In the Bible, God promises new life in Christ. It’s the kind of life Jesus talks about in John 10:10 (NKJV) when He says, “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” Other versions of the Bible talk about a rich, satisfying life—one filled with reason and fulfillment. This life has an eternal quality.

It is a life marked by more.

However, we don’t have to look far to realize that many are not yet experiencing abundant life. We distance ourselves from the people and testimonies in the Bible, telling ourselves things were different when it was written. We believe that the characters were superior or that they had an unusual connection to God, so He treated them specially.

Many believers are not experiencing spiritual riches like love, joy, and peace. Our lives can be just as riddled by restlessness, sin, and anxiety as the rest of the world. We are bothered by what we see on social media, concerned about violence in the news, and uncertain about the future of our nation.

When Jesus came to earth He preached the gospel of the kingdom of heaven. Both He and John the Baptist announced this kingdom is “at hand.” God’s kingdom is a spiritual existence now, as well as a future material manifestation. “At hand” means the kingdom of heaven is something we can grasp and draw into reality while still living on earth.

Through surrendering ourselves to Jesus’s lordship, we experience life in His kingdom, a life filled with the first fruits of heaven. Not only do we have hope for a glorious life with God after death, but also, we begin to experience it while here on earth. Life in God’s spiritual kingdom now is a foreshadow of future life in heaven.

We catch glimpses of glory when God’s reality breaks into our ordinary life. This truly is extraordinary!

God’s intention is to walk with His creation in close communion; He desires to “do life” with us. When He created Adam and Eve, He intended to help and teach them every day in the Garden of Eden. But they chose their own way and thus began the separation between God and man.

When Jesus came to earth, He showed us how to do life with God in perfect unison. By becoming the final sacrifice and offering eternal salvation, He opened the door for us to experience life with God as it once was in the garden.

Romans 8:1–2 (NLT) says, “So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death.”

The abundant life is a return to innocence and freedom from the spiritual weight of the sinful nature. Love and forgiveness rule in Christ, and guilt is a lie. We now have the opportunity to live with God through life in the Spirit.

What good news!

(Excerpt taken from New Reality: Extraordinary Living in Ordinary Life)