Text: 1 Corinthians 15:12-34, 2 Corinthians 4:7-18
One of my favorite songs of all time is Nicole C. Mullins’ “My Redeemer Lives.” I’ll blast that tune from my car speakers, roll my windows down, and scream the lyrics at the top of my lungs. (Okay, I’ll probably have the windows up. I’m the only resident of the greater Nashville area that can’t sing, so yes, I hide behind my windows.) Banging my steering wheel out of conviction, I’m sure I look like I’m singing along to some pop ballad after a bad date. But nope—just praisin’ Jesus!
I sincerely love this song. It is a faithful reminder of the assurance we have in Christ: our Redeemer lives. Our faith isn’t based on some fleeting idea or passing trend, but on the conviction and confidence that our Savior conquered death and is alive today.
Our faith hinges on the resurrection of Jesus Christ. If He has not risen from the dead, then He has not conquered death. If He hasn’t conquered death, then death still has power over our lives. Most importantly, if Christ hasn’t been raised, there is no resurrection for us—no hope after death and no eternity with Christ. “If we have put our hope in Christ for this life only, we should be pitied more than anyone” (1 Corinthians 15:19).
But the resurrection is real. Jesus did conquer death and rise from the grave. Our Redeemer lives!
Friends, this is the great treasure Paul spoke of in 2 Corinthians 4—the “extraordinary power” which can only be from God Himself and not from us (v. 7). We carry Christ’s death and resurrection in us—the power of His atonement and the glory of His resurrected life (v. 10). No matter what life brings, our hope is secure.
If I’m being honest, I don’t often treat the assurance of Christ’s resurrection like the treasure it truly is. Oh, I live like it’s valuable and worthy and excellent, but the greatest treasure? Sadly, not so much. Instead, I run around, spending my time like this life on earth is the only one I’ve got. I become easily distracted by what I think I need right now.
But this life and the things of this world are temporary. They will fade. Our troubles, our pains, our afflictions—they, too, will fade. But our living Redeemer will never die, and His resurrection power will never fade. As Paul goes on to say, “Even though our outer person is being destroyed, our inner person is being renewed day by day” (2 Corinthians 4:16).
In Mere Christianity C.S. Lewis wrote, “a continual looking forward to the eternal world is not … a form of escapism or wishful thinking, but one of the things a Christian is meant to do.”
We’re meant to live like we know where we’ll spend eternity—because we do! We’re meant to live as though our inner life and resurrection through Jesus Christ is real, both now and for eternity, because it is! We live with confidence in this eternal hope because our Redeemer is indeed alive. He alone is our hope.
“So if you have been raised with the Messiah, seek what is above, where the Messiah is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on what is above, not on what is on the earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with the Messiah in God. When the Messiah, who is your life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.”
-Colossians 3:1-4
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59 thoughts on "Our Eternal Hope: What Will Become of Us?"
I love this verse “Even though our outer person is being destroyed,our inner person is being renewed day by day”. It really gets my brain thinking about how it doesn’t matter what my past is or what I’ve done but what I’m doing now and how I’ve done it.
I find it hard to balance the eternal hope I have with the difficulties of everyday life. I believe that God doesn’t make these fade, but gives us strength to live with the reality of them under the umbrella of the reality of his resurrection power.
Thank you SRT for another beautiful devotion & collection of God’s word!!
“I know that I know that I know that I know…I spoke with him this morning!”
Needed this. I have taken the last couple of days to read through Joshua, but came back here today.
My husband and I are preparing to serve as full time missionaries to Haiti and I’ve recently been battling feelings of intense fear and inadequacy. I’m coming to terms with the fact that life in Haiti will be unpredictable and likely dangerous. And no matter what happens, we know the end of our story. This devo wasn’t about overcoming fear, necessarily, but the Holy Spirit definitely spoke to me here.
Please visit this website: http://www.bhm.org/wallace-and-eleanor-turnbull/ The Turnbulls attend Thomas Road Baptist Church (Jerry Falwell) in Lynchburg VA. I have heard Mrs. Turnbull speak at women’s meetings and Sunday school classes about their mission in Haiti. They love the Haitian people and promote the mission to be continued. She states that the Haitians believe in many gods but the Turnbulls preached about the “Great God Over All” whom the Haitians know as the “Good God”; their other god’s are awful, cruel and needing to be placated whereas the “Good God” is loving and kind. Very appealing to them. The Turnbulls would be glad to speak to you if you would like. I pray God’s blessings on your calling and for strength for you and your husband.
I was just in Haiti in December…my first time. Know that I will keep you and your family in my prayers, on my prayer wall so I will remember! You are not going alone and the mission/burden isn’t meant for you to carry alone either. Your heavenly Father will prepare the way and open doors you never imagined for you to share the glorious Truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. ♥
Love this post! So thankful for hope through Christ. Wonderful reminder, this world is not our home!
Thank you so, so much for this post! My mind has been under a lot of attack from the enemy for the last couple of weeks, and it has left me feeling utterly crippled by fear, dread, and hopelessness – feelings that are not of the Lord. Thank you so much for this reminder that Jesus has DEFEATED death and has defeated the enemy; and now we carry his death and resurrection with us! Please pray for the attacks on my mind and thank you for this much-needed reminder.
Praying for you cami! Yes he is the resurrection and the life!
Not crushed. Not in despair. Not abandoned. Not destroyed. I am all these things because Jesus is alive. So I don’t give up. I don’t grow weary. I press on. It is not easy but the result is assured : “an absolutely incomparable weight of glory.” Promised by He who is alive, now and forever: Jesus.
Thanks for this timely post today. Really needed to hear it. I’ve been struggling for a year to get along with a coworker I work closely with. I really don’t like him and even talking to him annoys me. What a good reminder that the afflictions we suffer in this world are transient. Sisters please pray for me to have more love and grace toward this person who really needs it. It’s hard for me to even ask this because of how much I dislike this person. Needing prayers that the Lord help me to destroy my outer man so my inner man can grow. Love and blessings to you all today!
Praying for you now!
Thank you!!
Praying for you.
And one thing that might help- pray FOR HIM. We are called to pray for our enemies. For real, praying for him will help you see him as God does & it will change your perspective of him. It’s so hard, but just start. Just start by asking God to bless his day & show you more specific ways to pray for him. You may not end up even liking him, but hopefully you will have more grace & patience.
Yes! I agree– pray FOR him! I know this is a challenge but it’s beautiful how God will work through this process.
Thank you! Feeling blessed by you sisters today.
Praying alongside you, knowing that you are being obedient even though it is very hard
Thank you churchmouse!
Amen! This is beautiful! This Sunday I am being baptized again to declare that this 2nd chance of life, this healed body, belongs to Christ. And without His sacrifice on the cross and resurrection, I would not be here today!i am alive, because He died and rose again! d
Amen!
But this life and the things of this world are temporary. They will fade. Our troubles, our pains, our afflictions—they, too, will fade. But our living Redeemer will never die, and His resurrection power will never fade. As Paul goes on to say, “Even though our outer person is being destroyed, our inner person is being renewed day by day” (2 Corinthians 4:16). In Mere Christianity C.S. Lewis wrote, “a continual looking forward to the eternal world is not … a form of escapism or wishful thinking, but one of the things a Christian is meant to do.”
Wow, wow, wow. This was amazing! Things of this world will be no more when we are reunited with Christ. Pain, treasures, heartache…everything. This is something not many people think about. We are stuck in the here and now. What a great nudge to remember to look towards Heaven :)
http://www.littlelightonahill.com
18 as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.
I have a new appreciation for when Paul writes about fixing our eyes on the eternal, instead of what is more easily seen and more readily comprehensible, attainable. This past year I returned to my hometown and have been a part of a team hoping to, by God’s grace, build a church in an area that needs to hear the gospel presented in an honest and relevant way. I have been struggling so much, between missing my old friends and roommates, finding new jobs, and facing pressure from my parents to get my ducks in a row, now that I’m back on home turf. I often have moments where I contemplate moving back to my old roommates, and how easy it would be to fall back into a comfortable, “happy” life- were I to choose to walk away from everything here in pursuit of a trial free life. But I am constantly reminded by God’s word and His spirit in me, that this work we are embarking on is greater than any one of us, and greyer than any momentary comfort or “happiness” that I would otherwise be selfishly seeking. It is better to “suffer” for God’s eternal, kingdom work, that it is to be comfortable in any other circumstance. So we press on, fixing our eyes on what is unseen- “since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” So thankful for this timely reminder today.
What a great testimony to following what you God has asked of you! Keep letting Him lead you and being an example of that!
Thank you! I needed to hear your story today.
Thanks for sharing encouragement today, Michelle! Grateful to read Truth together!
xoxo-Kaitlin
verse 18 While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal. This stuck out to me because my husbands Sunday School message was on faith and living day-to-day with boldness for serving the Lord and taking leaps of faith. We may not always see the next step, but we have to trust God to take it. Just as the eyes were opened of the servant during the battle. He saw the legions of angels upon the mountains. We are often not used of God because we want to see the next step or have enough money or have tremendous ability. May we keep are eyes focused on what we cannot see and follow the Lord boldly.
This is what truly got to me: “We’re meant to live like we know where we’ll spend eternity—because we do! We’re meant to live as though our inner life and resurrection through Jesus Christ is real, both now and for eternity, because it is! We live with confidence in this eternal hope because our Redeemer is indeed alive. He alone is our hope. “. I love to constantly plan for A, B and C as if where I’m going depends only on my plans and not Jesus. This paragraph struck me because it speaks to true hope in the gift of the resurrection which I personally take for granted.
I’m a planner too!! That was quite possibly the hardest thing for me to do. To just give up my control and give in to HIS control and His plan. It’s still a struggle for me and I have to actively remind myself that He’s got this!
It just hit me this morning in todays reading. I remember looking so forward to moving into a new place at various times in my life, so it is with with our eternal life. Looking forward to moving into the shining place on the hill, with the Lord our Father. I have been reading the truths on this website for about 2 years or more now and I feel so blessed by all your teachings.
Patti, what a joy it is to read Truth together! Thanks for the encouragement to lift our gaze toward eternity!
xoxo-Kaitlin
And slavery. I am worried for her safety- and emotional well-being, this today reminds me that we have overcome death. Please pray for her though and those women she will encointer
praying for your daughter
Added her to my prayer list
Today’s devotion hit home. My oldest daughter leaves for Greece Saturday to intern with A21z I am beyond nervous for her. Knowing the heart- wrenching will encounter with these women saved f of abuse
I love the quote from CS Lewis…. I have lots to be thankful for in this life, but I am ready to welcome Jesus whenever he returns and brings a new heaven and a new earth. This is not my eternal home!
So grateful for this truth, Janet! Thanks for joining us today!
xoxo-Kaitlin
This is such a blessed word this morning! I was having a political discussion with my dad last night before going to sleep and as much as I didn’t want it to the whole conversation got me so incredibly discouraged for our country. So I listened to a sermon prior to falling asleep to get something positive in my brain but the enemy still attacked my mind with fear for the future. Then I wake up this morning to read this truth of Jesus conquering all death and evil and it’s given me such a peace again to always remember to trust in His goodness and sovereignty over worldly circumstances. My redeemer LIVES!! And saves! Jesus thank you for your amazing truth that always brings my eyes back to you and you only. Allow us to remember to only focus on you when everything else seems like it’s crumbling around us because you are the Rock and like the hymn says ” all other ground is sinking sand.”
This is a great message. It reminds me of the hymn – Because He Lives. “Because He lives, I can face tomorrow, Because He lives, all fear is gone; Because I know He holds the future, And life is worth the living, Just because He lives!”
This is a great reassurance and allows me to hold onto hope that this is all temporal. We can face anything with Him. Have a blessed day!
So blessed by this devotion this morning. “No matter what life brings, our hope is secure”. It is secure in the resurrection of Christ and who He is! As I was journaling my reflection, a hymn came into mind.
My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.
I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus’ name.
On Christ the solid rock I stand,
All other ground is sinking sand,
All other ground is sinking sand.
I’m holding onto this eternal hope with all that is within me.
Thank you for that hymn!
The ROCK won’t move!!!!
Yes. This hymn came to mind for me as well.
Our eternity starts now.
Your C.S. Lewis quote made me think of another he penned, “If I find in myself desires which nothing in this world can satisfy, the only logical explanation is that I was made for another world.”
This world is truly not our home, we are just passing through! And yet, we were put here for a purpose, to spread the Gospel and bring Glory to God! So thankful to know He conquered, death, hell and the grave and lives IN us, our eternal hope! The Messiah…He is our life. ♥
Job 19:25-27; 42:5-6
25 For I know that my Redeemer lives,
and at the last he will stand upon the earth.[a]
26 And after my skin has been thus destroyed,
yet in[b] my flesh I shall see God,
27 whom I shall see for myself,
and my eyes shall behold, and not another.
My heart faints within me!
…
5 I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear,
but now my eye sees you;
6 therefore I despise myself,
and repent in dust and ashes.”
Job clings to this truth in his suffering, and in the end he is blown away. His response (and ours) is repentance and surrender to the Great and Sovereign King who is full of mercy and compassion! And God restores him. What a truth and hope! =)
Thanks for the reminder! It’s so easy to get bogged down in trying to make this life better and all the things about it that are frustrating, but that’s not all there is! This reality should make a huge impact on my attitude and the level of peace in my life. My redeemer lives!
This is exactly what I needed to hear (read) this morning. Thank you!
“No matter what life brings our hope is secure.” Holding on tight to these words this morning. This world gives us so many reasons to have fear and to live life scared of death, but I will not allow myself to focus on this but rather the hope and peace of knowing where our final destination is, and that it’s far greater than anything this earthly life can offer. Thank you Jesus that you not only died for our sins, but that you rose again and conquered death!
The fear of death is such a biggie. As a fairly “young” person, I can ignore it, focus on other day to day concerns and joys, and along with most of the rest of my culture- try to pretend that death doesn’t really exist. But then I suddenly get gripped by a fear late at night about my children, or my husband is late home and my mind starts playing through scenarios about road accidents, and I realise that this fear is there, underlying, ready to pounce. However- our wonderful Saviour really has beaten death, He really has won the victory…. death where is your sting? I want to be able to look at death squarely through the filter of the Resurrected Lover of our Souls. I heard a preach last week where it was said that everything boils down to either FEAR or LOVE. I’ve been mulling it over a lot. Lord, may your perfect, Eternity-winning, death-destroying, life-giving LOVE for ME cast out all fear- even the deepest ones I try to hide away. Hallelujah- our Redeemer LIVES!
So well said
Love this.
Praying that right along with you
Lindy- if you can pick up the book Imagine Heaven by Burke, it may help illustrate with all its profound real life stories that death is truly not to be feared but to truly be looked forward to as this teaching so beautifully illustrated. May the book bless you as it has me.
Thanks Amy, I’ll try to get hold of a copy- sounds great :-)
Amen.
This is a wonderful thread to read. I am honored to read all of your words.
Thank you for this prayer, I copied it in my notes & will meditate on it when my heart gets fearful! No fear in love. There’s no fear in love.