NUMB TO the reality

A CHRISTIAN’S VOYAGE ON THE COSMIC BATTLEFIELD

BY MIKE MAZYCK

Dear Christian,

May I remind you of the current reality of your situation? Right now, as you read these words, you are sitting — or standing — at some minuscule dot on a massive globe of dirt, lava, and water that is somehow suspended in a vast expanse of nothingness we call space. But that globe is not just suspended there; it is also spinning — you are spinning — at speeds that can exceed 1,000 miles per hour. But you, Christian, are not just suspended and spinning on that massive sphere in the vast expanse of nothingness.

No, right now, as you rotate upon the axis of that giant orb, you are also charting a course around another, much more massive ball of nuclear energy that just so happens to give you the heat and the light that you need to live, and breathe, and exist. Yes, in a divine twist of irony — your tiny existence literally revolves around the light — the “Sun.”

May I also remind you that all of this is happening within a galaxy that contains more than 5,000 other floating spheres of matter like yours. And your galaxy exists within a universe that contains an estimated 2 trillion other galaxies. And then, to top it all off, that universe you so humbly exist in is, at this very moment, infinitely expanding in all directions.

Yes, Christian, you are a tiny, microscopic creature that exists on what is actually a relatively small ball of matter, doing laps around a slightly larger ball of energy and light in a constantly expanding universe. That is the current reality of your situation. But that is not the whole reality. There is more to your situation.

Within this universe exists something called “time.” And there was a time — an eternity, in fact — when you did not exist. You were nothing – for an eternity. And then, in the twinkle of an eye, there you were. You were something. You had life! You now existed — within time — spinning in nothingness in that constantly expanding universe. You lived and breathed. You ate and drank. You grew, and learned, and spoke. Your eternal story had begun!

Then, one day, as you were living, breathing, and walking upon your orb of spinning dirt in that vast expanse of nothingness, you received a message. It was unexpected. A Being — from outside of time itself — outside of your nothingness — spoke to you! He had a message for you! He gave you the message on ancient scrolls that had somehow been preserved for thousands of years. The scrolls said that He was their Author, and the message they contained told a story. But not just any story. A story that He wrote. A story of infinite importance. A story that would echo through all of eternity. It was the story of your current reality.

The story begins by telling you about the One who commanded your universe into existence. He simply said, “Let there be ...,” and there it was. For eternities before, a universe was not there, and then it was — in the palm of His hand — as if it were nothing but a grain of sand, a droplet of water. The scrolls said He had no beginning and will have no end; He simply was — and is — and is to come.

The message went on to say that your parents, from many generations past, were loved by this eternal Being. They walked with Him in a magical Garden, in perfect communion. But your parents made a grave mistake. There was an enemy in that Garden they were supposed to conquer and rule over; instead, though, your parents were deceived by him. They were tricked into rebellion against the One who loved them. They sided with the enemy. They became traitors. A cosmic kidnapping had taken place. Upon this giant ball of dirt, floating and spinning in the expanse of nothingness, a celestial war had begun. The Earth had become a battlefield.

The scrolls said that, upon their decision to rebel, your parents were afflicted with a great disease called “sin.” This disease and their rebellion would result in their eternal execution. The scrolls said that they had passed this disease along to you! You realized that the Earth had become not only a battleground but also a holding cell, where all men and women, including you, existed for a short time before they stepped into the eternal courtroom to receive their sentence. The story said that you were condemned! You were doomed! But the story of the scrolls was not over.

The scrolls spoke of a Man who walked the Earth 2,000 years before you. You had heard of this Man before. He was a Man whose life was so prolific that men decided to divide all of time itself according to when He arrived. The scrolls said that He was ... The One. The scrolls said that this One took upon Himself the punishment for your and your parents’ crimes. They said that He was the cure for your disease. They said that if you believed in who this Man was and what He did, you would be rescued from your eternal execution. You would be set free from your holding cell.

You believed! You were set free! But there was more ...

The scrolls say that right now, as you are reading these words and doing your rotations in your constantly expanding universe, there is another realm right in front of you — all around you; it is a dimension you are blinded to. Should this surprise you? No! Remember, you are a tiny and diseased creature that once didn’t exist. In this other dimension, that cosmic war that began thousands of years ago is still raging! In this other realm — all around you — diabolical creatures, filled with hate and a terror no mortal mind could ever fathom, are warring night and day, seeking to devour the souls of your loved ones. These beings are somehowinteracting with and influencing the reality you exist within. They have only one goal: to keep men from receiving and believing the message contained within the ancient scrolls.

The scrolls say that you have been enlisted as a soldier in this eternal cosmic war and that you have been given a task: to get the message of the scrolls to all those who are still doomed.

The ancient writings say that the time is very short. In only a few moments, the great war will be over. The One who had no beginning and will have no end will peel back the fabric of time and descend upon this spinning orb of dirt and lava and water that He once commanded into existence. His armies will follow behind. Vengeance and wrath will be executed on all His enemies. In just a few short moments, all mankind — your family, your children, your friends — will cross the threshold and enter the divine courtroom.

In only a few moments, they will stand before the throne of Almighty God. There will be only two verdicts:

The ones who heard and believed the message contained in the ancient scrolls will go on to the land of the living, to an existence outside of time, where every moment becomes more joyous than the one before it. They will be given new bodies, capable of dwelling in the presence of the uncreated Being. They will exist in infinite glory, communing with Him, for all of eternity to come.

But the ones who did not believe the message in the scrolls would be sentenced to eternal execution, cast into the outer darkness. They, too, will exist in a place outside of time, but in their place, each moment will become more hopeless than the one before it. They, too, will be given new bodies, but they will be bodies that are capable of enduring the divine wrath of the uncreated Being for all of eternity to come.

My Christian friend, are you currently weighted down with the anxiety of some trivial matter pertaining to these few short moments during which you exist on this tiny ball of dirt that floats in the nothingness? Maybe you even find yourself tempted to think of the Christian life as “boring” at times. If so, please remember, this is the story you say that you believe! This is your current reality!

Visit MikeMazyck.com to read more of Mike’s writing.