Embrace Your New Life in Christ

Posted on by korgrocker

“This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him.”
2 Corinthians 5:17-18 NLT

One of the most hope-filled promises in the Bible is found in today’s verses. They remind us that, through Christ, we are not merely improved but completely transformed. Paul wrote, “Anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person”. The transformation described here is not an external behaviour modification, because it is a spiritual rebirth. When we place our faith in Jesus, our identity changes. A verse well known to us is the one that records what Jesus said to Nicodemus, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God” (John 3:3). Being “born again” means just that, starting a new spiritual life. In His conversation with Nicodemus, Jesus compared a natural birth to a spiritual birth, both of which are necessary for a new believer. A baby has to be born into this world, after which they will go through many stages until they leave it, the process of the “womb to the tomb”. Similarly, a person’s spirit must be born into God’s world, His Kingdom, but with a big difference. A reborn spirit never dies. Instead, it inherits eternal life.

We are no longer defined by our past sins, failures, or shame. Instead, we are defined by Christ. We read another verse from Paul yesterday in Galatians 2:20, “My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me”. In Christ, our story does not end with our past. It begins with His grace. Our old lives were represented by our separation from God, because they were ruled by sin and self. Our new lives represent a restored relationship, guided by the Holy Spirit. Paul wrote, “For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives” (Romans 6:4). But what are these “new lives”? Well, we find that we have a new heart. Ezekiel 36:26, “And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart”. We will also find that we have a new mind. Romans 12:2, “Don’t copy the behaviour and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect”. And pew-warming is not an option for us pilgrims because we have a new purpose. Ephesians 2:10, “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago”.  Impatient people like me want all these good things right now, but thankfully, God is patient and kind, and He has given us His Spirit to renew and empower us to grow. 

Paul wrote, “all of this is a gift from God”. Becoming a new person is not earned. It is a gift of God’s grace. Paul emphasised this in Ephesians 2:8-9, “God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God”. We don’t clean up ourselves before we can come to God. Too many people say they are unworthy to come into God’s presence. But through His love and grace, He cleans us up when we come to Him. This truth keeps us humble and grateful. Our salvation is not the result of our efforts. Instead, it is the result of Christ’s finished work on the cross.

We are God’s children

“God … brought us back to himself through Christ”. In other words, we are reconciled to God through Jesus. I always picture in my mind two sides of a deep chasm, too wide to be bridged, or too deep to be scaled. On one side is God and His Kingdom, the place where we want to be. But we find ourselves on the other, too far away to cross the gap through our own efforts. Even the Redcoat soldier in 1689, being pursued by Jacobites, and who was reputed to have jumped across the raging River Garry at Killiecrankie in the Scottish Highlands, would never be able to jump the gap. There is only one Person who can connect us to God across the chasm, and that is Jesus. Colossians 1:19-20, “For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ, and through him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ’s blood on the cross”. Because of what Jesus did for us, we are no longer enemies of God. But it gets better, because God adopted us as His children. 1 John 3:1, “See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are! But the people who belong to this world don’t recognise that we are God’s children because they don’t know him”.

In 2 Corinthians 5:18, Paul wrote, “And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him”. Paul reminded his Corinthians readers that this is what they were tasked with. I write much about our mission as pilgrims because we contain within us the treasure of knowing Jesus. So what else can we do but tell others? We share the message of reconciliation with those around us at every opportunity. Walking through my local city centre this morning, I was struck by the apparent looks of misery and hopelessness imprinted on people’s faces. They, too, are stuck on the wrong side of the chasm, without hope and any vision for the future, but we have the message of the Good News about Jesus. We pray for opportunities to share it. Our new life is not meant to be private. It is meant to reflect Christ to others. So we live differently, we forgive freely, we love boldly, and we speak the truth gently. Our changed lives become living evidence of God’s grace.

There are some practical things we pilgrims can do in the light of our now being a “new person”. Firstly, we need to stop defining ourselves by our past. We have a natural tendency to say things like, “I’ve always been like that”. Or assume that what we do is the way we always do things. But by doing so, we forget that if we belong to Christ, we are a new creation, set free from the shackles of the past. Secondly, we must remember that salvation is a process we call sanctification. We renew our minds daily by reading the Bible, spending time in prayer, and being obedient to what God asks of us. Our verses from 2 Corinthians today remind us that Christianity is not self-improvement but divine transformation. God takes what was broken and makes it new. He restores what was lost, and He invites us to participate in His redemptive work. The old life is gone, and the new life has begun. And the amazing thing is that it is all a free gift from God.

Dear Father God. Thank You for making us new. We are “ransomed, healed, restored and forgiven”, and it is all because of Jesus. We reach out to You today in praise and worship. Amen.

Seeing Others Through Christ’s Eyes

Posted on by korgrocker

“So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. At one time, we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know him now! This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!”
2 Corinthians 5:16-17 NLT

As we look around us at the people we see, how do we view them? Being human ourselves, we use our own value system to assess and review who they are. So, in the office, we might see one person as an irritation or another as a threat. In the street, we might approve or otherwise of a person’s dress code or behaviour, particularly if it doesn’t align with our own perspectives. Humans tend to categorise values such as success, looks, and other external factors, but Paul wrote, “So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view”. The Bible consistently reminds us that God sees deeper than we do. In 1 Samuel 16:7, we read, “But the Lord said to Samuel, “Don’t judge by his appearance or height, for I have rejected him. The Lord doesn’t see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart””. When we adopt Christ’s perspective, we begin to value what God values—character, faith, and potential. 

Paul admitted that even his understanding of Jesus was once limited. He wrote, “At one time, we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view”. There was a time when Paul saw Christ from a purely human standpoint, perhaps as a controversial teacher or threat. But after encountering the risen Lord on the Damascus Road, his perception was radically changed. Paul later wrote in Romans 12:2, “Don’t copy the behaviour and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect”. The way we view other people happens in our minds, and Paul taught that it is there that we are transformed. As God renews our thinking, we learn to see life differently. This includes viewing people as image-bearers of God (Genesis 1:27), recognising potential rather than just problems, and offering grace rather than quick criticism. When we truly know Christ, our relationships begin to reflect His compassion.

Paul continued, “How differently we know him now!” The exclamation mark is very telling. Paul’s encounter with Jesus totally transformed his life. His perspective of Jesus went from Him being a threat to the Jewish traditions and faith that he knew and loved, to one of Him being the Son of God, here on Planet Earth, on a mission to save mankind. 

Paul wrote in Galatians 2:20, “My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me”. We are new creations, so if our identity is no longer defined by our past, then neither is anyone else’s. Every person becomes someone Christ died for, someone capable of renewal. The Apostle James went further. He warned, “My dear brothers and sisters, how can you claim to have faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ if you favour some people over others?” (James 2:1). In God’s kingdom, human distinctions lose their power. Wealth, background, and reputation cannot determine a person’s worth. But it’s hard trying to see others through the eyes of Jesus, perhaps because that means treating them with dignity before it’s earned, or offering mercy before judgment. Qualities that Jesus extended to us when we bowed before Him on the cross of Calvary. Perhaps we must call upon the help of the Holy Spirit within us at every human encounter.

Christ died for us
while we still sinners.

So, how do we pilgrims view 2 Corinthians 5:16? Transforming our thinking to God’s thinking is a life-changing event. We will never succeed overnight; instead, it will take a lifetime of application. As we look at people, whatever the occasion, we must ask ourselves: Am I seeing this person through my biases or through Christ’s love? We remember our own story, our own encounter with the risen Jesus. Romans 5:8, “But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners”. We will meet many people who have been damaged by their life choices. The beggars sitting outside our supermarkets. The lonely person sitting on a park bench. The divorcee regretting their selfish ways. But in each case, God has not written them off. Through our witness, God can plant His seeds of restoration. There was a thief who was finally being executed for his lifetime of crime, and yet with his dying breaths He was restored to the man God intended him to be. 

Our churches and fellowships are, or should be, communities where believers work out their Kingdom relationships. However, all too often we evaluate others from a human point of view. But when we begin to see people not as labels, but as lives in progress, people loved by God, pursued by grace, and capable of transformation, we find a glimpse of how God sees them. And perhaps most importantly, we remember how differently we now know Christ. That changed vision becomes the foundation for how we see everyone else.

Dear Lord, please renew our vision. Help us to see people as You do, through Your eyes of grace. Teach us to look beyond appearances and recognise Your image and Your work in every life. In Your precious name. Amen.

Shining as Believers: A Call to Action

Posted on by korgrocker

“If we are ‘out of our mind,’ as some say, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.”
2 Corinthians 5:13-15 NIVUK

Paul wrote that Jesus died for all. Not just the Israelites, the Jews living in the First Century, but also for the Gentiles, people like you and me. Jesus died the death that we were supposed to have died because He took on the punishment we deserved for all our sins. What are they? Anything that is in opposition to God. There are no “little white lies” or half-truths. Every wrong thought and deed has been brought under the cleansing blood of Jesus. Isaiah wrote, ““Come now, let’s settle this,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are like scarlet, I will make them as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, I will make them as white as wool” (Isaiah 1:18). The Bible has a theme running through it, about God pursuing people everywhere because He loves them. Peter wrote, “ … He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent” (2 Peter 3:9c). And He achieved that aim through Jesus, “that whosoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life”. Jesus died our death so that we would be able to live His life. What a Saviour! 

We pilgrims, therefore, have an obligation to live our lives God’s way, without self-centred ambition and in a way that hides our spirituality from those around us. We are not monks shut away from the world behind the walls of a monastery. We are out there, shining like a beacon in a dark and hopeless world. We must live in a way that is Christ-centred, and no longer focused on our self-centred ways. Paul wrote, “Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had” (Philippians 2:3-5). In it all, we must each consider the question, “Who is at the centre of our lives, me or Jesus?” But what does “shining like a beacon” look like? It is a counter-cultural manifestation of human qualities soaked in the Holy Spirit, not the spirit of the world. So, we pilgrims will not join in with the negative talk amongst friends. We will not join in with the office gossip or smutty jokes. We will not rubbish the government (read Romans 13). We will not get involved with worldly ideologies. Instead, we will speak the truth about God and all He has done for us.

“Because He lives
I can face tomorrow”

Paul wrote, “that those who live should no longer live for themselves”. Of course, everyone “lives” until the day they die, but that is not the “live” that Paul was meaning. Peter wrote, “For you have been born again, but not to a life that will quickly end. Your new life will last forever because it comes from the eternal, living word of God” (1 Peter 1:23). To a Jewish leader called Nicodemus, “Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.” … “I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit. Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life” (John 3:3, 5-6). Our bodies will one day wear out and die, but our spirits will continue to live forever. There are men and women who claim to be Christians but who deny that it is necessary to be “born again”. The term has somehow been associated with a fundamental minority who have become radicalised into believing something more associated with sects. But we pilgrims “live” a spiritual, born-again, life, the Jesus way, following in the steps of the Master.

Jesus died on that Roman cross, and if that was all that there was, then we are a sad people. Paul wrote, “I passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me. Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said. He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the Scriptures said” (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). But he went on, “For if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ has not been raised, then all our preaching is useless, and your faith is useless. And we apostles would all be lying about God, for we have said that God raised Christ from the grave. But that can’t be true if there is no resurrection of the dead. And if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless, and you are still guilty of your sins. In that case, all who have died believing in Christ are lost! And if our hope in Christ is only for this life, we are more to be pitied than anyone in the world” (1 Corinthians 15:13-19). Indisputable logic from Paul, emphasising the importance, the cornerstone, of our faith. Jesus died and rose again, and through Him we can also look forward to our resurrection one day.

The Cross is validated by Jesus’ resurrection, and through Him we have victory over death. The grave no longer has any hold over us, because we pass through it into eternal life. We pilgrims serve a living King, victorious and glorious. Jesus said, “Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me” (John 15:4). Through the indwelling Holy Spirit, we remain connected to the Vine, who is Jesus, living the life that He has granted us through His grace and mercy. 

We serve the risen Jesus. He is alive today, tomorrow, and forever. So today, we must turn up the wick on our beacons, shining brighter and brighter, bringing Jesus’ life into the lives of those around us. 

Father, we pray for forgiveness for our sins, in deep gratitude for Jesus and His death and resurrection. With His life within us, we share the Good News, the truth about our faith, to those we know and even to those we don’t. We pray for our friends and families that the light and life of Jesus will illuminate their lives as well. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Compelled by Christ’s Love: A Call to Faith

Posted on by korgrocker

“If we are ‘out of our mind,’ as some say, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.”
2 Corinthians 5:13-15 NIVUK

That was a bit harsh, calling Paul mad. Well, isn’t that what “out of your mind” means? Apparently, some in Corinth thought Paul was mad, and they were members of the Corinthian church. What must the unbelievers have thought? Those outside the church who knew Paul, perhaps the local Jews, were intent on doing him harm, as we read in the first chapter of Paul’s first letter, treating him as being mad because of his alleged blasphemy. Paul didn’t have much going for him in Corinth. But Paul certainly wasn’t mad. In fact, he was arguably more sane than any of them in Corinth, because he had discovered the truth. The truth about Jesus being the Son of God. The truth that Jesus left Heaven and came to this world to die on a cross so that mankind could be saved from the consequences of their sin. The truth that he shared at every opportunity with a passion that some considered irrational. Paul wrote that his apparent madness was proclaiming truth for the benefit of the Corinthian church, because if they hadn’t believed it, they were heading to a lost eternity. 

Today, we pilgrims might be considered a bit unhinged if we passionately promote the Good News about Jesus. Having strong opinions is something more associated with those on the fringes of society. Talking about Jesus is not the sort of conversation starter you find in a secular social gathering or in the office. The presence of a “dog collar” immediately puts someone in a box labelled “slightly mad”, but for those without ecclesiastical clothes, talking passionately about Jesus is not considered to be acceptable and good form. People will avoid us, talk disparagingly about us, even insult and abuse us, but as with Paul, we stand for the truth at every opportunity. 

Why was Paul so passionate and fanatical about the Gospel? Well, verse 14 in our reading today provides an explanation. “For Christ’s love compels us” is why. Paul wrote in Romans 5:8, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us”. This can be difficult to fully understand because we are wired by sin for self-preservation, in a selfish way that puts our own safety and lives above those of others. And yet there are rare stories of people who, when faced with extreme danger, put aside their own lives to save another person. But we should note that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, chose to leave the comfort and glory of Heaven and become a human being, born into a peasant family. He became a man, although still God, and preached messages that opened the door into the Kingdom of Heaven for everyone. He provided the gift of salvation for all who believed in Him, through what was ultimately a humiliating and excruciatingly painful death. That’s love. That’s Christ’s love. We didn’t ask Him to die for us. In fact, in our sinful natures, we probably didn’t even give the Son of God any thought. He died for people who were shouting for His death. They abused Him, spat at Him, and rejected Him. And yet He still died for them. In Peter’s Acts 2 sermon, we see the people’s response as they finally understood the enormity of what they had done. We read, “When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, ‘Brothers, what shall we do?’” (Acts 2:37). 

Paul was one of the Jews who actively tried to silence the new believers. Paul was there when Stephen became the first Christian martyr, holding the coats of those responsible for stoning Stephen to death. That obviously had a dramatic effect on Paul, because he next appears in Acts 9:1-2, “Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem”. But his encounter with the risen Jesus on the Damascus Road refocused his passion and fanaticism and we read, “At once he began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God” (Acts 9:20). The present Labour government in the UK has been accused of many “U-turns” with regard to its policies, but Paul’s “U-turn” made them all pall into insignificance. So what caused Paul’s dramatic conversion? It was because Jesus loved and cared for him so much that He met Paul that day in an indisputable way. What else could Paul then do, other than be compelled and motivated to tell others about his Lord? This is not a guilt-driven ministry, pandering to an ego or a religious obligation. This was a ministry driven by love, God’s love, eternal love.

What about us pilgrims? Are we so sure and responsive to Jesus’ love that we, too, feel compelled to tell others what we have experienced? Or are we more blasé, paying lip service and no more? We need to remember that our pasts do not define us. Neither does our old life control us because we are no longer who we used to be. We may prove unpopular when we share our testimony and confront people with the truth about their future. But from the perspective of eternity, such fears are groundless and insignificant. The Lord loves us, and we love him. What more is there to consider?

Dear Lord Jesus. Thank You for Your love and grace. What else can we do other than share what You have done for us with others? Please help us, we pray. Amen.

The Urgency of Sharing the Gospel

Posted on by korgrocker

“For we must all stand before Christ to be judged. We will each receive whatever we deserve for the good or evil we have done in this earthly body. Because we understand our fearful responsibility to the Lord, we work hard to persuade others. God knows we are sincere, and I hope you know this, too. Are we commending ourselves to you again? No, we are giving you a reason to be proud of us, so you can answer those who brag about having a spectacular ministry rather than having a sincere heart.”
2 Corinthians 5:10-12 NLT

The Bible is full of verses on many topics. There are those that we like to read because they give us that warm glow inside, that God loves us and is looking after us. Look at Psalm 121, for example. Some great verses there of God’s protection, and the Psalm ends with “The Lord keeps you from all harm and watches over your life. The Lord keeps watch over you as you come and go, both now and forever”. And a Psalm much favoured for funerals ends with “Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will live in the house of the Lord forever” (Psalm 23:6). I love this translation because it uses the word “pursue” rather than “follow”. Our God is far from being passive. But there are other verses that make us feel a bit less comfortable. In fact, they may even make us squirm a bit in our seats. James starts his Epistle with, “Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow” (James 1:2-3). We hope and pray that our faith never has to be tested by “troubles of any kind“.

But in the verses we are looking at today, Paul wrote, “Because we understand our fearful responsibility to the Lord, we work hard to persuade others”. This is an action verse, one that demands that we do something. The word “fearful” doesn’t imply some form of terror but rather a great sense of awe about God, who He is, and what He has done for us. We do have a responsibility to Him because of Jesus, who took on the punishment we deserved on a cruel Roman cross at Calvary, and what He has asked us to do for Him since then. When we truly understand, we realise that our lives matter eternally and what we choose to do or how we live will have a spiritual impact. And as we recently considered, one day we will give an account of our lives before the Bema seat of Jesus. So the “fearful” bit must never paralyse us with fear, but rather it provides a reverence that mobilises us to do something for Jesus. 

Paul then wrote, “We work hard to persuade others”. Many Christians choose to keep their faith private. It’s their choice, of course, but that was never Jesus’ intention. Such people should be a bit worried about the third servant in the parable of the Talents. The servant who was given the one talent and didn’t put it to use. Instead, he buried it. He dug it up and gave it to the master when he returned from his journey, but received quite a rebuke. “But the master replied, ‘You wicked and lazy servant! If you knew I harvested crops I didn’t plant and gathered crops I didn’t cultivate, why didn’t you deposit my money in the bank? At least I could have gotten some interest on it’” (Matthew 25:26-27). Sadly, the parable ends, “Now throw this useless servant into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth”. Our faith has never been meant to stay private. Paul didn’t casually mention Jesus. He reasoned, explained, pleaded, and engaged hearts and minds. Paul was driven by a sense of loving urgency because the Gospel proclaims that eternity, either in Heaven or hell, is real. But because of Jesus, he knew that people have the opportunity to be reconciled to God through His grace and love. And because human lives are time-limited, urgency is required. Paul tried to persuade people because he had compassion for them. Why? Because Christ first loved him. 2 Corinthians 5:14a, “For Christ’s love compels us, …”. 

The next part of 2 Corinthians 5:10 is “God knows we are sincere”. Paul never considered human accolades. What mattered to him was God’s approval. He knew that God could see his motives, his struggles and his obedience. He wasn’t concerned about his reputation before men, but rather about doing God’s will. He knew that one day he would hear those marvellous words, “Well done, good and faithful servant”. As we emulate Paul’s mission, God too sees our hearts and motivations, and with the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, even our stumbling, imperfect words can carry a weight far beyond their syllables. Paul goes on to write that he hopes the Corinthians could grasp that he was truly sincere. Paul’s life matched his words. He “walked the walk and talked the talk”. 

For us pilgrims, we must follow Paul’s example when it comes to sharing our faith. There are many people around us, not just our friends and families, who need to hear the life-saving words of the Gospel. Jesus did so much for each one of us, so how can we keep our testimonies to ourselves and not share them with others?

Thank You Lord for saving us from perishing in a place where we would never want to be. Please help us find opportunities to share the Good News about You and Your death and resurrection, to save mankind from the consequences of their sins. Amen.

Understanding the Bema Seat: Rewards and Judgments in Faith

Posted on by korgrocker

“Yes, we are fully confident, and we would rather be away from these earthly bodies, for then we will be at home with the Lord. So whether we are here in this body or away from this body, our goal is to please him. For we must all stand before Christ to be judged. We will each receive whatever we deserve for the good or evil we have done in this earthly body.”
2 Corinthians 5:8-10 NLT

Paul wanted to please Christ. Don’t we all? But Paul’s drive and commitment to sharing the Gospel came from the assurance that, regardless of what happened to him in this life, he would one day be in Heaven with Jesus, his Lord. When he wrote these verses, we get the sense that Paul was feeling a bit weary and really wanted to leave his earthly body behind and put on his new Heavenly body. I’m sure many Christians feel the same, although there are also many who are perhaps not so sure of the future beyond the grave. Yes, they say all the right things and read the Scriptures, but perhaps there are a few doubts. It is natural to feel a bit wobbly about the future. Generally, people want to be in control of their lives and struggle to put their faith in God and His promises. But Paul had no doubts, and wrote, “Yes, we are fully confident”, not a little confident, or confident on every Sunday, but completely assured of his future.

Paul went on to write, “For we must all stand before Christ to be judged. We will each receive whatever we deserve for the good or evil we have done in this earthly body”. It is not a nice thought that we will one day be called to give an account of how we have spent our lives. Every moment of our lives will be rolled out before Jesus, both good and bad, after which will come the words of His judgement. Note that there will be no exceptions. Paul will be there as well as you and me. However, we should note that this is not the “Great White Throne” judgement of Revelation 20. The judgement on this occasion is for believers, and we sometimes call in the Bema seat of judgement, bema being a Greek word describing a raised platform. We also know that Jesus will be the Judge. John 5:22, “In addition, the Father judges no one. Instead, he has given the Son absolute authority to judge”. Paul said to the High Council in Athens, “For he has set a day for judging the world with justice by the man he has appointed, and he proved to everyone who this is by raising him from the dead” (Acts 17:31). His statement didn’t go down very well with the Council members, although one or two joined Paul wanting to know more.

Paul is clear in his letters that this judgment is not about salvation. Christ will not declare in that moment whether someone will go to heaven or hell. In no sense is this verse implying that this judgment, or the deeds it examines, are what decide someone’s eternal fate. Salvation is a gift given to everyone who trusts in Christ. We all know the verse John 3:16, “… for whosoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life”. We also know that “We have all sinned and fall short of the glory of God”, but through Jesus’ sacrifice at Calvary and our belief in Him and the confession of our sins, we are redeemed from the punishment we deserve and are counted as righteous before God.

In 1 Corinthians 3, Paul addresses the importance of what we build as followers of Christ. Much of what we do will not survive the “fire” of judgement day. Paul wrote, “Anyone who builds on that foundation may use a variety of materials—gold, silver, jewels, wood, hay, or straw. But on the judgment day, fire will reveal what kind of work each builder has done. The fire will show if a person’s work has any value. If the work survives, that builder will receive a reward. But if the work is burned up, the builder will suffer great loss. The builder will be saved, but like someone barely escaping through a wall of flames” (1 Corinthians 3:12-15). If we really took our Christian lives seriously, we would perhaps pay less attention to the church roof and more to applying Christ’s teachings in our daily lives. Another couple of verses worth noting are in Colossians 3:23-24, “Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. Remember that the Lord will give you an inheritance as your reward, and that the Master you are serving is Christ”. 

Note that Paul wrote that we will all receive a reward, or otherwise, for the things we have done while on this earth. Living in our earthly bodies is a preparation for eternity to come, and our stewardship in how we conduct our lives is important. The time we have is short compared to the eternity ahead of us. Paul mentioned the reward is connected to the good and bad things that we have done. The “good” things are those that are spiritually valuable and profitable in the Kingdom. And as we expect, the opposite of those things is worthlessness and unprofitability. But we do have the assurance of our salvation. The Bema seat of judgement is all about reward or otherwise.

“Well done, good and faithful servant”

So, how should we pilgrims live our lives? We must live daily with the awareness that one day we will leave this life and this earthly body and find ourselves in Heaven. In all that we do, we should bear in mind that we are doing it for Christ. I think it was Billy Graham’s wife who had a sign above her kitchen sink that said, “Worship services held here three times a day”. We must align our priorities and perspectives with the values of the Kingdom of God. Another thing we should consider is the motives behind what we are doing. If it is for human applause and affirmation, then it has no value at all. Above all, we must invest in what is of eternal value. I once asked someone I knew, who attended the Abbey Church in Dunfermline, if they thought all their hard work in looking after their building, wonderful and magnificent as it is, would get them into Heaven. It is a shame that the heavy burden borne by the fabric committee will have no value at all when they stand before Jesus. In the end, the one thing we aspire to hear is Jesus saying, “Well done, good and faithful servant”. That’s all that will matter.

Dear Lord Jesus. Please lead us and guide us in our commission as we work for You. We confess our sins and ask for Your forgiveness. In Your precious name. Amen.

Faith: Our Assurance Beyond Mortal Existence

Posted on by korgrocker

“So we are always confident, even though we know that as long as we live in these bodies we are not at home with the Lord. For we live by believing and not by seeing. Yes, we are fully confident, and we would rather be away from these earthly bodies, for then we will be at home with the Lord.”
2 Corinthians 5:6-8 NLT

We human beings are mortal. This means that there will come a time when we will die. It is a thought that horrifies many people, but it is one of the few things about our lives that we cannot control. We don’t know when the final day will come, but even if we did, there is nothing we can do about it. There are scientists who claim that there are some things that we can do, though, to delay the inevitable, like being careful about how we live, avoiding smoking, drugs, and alcohol. By eating the right foods and avoiding the wrong ones. And some claim to be on the edge of creating chemicals that would significantly prolong our lives. The Victorian writer H Rider Haggard wrote a novel called “She”, and it was about a woman who was immortal because she had discovered a “Pillar of Fire” that granted immortality to anyone who was fortunate enough to be able to stand in its flame. It’s a great story but a long way from the truth. Interestingly, it explores some of the perils of immortality from a purely secular perspective, particularly when bestowed upon an evil person. Mankind has always been fascinated with the concept of life, death and immortality, and there are some who make a living by pandering to people’s desires. Job wrote the truth, however, as we read in Job 14:5. Speaking to God, he said, “You have decided the length of our lives. You know how many months we will live, and we are not given a minute longer”. 

From the perspective of eternity, therefore, we are living in a temporary home. Our spirits will one day be set free from the physical entity that we call our bodies. Paul wrote that he would rather be away from his, because then he “will be at home with the Lord”. Our earthly existence is real, meaningful, and purposeful—but it is not ultimate. There is a quiet homesickness woven into the heart of every believer. We experience moments when we feel lost, or experience thoughts like “what am I doing here”? We pursue pleasurable activities but find them unfulfilling. We suffer through illness or pain, and wonder what is going on. But in it all, we sometimes sense that we were made for something more. An unbeliever will not be immune to the feeling that they don’t belong here, and they try their best to fill the gap by material means, or try to suppress the feelings with alcohol or drugs. A visit to a psychiatrist might provide temporary relief, but in the morning, the mind-numbing processes of the previous day will have all worn off, and the sense of loss will still be there. Unbelievers learn to suppress such feelings, although they sometimes emerge when not expected. But a believer like us doesn’t have such feelings because they have been replaced with the knowledge that we are indeed just living in a temporary home.

Paul didn’t despair about his physical challenges and feelings of homesickness because he had confidence in his future and the God who would one day make it all possible. How could he say that while acknowledging suffering, persecution, and uncertainty? Paul wasn’t playing some kind of mind game, convincing himself about his future, a self-assurance that had no basis in truth. Paul had a God-assurance, the settled conviction that whether he remained in his body or left it, he belonged to the Lord. That kind of confidence cannot be shaken by changing circumstances. With Paul, we pilgrims understand that our true home is with God, and earthly instability loses its power to terrify us.

Paul wrote, “For we live by believing and not by seeing”. We call that “faith”. Faith is not blind optimism. It is a steady trust in what God has promised. It is choosing confidence when circumstances are unclear. It is walking forward even when the road ahead disappears into fog. Hebrews 11:1, “Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see”. The problem is that in this life, we are trained and conditioned to trust what we can see with our eyes. But faith doesn’t work like that, and instead, we put our trust in the One who has promised us life in our new home, one that He is preparing for us right now. The Christian hope is not merely about survival after death—it is about reunion. It is about fullness. It is about finally being where our hearts have always belonged. To be “at home with the Lord” suggests intimacy, rest, and completion. Home is where we are fully known and fully loved. Paul’s longing reveals a heart that has tasted God’s presence so deeply that eternity feels like the most natural destination.

Do we pilgrims feel the same as Paul? I’m sure many of us are weary of the limitations of our current bodies, but one day, perhaps soon for some, we will be at home with the Lord. There will be no better place possible. At last, we will lose that sense of not belonging. At last, we will be home.

Dear Father God. There is a song, “What a day that will be / When my Jesus I shall see / And I look upon his face / The one who saved me by his grace.” We worship You today, Lord. Amen.

Understanding Our Earthly Tents and Heavenly Bodies

Posted on by korgrocker

“For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down (that is, when we die and leave this earthly body), we will have a house in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God himself and not by human hands. We grow weary in our present bodies, and we long to put on our heavenly bodies like new clothing. For we will put on heavenly bodies; we will not be spirits without bodies. While we live in these earthly bodies, we groan and sigh, but it’s not that we want to die and get rid of these bodies that clothe us. Rather, we want to put on our new bodies so that these dying bodies will be swallowed up by life. God himself has prepared us for this, and as a guarantee, he has given us his Holy Spirit.”
2 Corinthians 5:1-5 NLT

Paul described his human body as being an “earthly tent”. Is that not a strange description? But Paul, being a tentmaker by profession, would have used the analogy from his experience. Here in Scotland, we’re so grateful that the great majority of the population doesn’t have to live in tents. Even modern tents, lightweight and easy to set up, lack the comforts we expect. I can remember camping trips in the wilder parts of Scotland in a tent; great times in the summer, but even then it is possible to be caught out, as I once found out on an overnight stay in May in the Highlands when the temperature dropped below zero. Tents are temporary structures and unsuitable for long-term living. But that thought must have dropped into Paul’s mind, as he mused about growing “weary in our present bodies”. Our human bodies might be good enough to carry us through the few decades of our natural lives, but they would be totally unsuitable for eternal life. Both human bodies and tents have limits.

A tent serves a purpose for a season. It shelters us on a journey, but is not the destination—it is accommodation along the way. Our earthly bodies are like that. They allow us to love, serve, work, create, and worship. Yet they groan, age and weaken. Paul does not deny this groaning. He acknowledges it. As believers, we are not called to pretend that suffering is pleasant. We feel the ache of living in this sad and bad world.

But something wonderful is coming for us pilgrims. We will receive “an eternal body made for us by God himself”. We don’t completely know what it will be like, although we do know that we will receive a body like Jesus’ resurrected body. 1 John 3:2, “Dear friends, we are already God’s children, but he has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is”. In Philippians 3;21, Paul wrote, “He will take our weak mortal bodies and change them into glorious bodies like his own, using the same power with which he will bring everything under his control“. Paul looked forward to the day when he could put on his new Heavenly body like “new clothing”. How often do we pilgrims feel like that, as we struggle out of bed in the morning, feeling the aches and pains? Even the younger generations amongst us long for a “duvet day” every so often.

Death has no power over us

How do we think we will be in Heaven? If our spirits leave our earthly bodies and end up in Heaven, will they just float around without substance? That, of course, won’t be the case. Paul wrote, “For we will put on heavenly bodies; we will not be spirits without bodies“. We do not understand totally what Heaven will be like because we try to make sense of it with our earth-bound senses. But, through faith, we will find ourselves in a body that is Heavenly not earthly, a new body that God has created for us. Paul also wrote that our “dying bodies will be swallowed up by life“. That’s quite a challenge, getting our minds around that one. We think of that moment when we die as being the end, but in fact, it is just the beginning. In his previous letter, Paul wrote, “Then, when our dying bodies have been transformed into bodies that will never die, this Scripture will be fulfilled: ‘Death is swallowed up in victory’” (1 Corinthians 15:54). Death has no power over us, because we leave behind our “tents” and find ourselves in a new Heavenly home, in a body made by God.

So, in this earthly life, we must look forward to the life to come. We may be living in a “tent” just now, a temporary home comprised of flesh and blood, but I’m sure our Heavenly bodies will be absolutely amazing. No more weariness, pain, and ageing. And all that groaning that we do will be a distant memory, if we remember it all. The tent is temporary. The house is eternal. And the Builder is God Himself.

Dear Heavenly Father. We look forward to receiving our new Heavenly body. Please help us to make the most of what we have, though, in gratitude for all that You have done for us in the here and now. Amen.

Renewed Spirits Amidst Life’s Trials

Posted on by korgrocker

“That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.”
2 Corinthians 4:16-18 NLT

“Our bodies are dying”, Paul wrote. In an absolute sense, that is, of course, true. We have been dying since we became adults, or, it could be argued, since birth. Through Adam, sin entered a previously perfect world, and what was meant to live forever has been corrupted and spoiled. The span of human life is now rarely more than 100 years, and here in the UK, the average lifespan for a man is 70 and for a woman 83. Death comes when our bodily functions start to decline and are unable to renew themselves. But I can hear my readers’ thoughts: “What a depressing way to start the day!” Well, it would be, except for the fact that Paul followed up his initial statement with “our spirits are being renewed every day”. A random person in the street, an unbeliever, will not have a clue about the spirit, or soul, that lives within him. They will experience emotions and feelings. They will laugh and cry, love and hate. And all the time perhaps not understanding that this comes from their soul. We describe a person as “body, soul and spirit”, but a random person in the street will not spend too much time thinking about their soul and spirit.

But we pilgrims are not random people at all, because we are children of God and because of that, our spirits will end up with God in Heaven. He knows our names, and these are engraved on the palm of His hands – Isaiah 49:16a, “See, I have written your name on the palms of my hands”. What a privileged people we are! Paul was greatly comforted by the fact that, although his body was dying, his spirit was alive and well and was being renewed each and every day. 

One day, our bodies will finally die and will end up in a grave or urn somewhere, but our renewed spirits will go on to live forever, and, one day, will receive a new body. One that will never wear out and will be like the body Jesus received all those years ago on the first Easter Sunday. Paul took an eternal view of all the troubles that he was experiencing day by day. The beatings, shipwrecks, general abuse and so on would all one day be of no consequence at all because he would be spending time with His Lord, Jesus. A bit later in this epistle, Paul wrote, “While we live in these earthly bodies, we groan and sigh, but it’s not that we want to die and get rid of these bodies that clothe us. Rather, we want to put on our new bodies so that these dying bodies will be swallowed up by life. God himself has prepared us for this, and as a guarantee he has given us his Holy Spirit” (2 Corinthians 5:4-5).

But what about the random person in the street, whose body is wearing out as well and whose spirits are yet to be reborn into God’s kingdom? Their spirits will live forever as well, but not in a place they want to be. Suffice it to say that we pilgrims must encourage them to consider their future and, in the process, introduce them to Jesus.

Paul could see that his present troubles were of no consequence and, more, would one day produce for him a glory that far outweighed what he was experiencing. He finished the chapter with “we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever”. That takes faith, but such a perspective is not unachievable because the Holy Spirit within us will hold the vision of Heaven before our spiritual eyes. So, what do we pilgrims fix our gaze on? Sadly, so often we get caught up in the things of this world, and the vision of glory dims and gets crowded out. It is not that we must neglect the worldly demands, but we must keep them in perspective. 

Towards the end of 1 Corinthians 15, Paul wrote, “Then, when our dying bodies have been transformed into bodies that will never die, this Scripture will be fulfilled: “Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” For sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power. But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:54-57). It’s all about Jesus and what He has done for us. Without Him being willing to sacrifice his body so that we would have life, we would be in a very sad place.

Dear Father God. We praise and worship You today. We are so grateful for Your love and grace, and for the day we will have eternal life with You. We look forward to the glory awaiting us, totally undeserved, but all because of Jesus. Thank You. Amen.

The Assurance of Resurrection in Christ

Posted on by korgrocker

“But we continue to preach because we have the same kind of faith the psalmist had when he said, “I believed in God, so I spoke.” We know that God, who raised the Lord Jesus, will also raise us with Jesus and present us to himself together with you. All of this is for your benefit. And as God’s grace reaches more and more people, there will be great thanksgiving, and God will receive more and more glory.”
2 Corinthians 4:13-15 NLT

Paul and his colleagues, men who travelled with him on his missionary journeys, had a terrible time when they preached the truth about Jesus. In his day, people generally didn’t want to hear anything about Jesus, preferring instead to continue in their evil ways. But Paul kept going anyway, enduring the physical violence for the sake of the Gospel. His faith was strong and consistent because he knew that his future with God was secure. 

One of Jesus’ seven “I am” statements can be found in John 11:25-26: “Jesus told her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying. Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never ever die. Do you believe this, Martha?”” To prove the veracity of his statement, Jesus went on to raise Lazarus from the dead. This wasn’t just a one-off miracle designed to bolster Jesus’ reputation. It was a prophetic display of God’s power and what will happen in the age to come. 

In his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul explained to them, “Just as everyone dies because we all belong to Adam, everyone who belongs to Christ will be given new life. But there is an order to this resurrection: Christ was raised as the first of the harvest; then all who belong to Christ will be raised when he comes back” (1 Corinthians 15:22-23). Paul wrote that Christianity without the resurrection was pointless because eternal life is central to our faith. We all know the Easter story: when Jesus rose from the grave and appeared to His followers. That was a pivotal moment that founded and strengthened our faith, because God promised that Jesus was the first to be resurrected and that He would be followed by all who believe in Him.

But what does being raised with Jesus really mean to us pilgrims? Paul started 2 Corinthians 4:14 with the words, “We know …”. Do we have the same assurance as Paul, or are we not sure and have doubts? Sadly, some believers don’t know; instead, they wish or hope that everything will work out for them in the end. But the historical evidence for Jesus’ resurrection is there. Paul wrote, “He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the Scriptures said. He was seen by Peter and then by the Twelve. After that, he was seen by more than 500 of his followers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died. Then he was seen by James and later by all the apostles. Last of all, as though I had been born at the wrong time, I also saw him” (1 Corinthians 14:4-8). That’s surely enough evidence to turn a “wish” into a “know”.

“God … will also raise us with Jesus”

Paul wrote that, “God … will also raise us with Jesus” (2 Corinthians 4:14a). Notice how personal this is. Paul wrote that the resurrection is not just something Jesus experienced. It is something believers will share in. Just as Jesus was raised bodily, so will we be raised, and that will totally change our perspective on our lives. Instead of becoming depressed and fearful of death as we grow older or perhaps sick or affected by the death of a loved one, we will look forward to the time when we, too, will be released from the privations of this life and will join Jesus in Paradise. The grave is not a destination; it is a doorway.

Paul adds something beautiful at the end of 2 Corinthians 4:14: “and present us to himself together with you”. The future for us pilgrims is not solitary. We are not saved alone. We are raised together. Paul envisioned a day when believers stand together in the presence of God: presented, restored, complete. We are a people, not just individuals. Heaven will not be isolation; it will be fellowship perfected. This truth reshapes how we treat one another now. If we stand together before Christ, then our unity matters deeply today. So, before we think disparaging thoughts about a fellow believer, remember that we will spend eternity with them. Hmmm…

Earlier in the chapter, Paul wrote, “We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed” (2 Corinthians 4:8-9). Why was he prepared to put up with so much suffering? Paul understood that what was happening was not the final chapter. The certainty of being raised with Christ gave him the courage to endure. The promise of presentation before God gave purpose to his perseverance.

Well, we pilgrims know how the story ends, so no matter what we are facing just now, it will turn out to be insignificant in the light of eternity, full of God’s glory and grace.

Dear Heavenly Father. Thank You that You will never abandon us. We are part of Your family forever. Amen.