“unless
it was for nothing that you believed”
1 Corinthians 15:2
1 Corinthians 15:2
The Graphic above contains a
“tweet-able” (less than 144 characters) summary of the Gospel.
The First Corinthians and Romans passages are the earliest
(see yesterday’s blog) Gospel presentations in the New Testament.
I added the Revelation passage because it cuts to the core of what Jesus
is doing as current ruler of the world (His rule will then end having completed
its purpose when He returns bringing Heaven to Earth:
1 Corinthians 15:24-28).
This graphic is my screen saver.
I encourage you to use the snipping tool function on your computer, cut,
paste and save it and then make it your screen saver too.
Each time you turn on your computer it will be in front of you and you
can think about how this Gospel actually means for your life each day.
After all, that’s what the Bible tells us that Jesus is doing.
He is making all things new. You
are included in the “all”.
Jesus did not come to earth simply to get
you and me into heaven. Heavens
no! (little joke).
In Jesus God came to earth to rescue the whole thing, to renew, restore,
resurrect, regenerate, (and whatever other “re” you can think of) the entire
cosmos.
God did not come here to get us to heaven
and throw away what’s left! He’s
healing the whole world now and will complete the job.
The destiny of a believer is not a disembodied life somewhere “out
there”, rather it is a physical life with a new body on the new earth which
will have become new because Heaven will have descended to it and merged with
it. The future of a believer
is life-after-life-after-death. At
death the believer enters a rest (with God in heaven/paradise) then awaits the
consummation of all things (Acts 3:21) and at that consummation (the return of
Jesus) is re-embodied and given a
new vibrant and purposeful life reigning on the new earth. (2 Timothy
2:12)
“Lord, the future you offer believers is
beyond good. It’s more than I can
imagine, more than my ears can hear, more than my mind can conceive.
What’s more , you want us to anticipate that future in how we live
today. Help me to live in such
a way that others see in my words and actions an affirmation and not a denial of
that hope. Amen”
For more:
follow on Twitter @jefflampl
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