The Land of No Pain

by Kevin K. Nelson

Once upon a time, there was a land with no pain, no sickness or diseases, no hunger and no thirst. It was a utopian society. The entire community worked as one, underneath the rule of their good king. The king loved his subjects, and shared with them all that he owned. The king's kingdom was filled with peace, prosperity, and love. The king also had a son, a son that he loved very much.

One day the son was strolling through a park on a cool summer day, and he decided to walk farther than he'd ever walked before, over by the edge of the cliff that overlooked the boundaries of his father's kingdom. So, he walked over, enjoying the cool breeze blowing over his skin, and the birds that chirped their melodies in the background. He approached the edge of the cliff and looked over, and he realized that outside of the kingdom of his father's, things were not as "perfect," but he found the imperfections fascinating, and thought that he would like to investigate it and gain knowledge of what the other land was like. However, his father had forbidden him to go beyond the boundaries of his kingdom, and so he delayed himself for the moment and returned to the castle.

Later that evening, he went to his father, asked him about the land beyond his kingdom, and asked why he was forbidden to go there. His father then began to explain the story behind the lands that lay beyond his kingdom. He told his son that outside of his kingdom, there were plagues, droughts, diseases, death, hunger, thirst, and pain. He told his son how he had labored to create this utopian kingdom where there was no pain, but that beyond the boundaries of the kingdom, there was no way that he could protect his son from the plagues that infested it and so that was why he was forbidden to go there. In fact, everyone in the kingdom was forbidden from going there. Since the other lands were filled with plagues, no one could cross from the kingdom to there and come back without infesting the Land of No Pain, and so the king had set up a boundary that prohibited the plagues or anyone infected by them from ever entering his kingdom.

The son, however, persisted that he wanted to go to the other land and to learn the things that the other land had to offer. He knew that he would never be able to come back to the kingdom of his father, but he didn't care, for he had become fixated upon the Land of Plagues, for it offered what he had never known, a knowledge he knew nothing about. His father again tried to discourage him from going there.

However, the king knew that if he forced his son to stay in his kingdom that his son would always resent him, so reluctantly he told his son, "If you must go, I will allow it, but remember, you will never again be allowed to enter the kingdom with the plagues that pollute the land beyond. I wish you would not go, but I cannot force you to stay."

Even with that strict warning, however, the son would not be deterred, and he chose to leave his father's kingdom. He did not listen to his father's warnings, and so he condemned himself to a life filled with plagues, pain, hunger, and thirst. His father was right. Outside of the kingdom, the land had nothing to offer. He would have been better off in his father's kingdom, but there was no way to return, and so he searched for and found others that also had chosen to live outside his father's kingdom. Though there was much pain and suffering in the land of plagues, he still managed to get married to a woman, have children, and live many years. Before he died, he told his children about his father and the Land of No Pain. Some of his children believed the stories and others didn't, but, nonetheless, they continued to pass the stories down from one generation to the next. Over the generations that passed, it soon began to be told by many people that if they were good enough--obeyed their parents and stuff--that they might get to go to the Land of No Pain someday. However, they didn't realize that you couldn't be "good enough" to cure themselves of disease, for the king's kingdom could not allow any disease within its boundaries at all. They did not understand how serious the plagues were, and why the king could never allow them into his kingdom, so they made false mythologies and lore about being able to go there by being "good."

Far away, in the Land of No Pain, the king did know about something that was able to cure the people and allow them to enter into his kingdom once again. He knew that the reason that they couldn't enter the kingdom was because he could not allow the plagues to enter into his perfect kingdom. He understood the implications, but he also knew of an anti-virus.

The Land of No Pain was clean because the king was immune and he had made the barrier between the two lands and cleansed the Land of No Pain. His blood was the perfect anti-virus, and by using his blood as an anti-virus, he knew that he could provide a way for his son's descendants to return to the Land of No Pain. All they would have to do would be to cover themselves with his blood and then walk across the barrier, and as long as his blood covered them, they could get through the barrier, and when they crossed, they would be free from the plagues.

So, he stepped beyond the barrier that separated his kingdom from the rest of the world, and he went to his son's descendants. He then proceeded to tell them about the Land of No Pain. The religious leaders who tried to teach that you could go to the Land of No Pain were incensed that this man would come and tell the people these "lies." This foreigner had the nerve to come and tell their people that it wasn't about being "good enough" but it was about their diseased condition, for no matter how good they were, their goodness could never cure the disease. He proclaimed that they needed a cure, and that he was the cure.

Well, this "new" idea didn't go over very well with the religious leaders, they were used to the people listening to them, and didn't like this foreigner taking away their control over the people. So, they plotted to kill him. They claimed that he was a liar and got the rest of the people incensed at the king until finally the people killed him.

What they didn't know is that the king had understood this all along. He knew that in order for the people to use his blood as an anti-virus, they would have to kill him. He knew that he would have to suffer death so that they could live. Because he loved his son, and his son's descendants so much, he was willing to pay that price so that they could enter back into the Land of No Pain if they chose to. So, he told some of the people that were willing to listen that this was the way things had to be, and that after he died to spread the news to the people that they could enter The Land of No Pain if they covered themselves with his blood, and walked through the barrier.

So, after his death, his disciples spread the news that the man that they had killed was the king of the Land of No Pain. They told them that all those who would cover themselves with the king's blood, accept the fact that the king had died so that they could have life in the Land of No Pain, and then cross over the barrier into his kingdom, could now do so. They spread the news faithfully, and many people left the Land of Plagues to go to the Land of No Pain, but surprisingly enough, many people chose to stay in the Land of Plagues.

The ones that chose to stay in the Land of Plagues did so because they thought the idea of covering themselves in someone else's blood was disgusting and they were unwilling to do it. Others were determined that they were going to earn the right to go to the Land of No Pain by being "good enough" because that's what had been taught to them all their lives. Still others chose to stay in the Land of Plagues because in the Land of Plagues there was no King, no one that they had to serve and obey. They knew that if they entered the Land of No Pain, that they would then be the subject of a Kingdom and would have to follow that Kingdom's rules, so they rejected the Kingdom and chose to be their own bosses and do things their own way.

The strangest phenomenon was that some people tried to cover themselves in the king's blood, but would not leave the Land of Plagues--they wanted to have it both ways. They wanted to be free from the plagues, but they were unwilling to leave the Land of Plagues to go to the Land of No Pain. What they didn't understand, though this disciples tried to tell them, was that the king's blood was only good if you were willing to leave the Land of Plagues and go to the Land of No Pain. However, they would not listen. They loved thier homes and the lives they built in the Land of Plagues too much and were unwilling to leave such things behind in order to be free. So, these same people died in the Land of Plagues because they would not leave.

This was much to the pain of his disciples because they had thought that once they explained it to people, that the people would all want to enter the Kingdom and serve the Good King. However, many did not receive the Good News so readily. The disciples of the King pleaded with them, but they would not listen. Then, because the disciples knew that they could not stay in the Land of Plagues themselves, they reluctantly walked away from those who refused to accept the precious gift the King had given them.

When they got to the kingdom, covered in the blood of the king, they passed through the barrier, and as they passed through the barrier, they found that all their hunger, pain, and even the previous selfish desires they struggled with in the Land of Plagues, disappeared. They were whole and complete for the first time ever. They had no desire except to praise and serve the King that had given them such a wonderful gift. So, they went to the castle and praised the King, who was not dead but as alive as ever.

When they got there, they pleaded with the King, "Your majesty, there were many who did not accept our message. Could you please go and tell them yourself, so that they can see and believe what we have told them and be saved from the Land of Plagues."

However, the King replied, "They did not listen to me the first time I revealed myself to them, and they would not listen to me even if I were to appear to them now in all of my glory, for their hearts are hard, they want to do things their own way, to be their own kings. They do not want me to rule over them, they are comfortable in the Land of Plagues, nothing I could say or do would change their minds, they do not love me and never will, and I will never ever force anyone to love or serve me, but each must come according to his own free will. So, their desire to live in a plague infested land, I will grant them. I will forever set up the boundary between here and there, so that no one can ever again cross over from here to there or from there to here. The choices have been made. The time is now."

"What shall we do then, for some of those we left behind are our friends and loved ones?" They asked the King.

To this he replied, "For a moment let us mourn those that would not accept this gift that I gave them. However, we shall not mourn long, for we shall celebrate those of you who have returned, and we shall celebrate forever more."

So, they mourned for a time and cried for those they loved and lost, but in time, the King wiped every tear from their eyes. "There was no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things had passed away" (Rev 21:4, NIV). They rejoiced and praised the King for all the love he had shown them, for dying for them so that they could return to what His son, Adam (and of course his daughter Eve), had forsaken. They praised the God that loved them more than He loved Himself "…and gave himself up for [them] to make [them] holy, cleansing [them] by the washing with water through the word, and to present [them] to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless" (Eph 5:25-27, NIV).

On a side note

This was not meant to be any kind of a doctrinal statement. I have taken some liberties with the story of Christ in hopes to get through some of the common walls we put up when speaking about God. Obviously, the story of Jesus is slightly different, but the concept behind the story is true. The "Land of Plagues" is the earth, as we know it now, filled with sin and selfishness. "The Land of No Pain," in contrast, is used to encompass both what the world would have been like had we not chosen to reject God's leadership and bring in the plague of sin and what Heaven will be like when we enter there.

We do not get to Heaven by our "good deeds," but by the blood of Jesus Christ, which was shed on the cross for the forgiveness of sins, an "anti-virus" of sorts for the rebellion that we have been "plagued" with, which has no place in God's Kingdom. The cross provided a way to "get to Heaven," but just as importantly, it revealed to us that God is not a tyrant King but a loving Father, deserving of our trust and love.

I sincerely hope that this article was beneficial in helping you to see the love of God, and also to see the pain that Christians often feel when people reject the message of the Kingdom of God that we share--thus why we can often seem pushy. I'm not saying that Christians should be pushy, but hopefully with the last part in mind, if you are not a Christian, that you can see why we sometimes are.

Copyright © 2000, Kevin K. Nelson, all rights reserved