Resurrection Words Day 8: Hope

 

Day 8: Hope

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time." 1 Peter 1:3-5

Peter shares with us this incredible good news that causes him to burst immediately into worship: "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!"

What is this good news? We have been given a gift: New birth. That gift comes to us by the mercy of God, our loving and merciful Heavenly Father. Salvation is His gift to us. A gift of mercy means you did nothing to earn this gift. It is freely given to those who will receive it.

There's a bonus: This gift of new birth is a gift that comes with many other gifts and benefits. Peter tells us that our new birth results in a living hope. When something is living it is active, vital, fresh, vibrant, fruitful, productive. Just as water that flows from a spring is living and never ceases to flow fresh, the hope we have as a result of our new birth in Christ is always alive and productive in us. 

Peter tells us we have this living hope as a result of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. We saw over the past few days how Scripture shows us that through our union with Christ by his Spirit we participate in his death, his burial and his resurrection into new life. A benefit of this new life is a living hope. Peter later tells us,

"Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God." 1 Peter 1:21

Our hope comes from believing in God through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, as a sacrifice for our sins to reconcile us with God. With our new life in Christ we are promised "an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade". Jesus described this inheritance in John 11:25:

“I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die."

Hope is a confident certainty that we have what has been promised. The assurance of eternal life guaranteed by our possession of the Holy Spirit. The confident, full assurance we have of eternal life with Christ is the hope that provides us with the endurance and ability and power to live our lives here and now.

"Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming" 1 Peter 1:13 

Share your response to today's word and Scripture readings in the Words Art & Faith Challenge Group on Facebook. Or share on social media with #resurrectionwords. 

Resurrection Words Day 7: Deposit

 

Day 7: Deposit

"Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come." 2 Corinthians 1:21-22

"Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come." 2 Corinthians 5:5

Paul tells us in his second letter to the Corinthians that God has given us His Spirit as a deposit. A deposit is a part of something that is given in advance that will guarantee/promise the full amount or sum will follow. What does Paul say the Spirit is a deposit of? The Spirit guarantees now, what is to come later. But what is to come later? We must explore the context of these verses in order to answer that question.

The NIV Study notes for 2 Corinthians 5:5 says, "The Holy Spirit applies the benefits of Christ's redeeming work to the hearts of believers and makes His resurrection power a reality of their daily existence." So, let's look back a bit to see what Paul is talking about.

"We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. [Here is our reminder of our own death and resurrection in Christ: Our resurrection life!] For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body. So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.

It is written: “I believed; therefore I have spoken.” Since we have that same spirit of faith, we also believe and therefore speak, because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you to himself. All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God.

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all." 2 Corinthians 4:10-17

Living the resurrection life - our new life in Christ -  in this life through the power of God's Spirit will "guarantee our eventual transformation  into the likeness of Christ's glorified body" (NIV Study notes con't). Let's see how Paul describes this elsewhere for more understanding.

"We ourselves, who have the firstfruits [deposit, guarantee] of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies." Romans 8:23

"But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body." Philippians 3:20-21

"And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory." Ephesians 1:13-14

So, the life we live in this life, with its 'light and momentary troubles" (2 Cor. 4:17), is a life-long process of being conformed into the image of Christ. This life in the here-and-now is preparation for an eternal life of glory, where we will live fully transformed in the likeness of Christ. The Holy Spirit in us now is a deposit, not only of our present salvation in Christ, but also as a guarantee of our future inheritance - an eternal glory.

Share your response to today's word and Scripture readings in the Words Art & Faith Challenge Group on Facebook. Or share on social media with #resurrectionwords. 

Resurrection Words Day 6: Union

Day 6: Union

"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." Galatians 2:20

We are, once again, back at Galatians 2:20. Through the resurrection of Christ, we have died to our old self that was ruled by our sinful nature, and we now live a new life in Christ. Our death and resurrection take place through our union with Christ. 

As Galatians 2:20 says, "Christ lives in me". The means by which Christ lives in us is through the indwelling of His Holy Spirit, as pointed out numerous times in Romans 8:9-11:

"You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you."

As we saw in our Scripture passages on day four (Romans 6:2-4; 6-11) we are joined (united with, in union with) to Christ in his death, in his burial and in his resurrection. In this vital union we have with Christ, we have the means by which we walk in the newness of eternal life (Romans 6:4). Our new life is now empowered by our union with Christ -   we live in and through Him. It is now our responsibility to allow the Holy Spirit to live the resurrection life of Christ through us.

"Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought with a price." 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

"For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit." Romans 8:3-4

In the days ahead we will look at how the Spirit of God living in us benefits us in this life and in the life to come.

Share your response to today's word and Scripture readings in the Words Art & Faith Challenge Group on Facebook. Or share on social media with #resurrectionwords.  

Resurrection Words Day 5: New

Day 5: New

"We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life." Romans 6:4

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 2 Corinthians 5:17

Faith in Christ results in a new way of life as God's new creation. God creates in us a new person created to be like His Son. Our role is to grow up into that new Christ-like person as we grow in the knowledge of Christ and His ways. This new creation is who we are in Christ. Fully becoming our new self in Christ requires that we cooperate with God's Spirit and grow in our knowledge of Christ. This growth will be a life-long process as we "put off our old self" and "put on the new self". 

"You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness." Ephesians 4:22-24

"Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator." Colossians 3:9-10

Paul continues in Colossians 3:12-17 to give us a picture of what that new self looks like:

"Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved [This is your new self in Christ! You did nothing to earn it. In Christ this is the new creation that you already are.], clothe yourselves [Put on] with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him." Colossians 3:12-17

Our new self is to become one who pursues growing in compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, forbearance, forgiveness, love, peace, thanksgiving, wisdom, gratitude, good words and good deeds. There are other virtues as well in other passages throughout the New Testament letters that describe the Christ-like character that we are called to grow in as we become God's new creation in Christ.

It seems like a daunting list that seems to go against the grain of our human nature. And it is! But, thankfully, God has provided the means by which we can grow into our new self. A means that is not dependent on our own power, but on the power of the Holy Spirit, who resides in us by virtue of our union by faith with Christ. We will look at this union with Christ in more detail tomorrow.

Share your response to today's word and Scripture readings in the Words Art & Faith Challenge Group on Facebook. Or share on social media with #resurrectionwords. 

Resurrection Words Day 4: Death & Life

Day 4: Death & Life

"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." Galatians 2:20

Unofficially, I believe I have made Galatians 2:20 the theme verse of this whole challenge, for the events of the cross and the resurrection, for the Christ follower, call for our own experience of dying and being raised to a  new life in Christ. 

I was raised Catholic and was, therefore, baptized as an infant. In my mid-twenties I heard the gospel in a new way and came into a relationship of faith with Jesus Christ. After a few years of reading and learning the Scriptures I came to believe that baptism after coming into a relationship with Christ was more in line with the teachings of the Bible because of the significance of the acts that take place during baptism. 

"We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life." Romans 6:2-4

As we go down into the baptismal waters, this act symbolizes our commitment of dying to self and being buried with Christ. As we come up from the water, it represents our resurrection with Christ into a new life.

"For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin— because anyone who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.

In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus." Romans 6:6-11

We practice our death by giving up our will to live on our own terms. Only in that relinquishment or renunciation are we able to practice resurrection." ~ Eugene Peterson

Faith in Christ is a call to die to sin and to life on our own terms, crucifying our old self and its self-centered way of living. In repentance, there is a turning away from and a turning toward. We turn away from a life ruled by sin and turn to a new life in Christ ruled by the Spirit. 

At our church when we have a baptism service, we have a practice of reaffirming our own baptism commitment using the following:

I affirm that I have turned from my own way and from sin.

I affirm that I have renounced Satan and all his ways. 

I affirm my allegiance to Christ, and my decision to walk in all his ways.

This is dying to self and living to Christ. 

 Paul captures this very clearly in 2 Corinthians:

"...We are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again." 2 Corinthians 5:14-15

Those who are in Christ are called to live, not for ourselves - we give up rights, we give up 'me-first', we give up putting our needs ahead of others - , but to live for Christ, as He did - sacrificially, generously, others-first, putting others needs ahead of our own, acting out of mercy and with love. We will explore what this 'Christ-first' life looks like in the days ahead, and it is all powered by the cross and the resurrection.

"Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory." Colossians 3:1-4

Share your response to today's word and Scripture readings in the Words Art & Faith Challenge Group on Facebook. Or share on social media with #resurrectionwords.