Revealing of Life

For thousands of years our knowledge of life has been growing. There is more understanding of the truth about life today than ever before. Over time the learning of one person is added on to another and the information stacks-up. The truthful sum of information will always lead people to God. It should be obvious that humans must honor Him because the Almighty is worth far more than the sum of everything He has created.  

Creation originated with God. In His eternal existence He has created everything. There is no other place that life will ever come from. People must go to the source of life if they want to learn more about their existence. God gave humans only one book and it contains more information than we will ever understand. Foolish people don’t read the book. Life will exist forever but the truth about Heaven or Hell is in God’s book.

Intellectual people have the hardest time understanding the truth about life. The Scriptures confirm this: O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, thank you for hiding these things from those who think themselves wise and clever, and for revealing them to the childlike. Yes, Father, it pleased you to do it this way! Matt 11:25-26 (NLT). God did this so that only the people who came by simple faith could join His eternal family. 

Humans are proud of their knowledge and we receive physical rewards for our expertise. However the gifts of God are received without our capabilities. The Bible says: …insight into this plan regarding Christ. God did not reveal it to previous generations, but now by his Spirit he has revealed it to his holy apostles and prophets. Eph 3:4-5 (NLT). The same Spirit that inspired Bible writers will reveal truth to faithful readers. 

Our life from God is explained in the Bible but the revealing we need for salvation is given to us when we have faith in Jesus. Paul said: When we tell you these things, we do not use words that come from human wisdom. Instead, we speak words given to us by the Spirit, using the Spirit’s words to explain spiritual truths. 1 Cor 2:13 (NLT). Learning the ways of God is not related to our wisdom but to faith in the Savior. 

The Spirit of God is teaching each Christian what they are like on the inside. The Spirit does this by showing us the righteousness of God so we observe the contrast. We need this because all humans fail to see the complete truth about themselves. All true revelation is done by the Spirit of God because He loves us. Nothing can be hidden from God and it is easy for Him to know what we need in our lives. 

Paul would many times leave a new group of believers behind on his missionary journeys. He was always concerned that they might be distracted by worldly things. Every day he would spend time praying for the Spirit to continue their growth. He prayed: I am …asking God, the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to give you spiritual wisdom and insight so that you might grow in your knowledge of God. Eph 1:17 (NLT). We can trust the Lord to teach us about life.

Eagerly Waiting

There may never be a time in our adult life that compares with our excitement on some Christmas Eve of our youth. Our eager waiting was probably so great that our gift the next morning was a let-down. However those of us who eagerly wait for the Lord will not have a let-down when the gift arrives. We believe that everything God has for us will be more wonderful and exciting than anything we have ever imagined.

Unlike this world everything we receive will only continue to become more exciting. This is why every Christian looks forward to the day we leave this world. We are sometimes accused of fatalism but that is completely wrong. Believers are not looking for inescapable disaster but for inescapable bliss. When most Christians leave this world they have an unexplainable smile on their face. Jesus puts this smile into our hearts.

We have received many gifts from the Lord. Here are two of them: He will come again, not to deal with our sins, but to bring salvation to all who are eagerly waiting for him. Hebrews 9:28 (NLT). It’s true that our sins have already been dealt with but we are eagerly waiting for our final salvation. Peter spoke of it: …until you receive this salvation, which is ready to be revealed on the last day for all to see. 1 Peter 1:5 (NLT).

Christians have a future that is full of excitement. Peter also tells us: Now we live with great expectation, and we have a priceless inheritance … 1 Peter 1:3 (NLT). It is priceless for many important reasons but the simple truth is that we can really be excited as we wait for it. Yes! We can let our excitement rise as far as possible because there is no-way we will ever be disappointed. It is good to have a great God.

Living in this world as a Christian is the beginning of our excitement. Paul said: What counts is whether we have been transformed into a new creation. May God’s peace and mercy be upon all who live by this principle… Galatians 6:15-16 (NLT). Sometimes people will ask what our life is about. The true Christian is a person that has been transformed into a new creature. These people are eagerly waiting for the Lord to return.

A new creature has risen out of the death of our old nature. This is why we rejoice when a person is raised up out of the water. The Bible says: Just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives. Since we have been united with him in his death, we will also be raised to life as he was. Romans 6:4-5 (NLT). Our new life is eagerly waiting for its full expression.

Born again people are so excited that they invite others to join them. The Bible says: The Spirit and the bride say, “Come.” Let anyone who hears this say, “Come.” Let anyone who is thirsty come. Let anyone who desires, drink freely from the water of life. Revelation 22:17 (NLT). We should be eager to tell thirsty people “you may drink FREELY”. This is why we are happy to wait.