Foundations of Faith
BLESSINGS OF SALVATION (V)
Salvation brings us into a three-fold link with God. We become children and sons of God the Father (Dec97), we are indwelt, sealed, and anointed by God the Holy Spirit (Dec94 -Apr95), and we become members of the body of Christ, the Son of God.
“For as the [human] body is one and has many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body:so also is Christ. For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body” (1 Cor. 12:12,13).
It surely is a wonderful blessing to be linked to God the Father individually as His children; and we are likewise blessed to have the Holy Spirit indwelling us as individual Christians to guide and help us and teach us the things of Christ (John 16:13-15). But God has purposed that we should be linked to Himself in another way. Collectively, as a body, we are linked with every other believer as members of the body of Christ. We are “members one of another” (Rom. 12:5).
The human body is composed of many members-eyes, ears, mouth, arms, legs, heart, liver, blood, nerves, bones, hair, etc. Just so, the body of Christ is composed of many members, each having a particular role to play in the body, and all under the direction of the Head, Christ Jesus (Rom. 12:4-8; 1 Cor. 12:1-26).
In a particular assembly of believers, one person may serve as an evangelist, another as a pastor or teacher, another as a wise counselor in matters requiring church discipline, another as a major contributor to the financial needs of the assembly, and another as a helper with building construction or maintenance.
There is a woman in her 90’s whose closest living relative is a first cousin who lives a thousand miles away. There is a mother with several children whose husband/father abandoned them. There is a woman with two dependents who lost her job and whose family is too poor to help her. These people-all members of the body of Christ-are being helped and provided for, spiritually, emotionally, and materially, by other members of the body of Christ.
These are just a few of the many blessings and benefits of being members of the body of Christ. We plan to devote several issues of GROWING to this important topic in the future, Lord willing.
We all are familiar with the verse that ends, “Whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting [or eternal] life” (John 3:16,36; 1 John 5:11-14). This eternal life is never ending:”So shall we ever be with the Lord” (1 Thess. 4:17). Though we may die physically, our soul and spirit will never die and will be clothed with a new body at the coming of Christ (1 Cor. 15:35-54; 2 Cor. 5:1-4).
This eternal life is also a totally new kind of life. Jesus prayed, “This is life eternal, that they might know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent” (John 17:3). It is a life with an entirely different focus. The natural life with which we were born was focused on ourselves-me, me, me (Isa. 53:6). Eternal life is focused on getting to know, obey, please, worship, and serve God the Father and His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, our Saviour. In this sense, eternal life has already begun for the believer in Christ, but will blossom greatly when we get to heaven.
What is heaven like? In brief, heaven will have lots of singing (Rev. 5:9), variety (Rev. 21:19-21; 22:2), knowledge (1 Cor. 13:12), work and service (Rev. 7:15; 22:3), and enjoyment of God’s creation (1 Cor. 3:22; Eph. 1:10, 11,21-23; Rev. 21:7). Heaven is a holy place with no sin (Rev. 4:8; 22:15) and no effects of sin, such as tears, death, sorrow, or pain, or night (Rev. 21:4), and where all will be in perfect unity and harmony with one another and with God (John 17:22-24; Col. 1:21, 22). Most of all, heaven is where we shall be with Christ our Creator, Saviour, and Bridegroom (John 17:24; 1 John 3:2; Rev. 4:10,11; 5:6-14; 19:7-9).
Perhaps that is enough for now to whet our appetites for heaven. In a later issue, Lord willing, we shall discuss in more detail what the Bible says about heaven and hell. (See Assignment 1)
We shall conclude our studies of the blessings of salvation by noting that every one of these blessings is totally a result of God’s grace to us. Grace, remember, is God’s favor to those who deserve the opposite (Jan94). The more we recognize this, the more we will appreciate God and want to live for Him every moment of every day.
“To the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He has made us accepted [or objects of grace] in the Beloved [that is, Christ]” (Eph. 1:6). This word “accepted” is also found in Luke 1:28. “The angel came in unto [Mary] and said, Hail, you who are highly favored [or made an object of grace, or accepted], the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women.” The grace of God that made the Virgin Mary so blessed is the very same that has come upon every believer in Christ. This is not only the grace of God that has saved us in the first place, but His grace that is shown to us every day of our Christian lives.
Running the Race
POSSESSING OUR POSSESSION (III)
God has purposed that we, as His sons, should be “conformed to the image of His Son” (Rom. 8:29). This will be fully true of us when we get to heaven: “We shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is” (1 John 3:2). But we can begin even now to possess this possession: “We all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory” (2 Cor. 3:18). The more we study and meditate upon the Person and work of Christ, the more we shall become like Him.
We possess the blessing of being indwelt by the Holy Spirit by allowing the Holy Spirit freedom to control us and guide us in every part of our lives. This is what it means to “be filled with the Spirit” (Eph. 5:18).
Finally, here is how we know we are really possessing our possession of God’s grace as being “accepted in the beloved”: It is when we find ourselves showing grace-favor to those who deserve the opposite-to the various people in our lives.
Assignment 1: Write out two verses in 2 Corinthians 12: one that tells what the apostle Paul experienced when caught up to heaven, and one that describes the impact of that experience on the apostle.