Our Bible verse for today: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, and see, the new has come!” 2 Corinthians 5:17 (CSB)
Our thought for today: “Jesus gave you new life for eternity, but also for the here and now.”
This morning I want to return to a subject I wrote about on Easter weekend – new life. In that devotional message I said that Easter means new life, new life for eternity, but new life for the here and now as well. Jesus arose from the grave, thereby defeating death, so that we too can have new life.
We know what is meant by new life for eternity, it’s eternity in heaven with God. But what about new life now, what is that supposed to be like? For one thing it means that we are to be distinctly different than we were before we came to Christ. In Galatians 5:19-21 Paul gave us a laundry list of sinful practices. The list represents the kinds of things lost people are often involved in, actions such as drunkenness, sexual immorality, idolatry, and much more. Then he followed it in Galatians 5:22-23 with another representative list designed to illustrate the kind of godly characteristics that will be evident in the life of a person who is following Jesus. They include things like love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, etc.
So the new life in Christ should be one of holiness rather than sinful conduct, but it’s more than that as well. The new life in Christ is to be one that is spent in ways that are productive for the cause of Christ on earth. There are numerous New Testament passages which teach that lesson. The three expressions of the Great Commission found in Matthew 28:18-20, Mark 16:15 and Acts 1:8 are examples. So are the passages where Jesus taught about our call to service, such as John 13:1-16 and 15:1-8.
If all Jesus meant to accomplish through His death and resurrection was to make it possible for you to spend eternity in heaven, He would have taken you straight to heaven the moment you placed your faith in Him for the forgiveness of your sins. But He didn’t do that. Instead He left you here on earth, living this life, for some number of additional years. He left you here so you can serve Him here, helping to build His kingdom.
Whatever number of years you have left on earth after that moment of salvation, are meant to be spent in service to the Lord and to others. Do that, and yours will have been a life well spent.
Oak Hill Baptist Church