“ that mortality may be swallowed up by life” (2 Cor. 5:4, NKJV)
We are still examining the characteristics of “the Spirit of the LORD” (Isa. 11:2), looking at how this first of the seven Spirits of God has distinctive functions. In the previous teaching we provided a beautiful explanation of how this life – which exists in itself and that is nestled in God’s characteristic being – becomes part of all who are born-again. We concluded with Col. 3:4 (MB): “The exact life on exhibit in Christ is now repeated in us.” This is perhaps an even greater and more important truth than the fact of one’s salvation, but for some reason it hasn’t been changing our lives! I would like to spend a bit of time thinking about this, as there are many believers who seem to “receive the grace of God in vain” (2 Cor. 6:1). Like Peter I also need to “exhort … and testify … that this is the true grace of God in which you stand” (1 Pet. 5:12).
This principle of self-generating life of Jesus WITHIN us is the marker of our Christ life. In Phil. 3:10 Paul calls this “the power of his resurrection,” and in 2 Cor. 4:10 he explains how “the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body”. Like Him, we “also are weak in Him, but we shall live with Him by the power of God toward you” (2 Cor. 13:4). Thus ‘we also should walk in newness of life” (Rom. 6:4).
It is this life, “an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled” (1 Pet. 1:4) which works WITHIN you (2 Cor. 4:12). Please do not miss this – it is perhaps the most important way of occupying your faith that you have access to.
This incorruptible and undefiled life is the hope of the entire creation. There is a Scripture we love to quote, Rom. 8:19: “For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God.” In verse 22 “eagerly waits” is intensified to “labors with birth pangs”, and these birth pangs are specifically for the revealing or appearance of “the glorious liberty of the children of God” (verse 21), which is to say the Christ life, that is released in believers.
Alas most of us remain focused on the gifts of the second dimension: prophesies, visions, healings, signs and wonders, transient blessings, and provision of specific needs. We focus on the relief of the pressures of our ordinary life, and on physical and transient blessings. We pray for the healing of illnesses, at times witness wondrous acts of healing taking place, only to later be witness to the same person succumbing to some other life-threatening illness. We know so many Spirit-filled men and women who walk in revelation who, for instance, eventually are diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, and cannot remember any of the glorious revelation and truth they were privy to. What a waste!
If I understand Rom. 8:23 correctly, we, “the firstfruits of the Spirit”, must expect “the redemption of our body”, that “mortality may be swallowed up by life” (2 Cor. 5:4). Can this still occur in this life we’re living?
- Selah: What would this final paragraph imply?
- Read: 52 & Ecc. 1-2
- Memorise: 1:6 (how apt is this verse!)
