PILLARS 10: The Glorious God’s Most Glorious Design (Gen 1:26-30)

We’ve been talking about the truths that support and secure our faith.  And we’ve spent a number of weeks looking at the truth that there is a God.  He is infinite, eternal, perfect, and gloriously good.  He is exceedingly better - God pre-eminent.  And He is the sovereign almighty Creator of all things.  Everything He does AND everything He makes is good, and waaay back in the beginning, He created all things out of nothing, and they were exceedingly good. [Gen 1:31 God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good.]  Soooo good!

AND in Creation God saved the best for last.  Man [that Hebrew word literally is "adam"].  Human beings.  Gen 1:26-27  Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

Made by God, in God’s image, this likeness=resemblance: i.e. NOT God, but distinct resembling God unlike any of the rest of creation.  People have eternal souls, we are endowed with the physical/intellectual/spiritual capacities to rule together over all of God’s earth. 

"It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare. 

All day long we are, in some degree, helping each other to one or other of these destinations.

It is in the light of these overwhelming possibilities, it is with the awe and circumspection proper to them, that we should conduct all our dealings with one another, all friendships, all loves, all play, all politics.

There are no ordinary people.  You have never talked to a mere mortal.  Nations, cultures, arts, civilization—these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat.

But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit—immortal horrors or everlasting splendors.

This does not mean that we are to be perpetually solemn. We must play.  But our merriment must be of that kind (and it is, in fact, the merriest kind) which exists between people who have, from the outset, taken each other seriously—no flippancy, no superiority, no presumption.

And our charity must be real and costly love, with deep feeling for the sins in spite of which we love the sinner—no mere tolerance or indulgence which parodies love as flippancy parodies merriment. 

Next to the Blessed Sacrament itself, your neighbor is the holiest object presented to your senses."

(CS Lewis)

People are self aware [observe how we use a mirror vs how any other creature might], we are keenly aware of [time - unlike any other creature].  Yes, all these capacities began to break down after the Fall.  Yes, these capacities can be undeveloped.  But in or out of the womb, all humans (you and I) fundamentally bear God’s image because God says we do [Gen 1:26].  He says this of no other creature.  We are set apart.  It speaks to our personhood, beings with personality.  Emphasis on personal.  Not just our likes & dislikes & quirks but our unique God-like capacity for intimate relationship.  Even our use of language, words - is just like the God Whose likeness we bear.  Compare the development of any other creature to that of a human baby.  A couple of years after birth, what normally happens?  Humans begin to talk, to use words.  That never happens for any other creature.  Take dogs for example - what we’re hoping for with our puppy is that in a year or two not that she will be communicating with us intimately but that she will stop destroying our home.  We, people, are wired for relationship - with our Creator, as well as with one another*, and in fact the entire rest of the Bible after that first part of Genesis focuses on this unique relationship between God and man.  

The LIE says, man is just an animal.  A highly evolved animal.  But no different, nothing special.  And definitely not accountable or tied to any Creator.  But in fact God gave man a unique sacred crown.  (Psalm 8:4  What is man that You take thought of him, and the son of man that You care for him?  Yet You have made him a little lower than God, and You crown him with glory and majesty!  You make him to rule over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet.)  People are God’s masterpiece.  The piece de resistance.  Precious image-bearers of the exceedingly great God Who made all things, and Who uniquely made man for a personal relationship with Him.  Everything else God makes in Genesis 1 is in the 3rd person - “let there be, let there be…”  But when it comes time to make man, God ups the ante.  He gets more involved.  Somehow, He puts more of Himself into it.  “Let US make man in Our image…” (1:26).  First person.  God takes man more seriously than anything else in Creation.  And with that God takes the taking of human life very seriously.  God’s penalties for killing a human are qualitatively different than those for killing any other creature.  Gen 9:5-6 “Surely I will require your lifeblood; from every beast I will require it. And from every man, from every man’s brother I will require the life of man.  Whoever sheds man’s blood, by man his blood shall be shed, for in the image of God He made man.”  We’re not taking the time here to discuss capital punishment.  Suffice it to say, man is entirely set apart in the order of God’s creation.  God set man apart and put him in charge (i.e. gave him responsibility).  Note how this plays out in 2:19 Out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name.  The Lord actually involves the man in this aspect of the creative process.  Creator God brings all the beasts and birds to the man, and the man uses words (like His Creator) to name the creatures.  And look how God has empowered man in this process - “[whatever] the man called a creature, that was its name.”  No other creature is elevated in this way [Psalm 139:13-14   For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother’s womb.  I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; wonderful are Your works, and my soul knows it very well.].  God gave man a crown.

And don't you know, the world HATES this truth.  It rejects the crown, because it rejects the Creator.  Evolutionism gives man no exalted status - we’re just the latest beneficiaries of an IMpersonal random process.  There’s nothing special about you or me.  No elevation, no expectations - no accountability - cuz that’s how the world wants it.  We’re just highly evolved animals, ipso facto we can just behave/do like the animals whenever the instinct or the feeling comes to us.  Do whatever you want (i.e. live like animals - within “reasonable” limits and when it’s not too impositional).  And the world twists the crown.  Tho the world says there is nothing special about man, about me, the world still makes it all about me [Ezek28; Is14].  It’s hard to handle, the truth about this crown.  God blessed us, showered His breathtaking goodness on us, on people - not so that we would make it all about us but so that we could know Him personally, enjoying and celebrating His glorious goodness, now - and forever.  God gave man a crown.

God also gave man a unique sacred calling.  Genesis 1:26,28 “…let them rule…subdue the earth and rule over it…” These are military terms - conquer then rule.  No other creature is called to this.  2:15  Then the LORD God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it. [no other creature creates gardens].  Literally, man is called to serve and to guard God’s creation.  It’s a job, a responsibility.  No other creature does this, they just exist.  They look in a mirror and do what?  They’re born, they reproduce and they die.  Bees make honey.  Cows make milk (and manure)(not ice cream).  But man cultivates!  AND, man creates [well, re-creates] - and appreciates!  We take what God has made - raw materials - and we create something, and THEN we stand back and look at what we made, and admire it.  Wow, that’s pretty good (which is pretty much what the Lord did in 1:31).  Maybe it’s IN a garden - or in a kitchen, or in a studio, or in a workshop, or in a factory, or on paper, or on a computer.  No other creature (re)creates masterpieces like God’s image bearers.  Or admires them.  Skyscrapers, and rocket ships.  Bonsai trees, and gourmet delicacies.  Botanical gardens and master bedrooms.  Bouquets and board games.  Poetry and science fiction.  Symphonies and cinematic universes.  We harness the earth, all our science and technology (engineering, agriculture, medicine, so many other practical fields) for the greater good of all earth’s inhabitants.  At least, that’s our calling.  Cultivate and keep.  God gave man a calling.

And don’t miss the sacredness of this calling.  God put Adam in a place called what?  The garden of God - Ezek 28:13  “You were in Eden, the garden of God…"  It was paradise, it was spectacular, and it was precious - cuz it was all very good, AND it was all God’s stuff.  Still is.  The LIE says, this is MY stuff.  My life.  My precious.  Or maybe it’s nobody’s stuff - finders keepers.  First-come, first-served.  Survival of the fittest.  Dog eat dog.  No, no, no - it’s all God’s stuff.  He’s entrusted all His stuff to you and me - including you and me.  It’s HIS.  All His.  He’s put us in charge, but we’re simply taking care of it.  Ours is a sacred calling.  God’s stuff, His creation, His [creatures]. 

This crown and calling totally is the fountainhead of things like mercy, and justice.  God has called us to take care of His stuff, including and especially to care for and look out for one another.  Our neighbor.  Love.  Next week, we’ll dig deeper into just what man did with his calling, this sacred trust.  But for now, suffice it to say, God has blessed each of us.  Fearfully and wonderfully made.  And why has the glorious God showered so much goodness on us?   [Psalm 67:7  God blesses us, that all the ends of the earth may fear Him.].   It is NOT about us…

*The lack of human contact, and the sensory deprivation that often go with solitary confinement, can have a severe negative impact on a prisoner's mental state^[31] that may lead to certain mental illnesses such as depression, permanent or semi-permanent changes to brain physiology,^[32] an existential crisis,^{[33][34][35][36]} self-harm and death.^[37] Prison inmates assigned to solitary confinement were 3.2 times as likely to commit an act of self-harm.  The United Nations considers solitary confinement exceeding 15 days to be torture

PILLARS 9 - The Glorious God Lives IN Us! (Jn 16.7-14)

The Holy Spirit is God, the third person of the Trinity.  He convicts the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment; and is freely and permanently given to every person who trusts in Christ, sent to glorify Christ by regenerating, indwelling, gifting, guiding, teaching, bearing His fruit in the life of every believer; assuring them of salvation and and empowering them for service and witness.

Last time we looked at the amazing truth that the exceedingly breathtakingly good God WALKS among us.  He was born (yay!), He was crucified dead and buried, and then He was raised up out of the dead.  Never to die again.  And He HAS BEEN raised [perfect tense, with continuing results in the present].  He walked - and IS walking - among us.  Quite literally, in fact - He is walking/living IN us.  Galatians 2:20 “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 gave Himself up for me.

This leads us to the next amazing truth which supports and secures our faith.  We rushed right past it.  The almighty infinite eternal Creator God King of the universe somehow lives IN us.  Finite, flawed, frail and fallen, mortal creatures - God comes to make His home in the heart (life!) of every person who believes IN Christ.

Say what?  Christ. Lives. In. Me.  [Really?]

You go up to the average unbeliever and tell them, yeah, Jesus lives IN me.  The Son of God.  The God Who created the universe and everything in it and me and you.  Yeah, the One who died on the cross AND rose up out of the dead, the Messiah.  The One Who is living in heaven and is coming again to judge the whole world and reign as King for a thousand years.  The all-powerful, all-knowing, all loving, perfect holy God.  Yeah, that God - He lives in me.  And they’re gonna be like, right.  Cuz not only does it sound incredibly far-fetched, but words are cheap, and the billion dollar question is, where’s the beef?  Is there any good evidence to support such a claim?  They KNOW it’s way more than a praying a prayer and going to a meeting 1x/wk.

These other pillars we’ve been talking about, they’re more about theology and cosmology, but now we’re talking about current events.  Today.  This is real life, in-the-flesh, verifiable, seeing-is-believing level of conversation.  Where the rubber-meets-the-road.  It’s not discussions of metaphysics and origins, it’s not hermeneutics or catechisms or ancient history.  This is moving-to-Missouri-the-show-me state, put-up-or-shut-up.  "Christ lives in me."  Does He, for real?  The world wants proof.  The world needs proof.  A little bit of proof.  The proof is in the proverbial pudding.  In the tasting.  And we should be able to give it to them.  A taste of Jesus.  Our lives are designed (being redesigned) to give our neighbors and the nations a real good glimpse of Jesus.  John 14:12 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to the Father.  But the ability to do so doesn’t come from us, or from Jesus BESIDE us… John 14:15-17   “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.  AND I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be IN you.” Jn 15:5 “I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.  Galatians 5:22-23  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

The problem with so many religious people is that we’re a lot of talk.  Hot air?  It’s a problem when representing truth.  And it’s not a new problem: i.e. the Pharisees of Jesus day.  Matt 23:23   “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others.”

The world says the church is full of hypocrites.  People who say one thing, but do another.  Empty words.  Is that a fair statement?  So many name the Name, talk the talk.  We come up with catechisms and statements of doctrinal import.  We say we “love the Lord.”  We show up to meetings.  But what about these weightier provisions Jesus mentions?  Micah 6:8  He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?  Doing justice.  Loving chesed (grace/mercy).   A humble walk of faith/trust?  These weightier provisions are all about people, how we interact with people, how we love our neighbor.  We come up with all kinds of things we’re against.  The church is real good at that.  But what about the people?  Somehow in all our standing against all the things that are wrong in this world we’re not finding ways to show God’s chesed, His everlasting undeserved love, to our neighbor.  They don’t deserve it, we might say.  But neither do I.  And part of that challenge of love of course is that of loving our enemies, the people who are different than us and who disagree with us.  Love your enemies, Jesus said.

Remember, loving my neighbor is not a question of who is my neighbor, it is a question of humbly showing chesed and pursuing what is right for whoever needs it.  Including those who are different than me, AND those who disagree with me.  We talked before - how hard it is to handle the truth, how even as we talk about God’s truth we need His humility and grace and need to extend it to all people.

And who IS adequate to this?  Just because we start following Jesus, does that mean we automatically live into this call to humbly love our neighbors and our enemies?  Not to mention love one another AND love the Lord with all my heart.  It sounds impossible.  And it is.  Jesus says IF you love Me you will keep My commands.  Those are the top 3 - love the Lord, love your neighbor, and love one another.  If you love ME, you will do these.  And yes they are humanly impossible.  But THEN, He shows us the way to do that.  In fact, He doesn’t just show us the way.  He IS the way.  And this is the entire secret to a successful Christian life: I will give you a Helper…! [Who maybe is a bit like the hyperdrive motivator on the Millenium Falcon - when/if that gets activated, you can actually make the otherwise-impossible jump to light speed]

Christ. Lives. In. Me.  It’s not just some moral code.  Some set of do-rights and don’t-wrongs.  It’s not just ideas in my head.  It’s God almighty in my heart.  It’s a relationship that is every day, every moment.  He is not just Emmanuel-God-with-me in some abstract Christmasy kind of way.  A baby in a manger way back in the boonies of Bethlehem.  He is with you and me always, Holy Spirit, in our hearts.  Today!  He knows what we’re thinking, and feeling.  Today!  And NOT like some invisible roommate.  Better.  This Helper helps unlock supernatural power in our lives!  John 16:7 “But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.” John 14:26 “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.” Ezek. 36:26-27 “Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances.” Acts 1:8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.” Gal 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

The Holy Spirit is God, His Spirit, the Spirit of Christ living in us, and He is the Power Source of the Christian life.  Cuz what we need is not a better creed, a better pillar.  We need power.  We need Help.  1Cor. 4:20 For the kingdom of God does not consist in words but in power.  The LIE says, you’re no different than anyone else. Or worse. [2Cor 5.17].  Try harder.  Or, fix your doctrine.  Which is certainly important.  But all the things God wants us to do, all His commands - the Spirit is the One Who helps us to know these and to do these.  Eph. 5:18 …be filled with the Spirit…

2Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.

Which leaves us with the question - are you and I asking and trusting the Lord to fill us and empower us with His Spirit?

John 15:26   “When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify about Me, 27 and you will testify also, because you have been with Me from the beginning."

John 16:5   “But now I am going to Him who sent Me; and none of you asks Me, ‘Where are You going?’ 6 “But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. 7 “But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you. 8 “And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment; 9 concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me; 10 and concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you no longer see Me; 11 and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged."

Is. 44:3  ‘For I will pour out water on the thirsty land 

And streams on the dry ground; 

I will pour out My Spirit on your offspring 

And My blessing on your descendants.'

PILLARS 8 - The Glorious God Who WALKS Among Us (1Cor 15.1-8)

Jesus is the second Person of the Trinity, somehow both the true God and true man.  He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of a virgin (Mary).  He lived a sinless life and died on the cross as the only sufficient payment for man’s sin.  He was raised from the dead, ascended to heaven and will one day return as King and Judge of the whole earth.

Last time we looked at the truth of the God Who walked among us.  The almighty eternal Creator God Who came to earth as a baby, born to a virgin in Bethlehem some 2000 years ago, and He walked among us for 30 years.  His birth, AND the life He lived, and the death He died - including the fact that He did not in fact stay dead, constitute the crux of the entire foundation of the Christian faith.

C.S. Lewis puts it like this: The Christian "doctrines" are translations into our concepts and ideas of that which God has already expressed in language more adequate, namely the actual incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection.  In other words, in order to better understand ALL that God would have us believe, all we need to do is [take a good long look] at the God-man in the manger, on the cross, and walking out of the tomb.

Paul tells us that he received these all-important truths directly from the Lord.  Two things in particular.  The first we just observed, the celebration of the [Lord’s Supper] (1Cor 11).  The other is 1Cor. 15:3-4  For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He HAS BEEN raised (perfect tense!) on the third day according to the Scriptures.  Christ was raised - HAS BEEN raised - on the third day, according to the Scriptures.  Perfect tense, referring to something that happened, with continuing effects in the present [obviously that's a really big deal].  Paul specifically says that this truth, this pillar is of first importance.  The entirety of the Christian faith rests on this fundamental pillar of all pillars.  He goes on to say, 1Cor. 15:14,17-19  If Christ has NOT been raised [emphasis mine], then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain… and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins.  Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.  If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied.

What Paul is saying is that all of our teaching, all of our hope, is tied to the reality of the resurrection.  Our hope of eternal life is inseparably tied to THIS truth.  Cuz it means death has really been defeated.  For real.  Fact!  Our hope of heaven is founded on fact.  [The Tomb is Empty!] And it means the Scriptures are really true.

The LIE comes in and says, Jesus is dead.  He was just a man, and IF He ever walked this earth, He is dead.  He is certainly dead to me.  He is irrelevant.  1Corinthians 15:32 If from human motives I fought with wild beasts at Ephesus, what does it profit me? If the dead are not raised, LET US EAT AND DRINK, FOR TOMORROW WE DIE.  It’s a logical conclusion: why waste your life trying to get to heaven if the dead are not raised?   But the premise is flawed - cuz Jesus smashed a gaping hole in it.  At this point both the skeptic and the apathetic need to carefully consider the question: [what happened to the body?]  All the Jews and Romans had to do to shut down this sect of Nazarenes, to stop it dead in its tracks, was to produce the body.  See, this one you call Messiah is still dead.  No way He’s who you say He is.  BUT there was no body in that tomb.  That tomb which was sealed and guarded by Roman soldiers (on threat of death).  [Mt 27] And when they couldn’t produce a body, they concocted the lie that the disciples STOLE the body.  Are you kidding me?  Those cowards?  Who scattered like cockroaches when Jesus was arrested?  Yeah right - that’s totally what happened.  Those timid untrained fishermen not only overpowered those Roman soldiers, they managed to dispose of the body, outwit the Jewish mob AND the Roman empire, and then live out the rest of their lives for a flat-out lie.  In fact all the hundreds of people who saw Him after He was raised were all lying.  1Cor. 15:5-8 He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.  After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep; then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles; and last of all, as to one untimely born, He appeared to me also.  There is no record that even one of these witnesses, many tortured and executed as martyrs, ever recanted.  Far more likely that these hundreds of people actually did see Jesus alive, risen from the dead (MANY convincing proofs) - and the reality of His resurrection changed them forever.   It gave them a hope AND a boldness that never fizzled!  The truth of the resurrection is what turned those early believers from timid cowards into bold world-changers.  They turned the world upside down!  He walks among us!

The miracle, the wonderful impossible of the Christian life, is that we have a Messiah Who has been raised!  That is THE game changer of all game changers.  No other religious leader, no one else in history has ever come back to life.  Jesus is alive, ascended, and He is present.  He walks among us!  The hope and joy of the Christian is that Jesus is not just an idea or a cute little baby or some dead preacher but that He IS.  Emmanuel: God WITH us.  And not just in some vague spiritual sense.  He is alive!  Christ alive - and living with us - is the cornerstone of eternal life, that is, a personal relationship with our Creator that lasts forever.  Jeremiah 31:34 “They will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,” declares the LORD, “for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”  John 17:3 “This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” IF you are a believer in Christ today, almighty God the Son-Who-made-the-universe-and-everything-in-it is living in your heart!  Galatians 2:20 “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 gave Himself up for me.

(Lewis) "The New Testament writers speak as if Christ's achievement in rising from the dead was the first event of its kind in the whole history of the universe. He is the 'first fruits,' ‘the pioneer of life,' He has forced open a door that has been locked since the death of the first man. He has met, fought, and beaten the King of Death. Everything is different because He has done so.  This is the beginning of the new creation, a new chapter in cosmic history has opened.” EVERYTHING is different because Jesus has been raised!

The resurrection of Christ gives believers hope - real hope.  The assurance that we will live forever with God in heaven.  1Thess 4:13-14 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope.  For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. 1Peter 1:20-21 For He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you who through Him are believers in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.  There literally is, NO true hope apart from the risen Jesus.

He lives!  It’s the assurance that death HAS BEEN defeated.  Death has lost its sting.  We do not need to let death hold us in the grip of fear.  Resurrection assures us that this life is just the warmup for the real thing, a mere vapor.  Our real hope is that real life awaits on the other side of the veil.  So all the troubles and threats of this life, and even death itself, are truly nothing more than momentary and light affliction.  (Read below in Jn 11.25; Moses&Serpents in Num 21.5-9 --> point to Jesus Who was lifted up Jn 3.14; you will have tribulation Jn 16.33; and in it we are fixing eyes on Jesus Heb 12.1)  

Nothing in this life is guaranteed.  Tomorrow is not guaranteed.  But the resurrection of Christ is God’s guarantee of eternal life, a better life, life as God designed it to be.  It keeps us going.  The tomb is empty!  He walks among us!

Matthew 27:62-65   Now on the next day, the day after the preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered together with Pilate, and said, “Sir, we remember that when He was still alive that deceiver said, ‘After three days I am to rise again.’ Therefore, give orders for the grave to be made secure until the third day, otherwise His disciples may come and steal Him away and say to the people, ‘He has risen from the dead,’ and the last deception will be worse than the first.”  Pilate said to them, “You have a guard; go, make it as secure as you know how.”  And they went and made the grave secure, and along with the guard they set a seal on the stone.

John 11:25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?”  

Num. 21:5-9 The people spoke against God and Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this miserable food.” The LORD sent fiery serpents among the people and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died. So the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, because we have spoken against the LORD and you; intercede with the LORD, that He may remove the serpents from us.” And Moses interceded for the people.  Then the LORD said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a standard; and it shall come about, that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, he will live.”  And Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on the standard; and it came about, that if a serpent bit any man, when he looked to the bronze serpent, he lived.