Resurrection Destiny

Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory? —Luke 24:26

This is the best I could come up with in looking for our Pastor with a pained expression on his face. I cropped it from a photo taken in Israel. It’s hard to find a photo of Pastor T doing anything but working or smiling. I wanted something showing close to pain, because he’s had a little of that this week. He had a knee replacement on Monday and the first few days are tough. He’s doing better today and is looking to go home. During this time of discomfort he was not focused on the pain but the destination: a pain-free knee. As usual he serves as an example. 

“Our Lord’s Cross is the gateway into His life. His resurrection means that He has the power to convey His life to me. When I was born again, I received the very life of the risen Lord from Jesus Himself.

Christ’s resurrection destiny— His foreordained purpose— was to bring “many sons to glory” (Hebrews 2:10 ).”

How did He get through the agony of the cross? He focused on His destiny. When we struggle it’s almost always a case of misplaced focus. We look at the tiny crosses we bare, instead of the Resurrection that’s our Destiny. It’s important to remember that not all of our destiny is in the future tense. We are destined for some joy and glory now. The secret to a glorious life is having all that we have inherited, as soon as it’s ours. Sure, for much we must await Heaven, but there is glory now. In Heaven we will be completely the Lord’s; but we should be working toward that now. The more complete we accept the cross now, the more we become His now, the more the Glory shines today.

“When our Lord rose from the dead, He rose to an absolutely new life— a life He had never lived before He was God Incarnate. He rose to a life that had never been before. And what His resurrection means for us is that we are raised to His risen life, not to our old life. One day we will have a body like His glorious body, but we can know here and now the power and effectiveness of His resurrection and can “walk in newness of life” ( Romans 6:4 ). Paul’s determined purpose was to “know Him and the power of His resurrection” ( Philippians 3:10  ).”

Today Pastor has a new knee. For now it’s more pain than glory, but the hint of glory is there and the completeness of glory will continue to unfold in the days ahead. Our new life doesn’t start when we die; it starts when our old life died. It’s there, sometimes buried in a bit of pain, but it’s there. If we continue to bring it out, if we continue to let the old die and the new live, some glory is ours now and it’s really all we can handle. We are always blessed to the level we are able.

Be blessed Pastor T and God bless us every one.