Jesus – Page 10 – Praying Pint

27.e. “Having no hope and without God in the world”

Ephesians 2:12 remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.

19- So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

Without Christ: These are terrible words, and the implications of them are the sum of the woeful condition of the lost man or woman. To be without Christ means to be: without spiritual blessings, light, peace, rest, safety, hope, a place of refuge, purpose, satisfaction, lasting joy, discernment, wisdom, understanding, knowledge, and eternity in Heaven. Look around, be observant, and see if this is not true. Read or listen to almost any news being stated, listen to family, friends, government officials, and people at large, and you will see they lack the peace of God that only comes through Faith in Jesus Christ. In the worst of them, they are greedy, boastful, arrogant, fearful, liars, creating division, confusion, and hatred. In the best of them they are just plain lost and without a solid foundation that can only be found in and through Jesus Christ. They have a form of purpose, peace, satisfaction, and joy, but there is no depth and lasting foundation on which it can stand.

This is exactly where each of us was prior to believing in Jesus Christ. Lost and without eternal hope. We were alienated from God. We were tools of Satan. We were destined to eternal Hell. And, somehow, through God’s grace, mercy, and love, our hearts were softened and our minds understood the gospel, our sinful nature, being separated from God, deserving Hell, and without hope in anything we could do to be made right before God, and we repented from our sin, turned away from self-worthiness and self-reliance, and we trusted in and relied upon Jesus Christ alone, by faith in Him alone.

Paul is saying remember this. You were “without Christ”. In remembering this our hearts and minds should be in constant thankfulness and our lives surrendered to humbly serving Him for the single purpose of honoring and glorifying Him in all we say, think, and do.

27.d. “Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions.”

Ephesians 2:4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Nehemiah 9:17  They refused to obey and were not mindful of the wonders that you performed among them, but they stiffened their neck and appointed a leader to return to their slavery in Egypt. But you are a God ready to forgive, gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and did not forsake them.

Psalms 51:1   Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions.

Isaiah 55:6-8    “Seek the LORD while he may be found; call upon him while he is near;  let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.  For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD.

Psalms 103:8-11   The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.  He will not always chide, nor will he keep his anger forever.  He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities.  For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;

Romans 5:8    but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Romans 3:24    and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,

“As they were corrupt in their nature, and sinful in their practice, they could possess no merit, nor have any claim upon God; and it required much mercy to remove so much misery, and to pardon such transgressions.” (Clarke) Every reason for God’s mercy and love is found in Him. We give Him no reason to love us, yet in the greatness of His love, He loves us with that great love anyway. Therefore, we must stop trying to make ourselves lovable to God, and simply receive His great love while recognizing that we are unworthy of it. This is the grace secret of the Christian life. (Guzik) He did not wait until we were lovable. He loved us even when we were dead in trespasses, providing nothing lovable to Him. The work of God’s grace, in no way involving man’s merit. Our salvation – our rescue – from spiritual death is God’s work done for the undeserving.

Stop trying to earn God’s love and grace. You never can and never will. Stop keeping a ledger book of all your good and bad deeds in your head hoping the good will outweigh the bad, but rather confess them, repent from them, and lean on Jesus Christ alone. When we willfully choose to disobey God, (knowingly sin), there is no other way to erase it but through trusting in Him alone and resting on His forgiveness, grace, and love. One way to see the greatness of the grace of God is to see how He begs man to receive it. When we offer a gift to someone and they refuse it, we are likely to allow them to refuse and leave them alone. God does not do this with us; even when we refuse His mercy He reaches into His storehouse of grace and persists with us, begging us to receive the free gift. He pursues us. He stands at the door of our hearts and knocks asking to be let in. It is in the rejection of God’s grace and mercy whereby people will spend eternity in Hell.

27.b. “Having the eyes of your hearts enlightened”

Ephesians 1:15 For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.

Matthew 11:25    At that time Jesus declared, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children;

1 Corinthians 2:10   these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God

John 14:26   But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.

James 3:17-18   But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.

Proverbs 2:1 My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, listening closely to wisdom and directing your heart to understanding; furthermore, if you call out to insight and lift your voice to understanding, if you seek it like silver and search for it like hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and discover the knowledge of God. For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.

Man will think the proper study of mankind rests in philosophy, science, cultural and social, studies. There may be some truth to this but in its highest science, loftiest speculation, and deepest philosophy, it will never give wisdom, knowledge, and understanding of God apart from God’s Word. It may engage the attention of a child of God as a study of what man thinks they know or speculate to understand. (Spurgeon) It is good to know thy self but far more beneficial, glorious, and fruitful to know thy God. (Alford)

Our eyes of our heart need to be enlightened by God to understanding and knowledge of Him. Scripture speaks of “hearts of stone” and “hardened hearts) about those who intentionally choose to harden their hearts against the wisdom, knowledge, and understanding of things of God. They are ever hearing the Word of God but there is no enlightenment in their heart. It seems as though it comes in one ear and out the other. We all need to be mindful of not only hearing but seeking to understand. Do we think we can we seek this understanding once per week on Sundays and have any growth, not to mention maturity, in God and things of God? Do we think we can gain this understanding and knowledge by osmosis – somehow it just filters in through all of the chaos and busyness of life? I can’t tell you how many times people quote what was on the news as if it was their own thoughts. They believe the fear, hate, anger, division, worry, etc… because that is what the narrative of “News” tells them to do. They actually believe they should fear or hate or worry or be divisive, or be angry and do not see that these are not their thoughts but the thoughts of those who do not know God or things of God. They have allowed them into their hearts and minds. They have allowed them to take root and grow. They see the fruits of them in their lives and think it is proper fruit. It is not wrong to be informed but we need to be mindful of the source and the underlying message it is giving. We can only do this if the eyes to our hearts and minds are seeking wisdom, knowledge, and understanding from and of God. When you read a news article scan it for words like, it could, it might, it may, it is possible, it is conceivable, it may be, it is feasible, potentially it could, it is probable, it is likely, you should worry about, etc…….. these are all enticing words to engage and develop your thinking toward a specific conclusion of the writer or speaker. When our hearts and minds spend more time on things of this world and what it deems and says should be important to us, we will be filled with dark clouds of thought and it will consume us. How much time is spent catching up on the daily news compared to quality time in God’s Word? How much of your thoughts are consumed with what someone else has determined for you to be worthy of your time and thoughts?

Watch out for what your itching ears are listening to. They will give you insight into what is filling your hearts and minds. Wouldn’t it be something if believers what believers spoke out of their hearts and minds was things of God rather than the vomit coming out of social and media outlets.

27.a. “Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out”

Ephesians 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.

Acts 20:28    Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.

Matthew 20:28     even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Hebrews 9:14      how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.

1 Peter 2:24    He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.

Daniel 9:9     To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against him

Acts 2:38   And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Acts 3:19     Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out,

Acts 10:43   To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”

1 John 1:7-9    But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.  If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

The redemption and forgiveness given to us come according to the measure of the riches of His grace. It is not a “small” redemption or forgiveness won by Jesus on the cross. It is immense. It is huge. It is all-encompassing. We don’t deserve it. We can’t earn it. We can never be good enough to be worthy of it. We can’t buy it. Such it is a free gift, to all who would believe. If you can’t earn it and you aren’t good enough to deserve it how does it work that we can receive it? We or a least a majority of us were brought up knowing there are consequences for our actions. We were taught that doing bad or wrong things got punishment. We would know right from wrong and choose to do wrong hoping we might not get caught. If we did get caught we knew there was a price to pay. Sometimes we might even do something not a thing was bad but it was.

When we start to become aware of God and His Holiness, and we realize our sinfulness, we see a huge gap. Scripture says “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”, “No one does good, no not anyone”. We see our sin in the reflection of God’s Holiness. Try as hard as we might there is nothing we can do to make ourselves right before God. We know the consequence of sin is death and separation from God and the consequence of this is eternal hell. What must we do? How can a person be saved from this? When the people in Jerusalem heard the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ it says they were cut to the heart and asked; “What must we do to be saved?” With mankind it is impossible but with God it is. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son that who so ever would believe in him should not perish but have everlasting life.” The debt no man can pay was paid in full by Jesus Christ for all who would believe, trust, rely on, and cling to, by faith, in Jesus Christ for their redemption.

How many will end up in Hell because they choose to not believe? How many will end up in Hell because they think they are good enough to be allowed eternal life in heaven? How many voids their minds of thinking about eternity at all? How many neglect this offer of salvation because of pride in themselves? How many we be tormented forever and ever in Hell for eternity because they do not believe the consequences of their sin deserve Hell?

There is but one way to Heaven. Jesus Christ. He paid the full price of your sin debt. Humbly surrender, repent and turn away from what you once were, and fully trust, believe, rely on, and cling to Jesus Christ by faith. At the moment you believe in Him you are born again and your sin before God is as if it were never there. He has forgiven you and remembers it no more. The new life begins and you are a new creation. The life you will now live has a singular purpose, to honor and glorify Jesus Christ in all you say, think, and do forevermore. Do not neglect or reject the gift of salvation.

26.p.

Galatians 4:12 Brothers, I entreat you, become as I am, for I also have become as you are. You did me no wrong. You know it was because of a bodily ailment that I preached the gospel to you at first, and though my condition was a trial to you, you did not scorn or despise me, but received me as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus. What then has become of your blessedness? For I testify to you that, if possible, you would have gouged out your eyes and given them to me. Have I then become your enemy by telling you the truth? They make much of you, but for no good purpose. They want to shut you out, that you may make much of them. It is always good to be made much of for a good purpose, and not only when I am present with you, my little children, for whom I am again in the anguish of childbirth until Christ is formed in you! I wish I could be present with you now and change my tone, for I am perplexed about you.

Romans 8:9 You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.

Romans 8:29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.

I heard a song the other day which had the line; “Spirit fall on us”. Is this a proper statement for a Christian to say? When the eyes to your heart, mind, and soul are opened to the gospel of Jesus Christ, and by faith you believe, trust, and rely on Him alone you are saved, born again, a new creation, and the Holy Spirit makes residence in you. When does the Holy Spirit leave you? It does not ever leave. You can close the ears to your heart, mind, and soul. You can disregard what the Holy Spirit is encouraging you do to. You can deny what the Holy Spirit is telling you to do. You can say no to what the Holy Spirit is telling you to do. You can neglect the Holy Spirit living in you. Yes, you can reject those quiet and not-so-quiet whispers to your heart from the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit of God dwells in each and every person who is born again.

Paul wanted to see the likeness of Christ being formed in these believers in Galatia. How does this happen? How is the likeness of Christ being formed in us? We must want to and be willing to be led by the Holy Spirit. David gave a great example of this; “How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!”, “Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!^”. When we desire and seek to hear and do what the Holy Spirit is leading us to do, we will continually be more and more resembling the likeness of Christ. A light the shine in the darkness and beacon of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. The fruits of the Holy Spirit. What keeps us from experiencing these fruits? Love of self, love of worldly, and love of the flesh more than things of God and wanting to be led by the Holy Spirit. Our hearts, minds, and souls, are not seeking or desiring to hear or listen to the leading.

Think about how you are being fed. What is feeding your soul? What are you spending your time on? What consumes your time and thoughts? If we say, “I am going to spend more time in God’s Word” this is good but could very well be lacking in desire to be led. Our hearts, minds, and souls must hunger and thirst for leading and the sole purpose of this desire is out of sincere love for Jesus Christ and want to honor and glorify Him. Anything short of this will not find the heart, mind, or soul listening or willing to be led.

26.g. “How then can man be in the right before God?”

Galatians 2:15 We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.

Galatians 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Job 9:2-3   “Truly I know that it is so: But how can a man be in the right before God?

Job 25:4     How then can man be in the right before God? How can he who is born of woman be pure?

Psalms 130:3-4   If you, O LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?  But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared.

Acts 4:12     And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

John 20:31    but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

We all grew up observant to do what is right and good. Yet somehow we think we are considered right before God because of doing right and good – justified – by these works of the flesh that we did. We should know that we, even though we grew up as observant of doing right and good, we are only considered right before God by faith in Jesus Christ. It will be a sad day for those who, in self-reliance, trust in doing right and good on judgment day.

“‘Faith in Jesus Christ’, then, is not intellectual conviction only, but personal commitment. The expression in the middle of verse 16 is (literally) ‘we have believed into (eis) Christ Jesus.’ It is an act of committal, not just assenting to the fact that Jesus lived and died, but running to Him for refuge and calling on Him for mercy.” (Stott)

Self-righteousness and self-reliance will never justify a person before God. There is but one way – belief in and through Jesus Christ. This belief is more than a piece of intellectual knowledge, it is a life surrendered. Casting away any thoughts of self-reliance and self-righteousness, and clinging to, relying on, trusting in, following, obeying, and living to honor and glorify Jesus Christ.

25.u. “For many deceivers have gone out into the world”

2 Corinthians 11:13 For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds.

Acts 20:30    and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them.

2 John 1:7-11    For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Such a one is the deceiver and the antichrist.  Watch yourselves, so that you may not lose what we have worked for, but may win a full reward.  Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God. Whoever abides in the teaching has both the Father and the Son.  If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house or give him any greeting,  for whoever greets him takes part in his wicked works.

Jeremiah 23:14-15   But in the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen a horrible thing: they commit adultery and walk in lies; they strengthen the hands of evildoers, so that no one turns from his evil; all of them have become like Sodom to me, and its inhabitants like Gomorrah.”  Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts concerning the prophets: “Behold, I will feed them with bitter food and give them poisoned water to drink, for from the prophets of Jerusalem ungodliness has gone out into all the land.”

It is so easy for all people, including Christians, to be taken in by image, charisma, and outward appearances. Many will only recognize evil if it is openly and unanimously declared as evil. Why is this? Sometimes I wonder if it is more because of our itching ears wanting it this way. We want our pastor to be one of influence, great in clarity of speech, and proclaiming insights we never knew. We don’t want to diligently search scripture to know and understand – discern – the Word of God through the leading and wisdom of the Holy Spirit. We want to be spoon-fed with what our pastor has to say about scripture. We don’t spend time reading and studying God’s Word with a desire to have God give us wisdom in understanding and applying it. The Word of God was not given to pastors only. God has given us His Word so that we can know Him more and more and live more and more in ways that truly honor and glorify Him. Do we think that being spoon-fed a few select scriptures once per week will fill us? Do we think being spoon-fed once per week we will have any chance of discerning what is right and wrong, true and false, good and bad in the sight of God? This lack of desire to know and study God’s Word leaves us open to embracing lies and deceptions of Satan himself, who transforms himself into an angel of light. If Satan were to appear before a human audience, he would be regarded as an angel of light. Those who can discern it look at those who cannot and wonder with amazement at how easily they have been deceived.

“It is generally said that Satan has three forms under which he tempts men: 1. The subtle serpent. 2. The roaring lion. 3. The angel of light. He often, as the angel of light, persuades men to do things under the name of religion, which is disruptive, destructive, and disloyal of things of God. As a roaring lion, the horrors of all kinds of twisted persecutions and atrocities occur. As the subtle serpent, he frequently and easily deceives us so that that which is right is called wrong and that which is wrong is called right. He appeals to the weak and strong, learned and unlearned, wise and foolish, proud and humble, rich and poor. He temps us all when we least expect it. Why does God’s Word tell us to be diligent, resist, stand firm, and remain faithful? It is because of the lies and deceptions of the father of all lies and deceit. How are we to know and discern that which is true and false, right and wrong, good and bad if the Word of God is not desired in our lives more than being spoon-fed once per week? Carefully study to present thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. (2 Timothy 2:15)

25.t. “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting Him”

2 Corinthians 11:4 For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough.

1 John 2:26   I write these things to you about those who are trying to deceive you.

Jude 1:4     For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.

Galatians 3:2   Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith?

Galations 1:6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel — not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ.

Titus 1:10-11    For there are many who are insubordinate, empty talkers and deceivers,

When a person encounters Jesus, it should be life-changing. They should be changed, born again, made new, a new creation. They were once in darkness but now they are in the light. They once stumbled around in darkness but now all that they stumbled around in has been exposed for what it is. The light of Jesus Christ has opened their eyes. In Christ, the Word of God will give light onto our path, a purpose for living, power to overcome works of darkness, courage to live in light, and strength to overcome influences of darkness. Darkness is the absence of light. When we choose to close our eyes to the light of Jesus Christ and the Word of God, we will stumble in darkness. We will not be able to discern works of darkness. We can not discern the works of darkness we are easily influenced into believing they are proper, right, and ok to do. We need to stop living in the darkness. “I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness.” John 12:46. Study God’s Word, and apply it to your life. “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” Psalm 119:105. How can you follow the light if you don’t turn it on? The Holy Spirit lives in each and every Christian. He is our guide in following God’s instructions, but we can hinder him. “Quench not the Spirit.” 1 Thessalonians 5:19. Don’t let the Light of God be dim in your life. Stand firm on His Word every day. Do not become complacent or neglectful in His Word. I fear many are walking in darkness because of this. The light of God’s Word should be bright in your life, exposing all of it to His holiness and righteousness. It is in this light we are able to find purpose and meaning – living to humbly serve, follow, obey, trust, honor, and glorify Jesus Christ every “Light-Filled” moment of our lives this side of eternity.

25.h. “He is a new creation”

2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation

Isaiah 45:24-25   “Only in the LORD, it shall be said of me, are righteousness and strength; to him shall come and be ashamed all who were incensed against him.

John 15:5    I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.

Romans 8:1   There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Psalms 51:10    Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.

John 3:3    Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

Ephesians 2:10     For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

The saved are not “just forgiven.” They are changed into a new creation. However, being a new creation doesn’t mean that we are perfect. It means that we are changed and that we are being changed. He is a new creation: Who makes us a new creation? This is something God alone can do in us. This isn’t just “turning over a new leaf” or “getting your act together.” Yet the life of a new creation is not something God does for us but in us. So, we are told to put off… the old man and to put on the new man which was created according to God, in righteousness and true holiness (Ephesians 4:22-24) Being a new creation is a gift from God received by faith.

The work of a new creation is even greater than God’s work of creating the world. “My brethren, it was more difficult, if such terms are ever applicable to Omnipotence, it was more difficult to create a Christian than to create a world. What was there to begin with when God made the world? There was nothing; but nothing could not stand in God’s way – it was at least passive. But, my brethren, in our hearts, while there was nothing that could help God, there was much that could and did oppose him. Our stubborn wills, our deep prejudices, our ingrained love of iniquity, all these, great God, opposed thee, and aimed at thwarting thy designs… Yes, great God, it was great to make a world, but greater to create a new creature in Jesus Christ.” (Spurgeon)

24.u. “In the twinkling of an eye”

1 Corinthians 15:51 Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality.

1 Thessalonians 4:14-17    For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep.  For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep.  For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.  Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.

2 Peter 3:10    But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.

Matthew 24:31    And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

In the Biblical sense, a mystery is simply a thing to be understood by spiritual, rather than by merely human perception. Paul will tell the Corinthian Christians something they could not have known by reason or research. They could not have known this unless God revealed it to them.

In a single moment, Jesus will gather His people (both dead and on the earth) to Himself, for resurrection. There will come a day when in God’s eternal plan, He gives those dead in the Lord their resurrection bodies, and then in an instant He gathers all His people to meet Jesus in the air. All the redeemed on the earth at that time will rise up to meet the Lord in the clouds, and will receive their resurrection bodies. Ironside says that the last trumpet was a figure of speech that came from the Roman military, when they broke camp. The first trumpet meant, “strike the tents and prepare to leave”; the second trumpet meant, “fall into line”; the third and last trumpet meant “march away.”

Are you anticipating the last trumpet? Are you ready to hear it? Are you ready to face death and enter eternity? Surrender your entire life to humbly serve, honor, follow, obey, trust, and rely in Jesus Christ. There is no other way to enter eternity in heaven.