Getting Forever Back Again
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Today's inspiration comes from:
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Today's inspiration comes from:
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Adam and Eve walked into what no human being was ever meant to experience: the double death of separation from God and physical demise.
The Bible has a name for what Adam and Eve did: sin. But it also tells us that sin is more than disobedient behavior. Sin is a condition of the heart that results in wrong behavior. This is why we can’t defeat sin on our own. Sin is bigger than the things we do. Sin is about who we are, and because of who we are (sinners), we do the wrong things we do (sin). To defeat sin, we have to
escape ourselves—something none of us is able to do. We step over God’s behavioral boundaries because in our hearts we want our own way. We do what God calls us not to do because in our hearts we want freedom from any authority over us but our own. We chafe against God’s will because in our hearts we think freedom is found only in self-rule.
But Adam and Eve did not get the freedom and lasting pleasure buzz they thought self-rule would bring them. No, what they got was separation and death. The forever hardwired inside them now seemed unrealistic and unattainable, and death, which was once unthinkable, became a regular part of human existence. The world had been turned upside down. It seemed that forever had died forever, and no one on earth had the power to turn it all around again.
But what seemed to be the end of the story was not. God was not about to sit idly by as His world was turned upside down. The Creator of life was not about to be defeated by death. He would act. He would deal with death in the only way that would lead to its defeat. He had a plan. He would win. Forever would live again.
The world, invaded by death, was in a new state of chaos. Instead of people’s lives being organized by love for God, they were driven by the constant pursuit of here-and-now pleasure. Death had invaded. The world had gone mad. But the story was not over, because God would not sit and watch the demise of His plan.
So God, in His grace, invaded our here-and-now madness in the person of his Son. Jesus did not transgress God’s boundaries. He did not live for His own pleasure. He refused to ignore eternity. He lived a life that was perfect in His Father’s eyes. But He did more; He willingly took the penalty of our selfishness on Himself. On the cross He took our punishment and purchased our forgiveness. In Jesus, all who believe not only don’t get what they deserve (condemnation), but they are also given what they have not earned (righteousness). Because of this forgiveness and righteousness, we are accepted into God’s family forever. The crisis of the human existence is
not that we are horizontally unfulfilled, but that we are vertically cut off. Grace connects us once again to God, and in so doing to the one place where our hearts can find rest and where we can be given back our senses. Grace not only connects us to God, but delivers us from ourselves and from the madness of our propensity to make life about little more than us in the here and now.
Grace gives forever back to us.
We see that the promise of the cruel cross and the empty tomb is profoundly bigger than a happy life in the here and now. The promise of the empty tomb is that we will live with God forever.
And in this way we are given back our humanity. Grace guarantees to all who place their faith in Jesus that forever is in their future. And what kind of forever? A forever that is not only free of punishment, but free of the madness of self-centered, pleasure-oriented here-and-now-ism, and the double death that goes with it.
One of the sweetest gifts of the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ is the gift of forever. It’s something we can’t earn but can graciously receive. When Jesus says that He came to give us life, He doesn’t just mean meaningful life in the present. He also means eternal life. In purchasing for us life that goes on forever, Jesus not only gave us a future, but He also restored our ability to live as we were designed, with eternity in view. Most people think that living with
eternity in view makes you a spiritual person, but living with forever in view is how God designed all human beings to live.
Grace frees us from our bondage to the here and now and enables us to live in the freedom that only eternity can give.
The gift of eternal life is not just a gift for the future; it is a gift for the here and now. The forever life, which Jesus purchased by His life, death, and resurrection, begins now. Grace causes us to be alive to God and enables us to see spiritual realities to which we once were blind. So we don’t load life on our shoulders as we once did, hoping we could exercise enough control over people and situations to make things work out okay. Instead, we live with the peace of knowing that a God of wisdom, power, and grace has already written the final chapter of our story. If He has already determined that we will live with Him forever, will He not protect and provide for us along the way? The implications of this are life transforming. Let me explain.
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Grace gives forever back to us.
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Grace gives forever back to us.
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When I think of living with forever in view, I think of how little we know about our own lives. None of us has fully understood our past, few of us really understand all that is happening in and around us in the present, and none of us has an accurate sense of what will happen tomorrow. No wonder so many of us are anxious and confused!
Do you remember the story of Joseph (see Genesis 37)? Joseph was the son of Jacob, and although he was the youngest in the family, he was going to get the principle inheritance (something normally reserved for the oldest son). His brothers hated him for being their father’s favorite. They hated him even more when he told them he had a dream that seemed to say he would rule over them. In jealousy, they stripped him of the special robe his father had given him and sold him as a slave to merchants on their way to Egypt. The brothers then dipped Joseph’s robe in goat blood and told their father that they had found Joseph’s bloody robe but not him. And that’s how Genesis 37 ends.
We tend to miss the drama of the moment because we know where the story goes next, but the characters in the story didn’t. Jacob thought his son Joseph was dead (he wasn’t). The brothers thought they had gotten rid of Joseph for good (they hadn’t). Joseph thought he would die as a slave and never see his family again (he would not die as a slave, and he would see his family again). No one in this terrible family drama had a clue. The sense that all of them made of this dramatic moment was, in fact, nonsense.
We are just like Joseph and his family. We don’t actually know as much as we think we know. The sense we make of our situation and relationships is often nonsense. The things we think are going to happen turn out to be very different from what happens. The moments we think are the end of the story turn out not to be the end, but a new beginning. That is why the gift of forever is such a precious gift for the here and now. We, who have been given eternal life, know where our story is going. Yes, we will be surprised by what is coming around the corner, but we know where our final destination is, and we know we will be cared for along the way. Peter describes all who have been given eternal life as those “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 1:5).
We can live with mystery and we can live in the middle of things that we cannot control, because the gift of eternal life guarantees that we will be protected by God’s power until forever is our final home.
Consider how this changes the way we think about and live our lives. If I am being protected by God’s power, then I know that He will meet all of my needs. Freed from worrying about my needs, I am liberated from relationships that are shaped by demandingness and self-interest. This then frees me to give myself to love, to serve the people in my life. The grace of eternal life frees me from carrying the burden of having to convince myself and others that I am righteous. Eternal life means I have been forgiven, and since I have, God will never turn His back on me and walk away. I no longer have to live in guilt and shame. I no longer have to fear being known. I don’t have to deny my weaknesses and failures. The gift of forever guarantees that I have been and will be forgiven and that everything that is broken inside of me will be completely repaired.
The grace of eternal life even changes the way I suffer. The belief that this present life is all I have makes suffering all the harder. You see, if present joy is all the joy I will ever have and someone takes it away from me, the impact is devastating. But if I know that this is not all there is, that God is moving me toward my final destination, then I know that this moment of pain is temporary. Living in light of eternity doesn’t remove my pain, but it allows me to have hope in my moments of pain. This hope is rooted in the assurance that God has guaranteed me a future that will be completely devoid of the pain I am now enduring. On the other side, I will remember this time of suffering that I am now going through and that seems to be lasting forever as a flash of a moment. Paul says it is “light and momentary” (2 Corinthians 4:17) when compared to the eternal life of pain-free joy that I will experience forever.
But there is more.
Living in light of forever means that I can wake up secure in the knowledge that it is impossible for me to ever be alone. The God of forever daily blesses me with His presence and His promises so that He will not lose me as I journey toward my final destination. This means it is also inaccurate for me to tell myself that no one cares for me or no one understands me. The gift of forever is not only about future hope, but also about God’s presence and provision in the here and now.
Finally, the gift of forever means that I have been freed to approach life with joy. No, not joy because the people around me like me, or joy because my life is comfortable and predictable, or joy because my life has been free of suffering, but joy because I know that I have been given the best of gifts: the gift of eternal life. Grace has given me present provision and future hope, so I can live with joy even when the situations and relationships in my life are confusing and hard.
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If the world feels like it’s gone mad, it’s because it has. But, we believers have hope because grace gives forever back to us. Right here and right now! ~ Devotionals Daily
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How an Eternal Perspective Empowers You to Live Your Fullest Life Today
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SUMMER SAVINGS EVENT
$10 off $45+
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You believe the right things. You've kept going, even when faith has felt more like a burden than a lifeline. But when life disappoints, you spiral. When the hard thing hits, you can't find solid ground. And if you're honest, most of your mood is shaped by how your week is going--not by what you say you believe about forever.
That's not a character flaw. It has a name: eternity amnesia.
According to pastor and bestselling author Paul David Tripp, the problem isn't that you've failed at faith. It's that you've been asking right now to do what only forever can. When this life becomes the destination, every disappointment feels like a verdict. Every unmet expectation whispers that something is wrong--with you or with God.
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SUMMER SAVINGS EVENT
$10 off $45+
with code SUMMER
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NIV, Outdoorsman Bible, Red Letter Edition, Comfort Print
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God Won't Leave You There
Online Bible Study
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God Won't Leave You There Online Bible Study
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