We were studying soteriology, within a greater study of Christology, soteriology being the doctrine of salvation—specifically, Jesus’ sacrificial death on the cross, and his resurrection three days later. We were tasked to write a paper on our understanding of Jesus’ sacrifice for all humanity. One question kept stumping: “How could Jesus take upon the sins and justify the whole of humanity: past, present, and future, in one kairos span of time. My mind couldn’t fathom this, until…

My office faced Rice St in Roseville, and the traffic on the four lane road was always busy. Crossing the road was like playing a proverbial game of Frogger. While staring out the window, praying, and thinking about all this, I heard a voice in my mind head/heart/spirit  to me as clearly as you and I talk with one another. And… I heard the oddest of things: “Where did that car go?”  Huh, I asked? What car? 

(Was I going nutz – was I having a conversation with myself? LOL). Again, in the same clear voice, I heard: “Where did that white car go?”  I had to think about this… “Where did the white car go?” Down the road, I said in reply.

Once again, another question: Where is that car in relation to you? (Okay, now I’m really stumped.) I had to think about it some more… I said, the car is in my past. “Correct,” I heard. Then, once more: “Where was the car before you saw it?” The car was in my future, I replied. “Yes. Okay, how about when you saw the car through your window.”  “The car was in my present,” I replied.  “Correct again.”  Okay… now I’m starting to understand, I thought. But then, this zinger…

Once more, I heard in my spirit: “How about for the driver; where is he?”  My brain felt like it was working overtime. I concluded, for the driver, the driver was in the ever present moving forward. His past was in the rearview mirror. I was in his past. Yet his future was before him through the windshield. He could see the future, but he hadn’t arrived to it yet. The driver was always in the ever-present, moving forward.

Then, I heard this: “As it is for you and the driver, it is regarding Christ’s sacrifice. Christ is always only cross, always dying, and always arising from the grave.”

Now, Christ isn’t literally still on the cross, nor is he always in a perpetual state of dying and resurrecting, but I was starting to get the point. Here on earth, we experience time linearly; however, time works differently in Heaven’s dimension. There is no time (as we understand it) in heaven. It’s as though, when we are baptized and believe (no matter the order), our souls are transported to the moment in time when Christ took upon himself all our sins, shed his blood and died on our behalf. As He died, we too die at that moment (even though we had yet to be born). And as He came out from his grave three days later, we arose with him (in that moment of time). And thus, as it is/was with our salvation, so it is with the Kingdom of God.