Photo by Mohamed Nohasi on Unsplash
The story gets more exciting with each passing week.
Our New Testament hero, Paul the Apostle, is writing about the resurrection life.
He says some pretty hard things, which causes me to ask, are you sure you want it?
Two weeks ago, I pointed out four things about our resurrected life.
- The Messiah has come, and his name is Jesus.
- You no longer live under a “low-lying black cloud” of oppression and depression.
- Resurrection life does not come from adherence to the law code.
- God the Holy Spirit works to bring you into a resurrection life by developing a close personal relationship with God—as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Last week, I added four more observations about the resurrected life.
- If God has taken up residence in your life, it is a life-altering experience.
- Just because the Spirit of God lives within you, there is still a battle with your sinful nature.
- The resurrected life is not a self-help life but one of choosing to follow God.
- The resurrected life is not a sedentary life.
The Apostle Paul continues.
This resurrection life you received from God is not a timid, grave-tending life. It’s adventurously expectant, greeting God with a childlike “What’s next, Papa?”
God’s Spirit touches our spirits and confirms who we really are. We know who he is, and we know who we are: Father and children.
And we know we are going to get what’s coming to us – an unbelievable inheritance! We go through exactly what Christ goes through. If we go through the hard times with him, then we’re certainly going to go through the good times with him!
That’s why I don’t think there’s any comparison between the present hard times and the coming good times.
Romans 8:15-18 The Message
This resurrection life you received from God is not a timid, grave-tending life. It’s adventurously expectant, greeting God with a childlike “What’s next, Papa?”
Romans 8:15 The Message
This resurrection life you received from God is not a timid, grave-tending life.
Religion will have you believe that you have an us-versus-them mindset. They (the godless sinners of the world) are out to get us, dragging us to hell with them.
They expect life to be better over there (in heaven). It is true life will be better, but a resurrected life is not doom and gloom in this life.
You will most certainly deal with things. Remember, the Apostle Paul said you will battle your sinful nature. However, you battle it with God on your side—which means you win (most of the time).
I like the picture The Message Bible paints. “It’s adventurously expectant, greeting God with a childlike “What’s next, Papa?”
Can’t you imagine an energetic, bright-eyed child with a look of expectation asking, “What’s next, Papa?”
The Apostle Paul calls this the resurrected life. I will address this in more depth later, but sometimes I feel the world’s weight. It helps me to pause and reflect on this image.
God’s Spirit touches our spirits and confirms who we really are. We know who he is, and we know who we are: Father and children.
Romans 8:16 The Message
God’s Spirit touches our spirits and confirms who we really are.
We sang a song in Bible College; it went something like this.
I am my beloved
And he is mine,
His banner over me is love
I believe there are moments in our lives when God the Holy Spirit touches us, revealing that we are his Father and child (son or daughter).
I do not think we fully comprehend our place in God’s kingdom. Since Jesus is our (spiritual) brother, we are joint heirs with him.
Wrap your heart around that the next time life throws you a sucker punch.
No matter what “stuff” I must fact in life, at the end of the day, I am God’s child—and he takes care of me.
The resurrected life is a father/child kind of life.
And we know we are going to get what’s coming to us – an unbelievable inheritance! We go through exactly what Christ goes through. If we go through the hard times with him, then we’re certainly going to go through the good times with him!
Romans 8:17 The Message
And we know we are going to get what’s coming to us – an unbelievable inheritance!
Religion tells you to watch your step, or you’re going to get punished by God.
A resurrection life tells you what you will get: “an unbelievable inheritance.”
The Apostle Paul makes it abundantly clear we will go through hard times, just as Jesus did.
This is part of living this life as a Christ follower.
The writer of the New Testament book of Hebrews put it this way.
Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we’re in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed – that exhilarating finish in and with God – he could put up with anything: cross, shame, whatever. And now he’s there alongside God, in the place of honor.
Hebrews 12:2 The Message
Keep your eyes on Jesus, and study how he did it.
What profound advice.
The resurrection life is a place of honor in God’s kingdom.
That’s why I don’t think there’s any comparison between the present hard times and the coming good times.
Romans 8:18 The Message
The present hard times cannot compare to the coming good times.
Jesus showed us the way and sent God the Holy Spirit to ensure we find that way.
There will be suffering. (Ask a woman about to give birth). But it is suffering with a purpose. It is preparation for resurrection-life eternity, and you must go through it—just as Jesus did.
Let me make a bold statement.
The degree to which you embrace suffering is the degree to which you experience the coming good times.
The resurrection life is about enduring now and embracing later.
A close personal relationship with the Godhead provides you a living hope. It is a living anticipation full of expectation of something good happening.
A close personal relationship with the Godhead is a journey. I invite you to follow along. As I learn, I will pass it along so you, too, can learn. I hope that as you learn, you can pass it along so that I (and others) might learn.
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