“All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God. Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.” (2 Corinthians 4:15-16)

The longer we live, the more we understand the temporal nature of this life and this world. With each new ache, pain and disease, we know that this life will have a point where we will die. We have watched family and friends go through these pains as we age, and we have gone to their funerals. Yet, as believers in Jesus Christ we recognize that this world is not all there is. “Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.” (Hebrews 9:27-28)

As those who have put our faith in Jesus Christ we now live in both worlds, the physical world and the spiritual world. Through our relationship with Him we are even given insight into the intersection between the two. Paul would tell us, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” (Ephesians 6:12)

In teaching us how to pray, Jesus would direct us to pray concerning the relationship between the two. “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. . .. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.” (Matthew 6:9-10, 13) We pray seeking God’s help and guidance because our struggles in this world comes from those in the spiritual world. “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” (Ephesians 6:12)

In our struggles with the temporal nature of this world and with the evil in the heavenly realms, we turn to God’s grace for help. It is through God’s grace that we find our hope and strength through Jesus Christ. “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.” (Romans 5:1-5)

Now day by day we live in both worlds. We know the struggles which come every day in this world. However, we also know the power of God’s grace to live in this world every day. While we live here in both worlds, God is daily at work in our lives, molding us anew into the image of Jesus Christ. In the face of these struggles, we do not lose heart, all because God is renewing us day by day with the goal of us becoming more and more like Jesus.

In the Love of Jesus,

Michael Block