Silas
Beloved of All
Your message shares a deep burden about bodies, about DNA and the inner workings of life, about other people and their influence, and about what eternity will be for us. It is understandable to feel fear and confusion when thoughts about our physical life and about the future become tangled together.
Scripture helps us see these things from an eternal perspective. Much of our distress in this life is tied to the weakness and limits of our present bodies. The Bible speaks of our current body as a temporary tent and promises that God has prepared for those who trust in Jesus a lasting dwelling not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. Our hope is not that we will be dissolved into an impersonal essence, but that we will be given a new life in Christ and a new body through Him. God is not looking only at today or tomorrow as we do. What feels heavy now is seen by Him in light of eternity, and He uses even light and momentary afflictions to shape an eternal weight of glory in us. Nothing in your life happens by chance. He is working with eternal purposes, and He invites you to trust His timing and not to rush ahead without His direction.
That eternal life is not something we can earn or inherit through our natural lineage, our DNA, or through any other person. It is a gift of God, not wages we achieve. The record God has given is that He has offered eternal life, and this life is in His Son. The one who has the Son has life, and the one who does not have the Son does not have life. This is why Jesus died, so that we would no longer live only for ourselves or be held in bondage to corruption and to the flesh, but would live a new life in the dimension of the Spirit. The mind set on the flesh brings death, but the mind set on the Spirit brings life and peace and joy. There is a battle for the control of our lives, but through the indwelling Spirit and the Word of God we are given freedom and power over sin, with fruit that leads to holiness.
Scripture also gives two meanings for death. One is the separation of our consciousness from our body, which is physical death. The other is separation from God, which is the second death. For the one who is in Christ, there is the promise that we will never be separated from God, not for a moment, because of what Jesus has done for us. That is why the apostle John wrote so that those who believe on the name of the Son of God may know that they have eternal life. It is a sure promise, because God cannot lie and His Word does not fail. Real wisdom begins with the fear of the Lord, and to fear Him is to turn away from evil. That turning is understanding. It leads away from folly and destruction toward life.
Fear itself can take hold of a person and become debilitating, and you may be feeling that now. God offers Himself as your refuge, your fortress, your place of strength and protection. Under His wings you can trust. He calls you to redeem the time you have been given, to grieve wasted time no more, but to invest what remains in eternal things, in knowing Christ and living for Him and for others.
If anxiety about your body or about the influence of others is weighing on you, bring it to the Lord in simple faith. Confess that your only hope of salvation and eternal life is in Jesus Christ alone, receive Him as Savior, and ask Him to control your life by His Spirit. He will be your peace, your righteousness, and your joy, and He will keep you now and into eternity. I pray that God will quiet your fears, guard your mind, cover you with His presence, and give you settled assurance that you are His child, held securely in His love through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Scripture helps us see these things from an eternal perspective. Much of our distress in this life is tied to the weakness and limits of our present bodies. The Bible speaks of our current body as a temporary tent and promises that God has prepared for those who trust in Jesus a lasting dwelling not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. Our hope is not that we will be dissolved into an impersonal essence, but that we will be given a new life in Christ and a new body through Him. God is not looking only at today or tomorrow as we do. What feels heavy now is seen by Him in light of eternity, and He uses even light and momentary afflictions to shape an eternal weight of glory in us. Nothing in your life happens by chance. He is working with eternal purposes, and He invites you to trust His timing and not to rush ahead without His direction.
That eternal life is not something we can earn or inherit through our natural lineage, our DNA, or through any other person. It is a gift of God, not wages we achieve. The record God has given is that He has offered eternal life, and this life is in His Son. The one who has the Son has life, and the one who does not have the Son does not have life. This is why Jesus died, so that we would no longer live only for ourselves or be held in bondage to corruption and to the flesh, but would live a new life in the dimension of the Spirit. The mind set on the flesh brings death, but the mind set on the Spirit brings life and peace and joy. There is a battle for the control of our lives, but through the indwelling Spirit and the Word of God we are given freedom and power over sin, with fruit that leads to holiness.
Scripture also gives two meanings for death. One is the separation of our consciousness from our body, which is physical death. The other is separation from God, which is the second death. For the one who is in Christ, there is the promise that we will never be separated from God, not for a moment, because of what Jesus has done for us. That is why the apostle John wrote so that those who believe on the name of the Son of God may know that they have eternal life. It is a sure promise, because God cannot lie and His Word does not fail. Real wisdom begins with the fear of the Lord, and to fear Him is to turn away from evil. That turning is understanding. It leads away from folly and destruction toward life.
Fear itself can take hold of a person and become debilitating, and you may be feeling that now. God offers Himself as your refuge, your fortress, your place of strength and protection. Under His wings you can trust. He calls you to redeem the time you have been given, to grieve wasted time no more, but to invest what remains in eternal things, in knowing Christ and living for Him and for others.
If anxiety about your body or about the influence of others is weighing on you, bring it to the Lord in simple faith. Confess that your only hope of salvation and eternal life is in Jesus Christ alone, receive Him as Savior, and ask Him to control your life by His Spirit. He will be your peace, your righteousness, and your joy, and He will keep you now and into eternity. I pray that God will quiet your fears, guard your mind, cover you with His presence, and give you settled assurance that you are His child, held securely in His love through Jesus Christ our Lord.
