Upside Down Kingdom - Pt 1

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:1-8 ESV).

Today we will examine the second principle in this “Upside Down Kingdom”: weakness reminds us that God will give us new bodies. Our aches and pains and inabilities point us to our future perfected body and soul. Feeling like you have one foot in the grave reminds you that you have one foot, already, in glory. Our longing for the resurrection is increased by weakness. That feeling of weakness and inadequacy serves to remind us that God’s design is to steadily move us down a path leading us to our real home. Years ago Mary and I acquired a print of a watercolor by Jim Gray titled “A Light in the Window.” It is one of many from this very talented artist that we have in our home. It is a reminder to me that he does indeed leave a light on for us to come home to. That is my destination. J.I. Packer expresses it well. He writes: Our new body . . . will match and perfectly express our perfected new heart, that is, our renewed moral and spiritual nature and character.” Our present weakness increases our yearning for the day when Christ gives us a new body that “will never deteriorate, but will keep its newness for all eternity.” The Christian hope, says Packer, “is understood not in the weak sense of optimistic whistling in the dark, but in the strong sense of certainty about what is coming because God himself has promised it. The Apostle Paul reminds us in our reading today that this produces hopefulness and endurance. He says those who have learned to rejoice in their sufferings will endure through trials, trusting God and growing in Christ. That is because they look back to God’s reconciling mercy at the cross and forward to their full and final deliverance at Christ’s return. Every day I like to remind myself I’m that much closer to home. It enables me to take that one-more-step.