THE GIFT OF GOD IS ETERNAL LIFE. We have, as we read last week, an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This eternal life is now—we are imperishable because of the gift of life within us. Jesus has made us new creatures, forever alive IN HIM. We should always hold fast to that fact in our minds and spirits even when we suffer grief or go through trials. For the end result of our faith is the salvation of our souls. We who are believers are recipients of this message of eternal life even though we have not seen the Lord in the flesh. Salvation: the gift of eternal life is ours through the Spirit. Yes, our corrupted flesh will die someday. We have all been damaged by the terminal disease of sin. We have no defense against this virus. Man has tried in his own efforts to defeat this scourge of sin but nothing touches its lethalness. Societies, cultures have created laws, establishing them in their communities to keep the flesh under control. Yet, our natural inclinations cause us to break established laws that keep societies from chaos. If the flesh can get away with it, it will do it. Look at the traffic laws established for our own safety. People routinely violate those laws. Look at our income tax regulations. People will step over the line to benefit themselves by paying fewer taxes even while knowing they are pushing the regulations too far. We are like cattle, pushing on a fence to get better grass, distorting the fence line, breaking down or bending the fenceposts. Breaking societal rules and laws is one thing, but breaking our own standards of what is right and wrong is another thing. Jesus castigated the Pharisees who looked righteous on the outside, but inside they were lawbreakers. Their minds were so corrupt that He described them as whited sepulchers, decomposed and stinky on the inside of their tombs. Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness. (Matthew 23:27-28) Our own laws that we set up for ourselves are often in danger of being curbed or broken. We might proclaim that we will never get unreasonably angry at someone again or never again be envious of those who are rich. Or we might say that we will always treat people with kindness and generosity. But under certain pressures, our best intentions are often broken down to the point we are ashamed that we allowed our minds to wander to such depths, causing us to commit actions that violate our own sense of right and wrong. We are natural lawbreakers. Sin has taken a stranglehold of our lives from which we cannot escape. We are definitely susceptible to waywardness when we suffer wrong from others. But as Peter said, when we are under stress in life because of others or our own failures, we should rejoice, remembering we are under the grace of God: children of the Most High. Trials, difficulties, and suffering test our faith, not to judge how well we keep the law, but to test whether we truly trust in Jesus Christ. The more we are refined by experiencing the vicissitudes of life, the better Christ is revealed through us. The more we are tested, the more our salvation through Jesus Christ is exposed to the world. Peter says we should rejoice in this knowledge of Jesus and his substitutionary eternal nature for our sinful, finite nature.
Jesus is the bread of life. Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” (John 6:35) Even though manna was given to the Jews in the wilderness supernaturally from God, the manna did not support eternal life. All who ate of it eventually died. Manna was a gift from God to a starving people, but it was not a food that would sustain eternal life. Jesus Christ is the eternal food that energizes life forever. All must eat of him and drink of him. For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. (John 6:40) Even though Jesus Christ lived as a man in every way, He is the bread of life. He is the manna from heaven that places eternal life into all who put their trust in his words and actions. Christ is the bread, indicating very clearly that there are two realities to this human existence: flesh and spirit. The Bible explains that there is a spiritual reality that all must enter into if they are going to experience life forever with God. The flesh was fed by manna; the spirit is fed by Jesus Christ. The former is finite, fulfilling a temporary need; the latter is forever, continuously provided. Christians will feed off of Jesus throughout eternity. He provides the life that never ends. Peter says we should rejoice in this fact of eternal salvation; our souls are forever in the creative work of JESUS CHRIST. We are the born again people, created anew by the one who created all things. Consequently, troubles and trials we experience in this life should be considered only as refining elements of our faith in Jesus Christ. These experiences of difficulties should cause us to rejoice for God is perfecting his work in us. This is hard for us to grasp when we are despairing about the conditions we find ourselves experiencing. Peter, in writing to those who are being persecuted, to those who are being rejected in their community because of their belief in Christ, reminds them that this world is not their home. He wants them to realize that this life should not be held onto so dearly. They should appreciate that everything they are experiencing is insignificant compared to the great glory that they will receive when they see God. God will honor them, and all of creation will know them as the children of God, sons and daughters of the Most High. The crowns they will wear will be of royalty. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing. (2 Timothy 4:8)
Today as we seek answers for our lives, let us hold onto the truth of the gospel. Jesus Christ and him crucified is the story of redemption. He, as the first resurrected one, is the story of new life forever. Paul told Timothy, “If we died with him, we shall also live with him.” (2 Timothy 2:11) Truly, now we are raised in him, sitting in heavenly places. This is sometimes hard for us to conceive with our natural minds. How can we who are so temporary know anything about eternity? We find it hard to imagine a future life with the Creator, but the apostles preached new life to everyone who placed their trust in Jesus Christ. Peter in his letter to the Christians in Asia Minor reiterates this hope, reminding the Christians to hold fast to their faith regardless of the trials they experienced. We who are far removed from the days of the early church also must adhere to Christ, regardless of the difficulties and failures in life. We must not remove ourselves from the real reason of this finite existence. Our brief time on Earth gives us the opportunity to discover the manna of eternal life—the Bread of Life. God sent Jesus to redeem people who are made in his image. He has a love for us that is greater than we can imagine. When Paul talked about his love for the Jews, he states, I speak the truth in Christ—I am not lying, my conscience confirms it through the Holy Spirit— I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my people, those of my own race, the people of Israel. (Romans 9:1-3) We see in this passage Paul’s great love for his own people. He loved them so much that he would become a curse for them. This is God’s love for us. He sent Jesus who became a curse for us. Jesus faced oblivion, so that we might not face eternal oblivion. Dear friends, do not lose this image of God’s love for you, his anguish over your state of separation from him, without the possibility of redemption. Your efforts will never be enough. Your best work will always fall short of his perfection, exactness. We are wobbly human beings: some days good, some days not so good. God does not tolerate “not so good.” He will come in a twinkling of an eye, before anything can be done to rectify our condition. He will measure us according to his perfection, his exactness. If we are found in any other dimension than the perfection we find in Christ, we will receive the full anger of God on unrighteousness. This means we will be put away from his intimate presence; we will be forever without a home with our Maker, experiencing the judgment of being without God, a fiery trial that will never end. Peter wants you to endure by faith when circumstances exceed your understanding of God’s mercy and grace. Hang tough when you are beginning to doubt God in your life. Hang tough when life seems not to pay off with the good things you thought God would give you. Hang tough! For God’s blessing of eternal life resides in you through the indwelling Holy Spirit. Nothing can separate you from that life if you endure by faith to the end. Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the lord has promised to those who love him. (James 1:12)
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