Jesus, Tuis In Jou Hart — Pete BriscoeVoorbeeld

The Future Is Now

To die is to be with the Lord. It is not just an idea; it is a reality. — Francis Schaeffer

“She’s with Jesus now. We can have comfort that she’s with Jesus as we speak…”

Have you ever heard that at a funeral? Probably. I did.

It’s not that it isn’t true, it’s just not the whole truth. The timing is wrong. The good news isn’t that the dead person is now alive with Christ. It’s that our living unity with Christ begins long before our physical death.

“And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—the Spirit of truth… you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you… Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.” (John 14:16-17, 19b-20)

It’s not an idea or a romanticized notion. It’s a reality. I’ve been “with the Lord” ever since I first placed my faith in Jesus. Sure, it’s going to change when I shed this creaky body and relate to Him face to face on a purely spiritual level. But the fact that He’s already in me is the mystery, the joy, and the unique truth of the Christian message.

Isn’t that beautiful? Perhaps you’ve never thought of it before—that you don’t have to wait until eternity to live in Christ and Christ in you. Perhaps you thought it was far off in the future—only a reality through death. But the good news is this: the future is now.

What God does, He does through you; Who God is, He is through you. No, you’re not a little god. The news is better than that. You’re filled with God. You’ve always been made in His image, but upon belief, that image becomes living color.

I hope the words spoken at my funeral include, “Now there’s a man who’s been living with Jesus for almost nine decades.” And I pray they’ll say the same about you too.

Indwelling God, I believe that You are in me and live in me. But it’s a reality that’s hard to wrap my mind around. In Your wisdom, lift the veil over my mind that keeps me from understanding how Your indwelling changes everything about life here on earth. I want to dance with You now, live with You now, walk with You today. Amen.