Glory of God is Man Fully Alive

Some encouraging passages from John Eldredge's Waking the Dead.

"We don't see clearly because we don't see with the eyes of our heart."

"I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full' John 10:10...When we hear the words eternal life, most of us tend to interpret that as a life that waits for us in eternity. But eternal means unending, not later. The scriptures use the term to mean we can never lose it. It's a life that can't be taken from us. The offer is life and that life starts now."

"The glory of God is man fully alive" (Saint Irenaeus). His happiness and my happiness are tied together? My coming alive is what he's committed to? That's the offer of Christianity? Wow! I mean, it would make no small difference if we knew--and I mean, really knew--that down-deep-in-your-toes kind of knowing that no one and nothing can talk you out of--if we knew that our lives and God's glory are bound together. Things would start looking up...The offer is life. Make no mistake about that. So then...where is that life? Why is it so rare?...By all means, God intends life for you, but right now that life is opposed....we are at war...The world in which we live in is a combat zone, a violent clash of kigdoms, a bitter struggle unto the death. Earlier in the Story, back in the beginning of our time on earth, a great glory was bestowed upon us. We all--men and women--were created in the image of God...We were crowned with glory and honor. WHy does a woman long to be beautiful? Why does a man hope to be found brave? Because we remember, if only faintly, that we were once more than we are now. The reason you doubt that there could be a glory in your life is because that glory has beeen the object of a long and brutal war. War is not just one among many themes in the Bible, it is the backdrop for the whole Story, the context for everything else. God is at war. And what is He fighting for? Our freedom and restoration. The glory of God is man fully alive."