Six-generations, 126 years, is a long time for a family to be settled in a community, unless of course you’re in Europe where they speak in terms of six-centuries. We feel fairly comfortable and at home here on this beautiful land of our ancestors. I’ve lived other places and felt comfortable there too, because wherever Tim and I are is home to me. My mantra could be, “Home is where the heart and soul is.”

Peter uses two words in the following verses, sojourner and exile. A sojourner is a temporary dweller not having a settled habitat. An exile is one who has been expelled from one's native land by authoritative decree. He says, “Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul.” 1 Peter 2:11

Adam and Eve had a fine habitat which they were expelled from by a Holy God who had given them but one command to obey. They became temporary dwellers on the earth (which also became temporary) because part of the wages of their disobedience was death – which has been passed down to us through them. The perfection God intended for them was taken from them with a promise that perfection would come again, this time through the second Adam, Jesus Christ. The perfection they waited for, we worship in the Christ who lived a perfect life, suffered, died and rose from death. We long for that perfection as sojourners and exiles in this land.

We are temporary dwellers on this earth. We will live forever IN Christ, which is where we live now. Peter warns against the passions of the flesh which wage war against our soul. Following the passions of the flesh keeps our eyes focused on the temporary. Following the passions of the flesh keep us longing for more of that which is temporary, rather than on our heart and soul which is eternal in Christ. The promise is true – our bodies will be eternal in Christ as well, because as he lives, we will live.

God doesn’t call us away from that which is physical – he redeemed us body, soul, mind, spirit and heart. God calls us into our high and holy callings as his people who live on this earth as temporary dwellers. We are called to delight in the things of this life, even the very physical things that do not wage war against our heart and soul. We are called to see, touch, taste, experience the beauty, where we are called, not where we are not called.

Living fully human where we are called to live, fully alive with our eyes fixed on the eternal gives us a passion and enthusiasm for life now and life eternal. Living where we are called to live doesn’t constrain us, it frees us. We must name the lies of the tempter, the lies of this world and the lies of our flesh. We are called to name where God has called us to live freely according to his word. The perfection God intends for us is real and it is now in the man, Jesus Christ our righteousness and perfection.

Living IN Christ brings freedom beyond imagination because the war on our soul, the war that has been waging in our hearts and bodies is neutralized and won in Christ. We are called to live at home IN Christ, who is eternal. Six-generations is a something we never take for granted. May we never take the eternal for granted, even though we cannot comprehend it. May God grant us courage to live where he calls us to live. May God grant us boldness to proclaim the eternal, to proclaim life to a world cling to itself for dear life. May God’s peace guard our hearts and souls. Blessings IN Christ, Cindy

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