Hi Everyone
Here’s the next part of the “Who I am in Jesus Christ - I am Loved and Completely Accepted in Christ”. This is Part 1 of “Set Free by His Love”
And as always, as you have been blessed, please to share the blessing.
Chris
Set Free by His Love 1: Set Free from the Sting of Death
What’s the worst thing that can happen to you?
For the unsaved, death is the worst thing that can happen.
The same should not be so for us Saints. Jesus our Lord has set us free from the sting of death.
1 Corinthians 15:50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption. 51 Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed— 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. 54 So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”
55 “O Death, where is your sting?
O Hades, where is your victory?”
56 The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. (NKJV)
Death for the unbeliever has a big sting called sin. Sin will separate them from God forever! Death for the believer holds no sting, for we are no longer in sin, nor are we under the law. The law has been fulfilled by Christ:
Matthew 5:17 “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. (NKJV)
No More Sting, Only Glory!
The day we die is the day the glory of God in us is revealed in its entirety!
Romans 8:18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. 19 For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. (NKJV)
When we die in Christ, there will be a revelation of the glory that is in us. The glory was given us in the form of the Holy Spirit (John 17:22), the same glory as Jesus, will be revealed!
1 Peter 5:1 The elders who are among you I exhort, I who am a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that will be revealed: (NKJV)
We are partakers of the glory revealed! Indeed this glory which is in Christ is in us.
1 Peter 1:6 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, (NKJV)
How is faith tested? Faith is tested when we are faced with circumstances where we can either react in the flesh or in accordance to God’s Word and His promises. It takes our will to choose to act in accordance to the Word in the face of a trial – e.g. to love someone instead of reviling because we know that God loved us first at great cost while we were still sinners.
The trials will always challenge the Word of God. Flesh always challenges Spirit (Galatians 5:17). If we have little knowledge of the Word in us, it will be a walkover by the flesh over the Spirit. This is why the Lord had said in Hosea 4:6 that we perish for the lack of knowledge.
2 Corinthians 4:16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. 17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, (NKJV)
The more the Spirit wins, the more we have an eternal weight of glory. This is why we count is all joy in the face of trials, the testing of our faith in the Word of God (James 1:2).
Death is Actually Gain…
For us who are born-again, death really ought to be the best thing that can happen to us! Death has no more sting and instead of separation that we were guaranteed under the Law, to us who believe is given eternity with the Lord!
Philippians 1:21 For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. 22 But if I live on in the flesh, this will mean fruit from my labor; yet what I shall choose I cannot tell. 23 For I am hard-pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better. 24 Nevertheless to remain in the flesh is more needful for you. (NKJV)
For Paul, dying to him is actually a good thing, for he is fully aware that being with Christ is far better. The only reason he still stays is not because he is hanging onto life for the pleasures that life bring. No, the pleasures of Heaven will make pale any pleasure we might think will gain this side of Heaven. He stays simply because there is fruit in his labour.
Death is gain. Life is about bearing fruit!
Life is for Bearing Fruit
2 Corinthians 3:18 But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord. (NKJV)
Far beyond the ticket into heaven, coming into a relationship with the Lord entails us realising the full potential that we were made for by the Spirit of God. God loves us so much He accepts us as we are. The same God loves us too much to leave us as we are. We need to come into contact with Him all the time in His Word, and see the worth we have in Him. We see glory in the mirror of the Word, because truly He is in us and when we continue to see our identity in Him, we go from glory to glory.
Fact is, we become who we spend the most time with. Looking at God in us, the hope of our glory, transforms us. David said
Psalm 17:15 As for me, I will see Your face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied when I awake in Your likeness. (NKJV)
When we start to see who we really are in the spirit, with Holy Spirit in us, we start to become who He meant for us to be. We start to exude His fragrance, show His glory to those around.
The Word is seed and seed when grown properly always produces fruit. The is what life is all bout – getting to know God and His love more and more through the Word that we might be filled with His fullness, reflecting His glory to a lost and dying world that needs Him. In this we will find satisfaction in life.
So What’s the Worst?
What’s the worst thing that can happen to you?
a. Die – If we do, we go to be with the Lord
b. Live – Continue to discover your New Creation, the Spirit Man in you, who is one with God, the Holy Spirit. Reflect God’s glory and bear fruit in the process.
We can’t lose for winning! However, the worst thing we can happen to us as Christians is if we don’t grow in Him, don’t come to know Him more and more and fail to realize anything about what He has already made us to be in the finished work of the Cross. Then we would lives that are way below the calling intended by God. Life here will then be about fulfilling our dreams here on earth, assuaging the needs of our five senses. Trust me, this will be the worst experience possible as a Christian. Truly, we need to realize that it is only dying that we live.
His love has set us FREE from the sting of death. We are blessed with every spiritual blessing today. Don’t let the little things in life send us into circles. Don’t allow the cares of the world, the deceitfulness of riches and the pleasures of life keep us on a merry-go-round, choking the Word and not allowing it to grow and bear fruit.
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