2002-01-01
Good Morning Treasured Readers,
This morning’s greeting is no accident. God put it in my mind to say that because you really are treasured by Him and by me. As we further investigate what it means to be “on earth but of heaven,” I’m sure that Satan will find some elements of the Scriptures I’m led to share very objectionable. This evil and very temporary ruler on earth is so hateful that it has to be detestable to him that God, Who is so much more powerful, loves us (His children) so much. I have written often about the conflict that is in progress in any person going through sanctification. That is the conflict between the outer, fleshly body and the inner spiritual self. The outer body is dying and the inner self is becoming stronger [RO 7: 14-25]. The Lord has more to say about this through Paul’s writing in 2 COR 4: 11-12, “Throughout our lives we are always in danger of death for Jesus’ sake, in order that His life may be seen in this mortal body of ours. This means that death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.” What comfort we can find in 2 COR 4: 14, “We know that God, Who raised the Lord Jesus to life, will also raise us up with Jesus and take us together with you, into His presence.” Continuing on in 2 COR 4: 16-18, we learn more that is crucial to us putting God’s perspective on the suffering we must endure. “For this reason, we never become discouraged. Even though our physical being is gradually decaying, yet our spiritual being is renewed day after day. And this small and temporary trouble we suffer will bring us a tremendous and eternal glory, much greater than the trouble. For we fix our attention, not on things that are seen, but on things that are unseen. What can be seen lasts only for time, but what can not be seen lasts forever.”
2 COR 5: 1-5 really outlines exactly what a believer feels about his life on earth and what he has to look forward to in heaven. “For we know that when this tent we live in-our body here on earth-is torn down, God will have a house in heaven for us to live in, a home, He Himself has made, which will last forever. And now we sigh, so great is our desire that our home which comes from heaven should be put on over us; by being clothed with it we shall not be without a body. While we live in this earthly tent, we groan with a feeling of oppression; it is not that we want to get rid of our earthly body, but that we want to have the heavenly one put on over us, so that what is mortal will be transformed by life. God is the One Who has prepared us for this change, and He gave us His Spirit as the guarantee of all that He has in store for us.” This gives us the spiritual description of the same issues that we have a more physical description of in 1 COR 15: 42-50, which I hope you will read. The change from mortal to immortal bodies is tremendous and can only be brought about by the Lord. He is the only One with the supernatural power to bring about this change. The thought that He will do this for every single one of His children, no matter how their physical bodies were during their time on earth gives us a small inkling of the profundity of His love for us. Those foolish enough to reject Him will never know the joy of going home to heaven to be with Him in fellowship for eternity. They are foolish indeed!
Where is Satan in this construct? He will be lost! All of his evil and hatefulness will be to no avail. More insight is seen in 2 COR 5: 6-10, “So we are always full of courage. We know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord’s home. For our life is a matter of faith, not of sight. We are full of courage and would much prefer to leave our home in the body and be at home with the Lord. More than anything else, however, we want to please Him, whether in our home here or there. For all of us must appear before Christ, to be judged by Him. Each one will receive what he deserves, according to everything he has done, good or bad, in his bodily life.”
The Lord really wanted us to understand what can be on first inspection pretty hard to comprehend. That is why He gave us 1 JN 3: 1-3 to help us see this. “See how much the Father has loved us! His love is so great that we are called God’s children-and so, in fact we are. This is why the world does not know us: it has not known God. My dear friends, we are now God’s children, but it is not yet clear what we shall become. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him as He really is. Everyone who has this hope in Christ keeps himself pure, just as Christ is pure.” Anyone who has poor vision knows that with the right prescription, glasses can correct that. One who hasn’t seen things in detail or been able to read can do so when he puts on his glasses. This analogy is used to describe what God does for us when we come to faith and repent. The rest of the world is left out of this clear vision when they refuse. We are indeed treasured, and Satan is indeed the loser.
PRAYER: O Lord, You have told us that we are Your children in RO 8: 14-17, and now we have some idea of how You treasure us. “Those who are led by God’s Sprit are God’s son. For this Spirit that God has given you does not make you slaves and cause you to be afraid; instead, the Spirit makes you God’s children, and by the Spirit’s power we cry out to God, ‘Abba! My Abba!’ God’s Spirit joins Himself to our spirits to declare that we are God’s children. Since we are His children, we will possess the blessing He keeps for His people, and we will also possess with Christ what God has kept for Him; for if we share Christ’s suffering, we will also share His glory.” We come to You today in gratitude that You love us enough to adopt us as Your children, that You give us faith and the willingness to appreciate what has been done on the cross for us, that You gift us with the Holy Spirit so we can better understand and obey Your commands to us. Dearest Abba, we want You to know that we also treasure You. Your presence in our lives gives them direction, corrects their course, encourages us to remain faithful no matter what snares Satan sets for us, gives us Your purpose to make our own, and most of all provides us with the hope of one day occupying our permanent home with You. We are as yet imperfect, but our goal is to allow You to perfect us as we make the changes in our lives that You command us to make. We use Your Son as the Model for how we should live and praise You for having the compassion to make Him available to us. He lives and so do You in our hearts. Your laws are written there, just as You have so often expressed that desire in Your word. We eagerly await the day when You will take us home to dwell in eternal joy and fellowship in our permanent home in heaven with You [JN 14: 2]. As always, we pledge You our trust, obedience, loyalty, diligence, glory, honor, adoration, worship, praise, and eternal thanksgiving. In Christ’s name, amen.
What does it mean to be “built into God’s temple”? How can we understand “losing one’s life so we can gain it eternally”? These a some of the questions we will investigate in tomorrow’s message as we continue learning more about being “on earth but of heaven.” As for Satan, each time we learn more about what God reveals to us in the Scriptures, the evil one’s power over us becomes further devalued. Such a phenomenon wouldn’t be possible if it weren’t for God’s love for each of us. Our challenge amidst pain, suffering, and loss is to allow our flesh to be crucified on the cross with Jesus and to open our spiritual vessel, allowing God’s Spirit to flow in and take control. When we do this, God treasures us beyond our understanding. God loves each of you, and so do Peter and I.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn