Now and Then
Dearly beloved of God, God has reconciled us to Himself by the accomplishments of Jesus Christ, and new things have come, and all of the new things are of God.
Jesus Christ fulfilled the first phase of redemption and salvation, and now people can be born again, and enter the kingdom of God, but there is much more to come.
We have experienced the new birth, but the inheritance is yet future.
When the Lord Jesus Christ returns to gather together the members of his body, both the dead in Christ, and those who will yet be alive, will have their bodies transformed to be like Christ’s glorious body, and they will die no more.
Not all things have yet been made new. We are still mortal, and we must deal with physical death, sorrow, sickness, and pain. There is a day coming when God will wipe away all tears, and these things will be no more.
Even though these troubles currently exist, deliverance is available to us through Jesus Christ and his accomplishments. God wants us to know the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe. That power was wrought in Christ when God raised him out from among the dead. We deal with the current afflictions according to the power of God.
God sent Jesus Christ so that we could have life, and have it more abundantly. He sent His Son to destroy the devil and his works.
Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many; and unto those that look for him shall he appear the second time, not to bear sin, but to save those who are looking for him. He paid the price of redemption when he came the first time, and when he returns he will redeem those that he purchased with his life.
Dearly beloved, nothing can separate us from the love of God toward us in Christ Jesus; we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
At the present time we do not yet see all things subjected to Christ, but we do see Jesus crowned with glory and honor, who was briefly made lower than the angels for the suffering of death so that he, by the grace of God, might taste death for every person.
Jesus Christ partook of flesh and blood so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death, that is the devil, and free those who throughout all their lifetime were held in bondage by fear of death.
The time is coming that the Lord Jesus Christ will put down all rule and all authority and power. He will reign until he has put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that will be destroyed is death.
In this present evil age the devil steals, kills, and destroys.
Dearly beloved, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. Do not faint because of the adversary’s attacks, stand! Be strong in the Lord, and in strength of his ability.
Romans 12:2
And be not conformed to this world [age]: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
We are not to be conformed to this age; we are to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. We are to believe what Jesus Christ accomplished, and who we are in him. We are to believe the new things we have in Christ, and the new things that are coming.
Conforming to this evil age is conforming to the information the god of this age fabricates. Until Christ returns we will have to deal with the adversary, and not conform to his lies.
We did not get a new mind in the new birth. The new birth did not affect our thinking; we must renew our minds to believe the information God reveals in His Word concerning Christ and his accomplishments if we are to undergo this transformation.
We have a choice; we can either believe God at His Word, or believe the false information of this evil age from the adversary.
We received new things in Christ, and in the future we will receive more new things. We will have new bodies, we will physically enter the kingdom of God, and we have the guarantee of a home in the new heavens and new earth. We will see God make all things new, dearly beloved.
We are justified now, and when Christ returns, then we will be glorified with him.
Until then, be transformed by the renewing of your mind so that you may prove the good, well pleasing, and perfect will of God in your life.
Dearly beloved, faint not; be renewed in spirit of your mind, and put on the new man, which after God was created in righteousness and true holiness. Be renewed in knowledge according to the image of him that created the new man, where Christ is all and in all.
Christ is in you now, and when he returns then there will be glory forevermore.