Promise of Eternal Life
Are we believing for all that God has promised His called and chosen people? There are secrets in His word that promise more than many realize or can accept in faith. Just because it has not happened yet—or moreover, just because it has not happened to us, does not mean that God is not planning to completely fulfill His words of promise. May all get their portion from God, that which is required to fill up the inner man with the kingdom. Christians who have faith to receive are filled with the spirit beyond their initial salvation, as many have experienced through the centuries.
“I still have much to tell you, but you cannot yet bear to hear it. However, when the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all truth.
For He will not speak on His own, but He will speak what He hears, and He will declare to you what is to come.” John 16:12-13 Berean
When God’s truth is filtered through our carnal mind, far below the mind of Christ, deception, distortion and deceit occur. If Jesus’ words were to be understood literally, without spiritual understanding, He would not have told His disciples that they could not bear it now. There was much truth in what He ministered to them but they could not grasp it until He made the holy spirit available within them after His resurrection.
Jesus said His words are spirit and life. God is a spirit and desires us to worship Him in spirit and truth. When we desire to understand what is to come, we need the holy spirit to reveal it, along with all truth, spirit to spirit. In this manner, God bring His life to a fullness within through His presence and of our King, the Lord Jesus Christ. While all have a measure of the holy spirit, not everyone has the evidence of speaking in tongues in their own prayer language.
We seek for all that He has for each of us and what God gives His business. We ask in faith for all He has made available, trusting the Lord to equip us as He chooses. Having our own prayer language, which differs from the gift of tongues used as a prophetic utterance to a group, is a wonderful and precious gift. With this gift, we can always know that we are praying according to God’s will:
“But if we hope for what we do not yet see, we wait for it patiently. In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know how we ought to pray, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groans too deep for words.
And He who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.” Romans 8:25-27 Berean
When we pray in our prayer language, we have confidence we are praying for God’s will. That is most valuable! We are to hope for what we have not yet seen, and there is much we have yet to see of God’s unfolding plan and purpose. How sad to limit what is possible to only what we ourselves have experienced, witnessed, or heard about and been taught. It’s like saying the vast ocean can be contained in one jar of water that we are able to hold in our hands.
“Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit in corruption.” 1 Corinthians 15:50 KJV
Flesh and blood cannot enter into His kingdom, but the spirit within us is joined to Him and learning His ways. We have eternal life in the spirit, and our souls (mind, will, and emotions) are being purified as we follow on to know Him. He is writing His truth on our hearts so that we can actually do His will. When we are completely and fully redeemed, our bodies will follow on into life. This is another promise remaining to be fulfilled that we long to witness,
We who believe know that we will live forever, eternally with the Lord. We are born of that incorruptible seed, planted by God in our hearts. As that spiritual body within us is being fed by the word, watered by His spirit, it is growing in strength and stature to be like Him. We already know that our spirits go back to God when we physically die. Paul spoke to those who were saying there is no resurrection:
“..we are also exposed as false witnesses about God. For we have testified about God that He raised Christ from the dead, but He did not raise Him if in fact the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, then not even Christ has been raised.
And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If our hope in Christ is for this life alone, we are to be pitied more than all men.” 1 Corinthians 15:15-19 Berean
We have confidence in life after death, believing that Christ raises all from death into His life, each in his own rank and order. His work surely continues on the other side of the grave. We know our loved ones who have perished are alive in Him in the spirit, each in their own place. But what about the promise of God for the full redemption, without dying, of our earthly bodies some are to receive?
Where is that full victory over death, our last enemy that Jesus Christ conquered for us, not thru His death only, but also through His resurrection from the dead? We do not yet show forth God’s complete victory in our earthly bodies. Many have been healed and even the dead raised back up through the centuries, yet all faced physical death. It is obvious that death continues to work as we grow older. Aging, sickness, and disease remain the evidence that death still rules.
Our last enemy is death and Jesus has gained the victory over it, be we have not…yet. When He rose from the grave, He had the keys of death, and hell. He told John the Revelator when He appeared to Him:
“Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last, the Living One. I was dead, and behold, now I am alive forever and ever!
And I hold the keys of Death and of Hades.” Revelation 1:17b-18 Berean
To hold a key to something is to symbolically have entrance into it, authority over unlocking, accessing, and changing it. Jesus has the victory over death in His hands, yet we continue to suffer under the dominion of death in this world. God subjected humans to death beginning with the disobedience of Adam and Eve. We long for the full reconciliation of our spirit, soul, and body, the promise of eternal life that will fully restore us to intimate fellowship with the Father.
The entire creation is in bondage to sin and decay, waiting for our full adoption as sons and daughters of God. His word states that all creation longs for the full promise of eternal life.
“I consider that our present sufferings are not comparable to the glory that will be revealed in us. The creation waits in eager expectation for the revelation of the sons of God.
For the creation was subjected to futility, not by its own will, but because of the One who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.
We know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until the present time. Not only that, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.
For in this hope we were saved; but hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he can already see? But if we hope for what we do not yet see, we wait for it patiently.” Romans 8:18-25 Berean
The full redemption, the sign of being fully adopted as sons of God is not complete until our bodies are redeemed. Paul hoped for this full redemption, ministering its truth to the people of his day. Centuries later, the enemy’s work continues to show up in our bodies daily as we age. We do not have the same bodies we lived in when we were younger. As far as we know, there has yet to be a Christian believer who has overcome death in spirit, soul, and body.
This is truly a mystery, with much yet to be revealed and understood. Nonetheless, we are to “hope for what we do not yet see” in the promised change of these fleshly bodies. This earthly temple is destined to be swallowed up of life just as His spiritual body was resurrected from the dead. Our spirit is fully alive to Him, our soul is being changed, converted into His thoughts, His will, His emotions. When this process is complete, the body in which we are housed will finally be swallowed up in victory.
Hear the promise of God.
“You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness.
And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it.” Romans 8:9-12 NIV
Several things are crystal clear in this passage. We are completely and totally unable to make our flesh, our carnal, earthly mind, behave and become righteous. It does not matter how much some of us might flail at our own or others’ flesh, quote the scriptures, or lay down the law. God said it is impossible to please Him in our flesh by our earthly ways and practices. The flesh may be willing but it is weak and destined to die.
But wait! We are not of the flesh but of the spirit if we allow God’s spirit to dwell within, making His home in us. This is God’s qualification, repeated twice. God’s spirit is moving in, making its home, tabernacling in His people. This, my Christian brothers and sisters, is the Feast of Tabernacles being fulfilled. This Feast is when Father God and Jesus Christ the Son comes to dwell, to tabernacle or make their home in us, dining with us in the kingdom.
We have had two Feasts fulfilled on the earth for at least in some of God’s own: the Feast of Passover through the sacrifice and blood of Jesus and the Feast of Pentecost where He grants His Holy Spirit within His saints. Finally, it is time to reveal the secrets of the Feast of Tabernacles, the third feast as typified in the Old Testament as a spiritual pattern required of God’s people.
The Feast of Tabernacle has been hidden from most of God’s people until this Day of the Lord. There are those, such as ourselves, who celebrate this feast annually, waiting upon God to complete this work within us in reality. God began the work of tabernacling or making His home, His dwelling within us with Jesus, His Son, coming inside of us. We are the temple of the Lord and collectively those called out to represent Zion on this earth.
Jesus said the kingdom of God is within us, not out there somewhere.
“Once, on being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, ‘The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed, nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is in your midst.’” Luke 17:20-22 NIV
“Do you not know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him; for God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.” 1 Corinthians 3:16 Berean
We are where the spirit of God resides, His holy habitation, He desires to take rulership in His kingdom within us. His kingdom is love, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. Jesus had the Father’s kingdom within Him, when He said the kingdom was already in their midst. Now, He is in us, coming more and more to take up His rulership. We hope and wait patiently for when this dwelling within us is complete. When someone makes their home in you, they have fully moved in to stay!
As the Lord is coming within us, He swallows up death in victory as He has promised but we’ve yet to witness. When the fullness is come, no sin or death can be there. The only sinless Man was Jesus Christ our Lord, but He is the firstfruits of many brethren:
“For those God foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brothers.
And those He predestined, He also called; those He called, He also justified; those He justified, He also glorified.” Romans 8:29-30 Berean
We have yet to see all God will accomplish in bringing His kingdom to this earth within us. His return is imminent and will be seen in the saints of the Most High. Then we will be glorified as He was glorified. Is there any greater glory than having the God of the universe seen in these earthly tabernacles?
The disciples saw His resurrected body, recognized Him as Jesus their Master and Savior. Yet His spiritual body was not like our earthly bodies. He could come and go at will, being seen visibly in a body and even eating with them, then disappearing into the spirit. We are to become like our Lord Jesus Christ, the Firstborn of many brethren, but so far, we are still dying. We have yet to truthfully claim, as our Lord did:
“…Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.” John 5:19 NIV
Which of us can say we only do what we see the Father doing, only speak what the Father gives us, as Jesus did? Can we truthfully claim that any of us are glorified as He is, being completely like Him as He has promised is our destiny? It can seem almost blasphemous to believe that we can be just like Him, but He has said so, over and over. We are on that path but most days, we seem so very far from being like Him!
There are those who have claimed to do so, to be sons of God fully led by the spirit, but their lives do not show it. And they still die. While we pursue this prize, along with Paul, we have yet to see this promise fulfilled. Not knowing God’s timetable of certainty, we may not see it in our lifetime or even for ages to come. If we can only have faith for His promises that we have seen fulfilled here, that is not faith. Some have proclaimed it, but we are waiting to attain it!
I honor my spiritual mother Rev. Maxine Plowman, who was gifted with the message of the Feast of Tabernacles early in her ministry at the Gospel Center in Tama, Iowa. Sister Plowman held an annual eight day Feast of Tabernacles meeting starting in 1949, following the time and pattern established in the Old Testament. Once I joined her fellowship, I rejoiced in annually attending this Feast gathering, listening, learning and even sharing the good things of God in these gatherings of ministry and believers from all over.
Later, Sister Plowman passed the Feast of Tabernacles on to my husband Rich and myself, who brought it to Vine Street Gospel Chapel in Des Moines to host until we continued this on our own. Many other elders believed in this truth, though they were not allowed to see it on this side of heaven. Sometimes these faithful ones were considered foolish to believe their bodies could live forever. But, they had faith in the redemption of the body because it is in the Word of God, faith for what they had not yet seen.
Read the foundation of this lesser known Feast of Tabernacles set as a statute forever, as set in the Old Testament pattern:
“Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Speak to the children of Israel, saying: ‘The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the Feast of Tabernacles for seven days to the Lord. On the first day there shall be a holy convocation. You shall do no customary work on it.
For seven days you shall offer an offering made by fire to the Lord. On the eighth day you shall have a holy convocation, and you shall offer an offering made by fire to the Lord. It is a sacred assembly, and you shall do no customary work on it.
These are the feasts of the Lord which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, to offer an offering made by fire to the Lord, a burnt offering and a grain offering, a sacrifice and drink offerings, everything on its day—besides the Sabbaths of the Lord, besides your gifts, besides all your vows, and besides all your freewill offerings which you give to the Lord.
Also on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the fruit of the land, you shall keep the feast of the Lord for seven days; on the first day there shall be a sabbath-rest, and on the eighth day a sabbath-rest.
And you shall take for yourselves on the first day the fruit of beautiful trees, branches of palm trees, the boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the brook; and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God for seven days.
You shall keep it as a feast to the Lord for seven days in the year. It shall be a statute forever in your generations. You shall celebrate it in the seventh month. You shall dwell in booths for seven days. All who are native Israelites shall dwell in booths, that your generations may know that I made the children of Israel dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.’” Leviticus 23:33-44 NKJ
It is a statute forever! This Feast is Sukkoth on the Jewish calendar, honoring all of God’s provision throughout the year. Then the Israelites brought an actual sacrifice by fire to the Lord; now we offer the sacrifice of ourselves, all our fleshly ways, which He burns up in His holy presence. We bring all the fruit of the kingdom that the Lord has worked within us to Him.
The Lord is our consuming fire and Jesus made the eternal sacrifice for all so that we have a way in. We believe the promises of God revealed in His word by the holy spirit. God will continue to come within us, changing us to be made in His likeness and image. We have plenty to go through, and much to accomplish while we believe in this final completion of the full redemption promised. However, these same scriptures are understood by some to mean that we will all be raptured off the earth, while the sinners burn in hell forever.
Instead of this carnal interpretation, these passages actually speak of this coming fulfillment of the Feast of Tabernacles:
“… For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must be clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality.
When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come to pass: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” 1 Corinthians 15:52-55 Berean
There is no evidence that death has been swallowed up in victory yet. But there is a time when the sons and daughters of God, led by His spirit, are so changed that they become His spiritual government on the earth. We have a spiritual body now that is being built, along with others called and chosen for this Day. We are to be a habitation of the Lord.
We are eligible for the redemption of the body, when our mortality is swallowed up with life, becoming immortal, imperishable, though we may not receive it in our lifetime on this earth. We will continue to believe all He says to us while we wait and pursue Him with our whole hearts. For a deeper understanding of this passage, consider the Concordant Literal:
“Now, this I am averring, brethren, that flesh and blood is not able to enjoy an allotment in the kingdom of God, neither is corruption enjoying an allotment with of incorruption. Lo! a secret to you am I telling! we all, indeed, shall not be put to repose, yet we all shall be changed, in an instant, in the twinkling of an eye at the last trump.
For He will be trumpeting, and the dead will be roused incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption and this mortal put on immortality. Now whenever this corruptible should be putting on incorruption and this mortal should be putting on immortality, then shall come to pass the word which is written, ‘Swallowed up was Death by Victory.’
Where, Oh Death is your victory? Where, Oh Death, is your sting? Now the sting of Death is sin, yet the power of sin is the law. Now thanks be to God, Who is giving us the victory, through our Lord Jesus Christ.” 1 Corinthians 15:50-57 Concordant Literal
Someone who “trumpets” something is giving a strong, clear message to pay attention. God always has His messengers for the age trumpeting His word. It is clearly stated here that all will be changed, but not everyone through death. That’s the secret! Some will be changed without being “put to repose.” The word “repose” is translated from the Greek as “sleep, to slumber, to decease, death”.
Most assume that we cannot be fully changed, made perfect while on this earth. But the scriptures talk about being perfect as He is perfect without adding “when we get to heaven.” This is a deception that the enemy of our souls has planted, an assumption because we have never seen anyone accomplish this except by the report that our Lord accomplished it first. What better way to stop our growing up into Him than but telling us it is not achievable here and now?
Even if you cannot believe in the redemption of the body, you can keep growing, keep overcoming, keep learning and just leave that up to God. I mean, really, what do we have to lose?
“If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Do not even tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even Gentiles do the same?
Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Matthew 5:46-48 Berean
“Therefore I urge you, brothers, on account of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
Then you will be able to test and approve what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.” Romans 12:1-2 Berean
Do you think that God will not accomplish what He is confidently stating to us? Redemption of our bodies must happen and we can believe for it because it is in His word. Though we do not know when or if we will be a part of this company, we have faith in His word of promise for it to happen, in His time, to at least some of His people. We are not to demand or insist upon it. Only God knows when it is to be fulfilled and in whom.
We believe in many promises for which we have no visible evidence without spiritual eyes to see and spiritual ears to hear Him. The life of the spirit, our true homeland, can become more real than our earthly existence while death still has so many victories. It stings us and all those we love with sin, destroying our mortal bodies. Sin brings death and those who sin will surely die unless Jesus saves them.
Jesus died for all, but read again the secret, plainly stated by Paul: we will not all have to die to be changed! God changes our bodies in an instant (His instant, not ours!), at the time of the last message, the last trump sounding. Those “dead in Christ” rise in the spirit first, where Jesus went and is now in the spirit. We are to consider ourselves dead in Christ, our flesh fully taken over by His rulership through the mind of Christ, which we have. We are eligible to be among those who remain on this earth, changed without dying, as He fully tabernacles within us:
“For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, He cannot die again; death no longer has dominion over Him. The death He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life He lives, He lives to God.
So you too must count yourselves dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 1:10-11 Berean
“For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.” Romans 6:11 Berean
Search the scriptures to “see if these things be true” and God will faithfully show you His truth by the spirit. If you are trying to understand His spiritual words literally by your carnal mind, you will not see or understand all truth. Jesus used spiritual language in His ministry. He spoke many things that can only be understood spiritually. He said we are the “temple” of the Lord, to be understood as the place of His kingdom within, where He dwells.
His kingdom is spiritually within us, not a literal place in the earth that we must identify or go to see, as Jesus said it can’t be found by scrutiny.The time of the end is to be like the days of Noah. All went through the flood, but the righteous were preserved on the earth. The faithful people of God, Noah’s family were those who remained, not the sinners. Sinners were taken from the earth, perishing in the flood God brought.
He promised He would not do it again, with the visible sign of the rainbow as a reminder of this covenant.
"I now establish my covenant with you and with your descendants after you and with every living creature that was with you--the birds, the livestock and all the wild animals, all those that came out of the ark with you--every living creature on earth. I establish my covenant with you:
Never again will all life be cut off by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth.’
And God said, ‘This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind.
Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.’
So God said to Noah, ‘This is the sign of the covenant I have established between me and all life on the earth." Genesis 9:9-17 NIV
God has a plan for all creation, all living things. He has covenanted not to bring destruction to the earth, specifically not by another flood. All creation is groaning more and more, as man’s dominion brings more death and destruction to all, often through greed and carelessness. It’s one thing for a habitat to be destroyed by people who need it to live. It’s quite another to do so by poisoning the environment to support a lifestyle that costs others their for financial gain, and then lying about it, as many have.
God knows and is about the business of tearing down the refuge of lies we hide beneath:
“You boast, ‘We have entered into a covenant with death, with the realm of the dead we have made an agreement. When an overwhelming scourge sweeps by, it cannot touch us, for we have made a lie our refuge and falsehood our hiding place.’
So this is what the Sovereign Lord says: ‘See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation; the one who relies on it will never be stricken with panic.” Isaiah 28:15-16 NIV
Those who habitually lie always think they can keep doing so and not be exposed or found out. Our thoughts may first go to others in this world who wield great power and authority, causing pain, suffering and destruction by their lies. So many lies have been told through the centuries that have caused many a battle, so much death and destruction. It continues to this day, with those who are threatening annihilation because of their desire for power and control.
May God break that stronghold in the spirit that allows leaders to continue their search for personal gain covered by lies and deception. But we also rejoice as the lies we all hide in our hearts are washed away. God has laid this Foundation, the precious Cornerstone of Christ within our hearts. Jesus Christ is the right judgment, the only straight and true plummet line. Hail is hardened water and quite destructive, so a strong word will expose what is concealed.
All of the lies that men and women are hiding within will be revealed and exposed, stripped away. Then the water of spirit can flood in and wash away the earthly lies and deceptions written within us. It won’t harm those who belong to Him. This is good news! How could it not be when the result is that our covenant (agreement) with death is annulled?
Any agreement with death is to be canceled or pardoned, any secret fatalism, any way we have deceived ourselves that we can sin and still enter in, is cleansed from our hearts. Any lie based on past expectations contrary to His word of life is dealt with, any behavior stemming from the lie that it’s okay though it works death in us, is taken care of. Yes, our destiny is to be made perfect in Him.
The power of death over us is broken forever, canceled by our Lord Jesus Christ. It can no longer rule over us! We welcome Him as our King, returning to conquer all in us and others. He is now working to create true hearts in His own, from which no guile will flow into words. We are to be free from the bondage of death, fully restored, drawn to Father God and supping with the Son and the Father in spiritual Zion, where is the throne of God’s Kingdom, yet to come. Hear it again:
“Where, O Death, is your victory? Where, O Death, is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.
But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”1 Corinthians 15:55-57 Berean
Yes, He has already given us the victory over death. Now we must learn to walk in all that He did. While we patiently await this, God promised to restore our health speedily, also yet to beroutinely evident. So many precious saints, including those who are given great revelations and understood much truth, have died. Sin brings death and no one can argue that it is still working in our bodies even though Jesus Christ defeated both sin and death.
Jesus Christ is not still fighting satan or death, but we are. We have yet to grasp the promise of the healing for our bodies. We long for more miracles that heal and restore the body. Here’s just one of many scriptures that promises healing from God:
“Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, and turn away from evil.
It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones.” Proverbs 3:7-8 NIV
We do believe in and pray for healing in the body for all those who are suffering illness and death. God still does miraculous healings but it is neither automatic nor routine. Oh, that it would be more fully manifested so that death really had no victory! In the spirit, this is so. We are confident we will never die in our spirits, but our souls and bodies still need some work and we cannot deny this.
We have moved past the ministry of the law, and place no confidence in following rules and regulations for deliverance. God’s people have been following the law in one way or another for centuries and what change have we seen? No one but Jesus could fulfill the law. He did it for us so that He is making His victory part of us, written on our hearts. It is the only way we can please Father God. He loves us and sent His son to save, not condemn the world.
But to actually please Him, cause His heart to sing because of our love and submission to Him—what a privilege that is!
“Now if the ministry of death, which was engraved in letters on stone, came with such glory that the Israelites could not gaze at the face of Moses because of its fleeting glory, will not the ministry of the Spirit be even more glorious?
For if the ministry of condemnation was glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry of righteousness! “ 2 Corinthians 3:7-9 Berean
Who can say they have seen the full glory of the Son in a people, the lasting presence of God dwelling within, swallowing up our death completely through His victory? The ministry of death is the law, which was fulfilled with the ministry of the Spirit that Jesus Christ our Lord brought to us. Yet many still walk in the law of religion while seeking God Who is spirit. We have yet to walk in all that He has accomplished, but we surely can hope for what He promises though we have yet to see it.
What is this ministry of righteousness? Is it not the very life of our Lord taking up residence within us? He is the only way for us to be righteous—to be right in His eyes. What a glory we have already seen as we gaze into His eyes, hear His words, and seek to live in His presence daily. It is here, on this earth, that we need our tears dried and death to be no more, as it is already in the spiritual heavens of our Lord. What a day to come!
“I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them.
They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.’” Revelation 21: 2-4 NIV