Created For More

There is a new kind of life – life in the Spirit. Psalm 135:15-18 showed me that the other morning.  

Born into this world, our spirits are dead – dead to God. They do not know Him, nor do they want to know him. The sinful mind is hostile to God – the Bible says we are his enemies (Romans 5:10). Nothing in us wants anything to do with God (Romans 8:6-7). Even though at times we might wish for something better – something more. The bible also says that God has put eternity in the hearts of men (Ecclesiastes 3:11). We seek that which we do not have: real life – real truth, real beauty, and real relationship. To know our creator and be known by him. “Now this is eternal life that they may know you, the one true God, and Jesus Christ, the one you have sent.” John 17: 3.

All this is to say that there is another kind of life out there – one different than the one you were born into. The bible refers to “…the empty way of life handed down from your forefathers…” in 1 Peter 1:18. What we got from our parents may have been great, or may have been not so great, or may have been terrible, but what they gave us - biological life - is not all there is. There is more.

We were created for more. We were designed with a space that only the one who created us can fill. It’s like creating this amazing new car, but it’s missing an engine. Or maybe the engine is there, but it’s dead and needs to be replaced – given a new one. The old one (nature) is taken out, and a whole new one - shiny, brand spanking new – is put in. And the good news about the new one is that it will never wear out. 1 Peter 1:3-4 says, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead (that’s the how), and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade – kept in heaven for you (that’s the what).”

Truly, we haven’t even seen yet what the new spirit God places in us can fully do. It’s like when you reach a certain point in a video game, you can level up to a whole new world. That’s how it will be when our physical bodies die. This brand new “engine” or spirit, will soar to new heights (and possibly speeds – who knows?) that will blow our minds.

Acts 17:24-31 sums it up perfectly:

            “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. For in him we live and move and have our being. Therefore, since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone – an image made by man’s design and skill. In the past he overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent (to change their minds about him). For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead (Jesus).”

Do you seek more? Do you want to know the fullness that you were created for? Remember, we were all created to know God and be known by him. The only problem is the “wrench in the works” that is our sinful nature. When our first ancestors made the choice to disobey God and try to go it on their own, every person ever born since has been subject to death – both the physical kind and the spiritual kind (remember the dead engine?). God gave the first people mercy in that Adam and Eve’s bodies didn’t die right away, but their spirits did – and their spirits were what connected them to God. 

Now that the connection was broken, the amazing fullness of real life that they knew while connected to God was gone. In it’s place was a shallow, dim reflection full of substitutes and longing to recreate what they once had. (see Psalm 135:15-18). Sound familiar? Take a look around our world. The good news is that God can bring even dead things back to life. In Acts 2:31-33, 36, 38, Peter tells the crowds that the man they put to death is the same one that God raised from the dead. It is through faith in Him that we can be reconnected with God. 

Romans 10:9-10 says, “That if you confess with your mouth ‘Jesus is Lord’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved (your spirit made alive).” Do you believe? 

He did it for Jesus. He did it for me. He can do it for you.

Blessings.