive ways and attitudes in our lives, but we view salvation primarily as a process of learning. Deciding to follow Jesus means being drawn into a process of learning his way of agape love and, as we try to live it out, it benefits us and those around us. We see this process as something that all people will be drawn into, either in this age or the ages to come, as they encounter God’s unfailing love and either choose to move towards it or resist it.

We are sure that no one will resist forever! Ultimately, we do not worry about people’s ‘eternal destination’, because we trust that God in Jesus Christ is reconciling the world and making all things new (and that includes all people). We believe that nothing can separate people from the love of God (Romans 8: 31-39). Yes, there are untold advantages in coming to trust Jesus now and knowing God’s rich parental love for us, but we also respect that many can’t or won’t get there… yet.

Is it possible to achieve ‘everyone loving everyone’ on this Earth?

In our lives today, we personally attempt to show unfailing love to those around us and encourage others to do the same. But even if we were able to do this perfectly (which we can’t), there would always be some who didn’t unfailingly love us in return. Living in this way means always striving to achieve the best in any situation, but while we and those around us are in our mortal bodies, we accept that the fullness of the abundant life that Jesus promised cannot be achieved.

The Bible speaks of coming eons or ages for a reason. This current age is the age of multiplication in which humans and other species usually have the desires to procreate, protect and prosper; it is not an environment where everyone loving everyone can be achieved.

We suggest that the best that anyone can do now is to engage in the process of learning about and demonstrating agape love and to share the good news that God’s kingdom is coming and that eventually all humans will live in peace and harmony with each other and with God, for God will be all and in all (1 Corinthians 15:28).

Can humans achieve ‘everyone loving everyone’ without Jesus?

Jesus is the saviour of the world (1 John 4:14). All the attempts that humans have made throughout the centuries to live together in harmony have failed. Whilst we should always seek to positively influence the situations we find ourselves in, we have concluded that it is impossible to achieve global harmony without Jesus.

We believe that Jesus embodies the true nature of God and models humanity’s full potential. Jesus, through the Holy Spirit, has already begun training those willing to follow him to model his example to the world and join him in restoring what is broken. He is currently waiting until the number of such followers is complete (Revelation 6:11) at which time he will return and establish direct authority over all the Earth.

In the ages to come, Jesus’ followers will work with him, but only Jesus has the ability to judge the needs of each person. Only he can determine the most appropriate environment to encourage a person’s growth, and only he can determine when a person has reached full maturity.

We believe that Jesus is at the centre of God’s plans to redeem and reconcile all that he has created.

Why didn’t Jesus clearly state that all would be saved?

Jesus did indicate that everyone would be saved. For example, the disciples are astonished when Jesus says it is very hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 19:25 CEB). They ask him, ‘Then who can be saved?’ Jesus replies, ‘All things are possible for God’. This suggests that everyone will be saved, but it is not a definitive statement.

So why wasn’t Jesus clearer? We suggest that Jesus knew that salvation is a process and that people usually take a long time to change. He came to encourage people to begin that process and to welcome those who were convinced by his message as his followers. Jesus often talked about the kingdom of God (kingdom of heaven) and the behaviours and attitudes that characterise those able to enter there.  Jesus showed love in all situations, but we are only able to learn this gradually as we experience many different circumstances in our lives. Jesus used parables and occasionally rebukes to encourage people to start along the path that would lead to maturity and entering the kingdom.

We suggest that Jesus knew his followers would only be able to understand and accept the concept that everyone would be saved after they had been on this path for some time. Jesus told his disciples clearly that there were certain truths that they could not receive while he was with them (John 16:12). We believe that salvation for everyone was one of the truths that were revealed by the Holy Spirit to the disciples, Paul and the early Church leaders, after Jesus returned to his father.

Won’t people be immediately changed after they die?

Everyone will receive a new, immortal body after they die (what the Bible calls a resurrected body), but we do not believe that God will instantly bring about a miraculous change in a person’s behaviour and attitudes. It is possible that some who previously had not followed Jesus will decide immediately after being resurrected to commit themselves to following him, but they will still need to unlearn unloving ways and that will take time. Everyone will experience whatever is necessary for them to reach the stage of full maturity that God desires for all his children, but this is a process and not a one-off transformation.

When will Jesus return and when will we be resurrected on the new earth?

We don’t know, but we’re not getting further away from it! God works within linear time, as he is involved in human history and is with us throughout our lives. We know that God works across eons or ages, as this is observable in natural history and science, and the concept is embedded in the Bible. We are currently living in the age after Jesus first came to Earth: anno Domini, ‘in the year of our Lord’. We write this some two thousand years into that age, but no one knows how long it will last. There are many rabbit holes that people can go down trying to decipher exactly when Jesus might return. We don’t recommend trying to work it out as Jesus expressly told his followers that no one apart from God the Father knows the timing (Matthew 24:36). However, we look forward to the future because we trust in a good God who unfailingly loves his creation.

Where is the new earth?

We don’t know. It could be a planet far, far away. It could be in a different dimension. It may not have been created yet.

Does your vision allow for the flaws in human nature?

Humans are relational, and disagreements and misunderstandings occur in the course of relationships. These are not necessarily wrong or sinful but are a natural result of the diversity of people’s characters, preferences and experiences. Flaws are not always intentional or malicious, and even when they are, they can be overcome with the fruit of the Holy Spirit – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control – that flourishes when we seek to follow the promptings of the Holy Spirit in our lives (Galatians 5:22,23). As we become mature, flaws and failings can be worked out and love can reign above all things. We don’t imagine a sterile utopia where people never see things differently and do not need to work to understand each other – far from it! We envisage the new earth as a place where the wonderful diversity that has been created in the age of multiplication will be celebrated in all its fullness. We simply wish to emphasise that eventually the process of change in our lives will mean that no malice, hatred, judgement, unkindness or bitterness will be able to gain a foothold in relationships.

Will there be religion on the new earth?

We don’t believe there will be religion in the way that it functions in our current age. However, we do believe that people will be resurrected with their beliefs and traditions intact and that there will be a process of learning and unlearning for everyone as they go through God’s loving purification, judgement, chastisement and disciplining. Religions in this age are an amalgam of beliefs, traditions and culture that seek to instil moral frameworks, cultural identity, spiritual development and an orientation towards their particular understanding of the divine. We believe that Jesus has oversight of resurrecting people and knows perfectly what will help us to grow and mature. How he will interact with each person’s religious convictions will be entirely up to him.

Will people have different coloured skins?

We believe that people will be raised with their cultural and ethnic identities intact. These things are part of what makes us who we are, and there is nothing wrong or inferior about any race or ethnicity. We believe that God loves diversity; if he didn’t, his creation would be a lot more uniform! There is no reason to suppose that God will limit or remove any aspect of that diversity on the new earth.

Won’t the afterlife be boring?

Boredom is possible, especially if a person refuses to engage with all that is life-giving in the environment in which they have been placed. However, when people are living in the fullness of agape love in a safe and beautiful world that offers innumerable opportunities for learning, exploring, adventuring and enjoying all that God has created, boredom is unlikely to be a problem.

What are your thoughts on reincarnation?

We don’t dismiss reincarnation and have read many accounts that appear convincing. Some suggest that people are given more than one life on this Earth so that they can gain maturity through their different experiences. Such a concept meshes with our vision that people will progress through many experiences in this age and the ages to come until everyone will eventually love everyone.

However, we do not believe that everyone is a reincarnation from a previous life. God’s first instruction to humankind was to go forth and multiply, and to us this means that the majority of people are created as brand new and unique when they are conceived.

Richard Goyette in his book Believable Answers to Theology’s Most Perplexing Questions has many interesting thoughts on this subject.

What about the God of the Old Testament ordering the killing of children?

The Old Testament includes several stories in which God is either directly responsible for people’s deaths (e.g., drowning much of the human and animal population of the world in the story of Noah’s ark) or orders people to be killed (e.g., the massacre of the Canaanites by the Israelites). How can we reconcile such stories with a God of love? We have found the following statement by the American pastor and author Brian Zahnd to be helpful at times when we have struggled with this question.

‘God is like Jesus. God has always been like Jesus. We haven’t always known this, but now we do.’ 

The Old Testament is made up of texts that were written at various periods throughout the history of the ancient Hebrew people. There were times that their understanding of God inclined towards that of a tribal and vengeful deity, but there were also times that their prophets proclaimed God as being slow to anger and abounding in a love that endures forever. What makes us Christ-centred in our theology is that we believe Jesus is the ultimate revelation of the character of God, or in the words of Paul in Colossians 1:15, ‘the exact image of the invisible God’. Jesus taught that we should love and forgive our enemies and that God is our loving heavenly father. Therefore we conclude that any actions attributed to God in the Old Testament that do not align with Jesus' teaching and example are not a direct revelation of God but result from people’s incomplete and distorted understanding of his true nature.

Randy J. Elstrott discusses this question in depth in his book The Box You Can Put God In.

Is ‘Love Above All Things’ a cult?

We at ‘Love Above All Things’ are members of a project. The word cult is often used to describe a group that seeks to exert control over its adherents, sometimes abusing them spiritually, emotionally, financially and even sexually. We have no wish to control anyone; we simply offer ways of exploring a hope that everyone will eventually love everyone – the good news of God’s unfailing love reconciling creation. We do not ask for money or allegiance, and we do not prescribe how anyone should live. So no, we are not a cult!

Are your teachings the same as the Jehovah’s Witnesses or Mormons?

No, we are not connected in any way with these organisations and do not share many of their beliefs. The teachings of both of these organisations are many and varied; we are not experts and do not intend to draw detailed comparisons with them. We are simply trying to explore and expound the gospel that Jesus taught as best we understand it.

What if you’re wrong?

Of course it’s possible we are wrong about all sorts of details in Emerging from the Rubble and Hope for Everyone. They are simply spiritual imaginings and parables that seek to illustrate a possible way that God could act in accordance with his nature as described in the Bible and exemplified in the teaching and life of Jesus. We take very seriously the statement in the Bible that ‘God is love’ and have used this as the basis for our stories.

We have developed an understanding of God’s overall plan that we have named ‘Progressing Reconciliation’. We hold this understanding lightly and offer it for consideration amongst the many other descriptions of how God may achieve universal reconciliation.

If there is no life after we die, then we will probably never know. If there is, then we trust that God is good; he is in charge of whatever happens and is fully capable of achieving an abundant life for everyone.