Forty Days of Promises: Eternal Life
Thursday, April 30, 2020
Forty Days of Promises--Week 1
Focus of the week: Foundational Truths
God promises to give us Eternal Life
He will swallow up death for all time, and the Lord God will wipe tears away from all faces, and He will remove the reproach of His people from all the earth; for the Lord has spoken. Isaiah 25:8
All promises are fulfilled in Christ.
Please read John 3:1-19.
Perhaps the most devastating and heartbreaking situation that many have had to face during this global pandemic is the loss of a loved one. We have some of our own Soul Sisters who had family and dear friends who didn’t survive the virus. The circumstances around the losses during this time make them extremely difficult. But let’s face it, losing loved ones is never easy. We never want to say goodbye. We shed many tears and experience much heartache as we mourn for the loss of those we deeply cherish. But there is celebration in death for those who know Christ; there is victory for every soul who accepts his salvation.
In our spotlight verse, Isaiah provides the details about what eternal life will be like: There will be no more death and God Himself will wipe away all our tears. We will no longer have to deal with all the struggles of this world. How do we know that this is true? Isaiah says because “the Lord has spoken” it.
In John 3: 1-19 we see Jesus and Nicodemus having a very intimate conversation. There, in the darkness of the night, Jesus explains to one man, Nicodemus, what it means to be born again and live forever. And from this one-on-One conversation, the most familiar Bible verse in all of history was spoken, John 3:16.
In the Old Testament, Isaiah says “He” will swallow up death for all time, and in the New Testament, we see Jesus in the garden asking the Father to “take this cup from me.” Jesus took our sins to the cross with Him and indeed “swallowed” up death for eternity. When He died, both sin and death died with Him. And because God raised Jesus from the dead, all of us who believe have eternal life too! And Sisters, that is something to celebrate!
For further reading: Isaiah 25:6-9; Luke 22:39-42; John 5:24; 1 John 5:11-12; Revelations 21:1-7; I Corinthians 15:50-58; Ephesians 1:11-14
Dear Lord, thank you for the promise of eternal life. Thank you for the blood of Jesus and the sacrifice You made, so that we can spend forever with You. Father, we praise You that we don’t have to wait until the other side of this human existence to experience You. Because of Your Spirit, You are with us...always! Lord, while we are here on this earth, use us for Your glory. Let our lives be a roadmap for people to know that You so loved the world that You gave us your one and only Son, and that every one of us who believe will not perish, but will have everlasting life. In Jesus’ Name we pray, Amen.
