Romans 8:20-25
The Best is Yet to Come
This is not all there is, nor is this how things were meant to be. There are better days ahead! As the saying goes, “The best is yet to come!” We must remind ourselves of these truths when life seems out of control.
Paul tells us that all creation was subjected to God's curse. We deal with the consequences of mankind's fall every day. Adam, the first man, failed to properly steward what God had entrusted to him, including the garden and his own choices. As a result, sin entered the world, and all creation was subjected to its consequences.
Mankind continued in its destructive ways, eventually leading to God's intervention through the flood—in a sense, a new beginning. Unfortunately, history is filled with examples of the destructive patterns of fallen humanity apart from God.
Yet God had a plan! What was lost through the first Adam would be redeemed through the obedience and sacrifice of the “second Adam”—Jesus Christ. And there is coming a day when God will bring us into the fullness of our inheritance as His adopted children, including the new bodies He has promised us, no longer subject to sin and decay.
In the meantime, God has given us the Holy Spirit as a foretaste of future glory. Somehow, I feel we all need a much greater understanding of Who resides within us! The Holy Spirit is powerful!
Scripture refers to Him as our Comforter, Counselor, Advocate, and Helper. The Greek word is Parakletos (Paraclete), referring to one who comes alongside to help, guide, defend, and console. No one knows us like He does, and in Christ, we are truly never alone. The problem is that many believers have never developed a meaningful relationship with Him.
The Holy Spirit is always mentioned as part of the Trinity, yet He seems to be the One we know the least about. And that is truly our loss!
Paul tells us that the Holy Spirit is a foretaste of future glory. What exactly is a foretaste? In biblical terms, He is a guarantee, a down payment, or a pledge of what is to come. Through the Holy Spirit, believers can experience something of God's future kingdom right now—righteousness, peace, joy, and the power to live victoriously—even though the fullness of our redemption is yet to come.
Even as I write this, I am woefully aware that there is so much more available to us that we fail to partake of, whether through ignorance, disobedience, or even a lack of faith.
I am reminded of Paul's words to the Philippians:
“I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith. I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death, so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead! I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.”
Philippians 3:7-14 NLT
Paul was willing to discard everything for the surpassing privilege of knowing Christ and experiencing the mighty power (Holy Spirit) that raised Him from the dead through the Spirit of God.
And here is something worth considering: I believe we are often experiencing only what we have developed an appetite for.
How hungry are we for more of God? Have we become satisfied with what we already know and have experienced, or are we pressing on, like Paul, to know Him more?
I find myself praying this morning for the Lord to increase my appetite for Him. If we desire to be used mightily by God, we must cultivate a deeper, more personal, and experiential relationship with Him. There is so much more to discover, so much more to experience, and so much more of His power available to accomplish His purposes through us.
Help us to know You more, Lord!
A question for us all: How would our perspective on present difficulties change if we kept our focus on the future glory God has promised?
This is not all there is, nor is this how things were meant to be. There are better days ahead! As the saying goes, “The best is yet to come!” We must remind ourselves of these truths when life seems out of control.
Paul tells us that all creation was subjected to God's curse. We deal with the consequences of mankind's fall every day. Adam, the first man, failed to properly steward what God had entrusted to him, including the garden and his own choices. As a result, sin entered the world, and all creation was subjected to its consequences.
Mankind continued in its destructive ways, eventually leading to God's intervention through the flood—in a sense, a new beginning. Unfortunately, history is filled with examples of the destructive patterns of fallen humanity apart from God.
Yet God had a plan! What was lost through the first Adam would be redeemed through the obedience and sacrifice of the “second Adam”—Jesus Christ. And there is coming a day when God will bring us into the fullness of our inheritance as His adopted children, including the new bodies He has promised us, no longer subject to sin and decay.
In the meantime, God has given us the Holy Spirit as a foretaste of future glory. Somehow, I feel we all need a much greater understanding of Who resides within us! The Holy Spirit is powerful!
Scripture refers to Him as our Comforter, Counselor, Advocate, and Helper. The Greek word is Parakletos (Paraclete), referring to one who comes alongside to help, guide, defend, and console. No one knows us like He does, and in Christ, we are truly never alone. The problem is that many believers have never developed a meaningful relationship with Him.
The Holy Spirit is always mentioned as part of the Trinity, yet He seems to be the One we know the least about. And that is truly our loss!
Paul tells us that the Holy Spirit is a foretaste of future glory. What exactly is a foretaste? In biblical terms, He is a guarantee, a down payment, or a pledge of what is to come. Through the Holy Spirit, believers can experience something of God's future kingdom right now—righteousness, peace, joy, and the power to live victoriously—even though the fullness of our redemption is yet to come.
Even as I write this, I am woefully aware that there is so much more available to us that we fail to partake of, whether through ignorance, disobedience, or even a lack of faith.
I am reminded of Paul's words to the Philippians:
“I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith. I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death, so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead! I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.”
Philippians 3:7-14 NLT
Paul was willing to discard everything for the surpassing privilege of knowing Christ and experiencing the mighty power (Holy Spirit) that raised Him from the dead through the Spirit of God.
And here is something worth considering: I believe we are often experiencing only what we have developed an appetite for.
How hungry are we for more of God? Have we become satisfied with what we already know and have experienced, or are we pressing on, like Paul, to know Him more?
I find myself praying this morning for the Lord to increase my appetite for Him. If we desire to be used mightily by God, we must cultivate a deeper, more personal, and experiential relationship with Him. There is so much more to discover, so much more to experience, and so much more of His power available to accomplish His purposes through us.
Help us to know You more, Lord!
A question for us all: How would our perspective on present difficulties change if we kept our focus on the future glory God has promised?
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