Owl City “Always” part 3 – Always.

This is the most important of all the fandom nuggets we will ever discuss here. It sums up the entirety about what I believe about Jesus, God, the universe — everything — and it is immensely important for everyone to hear it! If you have never heard the Gospel before, I’m so happy you’re here, and hope you’ll keep reading. If you’ve heard the Gospel before, but don’t believe yet for any reason, please don’t leave! At the very least, this could change the way you view Christianity, even if it doesn’t convince you to change your mind. And if you’ve heard the Gospel and have trusted Jesus as your Savior, I am so grateful for you. Please, please, please share this post 🙂

This is the third and final part of the little series we’ve been doing the past few weeks. This week, we’ll talk about how God promises to be with us, both in this life and in eternity.

We receive the Holy Spirit the moment we accept Christ

The Holy Spirit is the third part of the Christian trinity. Jesus talks about him in John 14, right before He is crucified. The twelve disciples received the Holy Spirit after Jesus went back to Heaven. As a result, they spoke in other languages, used the Scripture with new power, and even healed the sick or injured (Acts 1:8, 2:4, 2:38, 4:31, and many more).

The topic of the Holy Spirit, His existence, His character, and how we interact with Him is a complicated one that would take much more than a single blog post to fully discuss. For now, here’s an article that explains who He is and what He’s here for. The important thing to take away from this is that the moment you surrender to Jesus, ask Him to be the Lord of your life and fill the gap of sin (more on that here), you will receive the Holy Spirit. Which brings me to the next point…

The Holy Spirit connects us to Christ and assures our relationship with Him – always

Why is the Holy Spirit important? Romans 8 says that “The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,” confirming that we have received salvation, which can never be taken away (John 10:28). The rest of this chapter of Romans describes the Holy Spirit’s role like this:

• He gives us life (v. 6)
• He allows us to resist the desires of our flesh/sin (v. 9)
• He intercedes on our behalf when we don’t know how or what to pray (v 15-17, 26-27)
• He gives us the hope of eternal life (v. 28)
• He reminds us that nothing can separate us from God’s love (v. 38-39)

How do we know that we have the Holy Spirit?

As you begin to grow in your relationship with Jesus, things will begin to change. Your actions will change as you follow more and more closely with who God wants us to be. Your desire to read the Bible and pray, and most of all, share the Good News with literally everyone, will grow stronger, until you almost can’t resist it. It’s a bit like falling in love: the more time you spend with Jesus, the more you want to spend time with Him, and the more others will notice the difference. The Bible calls this the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) and sanctification (Romans 6:22).

This whole process brings us towards the satisfaction that we talked about in Episode 1.

We are comforted and empowered through Scripture, fellowship, and prayer

Once the gap between us and God has been closed, the rest of our life is dedicated to the pursuit of Christ. This means spending time in the Word as much as possible, learning who Jesus is and how to follow Him better. It means walking alongside other believers who can encourage us and who we can encourage. And it means praying constantly, striving to strengthen the connection between our spirit and the Spirit of Christ. This is what will allow us to begin to have the “abundant life” that Jesus talks about in John 10:10.

Fellowship

But we’re not called to live this new life alone. Not only do we get the Holy Spirit to remind us of our calling and our identity, we also get to walk alongside fellow believers, encouraging and empowering one another to grow closer to Christ. This reminds each of us that God is with us.

Remember how each human reflects the image of God in their own unique way? This is true even of non-believers, but coming to faith in Jesus brings the attributes of God that are reflected in us to their full potential. These are called spiritual gifts (Romans 12:6-8, 1 Corinthians 12:4-11). The gifts that each believer has bring others closer to Christ as well as that individual. Here’s an article that discusses each of the spiritual gifts.

Witnessing

By far the best way to experience the faithful presence of God in your life is by sharing the Gospel (what we’ve just been talking about) with those around you. I’ve experienced this personally: nothing is more powerful, more assuring or more fulfilling than laying out the clear and simple Gospel for someone else, then watching them accept it and receive salvation. Not only does it benefit them for eternity, it also reminds you of the truth and gives you more joy in your own salvation.

So when Jesus called us to “go and make disciples of all nations(Matthew 28:19-20),” He wasn’t just giving us a chore. He was giving us a life mission that will fulfill our heart’s desires more deeply than anything else we could possibly do.

Prayer

Another way that Jesus promises to be with us is through prayer. When we pray, we come to a deeper understanding not only of our own identity, but also of God’s character and His view of us. It will be hard at first, but gets easier over time, like an awkward first date that leads to hours of steady conversation. Here’s an article about the importance of prayer.

As we continue to choose Jesus and the new life He’s given us, our lives will be more satisfying, and we will begin to have more joy and peace through the Holy Spirit.

At the end of this life, we get to be with Jesus forever and always.

We’re almost done! If you’ve stuck with me this long, I appreciate you :).

The world isn’t perfect…yet

When we come to Jesus, our hearts begin to change and we begin to view the world differently, but the work isn’t finished. We aren’t perfect yet, and the world definitely isn’t perfect. This means that there will still be suffering, and hardship, and heartbreak, even as believers. Although the spiritual gap between us and God has been filled, we won’t be able to fully experience Him until we get to Heaven. The bodies we have right now, the situations we’re in, even the world around us are all temporary. And that’s a good thing.

Always and forever – Heaven

The good news here is that, once we get to Heaven, all the questions will be answered. There will be no more crying, or sickness, or death, and we will be able to look at Jesus and even at God face to face. All the questions will finally be answered, and our souls will find rest and fulfillment.

At some point, either when we die or when Jesus comes back to get us, eternity will really begin for us. We’ll get to be with Jesus forever and always. In the meantime, as we’re seeking to grow closer to Him and bring as many people with us as possible, we can also remember the promise that He’s made: “I will never leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed” (Deuteronomy 31:6, 8).This will give us hope and joy, like a bride waiting for her wedding day.

That’s it! I hope you’ve enjoyed this final episode of the little mini-series we’ve been doing the past few weeks. If you don’t know Christ yet, I hope that this has given you a glimpse into what Christians believe, or perhaps a chance to change your mind. And if you do know Jesus, I hope that this post has encouraged you to pursue Him even more.

Happy fangirling! 🙂