“we shall
live with Him.”
The first
part of this verse talks about is death with Christ. Romans chapter six gives a
fuller description of this process if you want to read it. The second part of
this verse states the opposite. When we die with Christ we live with Him. That
is the process. What does this mean?
Accepting
Christ as your savior gives you spiritual life. Spiritual life gives you the
Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit came into your heart the moment you were saved.
Spiritual life means you no longer have to worry about dying physically. You
know where you are going after your physical body passes away. Spiritual life
also means that one day your physical corrupted body will be reunited with your
soul and changed to an uncorrupted body.
Spiritual
life means living with Christ eternally. Forever and ever you will live with
Christ. If you read Romans chapter one you will read that humans have a God
shaped hole in them. Humans need God. This is part of being made in God’s Image.
Now they may find other ways to fill that hole and cloud God out but there is
still that internal yearning for God.
The real
tragedy with not accepting Christ as your Savior is that you will be eternally
separated from God. Right now the unsaved still enjoy some of the benefits of
the presence of God. In the afterlife the unsaved will no longer have those. How
sad it will be to be eternally separated from what you were created for. This
is not what God wants but it is your choice.
Below is an
old hymn written by T. O. Chisholm I thought was appropriate for this:
1. Living for Jesus a life that is true;
striving to please him in all that I do,
yielding allegiance, gladhearted and
free,
this is the pathway of blessing for me.
Refrain:
O Jesus, Lord and Savior,
I give myself to thee;
for thou, in thy atonement,
didst give thyself for me;
I own no other master,
my heart shall be thy throne,
My life I give, henceforth to live,
O Christ for thee alone.
2. Living for Jesus who died in my place,
bearing on Calvary my sin and disgrace,
such love constrains me to answer his
call,
follow his leading and give him my all.
(Refrain)
3. Living for Jesus wherever I am,
doing each duty in his holy hame,
willing to suffer affliction or loss,
deeming each trial a part of my cross.
(Refrain)
4. Living for Jesus through earth's little
while,
my dearest treasure, the light of his
smile,
seeking the lost ones he died to redeem,
bringing the weary to find rest in him.
