I reread the words from Daniel 12:5 "Then I, Daniel, looked and before me stood two others, one on this bank of the river and one on the opposite bank. One of them said to the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, "How long will it be before these astonishing things are fulfilled?" ... And the man said "when the power of the holy people is finally broken."
Two banks, separated by waters. Therefore two lands. It's about all of us.
Emmet says, "You don't have to be the bad guy" How many of us feel at risk because someone perceives us as the bad guy. Blacks, Cops, Jews, Christians, Homosexuals and on and on, because "someone" perceives them as "the bad guy." Who is behind that "someone?" Where does that perception come from and why?
Is there any one who does not have a "perception" of another person as bad? It is human nature to judge others according to ourselves. God even thinks we are bad. However, it doesn't mean that He doesn't love us. Bad is a behavior, not a condition. We are God's children, He is our Father. He treats us like His children and he has the right to punish us if we deserve it. I love my kids, but at times they are bad and they need to be punished for their bad behavior. The problem begins when my children start to punish each other for their bad behavior. At that point ZI need to intervene. In the good old days most of us heard ... "Wait until your father gets home! He will deal with you!"
If my children betray my trust enough times, I take stricter measures to make sure they follow the rules. Sometimes those "stricter measures" can backfire and you can lose them altogether. I think to myself ... If I could just "change" them it would be so much easier! If I could just get them to see the light I would not have to take measures in hopes of forcing them to making better decisions. As parents, we hope that when they grow up they will see the light
How do we become good in someone's eyes if we have betrayed them long enough? How do we redeem ourselves?
God did not give up on us. He instead sent down a rescuer. Someone who intervened, who has the "piece of resistance" to being bad.
The directors and actors in the Lego Movie commentary refer to Emmet as "earnest." The definition of earnest is having a purpose and being steadily and soberly eager in pursuing it. I thought of the play “The Importance of Being Earnest”
An odd side-note is the story behind this play written by Oscar Wilde. His successful opening night in 1895 led to the downfall of his career because his homosexuality was revealed which led him to imprisonment and ultimate exile from his own country.
No matter how good someone is viewed, they are viewed as bad to another. So who can judge us? Only God can. After many attempts at forcing us to be good according to His set of rules, we still couldn’t do it. He gave this right to the one who was sent down to judge the earth. The one who came and he saw with his own eyes. By his judgment, He chose to rescue us rather than give up on us. He offered us his loving hand. Maybe this would be the ticket. He gave a new command: “Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.”
How did he love us? He GAVE his life FOR us. He did not TAKE our life because we were not like him. ~ Quite contrary to what is going on in our world today ~ He also said, “By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another.”… (John 13:34)
It’s pretty clear to see who are NOT his disciples!
But offering this kind of sacrificial (agape) love is just as hard as following the rules, maybe even harder. So what do we do now? The Citizens asked Emmet that same question and he said. "We go back to the thing that He would least expect us to do … We follow the instructions." We go back to the Word.
We finally grow up and see the light.