Photo by Peter Conlan on Unsplash
Last week I wrote about:
- The Messiah has come, and his name is Jesus.
- You no longer live under a “low-lying black cloud” of oppression and depression.
- Resurrection life does not come from adherence to the law code.
- God the Holy Spirit works to bring you into a resurrection life by developing a close personal relationship with God—as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
The Apostle Paul continues his writing.
But if God himself has taken up residence in your life, you can hardly be thinking more of yourself than of him. Anyone, of course, who has not welcomed this invisible but clearly present God, the Spirit of Christ, won’t know what we’re talking about.
But for you who welcome him, in whom he dwells – even though you still experience all the limitations of sin – you yourself experience life on God’s terms.
It stands to reason, doesn’t it, that if the alive-and-present God who raised Jesus from the dead moves into your life, he’ll do the same thing in you that he did in Jesus, bringing you alive to himself? When God lives and breathes in you (and he does, as surely as he did in Jesus), you are delivered from that dead life. With his Spirit living in you, your body will be as alive as Christ’s!
So don’t you see that we don’t owe this old do-it-yourself life one red cent.
There’s nothing in it for us, nothing at all. The best thing to do is give it a decent burial and get on with your new life.
God’s Spirit beckons. There are things to do and places to go!
Romans 8:9-14 The Message
The resurrected life
“But if God himself has taken up residence in your life, you can hardly be thinking more of yourself than of him.”
Romans 8:9 The Message
If GOD HIMSELF, known to us (Christ-followers) as God the Holy Spirit, has taken up residence in your life, it is a life-altering experience.
The God who spoke, and it became, lives in you.
The Old Testament story of Enoch offers a beautiful example of this. The very short story is found in the book of Genesis 5:21-24.
Enoch had a child, and the experience ignited his desire to know God. So, day after day, he went into the field to seek him.
Enoch was enthralled with God and spent more and more time in his presence. This went on for many years. Then, one day, it happened.
Late in the day, Enoch said to God, “It is late. I should be getting home.” Lovingly, God looked at him and replied, “Enoch, the hour is late, and we are closer to my house than yours. So, why don’t you come home with me?”
So, he did.
Enoch walked steadily with God. And then, one day, he was simply gone: God took him.
Genesis 5:24 The Message
This is a close personal relationship with God—the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
This is what it means to think of God more than yourself.
This is a resurrected life.
He is a clue that you are NOT walking in a resurrected life.
IF you think more of yourself—what you want, how you feel, and what others think—you are walking in a self-serving life.
It may carry the title “Christian,” but it is not a resurrection life.
“Even though you still experience all the limitations of sin – you yourself experience life on God’s terms.”
Romans 8:10 The Message
This is possibly one of the most powerful verses in the Apostle Paul’s writings.
Just because the Spirit of God lives within you (as long as you live in your earthly body), you still battle a sinful nature.
I used to ask, “Why would you do that, God? Why not restore us to a before-the-fall garden experience?”
The answers to those questions could fill up a book.
But a song from the late Andrae Crouch, an early Christian recording artist, helped put the answers into perspective.
The song “Through it All” had this verse:
So I thank God for the mountainsAnd I thank Him for the valleysAnd I thank Him for the storms He’s brought me throughFor if I’d never had a problemI’d never know God could solve themI’d never know what faith in His word could do
The second part of Romans 8:10 says, “You experience life on God’s terms.”
And God’s terms are a life of faith—the belief and assurance that he is God and will do what he has spoken.
A resurrection life is eternal, and the trials and tests of this life are to prepare you for your eternal life. (Which, by the way, is where we experience the before-the-fall garden experience).
“You see that we don’t owe this old do-it-yourself life one red cent.”
Romans 8:11 The Message
I like Eugene Peterson’s The Message because it speaks the language that (at least) I speak. In other words, his words pull up pictures in my mind that make sense.
So, when he says, “this old do-it-yourself life,” my mind pulls up images of hundreds of self-help books.
I remember a catchy phrase like, “If it’s to be, it’s up to me.”
As catchy as it is, the absolute truth is that I have a choice—to trust God. But for the Christ-follower, it is up to God’s plan for your life if it is to be.
Therefore, the resurrected life is NOT a life of self-help but one of choosing to follow God.
“There are things to do and places to go!”
Romans 8:14 The Message
The resurrected life of a Christ-follower is not sedentary. There are things to do and places to go in this life and in your eternal life.
I think too many Christians get caught up in this life and not eternal life. This life only offers a few decades, while eternity is forever.
Stressing over what you can and cannot be, do, or see does yourself a disservice.
Pursuing God’s plan for your life keeps a stressful life to a minimum.
The resurrected life is about doing what He wants you to do and going where He wants you to be.
A resurrection life is not about how many scripture verses you can quote or how many prayers you can pray.
A resurrection life is about having a close personal relationship with God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
A close personal relationship with the Godhead provides you a living hope. It is a living anticipation full of expectation of something good happening.
A close personal relationship with the Godhead is a journey. I invite you to follow along. As I learn, I will pass it along so you, too, can learn. I hope that as you learn, you can pass it along so that I (and others) might learn.
You must be logged in to post a comment.