Thursday, April 27, 2023

 

Thursday, April 27, 2023


Psalm 140

Exodus 22:20-23:3

John 10:1-18


“I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”


I hate delayed gratification, and I accede to the fact that it is probably a character flaw to which I should not admit. Having to wait until I get a goodie is an unpleasant experience which I try to avoid as much as possible. But I am not a Christian in spite of the fact it means I have to wait until I die before I get to heaven – rather, I am a Christian because it means I get to be in heaven in the here and now.


In this passage, Christ is having a barny with the people about who He is. He has already displayed works of power: heaven is breaking in wherever He goes. They don’t need to wait until they die before they know for certain if Jesus is the Messiah or not. He is right there in front of them, performing the works of God and bringing in the kingdom of heaven before their very eyes.


It all comes back to the generosity of God. God gives all the good things He has to His people, and the best thing He has is life. When we are saved in this life, it is not a hopeful promise of only dying once, going to heaven, and then never dying again (although that is of course part of the deal). We also get this abundant life here and now. Instead of living in darkness, we are living in the light. We know how to avoid the behaviours that bring us guilt and shame, and we have the Holy Spirit to help us amend our ways to get better at it. And we have been brought into the great project of heaven of which Jesus affirmed in the Great Commission: to baptise the nations.


We are not sitting around waiting to die, behaving ourselves in the hopes that we won’t have too much on the ledger against us when we face God at our death. Our new life is here, now; our abundant life began yesterday.



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