05/02/2022
We long for eternal life, and yet we want to remain here in this place we have come to know forever, but although we will receive the gift of eternal life that God has promised us in Christ, this place we have called home will know us no more. Something far greater, and more wonderful, awaits us as we put on immortality.
“As for man, his days are like grass; he flourishes like a flower of the field; for the wind passes over it, and it is gone, and its place knows it no more.”
Psalm 103:15-16 ESV
Our days are numbered like the grass that dies in season, and like the flowers that bloom then are gone. Although our seeds will remain and flourish in the coming spring, we will bloom no more in this field, surrounded by these flowers, sights, tastes, and smells that we have come to know and love here. Our eternal blossom will flourish in an eternal field having taken on a resurrected body that will never wilt nor die.
“For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.””
1 Corinthians 15:53-54 ESV
Our new eternal body will be glorious, and our ailments will be no more. The deformities of birth, or crippling injuries received in life, will pass away, and our body twisted and tortured by the pain of aging will regain its strength, health, and be filled with amazing vitality. We will be able to worship and praise our Lord in glorious fashion… unencumbered by the infirmities of a life wracked by the world, and marred by sin.
“He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.””
Revelation 21:4-5 ESV
To the degree that we long for eternal life, this is our confidence in the Lord, and His Son Jesus Christ, who has proceeded us in receiving a glorified body, and now prepares a place for us in Heaven.
“And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light.”
Matthew 17:1-2 ESV
“And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.”
John 14:3 ESV
Are we ready to be lifted up to join Jesus in eternity, and take our place among all those who have gone before us? Are we ready to be transfigured, perfected, to receive our glorified bodies, and to be made healthy and whole as we have never experienced the force of life before? Well if so then let’s not hold onto this familiar place too tightly, and trust completely in God who loves us. Death, and to die, is our appointed lot, and to live eternally is God’s; eternity is a gift He has promised us in Jesus.
“And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.”
Hebrews 9:27-28 ESV
Prayer:
Father, thank you for loving us so much that you sent your Son Jesus to redeem us, and to defeat sin and death so that we can have eternal life with you by believing in Him. Help us Lord to loosen our grip on this life when the time comes to leave this place and stand before you. Help us to confront our unbelief, and defeat it, so that all your promises concerning eternal life, and what awaits us there with you can be ours. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you our God who washes us clean of sin with the blood of Jesus, and make us worthy of eternity through Him who abides in us. Call us your children, your friends, and your joint heirs alongside Jesus. Hear our praise and worship rise up as we sing for all eternity of our love for you, and yours for us. Everlasting joy, eternal peace, and no more tears, forever, and ever, and ever, unending; in this we will rejoice, and long to remain in your presence.
“Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.”
Philippians 3:8-11 ESV
Rich Forbes