davidbowerkingwood

What has God been Doing?

Last time we considered the great blessing bestowed on all born again Christians, the indwelling of God the Holy Spirit. God, in His grace and mercy, had given His adopted children a fast rolling start on the process of conformity to the image of His Son, Jesus Christ. This amazing change had started with the incarnation of God, the Son, and was continued at Pentecost when the Holy Spirit indwelt Christians joining the Creator with the creation in an eternal, unbreakable bond.

At the initial time of creation described in Genesis, God created the first Adam by molding his body from the dust of the ground and breathing into him life in the image of God. The first Adam disobeyed a direct command of God which resulted in the immediate spiritual death of the first Adam and all present and future generations of man, and later their physical deaths.

A New Beginning

God determined that there would be a second Adam but this time it would be handled differently. Instead of simply breathing the image of God into the second Adam God would personally indwell the second Adam! At the appointed time, God the Son indwelt a human body created by the power of the Holy Spirit in Mary’s womb and a totally new creation came into existence.

The success of this plan would depend on the faithfulness of God and not the faithfulness of man. Whereas the first Adam had failed when he disobeyed God’s command, the second Adam would succeed because he would exercise the righteousness of God and would perfectly obey even to the point of death!

Out of the death of the second Adam would come a new creation, a new race of man indwelt by God, the Holy Spirit, who, by means of a new birth, would then indwell them forever! A clear understanding of this gives important insight into what the Lord said to His disciples in John 16:7 when He told them:

“⁷ But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.”

At Pentecost not only did the Holy Spirit come to them, He came into them to remain forever with them as the down payment on the blessings to come!

What is God going to do?

The First Advent is now history and the world awaits the return of the Lord Jesus Christ as King of Kings and Lord of Lords! This time the glory of the deity of Christ will be revealed and all will see Him as He really is, the eternal creator and God of heaven and earth. In addition, all who have been joined to God’s family by faith will rejoice in “the incredible wealth of His grace and kindness toward us.”

19 For all creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who his children really are. 20 Against its will, all creation was subjected to God’s curse. But with eager hope, 21 the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay. Romans 8:19-21

4 But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, 5 that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!) 6 For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus. 7 So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of his grace and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus. Ephesians 2:4-7

Blessings to Come!

The Bible reveals very little about the world to come, much less than some of us might like but we can have total confidence that it will far exceed our deepest hopes and dreams; after all we are creations of the designer and He knows us perfectly!

The last two chapters of Revelation give us a few clues as to what we can expect; I’m particularly fond of these verses:

“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared. And the sea was also gone. ² And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.

³ I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. ⁴ He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.”

⁵ And the one sitting on the throne said, “Look, I am making everything new!” And then he said to me, “Write this down, for what I tell you is trustworthy and true.” ⁶ And he also said, “It is finished! I am the Alpha and the Omega—the Beginning and the End. To all who are thirsty I will give freely from the springs of the water of life. ⁷ All who are victorious will inherit all these blessings, and I will be their God, and they will be my children. Revelation 21:1-7″

As a Christian you have been richly blessed beyond your ability to even imagine! There are wondrously amazing adventures ahead! We can surely join with all of creation as we wait with eager hope and perseverance for that wonderful day when we shall all enjoy glorious freedom from death and decay!

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!