(This message series is inspired and excerpted from Heaven is Now by Andrew Farley)
“Everlasting life, of course, has no end. But, by definition, eternal life is a life with no beginning and no end. So who is the only one whose life has no beginning or end? Christ himself. Eternal life is not our life made better. Eternal life is not our life made longer. Eternal life is an altogether different life. Possessing eternal life actually means possessing Christ’s resurrection life.
Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. (1 John 5:12 ESV)
This is the same life that Adam and Eve walked away from in Eden when they chose to eat from a tree of morality and ethics. That day they gained a sense of good and evil, but what they lost was devastating: they lost life. In the absence of life, they began looking to do good and avoid evil. Doing good gave them a feeling of rightness, of Godlikeness. But morality and ethics are no substitute for displaying God’s divine life.” (loc. 1593 of 2138) How would you explain the difference between life and merely existing?
“We can have knowledge of Scripture without having life. We can even be preaching or prophesying in Jesus name without actually having life.
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. [22] On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ [23] And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’ (Matthew 7:21-23 ESV)
The most important realization a person can come to is this: we are not bad and in need of being good; we are dead and in need of life. Awakening to the difference between religion and life gives us our first hint of the fragrant aroma of Jesus Christ.” (loc. 1606 of 2138) What act of religion have you let go of since starting this study?
“Consider the situation in the early church. Most cities had one or two epistles [letters like 1 Corinthians] at most, and some had none at all from which to study or even read. The vast majority of the people in that day were illiterate. A personal ‘quiet time’ in God’s Word was literally impossible. So how did they rock the world two thousand years ago without having the regular study time that so many of us Christians seem to measure ourselves by today? The answer is simple—Christ’s life in them. It was Christ’s life within them that motivated and animated them to walk in love and to speak the truth, even if it cost them their lives. He was their strength, their courage, and their peace. …They not only survived but also thrived, bearing fruit and reaching out to others. How did they attain to such a Christian life?
To live the Christian life means that we live from Christ himself. We need only have our senses awakened to the purpose of the resurrection. It is Christ risen that brings heaven to earth and puts God’s life in our humanity. This is the one and only life we are designed to express!” (loc. 1618 of 2138)
the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. [27] To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. (Colossians 1:26-27 ESV)
“This mystery, now revealed is not Christ ‘falling fresh’ on us now and then. This mystery is not Christ swooping down from heaven to visit us in a church meeting or revival. No, this mystery is much greater than all that. This mystery is Christ in us, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, without interruption. Christ is our single hope of expressing heaven’s glory here and now. He is the secret formula for living the Christian life, and he has been revealed!” (loc. 1630 of 2138) What are some of the ways that Christ makes His presence in you real?
Heaven Speaks (What Jesus might say if He were sitting right here)
“I died for your forgiveness, but I was raised to life for your justification. While you were reconciled through my death, you were actually saved through receiving my resurrection life. If I had not been raised from the dead, you would still be dead in your sins, and your faith would be pointless and pitiful. My resurrection is the very heart of the gospel message.
Your body is now my temple, and you are not your own. You belong to me, as I bought you for a great price. Therefore, honor me with your body as you offer it as a living sacrifice and reap the benefits of housing my Spirit within you. This is a most sensible and worshipful act that leads to my life expressed through you.
Clothe yourself with me, and you will see yourself being transformed by the renewing of your attitudes. Then it will become more and more obvious to you what my will is for your life—simply that your bear my fruit. As you clothe yourself with love, kindness, and gentleness, others take notice that there is a peculiar hope within you. Be ready to share this hope.
I love you. And I am your unlimited source of life – Jesus” (loc. 1642 of 2138) (inspired by Romans 4:25; 5:10; 8:11; 12:1-2; 13:14; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20; 15:17; Acts 17:32; 23:6; John 15:8; 1 Peter 3:15; Colossians 3:4.)
Awakening (a sample closing prayer)
Thank you, Jesus, for imparting your resurrection life to me. As much as I value your death as the means to my forgiveness, I see now that it is your resurrection that saves me and makes me new. I look forward to the day when I receive a new resurrection body, but I thank you that here and now I have been transformed at the core. Teach me the full meaning of your resurrection so that I can enjoy a clean conscience from knowing my righteousness in you. Teach me the power of your resurrection life in me so that I can bear fruit in this life, loving others with the love that only comes from you. Remind me that apart from you I can do nothing and that through you I am more than a conqueror. I love you, Jesus.”
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