Resurrection – audio

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There’s a sense in which we’ve already been raised, of course. When we identified with Christ in baptism, God raised us from our spiritual graves. We were dead, and now we’re alive. We were lost, and now we’re found. But the resurrection isn’t finished yet.

Sometimes my body aches and my head hurts (“in this we groan,” 2 Corinthians 5:2). I struggle with sin way more than I should. I look around and see a messed-up world. And it all reminds me that there’s a bigger, better resurrection coming.

We’ve been resurrected, but we can’t wait to be resurrected – completely, finally, and irrevocably.

I think that’s what Paul’s talking about here: “if by any means I may attain to the resurrection from the dead” (Philippians 3:11). He’d been saved, of course, but he knew all too well that God was still working on him. He had a clear and future focus – he was excited about what God had done for him, and about what the Lord was still doing in him, but he couldn’t wait for what lay ahead.

Maybe you need that reminder today. You feel like you’re being swallowed up by life’s pressures, demands, and stress. Pause a few minutes and look ahead. The daily grind will still be there, but for now think about that future resurrection from the dead. Jesus promised that he’s coming back to this world to take you where he wants you and where you want to be.

He’s already saved you from all your sins, and he’s given you his Spirit as a down payment. But as with all down payments, the Spirit is just a small taste of what’s coming. He’ll change your body into an incorruptible one . . . a body that doesn’t hurt, moan, groan, or age. He’ll redeem this world from all of its corruption and decay and create a new dwelling place for his people. And he’ll take away every vestige of sin.

We will, by his grace, “attain the resurrection from the dead.”

That’s what gives us a different perspective from the folks around us who don’t know Christ.