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

Posted on February 1, 2011 by Steve

“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!

We Shall Be Like Him – 1 John 3:2

Posted on December 4, 2010 by Steve

“Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.” The Apostle John indicates that Christ is the prototype for our own resurrection. In other words, our resurrected bodies will take the same form as the resurrected Christ. Although Christ has been raised from the dead, we have not yet been raised. So we have hope for being resurrected from the dead and having resurrection bodies like Jesus, but, as John points out, “we are God’s children now.” So the redeemed of God have one foot in eternity and one foot in this present world. But the power of Christ’s resurrection is already at work to purify us so that we start becoming like Christ now: “And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure” (vs. 3). John goes on to say that God’s chidren do not make a practice of sinning (vs 4), but instead practice righteousness (vs. 7). You are enabled to practice righteousness because you are born of God and have the Holy Spirit dwelling in you and working through the Word of God to empower you to refrain from sinning and to practice righteousness (vs. 9-10).

Identity Safeguard – Colossians 3:3-4

Posted on September 23, 2010 by Steve

“For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.” Although resurrection is a future event, those who have been redeemed by Christ have died to their own self and have taken on a new identity in Christ. This new identity is now “hidden with Christ in God.” “Hidden” in this context means to protect, preserve, or keep secure in the sense that one might hide something valuable to keep it safe. Thus, the individual identities of the redeemed of Christ are safe with Him. Jesus guards our identity; He knows who each of His redeemed are and He is saving a place for each of us in heaven. The place we call heaven is an assurance that our new identity in Christ is sustained by God so we may obtain full possession of it when we are resurrected. So resurrection life is at work in you now! We live life in the present as those who are on their way to heaven. As each day passes our lives grow more blessed as we draw nearer to the One Who is the source of our new life and new identity. Therefore, you should “set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on the earth” (vs. 2).