Is the Good Life Attainable?
Between Two Tenses
Do Christians have special insight into a good life and where it can be found? Absolutely we do. But before I go into it further, I think a lot of Christians don’t fully appreciate the insights that are at their disposal.
We Christians tend to focus on two tenses: the past tense and the future tense. We praise God for the forgiveness of past sins, and we thank God for the assurance of future heaven and that great promise. These are two wonderful things to be prized, but we don’t have as much to say about the present.
Paul has so much to say about how good life can be in the present for the Christian.
Paul’s Hopeful Message
What about that window in between forgiveness of past sins and assurance of future heaven? What about now? What is life meant to be right now? The Bible has an enormous amount to say about this. In fact, I think the Apostle Paul has more to say about the present life than he does about past forgiveness and future heaven. We often tend to neglect it.
Discovering the Good Life
Tim Savage
Tim Savage sets forth a distinctly Christian vision of “the good life,” explaining how being “in Christ” leads to the most liberating, fulfilling life any human could experience.
For instance, Paul says we are filled with all the fullness of God. Right now. That’s something I wouldn’t repeat to anyone, except that it’s in the Bible. It almost sounds blasphemous to think that we could be filled with all of God’s fullness. But Paul says, Yes, right now, in the present. He also says we’re seated right now in the heavenly places with Christ. Present tense. He says we can rejoice always and in every way, in every circumstance. Paul has so much to say about how good life can be in the present for the Christian.
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