“It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life “(John 6:63).
God has structured our existence with two lives: 1) the one that finds our hope in what we see, feel and experience in this lifetime and 2) the life of the Spirit, one characterized by a hope in the unseen.
The first is a temporary hope because all that is seen eventually vanishes or rots away. As a result, it is a hope that cannot be fulfilled. Ironically, it is embraced and encouraged by the world and claims to reward those that seek it.
It has an end. It is dead (spiritually). It leads to death (physically). It is used by Satan to entice us and to deceive us. It seems right but does not satisfy—It leaves us always wanting more.
“There is a way which seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death” (Proverbs 14:12).
In the end, this temporal life disappoints. It is empty, void of any legitimate hope and meaningful purpose. Ecclesiastes describes it as vanity, it is like a wasteland. It promises much, but delivers only enough to keep you pursuing.
Solomon presents a stark commentary on the realities of the hope in the temporal life, after having missed the life in the Spirit. It is stark because man has sought to make the life of the temporal something it was never meant to be.
It seems that hope in the temporal is ultimately so full of despair, its purpose is to guide us to the better life, to embrace the life of the Spirit, that which God intended us to live.
The life of the Spirit is of a spiritual nature, contrary to the hope of the physical life. We don’t see it. It is described by Jesus as “like the wind” in John 3:8. However, contrary to hope in the temporal, it delivers as promised.
“Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed” (Romans 10:11).
“This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast…” (Hebrews 6:19).
It is not something we gain or work to have; it is given by the Holy Spirit at the time a man receives Jesus Christ, by faith, as his savior, known as justification. Life of the spirit implies being guided by the Holy Spirit, seeking eternal values, and relying on divine strength and direction rather than one’s own power and intellect.
Life of the Spirit requires death to the hope in the temporal life. By this, we still live in a broken world but we die to any hope in it.
“You fool! That which you sow does not come to life unless it dies” (1Corinthains 15:36).
These two hopes are distinct and separate and cannot co-exist. We have one or the other but not both. Jesus said,
“No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other” (Matthew 6:24).
“I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and delivered Himself up for me” (Galatians 2:20).
“For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God” (Colossians (3:3).
It’s as though we have a new filter system: we were blind, but now see! We were slaves to Satan and sin and now slaves to Christ and His righteousness. Our main objective was to serve self, but now to serve Christ.
This life of the Spirit lasts forever. It does not die; it and its promises are embedded in our souls. They become deeper and more profound as we apply and practice.
So, we have now come to live the life of the Spirit. It came through the Word of God. Literally, the Word is life. It offers all the promises and hope that the physical life of the temporal cannot deliver.
We are in the midst of the process of dying to that old hope as we gain a stronger and more mature hope. This is developed by the Spirit of God through devotion to His Word.
The life of the Spirit teaches us how to handle temporal hope as it dies. It gives perspectives , courage and strength that we could not generate ourselves.
It is the only life worth living, if you have it.
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