GOD’S WORD FOR MAY 9

OUR PERSONAL PROMISES:

   JESUS, YOU…….. WILL SHOW ME THE COVENANT AND YOUR SECRETS  Psalm 62:8

JESUS, YOU….WORK AND ACT ON BEHALF OF ME BEYOND WHAT I COULD EVER PERCEIVE   Isaiah 64:4, quoted in 2 Corinthians 2:9

 JESUS, YOU………….PITY ME  BECAUSE YOU KNOW I AM JUST DUST —Ps 103:13-14

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THE WORD FOR TODAY

Romans 8:11-18 ~

 “But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.

Therefore, brethren, we are debtors—not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh.  For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.  For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,  and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.   For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.”

Chapter 10 of “Abide in Christ” by Andrew Murray:

The blessings flowing from abiding in Christ as our redemption are great.  The soul is delivered from all fear of death.  There was a time when even the Savior feared death.  But now no longer.  He has triumphed over death;  even His body has entered into the glory. 

The believer who abides in Christ as his full redemption realizes even now his spiritual victory over death.  To him, death becomes the servant that removes the last rags of the old carnal apparel before he is clothed with the new body of glory. 

It carries the body to the grave, to lie there as the seed from which the new body will arise as the worthy companion of the glorified spirit.

The resurrection of the body is no longer a barren doctrine, but a living expectation, and even an introductory experience, because the spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in the body as the pledge that even our mortal bodies will be brought to life. (Romans 8:11-18-above).  This faith exercises its sanctifying influence in the willing surrender of the sinful members of the body to be mortified and completely subjected to the dominion of the Spirit, as preparation for the time when the frail body will be changed and fashioned like to His glorious body.

This full redemption of Christ extending to the body has a depth of meaning not easily expressed.  It was said of man as a whole, soul and body, that he was made in the image and likeness of God.  In the angels, God had created spirits without material bodies; in the creation of the world, there was matter without spirit.  Man was to be the highest specimen of divine art; the combination in one being, of matter and spirit in perfect harmony, as an example of the most perfect union between God and His own creation.  Sin entered in and appeared to thwart the divine plan:  the material obtained a fearful supremacy over the spiritual: But…….

  “The Word was made flesh” (John 1:14);

The divine fullness received an embodiment in the humanity of Christ, that the redemption might be a complete and perfect one, that the whole creation, which now groans and travails in pain together (Romans 8:22 ~ “For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now.”), might be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the liberty of the glory of the children of God.  God’s purpose will not be accomplished, and Christ’s glory will not be manifested fully, until the body, with the whole of nature of which it is part and head, has been transfigured by the power of the spiritual life and made the transparent apparel for showing forth the glory of the Infinite Spirit.  Only then will we understand:

Christ Jesus is made unto us complete redemption!

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