Michael asks: What endures? What will last? What transcends time, place and space? What remains after this life has come and gone? The bible says, that which is seen through earthly eyes is temporal and time-bound, but that which is unseen is eternal. The things of the Spirit of life in Christ last into eternity; for the world will come and go but the Word of God lives and abides forever.1 Corinthians 15:58 says, “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.” God has called us as His stewards to oversee that which He has committed to our keeping. As we work according to His divine design and for His purpose to His glory, then the fruit of our labor will abound. It will not be in vain. It will accomplish the purpose for which God intended. That the work would be to the praise of the glory of His grace.
The word “labor” is the Greek word “kopos” which means toil, to cause one trouble, as in the beating of one’s breast. Even though there may be pain in the exercising, there is healing wholeness as we work out our own salvation with fear, respect, awe, and reverence for the Lord. Then when we empty ourselves of ourselves and align our hearts with His heart, He will energize His strength within us, for then it is God who works in you to will and to do of His good pleasure. The context of 1 Corinthians 15:58 begins in verse 55-57: “O death, where is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the Law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” The sting of death is sin. Sin is missing the mark of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Sin separates our hearts from God’s heart. Non-Christian’s do not know God. They do not know or understand the truth of the Spirit of God. They are not aware of the transgression of God’s holy word.
When Saul was on the road to Damascus, he had a supernatural encounter with Jesus. As Saul was traveling to arrest followers of Christ and commit them to prison, he was knocked to the ground and blinded. He heard a voice from heaven saying, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” Saul answered, Who are you Lord? The voice said, “I’m am Jesus whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the pricks.” Saul thought he was a good Jewish Pharisee. He thought he was doing God a favor by persecuting Christians. He thought he was obeying the Old Testament Law by eradicating the cult of the Christ-followers. However, Paul did not know the truth, for Jesus Christ himself is the way, the truth and the life. Like Saul, we who have been convicted by God’s Spirit and have been born-again of God’s incorruptible seed, have had a spiritual encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ has saved us from sin and from death, the penalty for sin. For Jesus Christ came not into the world to condemn the world but that the world through Him might be saved.
God has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ’s supreme sacrifice … his payment for sin on our behalf. He paid for our own guilty blood with the payment of his own innocent blood. He suffered the death we deserved to pay the price for our debt of sin. For He who was without sin was made the perfect sacrifice for sin on our behalf that we may be made the righteousness of God in Him. Through Jesus Christ’s redeeming sacrifice in our stead, we have received atonement… at-one-ment with God, for there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.
In John 15:16 Jesus said, “you did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed so that you might go and bear fruit. Fruit that will last, and so that whatsoever you ask in my name the Father will give you.” Even though we have been born-again of God’s Spirit through Jesus Christ’s sacrifice for sin on our behalf, we are called to work our out own salvation … our own healing wholeness through the power of God’s Spirit, the spirit of Christ in us the hope of glory. Therefore, be not conformed to this world … don’t be squeezed into the world’s mold, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
In Jesus’ High Priestly prayer to God on our behalf in John 17:9-11 Jesus said, “I pray for them. I am not praying for the world but for those you have given me, for they are yours. All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. All glory has come to me through them. I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one.” What is our purpose? Why did he call us? What lasts into eternity? Our eternal purpose is that we might be reconciled to God through Jesus Christ. That we may be one in the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. He has called us, saved us, redeemed us, and foreordained the path before us. That our lives may be the sacrifice of praise to his honor and glory, a sweet-smelling savor, the fragrant aroma of the life of God in Christ in us. That our lives may be a prayer collected in God’s golden bowls; the prayers of the saints that last into eternity that we may ever live to the praise of the glory of our Father’s grace!
Your brother in Christ, Michael
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