Spirit or Flesh

Theme: What is our reality?

Question: "If you could live forever, would you and why?"

Answer: "I would not live forever because we should not live forever, because if we were supposed to live forever, then we would live forever, but we cannot live forever, which is why I would not live forever.'

That “deer in the headlights” answer was from Miss Alabama during a Miss America competition. Why was this such a huge deal when I was growing up? Forgive me for digressing.

Her answer illustrates Pastor Dan’s message this past Sunday and the inside-out perspective of the fallen world. We have come to believe that we are meant to die as the temporal and physical dominate our realities. However, as we heard from Romans 6:23, death is not God’s final design for us. Instead, death is merely the “wage” that must be paid for our sins, and it will not be final when we grasp our actual reality in the Good News of Jesus Christ.

The Gospel promises that by faith in Christ, we were crucified with Christ and look forward to the resurrection and life everlasting. Death is only of these temporal, earthly bodies that are remnants of our previous realities. They are all that ties us to our worldly, fleshly parents, Adam and Eve, and the effects of their choice. Like Miss Alabama, in that way of thinking, we can see ourselves as only this flesh, but we have another option, thank God. That is to remove the blinders, see the actual reality, and accept that in Jesus, we have eternal life. This changes our entire perspective on who we are, why we are, and what to do with this temporal life. So, it is ok if we, and Miss Alabama, decide, "We would like to live forever because we should live forever, because we are supposed to live forever, and we will live forever, which is why we should want to live forever."

Two Roman soldiers stand staring at a giant stone that has been rolled away from an empty tomb. The one says to the other, "I guess now the only thing certain is taxes!"

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Scripture: John‬ ‭11‬:‭25‬-‭26‬ (NIV)

“Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die.

Do you believe this?”

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Prayer:

Lord, as I look back on my life and see how quickly it is passing and that there are likely more years behind me than in front of me, I think of how hopeless it would look without you in my life. Today I can laugh at aging and the folly of the past. I now see eternity ahead and, in comparison, such a short time that has passed. I no longer see finality in this life, but continuation, growth, change and you. Oh Lord, that all could find the pure joy in this true reality, as it changes how they would live every day going forward. I pray that our young can grasp this reality now and enjoy the peace and purpose in you today. Thank you, thank you. Amen