Immortals In Our House

Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.

JOHN 14:12

FOR CENTURIES, JEWISH MOTHERS EAGERLY ANTICIPATED THE birth of a child, because each one asked one of two questions: “Will this boy grow up to become the Messiah?” or, “Will this daughter become the mother of the Anointed One?”

Christians believe these questions have been definitively answered, but every birth is still filled with enormous promise, more than most of us realize. A famous schoolmaster in Britain became well-known for his practice of doffing his hat to his students. When asked why, he replied, “I never know which boy may grow up to be prime minister one day.”

This principle is even truer spiritually than it is politically. Jesus made one of his most astonishing statements in preparing his disciples for his death and departure: “Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father” (John 14:12).

My son isn’t the Messiah. Neither of my daughters will give birth to the Anointed One. But according to the Messiah, all three can do even greater things than the Messiah did, because the Messiah has sent his Holy Spirit to guide and empower them.

When you look at a drooling baby, a toddler with spaghetti sauce on her shirt, a preteen who hasn’t changed his socks for five days, or a teen with enough pimples to play “connect the dots” on her face, it’s easy to forget we are raising, in C. S. Lewis’s words, immortals—men and women who can impact eternity and who will live forever in unimaginable glory and beauty.

Lewis gave this explanation:

It is a serious thing to . . . remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you may talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship. . . . It is in light of these overwhelming possibilities, it is with the awe and the circumspection proper to them, that we should conduct all our dealings with one another, all friendships, all loves, all play, all politics. There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilization—these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit.^a

If, in light of eternity, there are no ordinary people, that means there are no ordinary babies, no ordinary toddlers, no ordinary grade-schoolers, and no ordinary teens. You live with a young person who, when inspired and empowered by the Holy Spirit, can do things even greater than the things done by the Messiah himself! And when this Messiah returns, and your son or daughter loses his or her earthly body and assumes the immortal one, he or she will shine like the brightest and purest star you have ever seen.

If we really believe in eternity, if we are truly serious about life after death—about reigning with him—then can we ever look at our children in the same way again? You are raising a future king or queen, an immortal regent, a being of incredible, almost unimaginable, potential and worth. Hebrews 11:23 tells us that Moses’ parents hid him for three months after he was born “because they saw he was no ordinary child.” Every parent should recognize that he or she is raising “no ordinary child.”

I wonder how much our homes and our attitudes and our perspectives would change if, when we entered our kids’ rooms, instead of doffing our hats we took off our shoes, remembering that we are walking on holy ground.

Your home is more than a house; it is a temple of immortals, a holy and sacred place in heaven’s sight.

Lord God, a baby can seem so ordinary, but when that child grows and is empowered by you, she or he can become a powerful force for the work of your heavenly kingdom. Remind us every day of the amazing potential represented by each child we parent. In Jesus’ name, amen.