It is important to ask “What happens when we die?” But in light of how the Bible answers that, a more pressing question for us right now is, “How then should we live?” For the Christian, knowing the glorious future that awaits us, how should that make a difference in the way I live right now?

There will always be a gathering of believers on earth because the Lord promises to build, guide, and preserve his church to the end of the age. When Christ returns, he will gather and perfect his church from every tribe, tongue, and nation as a people for his own possession, and he will dwell with them forever.

Jesus came, not just to give us a new list of beliefs. He came to give us new life - transformed lives, walking in the Spirit together, so that we can see His mission fulfilled of the lost being saved, and the saved grow into maturity. All for the glory of Christ, and the joy of His people.

To “edify” means to build up, to encourage. The Spirit empowers Christians, not only to evangelize the lost, but also to minister to and encourage other Christians. Scripture teaches the gifts of the Spirit continue to function in the church today, and that every Christian has been given at least one spiritual gift to edify the church and to glorify God.

Through the person and power of the Holy Spirit, we have everything we need to live transformed lives and to help others do the same.

Real joy is found when we die to self, to stop obsessing over me and what others think about me, and instead, find my identity and approval in Jesus. Pride and condemnation and chasing approval of others, all that crumbles when we surrender our will to His, when we realize I didn’t save myself - Jesus did. I didn’t earn my salvation. He earned it for me. And that frees me to live a life for His glory, not mine.

The person of Jesus, in all His complexity and beauty, is on full display in the pages of Holy Scripture, revealed to us by Jesus Himself, that we would know Him as He is, and to know His love for us. And to truly know Jesus as He is, is to truly have all you need.

Deep thoughts of God, rooted in God’s Word, will encourage us and provoke us to worship and will actually increase our joy in the God we serve. And so it is with the beautiful nature of the Trinity. Not that we would try to comprehend every nuance, but instead that we would stop and look deeply into the awe-inspiring Tri-unity of God, that we would know His love for us and grow in our joy-filled worship of Him.

We have been called by God to spread the gospel, for every Christian to preach and teach and evangelize. And we do that with the truth of God’s word in our hearts and our mouths. But that will only be effective if we love that truth ourselves first. To truly know God’s love is to know and love God’s Word.