Issue 768 -Mighty Oaks – June 7, 2022
Trees seem to be on my mind of late. Yesterday I wrote of the gemel tree or tree pairs. You can find that and many other back issues on our website
https://gleaningsfromtheword.com.
Oaks are one of my favourite trees. Something about them speaks peace and majesty to me. I am always amazed that something so big is born out of a marble-sized acorn.
Today’s picture is of the Angel Oak in South Carolina. It is between 350-400 years old and is believed to be the largest oak east of the Mississippi. The tree is 65 feet tall, and the branches span over 25 feet, shading an area of 17,000 square feet—all that from an acorn.
Recently, as I was reading 2 Corinthians, a verse brought the image of an oak to mind.
But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?” You foolish person! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. And what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare kernel, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain. But God gives it a body as he has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body. 2 Corinthians 15:33-37
I have read that passage many times and hardly ever stopped to ponder it. Paul writes to the church in Corinth, saying, “what you sow is not the body that is to be.”
It is a remarkable statement. Paul uses grain as an example, and indeed, a stalk of wheat is far more than what you think might come out of a kernel. In the same way, a mighty oak is much more than an acorn.
How much more will our resurrected body be than the one sown in death? I can’t imagine the answer to that question, but I know that whatever it will be, it will be perfect.
Why did God create humanity? There are many possible answers, but one was to sew the seed for something even better. When creation was finished, God judged it “very good” how much more so will the new creation be?
I know we won’t be gods, which is the position that some pseudo-Christian cults advocate. God alone is and will always be God. We will be human but perfected and so much more than we are now.
There are many possible ways that the new man will be better than the old, but we need to be careful not to stretch an analogy too far.
In glory with the Lord, we will be wholly sanctified, that is made holy. We will be gloried, that is made all that God created us to be, whatever that might be.
In this life, as believers, we have already been freed from the eternal consequences of our sin, although there may be earthly consequences to face.
In the next, we will be free from the presence of sin. There will be more temptation to drag us down, no more stumbling in our walk and service to the Lord our King. No more will we practice sin.
There will be no more hiding from the Lord because of our guilt, an eternity of total transparency and honesty with others with no need for pretence and no shame. How beautiful that will be.
Being freed to view all things without sin and being totally free to devote ourselves to our loving Lord will make us far more than we could ever be here in this life. We will be free to explore all the gifts and talents He has equipped us with for His glory.
Like mighty oaks from acorns, our glorified eternity will be stunning beyond anything we can imagine. What a marvel that will be.
Hold fast, my dear friends, no matter what the world throws at us. We have victory in Jesus. Even if the world takes our lives, we have glorious victory through Christ and a wondrous future to behold.
Praise God for His mercy and grace.
Hallelu Yah (Praise God)
Be blessed.
Kevin.
Gleanings From The Word.
Experience an extraordinary God in ordinary life.
Soli Deo Gloria (for the glory of God alone.)
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Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references are from the English Standard Version (ESV). Spelling modified to Canadian English as required.
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