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.

Wholesome Thinking

Posted on by korgrocker

“This is my second letter to you, dear friends, and in both of them I have tried to stimulate your wholesome thinking and refresh your memory. I want you to remember what the holy prophets said long ago and what our Lord and Saviour commanded through your apostles.”
2 Peter 3:1-2 NLT

This is Peter starting to wrap up his letter, reminding his readers in Asia Minor what the purposes of his letter were. In fact, his first letter had the same purpose as his second – making and encouraging disciples. He wanted to strengthen their faith so that they could stand on their own spiritual feet by themselves. If there was anyone qualified to write this letter, with its encouragements and wisdom, its warnings and scope, it was Peter. The fisherman from Galilee, impetuous, outspoken, but with a special place in church history. Jesus said to him, “Now I say to you that you are Peter (which means ‘rock’), and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it” (Matthew 16:18). So as a trusted disciple with a trusted mission in the future of Jesus’ church, the local representation of this church in the five provinces of what is now modern Turkey was important both to him and to God. In fact he referred to his readers as “dear friends” perhaps indicating that he knew them all personally. 

In Peter’s day there was no New Testament as we know it. The Apostle’s teaching was the gold standard for those early believers and it was only through the letters written by them, or by personal visits, that the Gospel message was propagated. Peter was executed about 68 AD and his second letter was probably written a year or two before that. The Gospels may have been written just after this, though we can’t be sure. So those early believers were particularly vulnerable to false teaching and error. But Peter carefully “tried to stimulate [their] wholesome thinking and refresh [their] memory“.

What did Peter therefore wish to remind the early believers of? A disciple of Jesus Christ builds his faith on the foundational truths of the Gospel, truths laid down by the Apostles, the men who had been with Jesus. The men who stood up in the Sanhedrin and confounded the Jewish leaders with their boldness and wisdom. Acts 4:13, “The members of the council were amazed when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, for they could see that they were ordinary men with no special training in the Scriptures. They also recognized them as men who had been with Jesus.” What a tremendous accolade – being noticed as having been with Jesus. Do those around us make the same connection? Hmm..

Jesus’ first disciples were giants of the faith. They had experienced the tongues of fire at Pentecost. They were men driven by their love of Jesus and the Holy Spirit within them. The words of Jesus never forgotten, words still ringing in their ears. And words they now repeated over and over again to anyone who would listen and who would embrace the Saviour as they had done. Words of eternal life, of the Kingdom of God, of Jesus Himself. 

What is the “wholesome thinking” that Peter referred to? Paul’s words might help us with an answer, because he reminded his readers of how they should align and renew their thoughts. We read in Ephesians 4:21-24, “Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from him, throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy“. Those early believers weren’t on their own because they had the Holy Spirit within them, bringing to their remembrance what they had been taught. Bringing to their minds “wholesome thinking” from the teachings of Jesus.

What do we pilgrims think about such a reminder from Peter’s letter? Don’t need to hear it? Or something we take on board and remind ourselves to once again open the Bible, perhaps to a section we have neglected.  There are many distractions in our world and our thoughts can quickly rush off to irrelevancies and even untruths. We are constantly exposed to information, most of which is unwholesome and can even draw us away into wrong thinking. We, like those early Christians, need to “refresh [our] memories”. Regularly, and frequently. And against the timeless truths of Scripture, the things of the world grow strangely dim. We need to become, and stay, close to Jesus – only He has the words of eternal life.

Dear Lord and Father of mankind, forgive our foolish ways; reclothe us in our rightful mind, in purer lives thy service find, in deeper reverence, praise. Amen.