Category Archives: eternal life

Threading Needles With Camels – Part 3 (Eliminating Competing Priorities) – Matthew 19

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(This is the third in a series of three meditations on the story of the rich young ruler in Matthew 19.)

“Everyone who has left houses, brothers or sisters, father or mother, children, or fields because of my name will receive 100 times more and will inherit eternal life. But many who are first will be last and the last first” (Matthew 19:29-30, HCSB).

Matthew 19:13-30 recounts the familiar story of the rich young ruler and his meeting with Jesus.

After His meeting with the rich young ruler, Jesus explained to His disciples why he advised the man to sell all his possessions. Jesus explained by declaring the well-known and often misinterpreted maxim that it is hard (or impossible) for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven, as difficult as trying to thread a needle with a camel (Matthew 19:23; Mark 10:23; Luke 18:24).

The rich young ruler had come to Jesus to ask what good things he must do to inherit eternal life. Jesus replied that only by obedience to God’s commandments does one obtain eternal life.

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Threading Needles with Camels – Part 2 (Knowing What’s Really Important) – Matthew 19

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(This is the second in a series of three meditations on the story of the rich young ruler in Matthew 19.)

“When the young man heard that command, he went away grieving, because he had many possessions” (Matthew 19:22, HCSB).

Matthew 19:13-30 relates the familiar story of the encounter of Jesus with a man traditionally identified as a rich young ruler. This passage describes the encounter between Jesus and the rich young ruler. In a debriefing with His disciples after the encounter, Jesus made the well-known camel-through-the-eye-of-a-needle analogy, depicting the difficulty confounding rich people entering into God’s Kingdom.

Now, the rich young ruler seemed to be a person who wanted to do the right thing.

He wanted to acknowledge God in his life and be faithful to Him so he could make it into heaven.

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Threading Needles with Camels – Part 1 (When Good Isn’t Good Enough) – Matthew 19

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(This is the first in a series of three meditations on the story of the rich young ruler in Matthew 19.)

“If you want to be perfect, Jesus said to him, go, sell your belongings and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me” (Matthew 19:21, HCSB).

Matthew 19:13-30 relates the familiar story of the encounter of Jesus with a young man who is thought to be a person of some standing among the Jews. So, he is traditionally identified as a rich young ruler.

The passage in Matthew 19 first describes the encounter between Jesus and the rich young ruler, followed by a post-encounter discussion between Jesus and His disciples in which Jesus points out the spiritual disadvantages of affluence. His explanation to His disciples is highlighted by the ironic camel-through-the-eye-of-a-needle analogy depicting the difficulty that confounds rich people in making it to heaven.

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Resurrection Theology For Dummies – Job 19:25-27

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“But I know my living Redeemer, and He will stand on the dust at last. Even after my skin has been destroyed, yet I will see God in my flesh. I will see Him myself; my eyes will look at Him, and not as a stranger.” (Job 19:25-27, HCSB)

This verse is the ancient voice of Job telling us that his ultimate redemption is manifested in bodily resurrection.

Job proclaims that after his death he will see God in his flesh!

Job understood that without bodily resurrection there is really no redemption and that he, therefore, needed a Redeemer to expedite it.

The Apostle Paul described resurrection as “the redemption of our bodies” (Romans 8:23, HCSB).

Bodily resurrection means our temporal, physical bodies will be transmogrified into imperishable or immortal bodies: “We will all be changed, in a moment, in the blink of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we will be changed. For this corruptible must be clothed with incorruptibility, and this mortal must be clothed with immortality” (I Corinthians 15:51-52, HCSB).

Bodily resurrection is the fundamental premise of the redemptive plan of God for human beings and for the created order.

So, you don’t have redemption without resurrection! It’s a theological premise in which even us dummies can understand, believe, and rejoice! And Job got it–thousands of years ago!

The Apostle Paul asserts in his resurrection chapter, 1 Corinthians 15, how pointless redemption without bodily resurrection would be and explains that Christ’s resurrection is the model or prototype for our own bodily resurrection.

The Apostle John amplifies this theology of bodily resurrection with this simple yet profound declaration that almost seems to paraphrase Job’s pronouncement: “We know that when He appears, we will be like Him because we will see Him as He is (I John 3:2, HCSB).

How To Be Happy and Secure – Matthew 6:33

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“Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need”  (Matthew 6:33, NLT).

Having security and achieving happiness are important priorities for most of us.

People often think that by accumulating material possessions they can make their life secure and happy.

In Matthew 6:19-34, a portion of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus teaches us the appropriate way to find happiness and security in life.

Jesus said that you find happiness by investing your life in what God is doing: “Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal” (vs. 20).

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A Prelude to Future Glory – Psalm 16:8-11

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“I know the Lord is always with me. I will not be shaken, for he is right beside me. No wonder my heart is glad, and I rejoice. My body rests in safety. For you will not leave my soul among the dead or allow your holy one to rot in the grave. You will show me the way of life, granting me the the joy of your presence and the pleasures of living with you forever.” These verses are referenced by Peter in his sermon on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:25-28) and Paul in a sermon in the synagogue at Antioch of Pisidia (Acts 13:35). In both cases the apostles were applying the reference to the resurrection of Jesus. We can anticipate living in the presence and pleasures of God forever because the resurrected Messiah gives us hope and assurance for our own resurrection: “Just as everyone dies because we all belong to Adam, everyone who belongs to Christ will be given new life. But there is an order to this resurrection: Christ was raised as the first of the harvest; then all who belong to Christ will be raised when he comes back” (I Corinthians 15:22-23). It’s interesting that Peter quotes these verses on the day of Pentecost when the powerful presence of God was experienced by the disciples when the Holy Spirit came upon them. The presence of God in our lives by the Holy Spirit links our present life with resurrection and future life: “And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us” (Romans 8:23). The indwelling Holy Spirit, the presence of God with us, is but a prelude to a future glorious life where we live fully in God’s presence in resurrection bodies and we will enjoy the pleasures of living with God forever!

The Coming Kingdom – Matthew 15:30-31

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“A vast crowd brought to him people who were lame, blind, crippled, those who couldn’t speak, and many others. They laid them before Jesus, and he healed them all. The crowd was amazed! Those who hadn’t been able to speak were talking, the crippled were made well, the lame were walking, and the blind could see again!” Jesus returned to a predominantly Gentile area and performed many miracles. Though Jesus was sent primarily for Israel’s sake, His coming inaugurated the Kingdom of God and also the beginning of Gentile salvation. These healings were evidence that the Kingdom of God had broken into history through Jesus’ ministry and that it was available and accessible to everyone. The Kingdom of God is a Kingdom that has come and is coming. Jesus came to this world not only to die for our sins, but also to teach us how to live in this present and future Kingdom. The Kingdom of God is a spiritual nation that is active in this world now to prepare its citizens for a heavenly Kingdom that is to come. As a citizen of God’s Kingdom, what you do today and everyday in this world, in this present life, in this Kingdom that has come, is preparation for eternal life in God’s Coming Kingdom.