What If...

I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life. I tell you the truth, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live.
John 5:24,25

Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.
John 6:54

Once, having been asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, "The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, nor will people say, 'Here it is,' or 'There it is,' because the kingdom of God is within you.
Luke 17:20,21

Jesus said, "It is finished." with that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
John 19:30

For a couple of months now, whenever I come across passages, such as these, in the bible, I pause. Words stand out to me. I write them down and allow them to roll around in my mind, God is talking to me.

Eternal life...Time is coming...Has now come...Last day...Kingdom of God...It is finished.

In the summer of 2000, I was baptised for the second time. (I have been baptised three times, but lets not get stuck on that) I had spent a couple of months going to church, reading the bible and religious materials, and I had come to some conclusions

1. I needed to be "saved" (fixed might be a better word)
2. Of all the available options to fix me, Christianity was probably the best because...
   
3. Just in case...the whole burning in hell thing.

There were some steps to being fixed:
Sinners Prayer: For me this looked something like - God, I'm unbelievably, unfathomably bad. Badder than even you could probably imagine, but maybe, you could have pity on me? Please help me, fix me. Please, Please help me, Please fix me. Please. Please. Please. (Repeat often, maybe daily, indefinitely)
Baptism: (3 times, I don't need to say any more than that)
Rules: Follow them.
Judgement: Standing in a long line, keeping my fingers crossed that the "blood" really works, when I get to the "Book".
Reward: Heaven, maybe, hopefully, someday (not too soon, please).

That is making light, of the intensely serious subject of salvation. However, it is a fairly accurate portrait, and I'm wondering, am I the only one? Because this is the message that I got, in some form or another, my entire life, from "saved people". And while I will grant, without hesitation, that my reception wasn't the best...I have to ask, "What's up with that?"

Because, recently, Salvation and Heaven and hell, Eternal Life and Last Days, and Kingdom of God...sound like something different.

Like...

What if...the Last Day, was the day Jesus took his last breath on earth?

What if...The Time has already Come, that first Easter morning?

What if...I have already been Raised Up and Crossed over from death to Life?

What if... Judgement already happened, and "It is Finished"?

What if... The Church is the Kingdom of God?

What if...I am the Kingdom of God?

What if...