Eternal life is not some future event that we will experience some day. Eternal life occurs within us, as we come to intimately know Jesus, and our God who sent Him (John 17:3). God is the Father of spirits (Hebrews 12:9). He created us in His own likeness (Genesis 1:27; Hebrews 12:9). He claims us as His children (Ephesians 1:4-5). He sanctifies us throughout our lifetime, until we are holy and without sin in His sight. His rich grace abounds in our life, and He gives us His wisdom to deal with every issue we face (2 Corinthians 9:8).
We are born of the first
Adam from the dust of the earth, but also born again of the second Adam, Jesus,
by the Spirit of God (1 Corinthians 15:45). God created us as physical human beings, but He also gave us a spirit.
He made Jesus the firstborn among many brethren (Romans 8:29). God gives us exceedingly great and precious
promises of salvation, so that we might be partakers of Christ’s divine nature (2 Peter
1:4). Jesus is equal to God, and He
lives in us, sharing His divine nature with us (John 5:18).
God wants to fill us through
all of our being with all the fullness of God Himself, so that we may obtain
the richest portion of His presence in our life (Ephesians 3:16-19; 4:13). We have the same potential, which Jesus did of becoming
spiritual beings, because Christ in us is Spirit (1 Corinthians 15:45). As we contemplate the Lord’s glory, we are
transformed into His likeness with an ever-increasing resemblance (2
Corinthians 3:18; Romans 12:2). God
loves us and shows Himself to us (John 14:21). He called us through the gospel to obtain the glory
of our Lord Jesus Christ (2 Thessalonians 2:14).
By God’s glorious grace we
slowly walk in the divine nature of Christ in us, and we walk away from the
corruption in the world (1 Peter 2:2-4).
God wants us to fully understand the amazing magnitude of His power available
to all authentic Believers. It is the same dynamite power that resurrected
Christ from the grave and returned Him to His glory in Heaven (Ephesians
1:19-20). He fills us with this life and
supplies us with everything we need to function in unity with or triune God and
to accomplish His will in the earth (Ephesians 1:23).
As our focus on our self
decreases, Christ increases within us (John 3:30). We are the offspring of God and His divine nature
infuses every part of our body, soul and spirit (Acts 17:28-19). God fashions us as new creatures in true
righteousness and holiness (Ephesians 4:23-24). We are individual members of Christ’s Body and Jesus is our head (1
Corinthians 12:27; Ephesians 4:15). We
live as the temple of the Holy Spirit and one with the Spirit of the Lord (1
Corinthians 3:16, 6:17). The world knows
that God sent Jesus on their behalf, because our life is a testimony to them (John
17:21-23).
We are crucified with
Christ, and therefore, we live in this world for the glory of Christ (Philippians
1:21). Yet, it is not we who live, but
Christ who lives in us, through us and instead of us (Galatians
2:20). God completely sanctifies us,
conforming us to the image and likeness of Christ, His Son (1
Thessalonians 5:23). Jesus gives us the
glory, which the Father gave to Him, so that we can be one with Him and with
one another (John 17:22). We
slowly mature until we share in the divine nature of Christ (Ephesians
4:13). In eternity, Christ will even
transform our body to mirror His glorious, immortal one (Philippians
3:21).
Prayer:
Father God, You want us to
quit struggling, stressing and striving to be more spiritual (2
Corinthians 5:18-19). You want us to
cease from our efforts, so we will enter into Your rest (Hebrews
4:10). You have our life and character
in Your hands to mold into the image of Christ. We are no longer a separate
entity from Jesus. We are one with You by faith in Your Son (John
17:21-23). Your Spirit transforms our
nature through sanctification to share in Your divine nature (2 Peter
1:4; 1 Corinthians 6:17).
Thought for the Day:
Christ became one of us, so
that we could become one with Him.