Steadfast Life

Your best life latter

By Craig C. White

Life is uncertain. We fall into traps and misfortune. Sometimes our enemies work against us. Sometimes the people we rely on disappoint us. Even wondering what to do with our lives can be evasive. After all, you only get one shot at life! So we ask, “Am I doing what I ought to be doing?” We all strive to have a better life. We all want to get our share of what life has to offer before it’s too late. Although we don’t believe it, we know that one day every one of us will die. This makes us anxious. We must make our one shot at life count!

Take a deep breath and I will let you in on a fantastic secret. It turns out that you may not have only one shot at life. You may actually have TWO shots! Or if you are very lucky then you may actually have one long everlasting life. I am hoping that I will be included in that last category.

1Co 15:51 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,

People we know die all the time but the Apostle Paul told us that not every person will die! How is that possible?

1Co 15:52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

God came down from heaven to earth in the man Jesus. Jesus died on the cross but he didn’t stay in the grave. Jesus rose up out of the grave alive but he didn’t stay on earth. Jesus went back to heaven to be an intercessor between man and God but not always. Jesus Christ is coming back soon but not to stay. Jesus is coming back to collect every person who ever believed in him. He will collect them both soul and body! If you believe in him your body and life will be renewed. If you reject him now then death will have its way with you. One day the dead in Christ will rise up out of their graves and live. Chances are that somebody you know who has died will become alive again. I’ll bet that some of those people will meet with you then. After all of those people are made alive, then the present day believers in Christ will be changed. Their bodies will be transformed into indestructible everlasting bodies. Chances are very good that I will still be alive on that day. Not until all believers past and present are assembled will they be taken into heaven to be with Jesus. Their lives will no longer be uncertain but instead they will be forever steadfast and enduring.

In order to receive our steadfast lives our hearts must be steadfast toward God. If our hearts are not steadfast with God then our souls and bodies will perish.

Psa 78:7-8 That they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments: 8 And might not be as their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation; a generation that set not their heart aright, and whose spirit was not stedfast with God.

Don’t think that this is your best life now. For the believer in Jesus Christ a new renewed life is promised. One day every person who ever trusted God will rise up out of their grave and live. This day could come much sooner than we think. The day of renewed life could come before your current goals are accomplished. Whose life would you rather have; the person who overcame death or your short uncertain life today?

Our lives seem very important to us now. When things don’t go our way we even challenge God. We ask, “God why are you doing this to me?” But God understands that we are in fact not very significant. He knows that none of us will last very long at all.

Psa 78:39 For he remembered that they were but flesh; a wind that passeth away, and cometh not again.

Life is miraculous, uncertain, and fleeting. God created us to live forever but our troubles overflow us. Upon the resurrection and the renewing of our bodies our lives will become incredibly fantastic, steadfast, and fulfilling forever. This everlasting jubilant life was highly expensive yet freely given. God became a man in Jesus Christ in order to prepare our place before God. Jesus died to pay the penalty for our sin. Everlasting life is available to us if we receive it. If we do not then death will consume us forever. Our life in Jesus Christ is much greater than the cares of this world. Our renewed life has an eternal weight. In order to receive our steadfast lives our hearts must be steadfast toward God.

Heb 3:14 For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end;

In the verse above the end doesn’t mean the end of time or the end of our lives but it means to the completion of maturity. If you know about Jesus Christ’s payment for your sin but are continually waiting to submit yourself to his authority then your deliverance from sin and death has not reached its end. Your faith has not reached maturity. When Jesus comes to raise the dead and to collect his followers then you will not be taken. At that time God will judge the unbelieving world. A terrible time of tribulation and spiritual darkness will grip the earth. The bible tells us to trust Jesus now while the light still shines (John 12:35).

Today Jesus Christ sits at the right hand of God defending believers against the accusations of Satan. In this way he performs the duty of High Priest for us. He is a High Priest chosen among men who mediates between man and God. In verse 19 below the veil is the way into the holiest part of God’s temple in heaven. Only the High Priest is allowed there. Jesus Christ died as a sacrifice for sin. He presented his sacrifice in heaven before God. This is our steadfast hope of reconciliation with God and our steadfast promise of an everlasting renewed life.

Heb 6:19-20 Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil; 20 Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.

The name Melchisedec means king of righteousness. Many bible scholars think that Melchisedec was in fact an appearance of Jesus Christ on earth long before he became a man (Gen 14:18). It is said that Melchisedec like Jesus Christ has an eternal life (Heb 7:3, Heb 7:16). Since Jesus lives forever he is able to sustain our relationship with God forever. Our only hope of a steadfast right relationship with God is through his son Jesus.

Heb 7:25 Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.

Our salvation through Jesus is complete and steadfast. Don’t be overwhelmed with the disappointments of life today. No matter how good or bad your life is now it will certainly be short. That is unless you are still alive until the day of resurrection; the day that Jesus returns for his own. Our lives forever will be great. When it comes to life in Jesus Christ the best is yet to come. That is for certain.