“Therefore, since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind, for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh for the lusts of men, but for the will of God.” (1 Peter 4:1-20)
The past year has been a time of challenges to our faith for sure. Not just for Jolyn and I, but quite a few people we know, as well as family members, have gone through trials and suffering of one kind or another. It’s easy to get confused about these things if we forget the great suffering Christ endured for us all on the cross. All of it for sins He had never committed, and failures He had never failed. As believers it is important to remember the sufferings of Christ whenever we go through our own situations that pale in comparison to what He experienced for us on the Cross.
Of course, as Christians we have the promise of Heaven to look forward to when we pass from this life. But it’s the process of getting there that causes us to wonder if we really understand life and death at all. Paul tells us in Corinthians that, “now, we see through a glass darkly.” This is obviously true to anyone who is clear about life in this world.
The promise of faith is that one day we will understand everything clearly once we pass through the mystery of all that makes up our life in this world, and we are standing in the very place where Christ lives and rules: the Eternal Home He has prepared for us. The place where eventually we will dwell in Peace, Safety and Eternal Bliss.
In John 14 we read where Jesus told his disciples He was going to prepare a place for them: Was He talking about Heaven? I don’t think so: I think He was talking about the Cross. He was going to the Cross to prepare us for the place the Apostle John wrote about in Revelation 22, where he saw “a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.”
In the original Greek the word for leaves in that passage is φύλλον (phúllon.) This is representative of the foliage that a tree brings forth. I believe that this corresponds with the ‘Tree of Life’ that was in the Garden of Eden. I truly believe that the Tree of Life in the Garden was, in fact, the Son of God, Jesus the Christ.
As the leaves (foliage) of the tree were for the healing of nations, so is the Church, the foliage of the Living Christ, left here on this earth for the healing of the nations. I believe this because God never had a plan for men to live eternally except through Christ and when He ejected Adam and Eve from the Garden, God told the Angel to drive them out, "lest he put forth his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever." (Genesis 3:22.)
When Adam chose to eat of the ‘Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil’ rather than ‘The Tree of Life’, he drove the nail in the destiny of the human race. (Genesis 2:17) Death came into the Creation, and man (and everything under his rule) must die to fully experience Eternal Life in Christ. (Romans 8:19-23)
When a King is defeated in battle, everything under his rule also comes under the control of the one who defeated him. Hence, Satan, the one who defeated Adam and took control of his Kingdom, is now actively in charge of this world and he will continue to tempt and torment it’s inhabitants until the return of Christ, when Jesus takes his children (the Church) out of this realm and delivers us into the Heavenly Kingdom.
But be of good cheer! We have a promise that works in us in our time here on earth. Romans 8:24-25 tells us: “For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.”
Jolyn and I are learning new lessons on this word “patience.” We pray and believe that God will heal her from the stroke damage and the substantial damage of her fall to the floor when she had the first stroke on May 26th which left her totally paralyzed on her left side. Yet we don’t see a miracle manifesting itself in her body right now as we would like. So we are left with the reality of going through extensive physical rehabilitation to see if we can regain the function of her left side.
Thank you all for your prayers as we continue forward on this healing journey. I cannot tell you enough how much we appreciate all of you. For Jolyn I would ask prayers for the battle she fights with discouragement. For me, prayers for the next step and what I must do to move us forward while trying to find genuine resources that can help us win this fight.
May God guide you and bless you through your own battles and challenges in this world. Christ is our only Hope for ultimate victory. Jolyn and I pray for you that you may experience Joy unspeakable and full of Glory as you plod the daily path of the life and future God has for you in what lies ahead.
God bless you all,
Craig Marlatt