2 Cor 1:5      For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows.

Consider:

We now move on to consider yet a further aspect of what we receive as a result of the work of the Cross, one that perhaps we are not so happy about.  Being people who prefer peace and comfort, talk about suffering is not something that comes easily to us. Well, what are the sufferings of Christ?  We suggest they are threefold: rejection, heart ache, and hardship.

Let's consider rejection first.  At its simplest it is people who turn away and avoid us because they know we are Christians.  At the other end of the scale there is outright persecution, people who are out to harm us, emotionally and physically.

Jesus said, “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you" (Mt 5:11,12).  In other words, consider yourself blessed when you get treated in the same way as Jesus was, because you join with the host of God's people down through the ages who have been rejected by the ‘world'.  Paul warned Timothy, “everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Tim 3:12).  If you are a godly person, those who are ungodly will feel your life shows them up and they are likely to be hostile.  This can be someone who is simply not nice to you at work, school or college, or someone who goes out of their way to make life unpleasant for you.  Read 2 Cor 6:5 and see Paul's rejections: beatings, imprisonment, and riots!

But then there is heartache. If you understand the awfulness of sin and you see people around you hurt or enslaved by it, that will cause you anguish.  Whenever you see hurting people you will anguish.  Whenever you see injustice you will anguish. Whenever you see violence and oppression you will anguish.  Why?  Because you will be feeling as Christ feels.   A number of times in the Gospels we find Jesus was moved by compassion. That means that Jesus felt strongly for them and that urged him into action.  Sometimes people don't want help, they are not yet ready to help and that also is difficult to cope with.

Finally, there is straight forward hardship.   This simply means that when you are called to serve you don't mind what it costs.  Paul, again in 2 Cor 6:5 speaks of “hard work, sleepless nights and hunger.” If you travel to minister the Gospel, it's likely you will experience all of these at some time.

But today's verse says more than this, it says that you will be comforted by God through Christ.  In the midst of rejection, heartache or hardship, you will know the presence and power of God.   It's part of all the things we have been considering in recent weeks.

Prayer:

Father, please forgive me that so often I shy away from even the thought of suffering.   Help me to be godly, a servant and full of your grace.

2 Cor 4:6   For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.

Consider:

To get to grips with today's verse, we need to start at the end and work backwards.

First, let's consider, “the glory of God in the face of Christ.”  In other words he means the wonder of God that is shown in and through the person of Christ.

Second, let's consider “the knowledge of” that.  Paul is saying the end product of our coming to salvation is that we come to see and understand something of the divine presence in Jesus Christ.

Third, let's consider, “the light of the knowledge”.   Sometimes when people suddenly see something, they may use the expression, “It was like the light went on [in my understanding]”.   One moment they were in darkness, without a clue, and the next suddenly it all became abundantly clear.  Isn't that what happens when a light is turned on in a dark room?

Fourth, let's consider, “God… made his light shine in our hearts”.   At the point of our new birth, we who were desperate, repenting (and clueless!), had God's Holy Spirit planted in us, the Spirit of revelation (see two days back), and He spoke deep into us and suddenly we ‘saw it'!

Fifth, consider, “God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness”.   Wow, says Paul, it's just like it was at the beginning when “ the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep ” (Gen 1:2) and “God said let there be light and there was light” (Gen 1:3). That's how it was with us. We were dark and without understanding. Then, when we turned to Him in repentance, He put His Spirit into us and suddenly it all started becoming clear.

But it's more than this! When He puts His Spirit into us, we start to glow! That's what Paul was getting at in the end of 2 Cor 3, and now in this chapter he goes on to speak about how “we have this treasure in jars of clay” (v.7).  The treasure is the glory of God.  The jars of clay are our earthly bodies.  You see it so often when someone is born again and it's like they glow!  They're all bright and full of life.  That's why Jesus said, “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven. ” (Mt 5:14-16).

You ARE light, says Jesus, so just shine!   Don't let your lives be hidden away where the light can't be seen, but come out into the open and shine with God's glorious, loving presence shining through you. You've “seen the light” (come to understanding), because you've received the Light (the Holy Spirit) and so you ARE shining lights (with Him in you) – so shine!

Prayer:

Father, thank you that while I was still clueless, you came and put your Holy Spirit in me.  Thank you that He brought me understanding and He shines through me. Lord, may your light shine through me and bring glory to you.   Be honoured and be glorified through me.

2 Cor 3:3 You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.

Consider:

In a day of computers and e-mails, letters are becoming fewer in number.  When one does drop through the letter box, you wonder just who is writing to you, a simple question, quickly answered, and then watch your emotions.  It's an old friend writing to ask after you, or perhaps it's a bill to be paid.  The contents of letters are many and varied and the responses they evoke in us are similarly many and varied.  So what sort of letter are you and I?  What sort of response do we evoke in people when they ‘read' us?

Here in our verse today, Paul says that the Corinthians are letters from Christ. Let's ask a very obvious question: what exactly is a letter? It's a form of communication, so Paul is saying that they are communications from Christ to the world.  How did they become that?  By the work of Paul's preaching ministry and the convicting and transforming work of the Holy Spirit. 

As we've seen many times in these meditations, we are the work of God's Holy Spirit which He put in us when we came to him in repentance believing in Christ.   We are the ‘paper' and the Holy Spirit is the ‘ink'.  He's the writing, he's the message. We've seen it before but it bears repeating, as Paul says in 2 Cor 4:7 using a different analogy, we are pots holding his glory.   We're the vehicle, we might say, and he's the message being carried in it.

This same idea was there in the Old Testament in the life of Israel.  At their inauguration, the Lord called them a “kingdom of priests” (Ex 19:6).  The role of the priest was to bring people to the Lord, thus Israel's reason for being was to bring the world to God.  The Queen of Sheba coming to Solomon (1 Kings 10:1-9) was a classic example of that happening.  Isaiah said that the coming Servant Messiah would be “a light to the Gentiles” (Isa 42:6, 49:9), which of course was fulfilled in Jesus, and now through us.  We've seen before how Jesus called us the light of the world (Mt 5:14).

All of these things speak of God communicating through us.  John described Jesus as “the Word” (Jn 1:1,14) which of course is another form of communication. The writer to the Hebrews said of God, “in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son” (Heb 1:2).  It's ALL about God communicating with His world!   And now He's written to your friends, family and neighbours through you!  That's a challenge isn't it!  What sort of communication am I to them? Do they get a sense of a harsh, legalistic, condemning God through me, or of Jesus who has come to lay down his life in loving acceptance?  Will they be drawn to Him through us, or pushed away?  What sort of communication am I today?

Prayer:

Lord, grant that I may be a good communication to the people around me today, that they may be drawn to you and you be glorified.

2 Cor 3:4-6     Such confidence as this is ours through Christ before God. Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant–not of the letter but of the Spirit

Consider

'Confident to be Competent' could have been our heading for today. Two words many Christians don't feel at ease with! Are you a confident Christian? Are you a competent Christian? You will have noticed that today's verses follow straight on from yesterday's where Paul had been writing about his ministry and us being God's communications.  Some while back we spoke about low self esteem, a characteristic many of us suffer from. If you have low self esteem you cannot be confident about yourself and you almost certainly don't feel competent in all you do!

The message that should have come through in both the Lent Meditations about ‘Why the Cross?' and these ones on ‘The Outworking of the Cross', is that the work of bringing us salvation is entirely God's and the ongoing working out of that is a partnership between God and us.   In 1 Cor 3:9 and 2 Cor 6:1 Paul spoke about us being “ God's fellow workers”.  In Phil 2:12,13 he said you “ work out your salvation… for it is God who works in you. ”   So, although the bulk of the work is God's we do have a part to play. So how can we be confident Christians?

Well first it is “through Christ”.  We need to be constantly reminding ourselves of all of these truths that we have been looking at over this past two months.  I am what I am because of what Christ has done and is doing.  I can be completely confident in him. God has started a work in me and will keep on with it and will not give up until I go to be with Him.

Second, you can be confident in your testimony. In Rev 12:11 John wrote about dealing with Satan, saying of the believers, “They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony”.  Isaiah similarly told his people who were feeling unsure of themselves, “To the law and to the testimony!” meaning, ‘rely on what God has said and what He has done.'   Look at what God has actually done in you. Look back at how He has changed you, and the specific things that He has done along the way in your life. Speak these things out and the Holy Spirit in you will bear witness to the truth of them and you will be encouraged and made confident in Him.

But what about that other word, competence?  Competence is to do with work, with service.  How can we be competent in our service?  Well Paul says, again, that it is not in ourselves but it is God who makes us competent.  He calls us, He equips us, He guides and leads us, all by the presence of His Holy Spirit within us.  We do what He calls us to do, and as He equips and leads and enables us, we will do it competently.

Prayer:

Father, thank you for who I am in Christ.  Thank you that you have made me this person.  Thank you, that as you lead me into service, so you enable me by your grace to be able to do those things well.   Thank you so much.

Eph 1:11,12   In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory .

Consider:

Two days ago we were thinking about how we are letters from God to the people round about us.  We thought about how Israel had been called to be priests for the rest of the world, to bring people to God.  We saw how much of the Bible is all about God communicating with His world.  In our two verses today we have a process of thought.

First, says Paul, we have been chosen by God so that we will conform to or fit into His plan.  God has designed the world and made things to work in particular ways. Science is men finding out those ways.  This is as much about how human beings are made to relate to God and to each other, as it is about chemical reactions.  Salvation is all about how God has made it possible for us to be brought back into right relationship with Him.  Us coming to Him was simply Him bringing us into conformity with His will, His overall plan.  Now the end product of all of that is that He is praised and glorified. Now that was said quickly and easily but what does it actually mean?

Well go back to some of the other things we said or thought about in these past weeks. God is perfect.  In Himself He is utterly perfect.  His goodness is flawless.  His love is without restriction.  His power is unlimited.  His wisdom is without question. Now think for a moment about the concept of beauty.   It's something we take for granted but is incredibly dynamic.   You see a beautiful sunrise and go, “Wow!”  You see beautiful work of art and stand there mesmerised.  You seen a beautiful woman and no one argues, we all agree she is beautiful.  There is something in each of these cases that speaks about perfection. We can't explain it but we know it is true.

We may need awakening to these things because we've either never noticed them or grown used to them, but once we have been, we gasp at beauty, something in us rises and wants to express our appreciation at the wonder of what we see or hear or taste or feel. Through our senses we realise a wonder.  Now if that is true of our natural senses, how much more true is it about the utter perfection of the one who is God?  When we catch a glimpse of the wonder of who God is and what He has done and is doing, then we find praise and worship welling up within us.  When that happens, there is a sense whereby we can say we have reached the fullness of God's purpose for us – we have been brought into a place of knowing God and that knowing evokes praise and worship. As each additional person enters the kingdom of God , that praise and worship is increased.   Hallelujah!

Prayer:

Almighty God, I have been treading on holy ground in these thoughts.  I realise so little about you, but what I do know in reality, evokes praise and worship, for you are worthy of this.    Open my eyes more to your wonder please.

Eph 2:10   For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Consider:

In the last two days we have been thinking about us being confident and competent servants and giving God the glory He deserves.   In a sense, today's verse brings together those two themes.   Many Christians seem to struggle with what they should be doing in God's service.  Today's verse brings us to rest over that.

First of all Paul reminds us that we are God's workmanship, in other words that we have been made by God. Depending on your faith level you will either believe that that refers simply to your being born again and having God's Holy Spirit put in you, or that it includes all of the gifts, talents and abilities that you have,  i.e. every good thing about you is a gift from God.   Jesus' parable of the talents (Mt 25:14-29) seems to suggest that ‘talents' are given by God.  Yes, there are certain aspects of you that are inherited, and some which or formed through your life experiences, but the Bible seems to indicate that God forms or gives you the abilities that you have – probably far more than you recognise!

Now why have we been given these gifts, talents and abilities?   To bless the world, to do good.  Peter preaching to his first Gentile congregation (Acts 10:38 ) spoke of Jesus “and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil because God was with him.”  There's a good synopsis of Jesus' activity – doing good and setting people free from Satan.  Are you not sure what you ought to be doing?  Start by “doing good”.  Take whatever opportunities are given you. Be a servant to the church and to whoever you encounter.  Let Jesus shine through you.

But there is another aspect to this: these are acts of good “which God prepared in advance for us to do.”   This says God has a plan for your life and He knows now what He's got in store for you in the years to come.   It's HIS plan, not yours, so all you have to do is rest in His planning and simply do what He puts before you to do.  Do you remember Jesus said, “My Father is always at his work” (Jn 5:17).   God is always active.  We may not be able to because of tiredness or illness, but God is constantly working.   After this Jesus added, “the Son can do nothing by himself; he can only do what he sees his Father doing.”  In other words, Jesus sensed what his Father was doing and joined in and participated in it.  Paul spoke about living by the Spirit, being led by the Spirit and keeping in step with the Spirit (Gal 5:16 ,18,25).

If we learn to be sensitive to the Spirit's prompting we will find ourselves stepping up to the mark and taking the opportunities to serve and do the things that are on God's heart.  Remember, if God is love, He will match your tasks to your talents, so that you can be confident and competent in what you do - and that will really be very enjoyable.  We enjoy what we do well!

Prayer:

Father, thank you for the gifts, talents and abilities you have given me.  Thank you that you have things for me to do that use those.  Open my eyes to see the opportunities you place before me and grant that you will find in me a willing and open heart, available to serve.

Phil 3:12   Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.

Consider:

There are various indications in Scripture that life can get very boring, and there is a reason given.  It is when we make ‘self' the centre of our lives.  For instance Jesus said, “Whoever finds his life will lose it and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it” (Mt 10:39 ).  The Message version puts it like this: “If your first concern is to look after yourself, you'll never find yourself. But if you forget about yourself and look to me, you'll find both yourself and me.”   Jesus is saying we'll only find real fulfilment when we put him first.  Speaking about concerns for needs in life, Jesus said, “Seek first his (God's) kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”   In other words, says Jesus, focus on what God wants for you and He'll sort out all the rest.

Now we should come to today's verse and start at the end of it and work backwards. Consider the phrase, “that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me”.  This shows us that Paul had a real sense of purpose.  Christ, he felt, had taken hold of his life and had given him a task.  You find something of that in Acts 9:15 in respect of Paul himself and you find something similar in respect of Jeremiah in Jer 1:5.  In respect of us generally we find the same in Eph 1:4, “For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight”.   God chose us to become holy people, different, separated off people.  We're also a people particularly blessed (v.3), called His sons (v.5) so we bring praise to Him (v.6).  As we've seen previously this is largely His work, but we are to co-operate with Him as co-workers.

The hard hearted servant (Mt 25:24,25) sees that God has gifted us but sees it as a hard thing, a thing where you need to be careful to make sure you give back just what you receive.  Gifting for this person is a thing that raises guilt because they feel they ought to use the gift, but frequently don't and so feel bad.  Such is the mentality of the Pharisaic Christian.  See gifting in the light of God who is love and we see a calling and equipping which is really God's blessing on us.  Remember we said yesterday, if God is love, He will match your tasks to your talents, so that you can be confident and competent in what you do. Whatever He gives you to do it will be so that you can use the talents He's given you and feel good about it.  It's no shame to feel good when you do something well. It's simply called self-satisfaction. The wrong comes when we attribute the ability to ourselves and take the glory of success to ourselves.  No it's all part of His provision, His plan, His calling – and it is good.  Enjoy it, realise it, rejoice in it (Jn 15:11 , 16:24 ).

Prayer:

Father, thank you that you have called me and saved me.  Thank you that you have called me with a purpose and that is all an expression of your love to me. Thank you that you have given me gifts and abilities, so that I may do the things you have on your heart for me – and have joy in doing them.

Eph 3:10,11   His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, according to his eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Consider:

There is mystery in the Christian faith; there are many things that are not clear to us, many things that leave us wondering. Why? Because we live in the material realm but also operate on the edge of the spiritual realm. We were called to live and walk by faith, not by sight (2 Cor 5:7). Why? Because you cannot ‘see' the spiritual world. Therefore we hear and we respond; that is faith, but we respond while not seeing (Rom 10:17 ).

So then we come to our verses today which speak of “rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms”.  The apostle Paul was often aware of this dimension, hence later in that letter: “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” (Eph 6:12) and “For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him.” (Col 1:16). The apostle Peter had the same awareness: “Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at God's right hand—with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him” (1 Pet 3:21,22).  Put in a nutshell, it simply means that there are angelic hosts in the spiritual dimension who, according to today's verses, can see and understand what goes on here on earth.

What is Paul actually saying in today's verses? It is that when the angelic hosts looked on the death of the Son of God on the Cross they were astounded and horrified and were left wondering why God did not utterly devastate this little globe called earth.  But then, as they continue to look on and see the coming into being of the church, and then see you and me being added in, as they see our lives being transformed, they marvel and wonder even more at the incredible wisdom of God. Paul described it as the “manifold” wisdom of God. 

The word there means the many sided or many coloured or many splendoured wisdom.  The sense is of great beauty in the amazing variety –and that's where you and I come in. The ultimate method of bringing us salvation is exactly the same, but the way we were each drawn to Christ through our sinful circumstances was many and varied and quite beautiful to behold. So it is that the angelic hosts look on and see this amazing wisdom of God being worked out through us and they praise and worship Him (Rev 5:9-14).  You cause angels to worship God!   Wow!

Prayer:

Father, it seems an incredible thing that my life can cause others to praise and worship you – especially others in a realm I cannot see.  Lord, I thank and praise and worship you for the wonder of what you have done in my life.  I join in with the worshipping angelic hosts.  Praise your Name!

Eph 1:18   I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints

1 Pet 1:3,4   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–kept in heaven for you.

Consider:

As we move through this final week we continue to focus on outworkings of the Cross which, from our perspective, are about things unseen or even yet in the future. We tend to be very much people who live for the present; the present seems all important to us. The past is important in that we have memories of it and those memories can either strengthen us or hinder us (if we let them), but the present is what we have to deal with NOW . It's the moment when I have to get God's grace to cope, now I have to overcome. Oh yes, it's quite understandable that the present seems all important to us, because that's how God has made us.

But there IS more, there is a future and we're called to think about that future, understand in a small measure that future, and even let that future strengthen us today. In our two sets of verses for today, the apostles Paul and Peter respectively refer to our ‘inheritance'.   Yes, we can speak about the inheritance we have received after someone has died, but for the most part it is about something in the future that we will yet receive, and that is how it is here.

Paul and Peter both emphasised this by speaking about ‘hope' which is always about the future.  Hope is the anticipation of a future thing.  Now we need to understand that Christian hope is different from the way people so often use it. Someone might say, “I hope I'm going to get that job.”  Or someone else might say, “I hope I'll live to a good old age.”  In both those cases they are saying, “I would really like this but I can't be sure of it.”   Now for the Christian it is different, because whenever the New Testament speaks about our hope it means the expectation that we have because God has decreed it. i.e. it is a sure and certain thing!

Now in both Paul and Peter's writings there is a sense that this hope covers ALL of our future, both the time we have left on this earth and the eternity ahead of us in heaven.  Peter spoke about “the riches of his glorious inheritance” and Peter about “a living hope”, both of which have both earthly and heavenly suggestions.   The future is glorious they both say – here and in heaven.   Here the glory will come through the earthen vessels we've often referred to, but in heaven it will be with new resurrected spiritual bodies (1 Cor 15:42 -44).

Prayer:

Father, thank you that you have promised me a glorious future here on earth and in heaven, and that all because of what Christ has done for me on the Cross. Thank you so much!

Col 3:3,4    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.

Consider:

Two days ago we thought about the fact that our lives are a testimony to the wisdom and goodness of God as seen by the angelic hosts, an audience beyond our sight. Today's verses have a similar element in them.

Now, depending on the sort of person that we are, we may have different reactions to the thought of being observed and being a testimony. The quieter, more introverted, more uncertain of us, may feel suddenly quite naked. Today's verses will provide a comfortable balance for you. Others of us, the more extroverted and possibly more secure may relish the thought of being able to be an influence beyond our natural sphere of contacts on this earth. 

The truth is that even when you are on you own, even when you are in trying circumstances and you feel no one else can see so what's the point, God and the angelic hosts can see and your actions in dealing with the difficult circumstances can bring glory to God in the spiritual world who do see.

So, the verse two days ago spoke about us being seen by the unseen world, but today's speaks about us not being seen by the seen world.   Paul is saying to the Colossians that they have new lives; they died to their old way of life and now they have new lives in Christ.  Christ is in them by his Holy Spirit and they are part of his body, as we've seen previously.   But the reality is that ordinary unbelieving onlookers will not be able to see this (1 Cor 2:14), they will not realise the wonder of what has taken place.   Very often the frustration of the new Christian is the inability to convey to unbelieving friends or family just what has happened.   New creations we may be but we are hidden from the eyes of unbelievers.

Part of the dying to the old self is that we no longer look for public acclaim or recognition.   Fame is no longer something we seek for.   Indeed much of what we do has to be in private where only God sees.   Jesus spoke about this in the Sermon the Mount when he told us to give in secret (Mt 6:4), pray in secret (Mt 6:6) and fast in secret (Mt 6:18).  In other words, the main expressions of our piety are to be done where only God sees.  We are not to be parading our piety before others.  Our testimony is to be about how wonderful Jesus is, not how wonderful we are.

Finally in these verses Paul says that we will be seen for what we really are when Christ returns.  When he comes back he'll bring us with him, seen as we really are.  Yes we ARE incredible new creations, vessels holding the very presence of God, declared before heaven to be children of God, yes sons of God, redeemed, forgiven, washed and cleansed.  That's who we are, but we'll have to accept also that we're hidden for the time being.  Rest and rejoice in that.

Prayer:

Father, thank you that in one sense it doesn't matter that the world can't see my glory, for you can. May your light shine through this earthen vessel and may you be glorified. Thank you for the wonder of what you have made me, even if the world cannot see it.

Phil 3:20,21   But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Saviour 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.

Consider:

Yesterday we concluded by briefly thinking about the words, “you also will appear with him in glory” (Col 3:4) and today we continue with that thought.  As we have said previously, in the Christian teaching there is the acknowledgement of the future blessings, which then help us stand firm today.

Some times teachers at the end of term (and other workers no doubt) say, “It's only the thought of the holiday that keeps me going this last week.”  For some of us we feel like we are in that ‘last week of term' generally, and feel that we are almost at the end of our resources.  For some we may be struggling with massive infirmity or a life-consuming illness.  Yes there is grace for today, but the Bible does call us to think about eternity as another means of receiving grace for today.

How does this work? It helps us regain perspective. Our tendency, as we said the other day, is to think that today is the all-important time.  It is so, only in that it is the next step towards the coming of tomorrow.  At some point in future history, if we are a Christian, our physical body will stop moving and ‘life' will cease. Yet at that moment the reality will be that our life will continue even though the body stops.  At that moment we will find ourselves in heaven and perhaps then we will realise we are no longer encumbered by a physical body which gets hungry, gets tired, gets weary, gets ill, gets full of aches and pains, suddenly we will find ourselves (according to Scripture) with a new Spiritual body.

We briefly referred to this two days ago: So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonour, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a Spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a Spiritual body” (1 Cor 15:42 -44).  It's probably beyond our understanding now, but one day we're going to have a ‘spiritual' body which will be glorious and wonderful so “There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away" (Rev 21:4).

So, are we struggling with our frail and weak and infirm, human, earthly bodies? Hold on, it's not for ever, there is something glorious and wonderful coming that is part of the fruit or outworking of the Cross – a new wonderful body that is unfettered and free!  It's out of context but it applies well here: “ weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning ” (Psa 30:5).    When you die and arrive in heaven, it will be like morning. Look forward to ‘the new day'!

Prayer:

Father, thank you that part of your inheritance for me is an eternity with you, with a new body that will be free from the pains and limitations of this earthly body. Thank you in advance.

Eph 2:6   And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus

Consider:

This past week we have been considering wider issues of eternity that are end products of the work of Christ on the Cross. Such ‘unseen' things perhaps particularly require faith to believe in them because a) they are unseen and b) they may be in the future or c) they are in the Spiritual realm.  However, once we say that, we realise that most of these things we've been considering throughout these meditations fall into these categories and therefore require faith. They are all unseen. In as far as we have probably yet to enter more into them they are still largely future, and they certainly all are within the Spiritual realm, because God is Spirit.   So actually the more recent subjects don't require more faith; they just require faith – like all the rest.

Which is how we now arrive at today's verse.  Let's break it down and look at it piece by piece. “ God raised us up with Christ .”   Like much Scripture this is ambiguous. Does it just mean that in the same way that God raised Jesus from the dead (Acts 2:24 ), so he has now raised up new life in us (Rom 8:11 ) and made us new creations (2 Cor 5:17 )?  All of these things are undoubtedly true and do fit Paul's argument where he says we have been made “alive with Christ” (v.5).

But here is the anomaly - “ seated us with him in the heavenly realms ” - this ‘raising up' seems more that resurrection, it indicates more a ‘lifting up into a new realm.'  Scripture clearly tells us that Jesus was, after his resurrection, lifted up into heaven to sit at his Father's right hand and rule – Mk 16:19,  Acts 2:33, 5:31, 7:55, Rom 8:34,  Eph 1:20,  Col 3:1,  Heb 1:3, 8:1, 10:12, 12:2,  1 Pet 3:22.

So how can it be that we are said to be seated with Christ?  The clue is in the words, “in the heavenly realms”.   It's not merely, ‘in heaven', it's in the entire Spiritual dimension of existence.  There Christ reigns.  Nothing, but nothing, falls outside of his control.  In the Revelation visions John saw the whole of the end time history being put into the hands of Jesus, the Lamb (Rev 5:1-14). He reigns!

So how do we share in this? Perhaps a simple way to put this is to say, because of his Holy Spirit within us. We are linked directly to Christ by his Holy Spirit who now indwells us (1 Cor 3:16 , 6:19 ).   Therefore as we are ‘in the Spirit', aware of his presence, open to him, seeking him, so we will sense some of the things that Christ senses and so, as his body here on earth (Eph 1:22 ,23,  1Cor 12:27 ), as he leads us, we express his rule here on earth.  We are to ensure we submit our lives as fully as possible to him, and then see ourselves as being seated with him as he expresses his rule through us. Wow!

Prayer:

Father, it seems incredible that you have united me with yourself through Christ and by the means of your Holy Spirit.  I've seen that many times in these meditations, but I'm blown away by the thought that because of being united like that I'm in a position of participating in your reign. Oh Lord!

Jn 14:16,17     And I will ask the Father and he will give you another Counsellor to be with you for ever…. he lives with you and will be in you.

Acts 1:8   But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you.

Acts 4:8   Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said…..

Consider:

Seven weeks after Passover was Pentecost and so for seven weeks we have been considering the outworking of the Cross in our lives.  At one end of the weeks was the death and resurrection of the Lamb of God who died to take our sins.  At the other end of the seven weeks is the coming of the Holy Spirit who brings the life of the Son of God right into our lives.  As we look back over these weeks of meditations, it may not surprise you to know that the word ‘Spirit' has occurred 180 times prior to this sentence.

Why is that? Because Jesus' death brought the means of dealing with our sin and releasing us into a new relationship with the Father.   The releasing of his Holy Spirit was the means of bringing the power to us to transform our lives.  Remember He, the Holy Spirit, is also the Spirit of Jesus and so, as we've seen many times, it is the Spirit of Jesus who is working in us to conform us into his likeness (2 Cor 3:18), to bring out the fruit of his character in us (Gal 5:22,23), to gift us with some of the same abilities (Rom 12:4-8, 1 Cor 12:7-), to enable us to do some of the same things (Jn 14:12).

That is the staggering truth about the work of God in us – it is a combination of the work of Christ on the Cross and the work of Christ by his Spirit. One was a one-off historic event, the other is an ongoing work until the end of time when he winds everything up and hands it to the Father (1 Cor 15:24).

Are you struggling to take this in? Don't worry you are in good company. Our natural minds are not up to this alone.  We need the revelation and teaching of the Holy Spirit Himself to bring us knowledge and understanding.  Each one of us can perhaps understand some of this with our minds, but it will probably take a lifetime to absorb the reality of it.  Yes we can repeat the verses, speak out the doctrine that is revealed there in the Scripture and say we understand it, but the life-transforming reality will only do just that – transform our lives – given time, open hearts and the work of Him of whom we have been speaking so much.

Unless you are a wise and mature Christian for whom these meditations may just have been refreshers, may we suggest you again go through both sets of meditations and ask the Lord to really impact you with the truths of Scripture so they are not merely words, but truths that actually do bring life changing.  There is much more we could have written with each one but we hope and pray that there will be sufficient for you to feed on, and be stirred by.  Our focus has sought to be on Him.  To Him be the glory.

Prayer:

Father, I bow before you and worship you. Do what you will with my life by the power of your Holy Spirit.  Amen.