“If the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in your mortal body, then He who raised Jesus from the dead will give life to your mortal body through the Spirit who dwells in you”.
There is a whole lot of good news packed into this little verse. The condition required for Spirit given life has been met – the Spirit of God (who raised Jesus from the dead) DOES dwell in you! As a Christian, you are a hybrid animal; the righteous, life -giving Holy Spirit is housed in a sinful, dying body. No wonder you feel like a confused, frustrated “hot mess”. But God directs us to keep our minds on the resurrection life growing within us, not on our disintegrating bodies.
This increasingly powerful resurrection life is being given to us NOW, because it is delivered by the Spirit who dwells in you now. Someday, spirit and body will part company, and this avenue of resurrection life power will be suspended. But thanks to that flow of life now, today you can expect enough God generated energy and stamina and ability to do everything He calls you to do today. You won’t be too tired, too weak, or too sick to be effective in His service.
One of God’s precious 20th century saints, Watchman Nee, suffered severely from tuberculosis. Immobile in bed, gasping, he was expected to die within a day or two. He remembered this wonderful verse and was reminded by the Spirit that “The just shall live by faith” (Rom.1:17). He then recalled 2 Cor.1:24, “by faith you stand”. He stood up. The third verse he remembered was, “We walk by faith.” with that, he joyfully walked down 25 steps, empowered by faith in the life-giving Holy Spirit. He lived for another 40 years.
The resurrection life celebrated in this verse is “indestructible”, according to Hebrews 7:16. That word literally means “undetachable”. The resurrected Jesus grabs hold of your mortal body with a grip that is never loosened or released. The Amplified Bible translates Hebrews 13:5 like this: “God Himself has said, ‘I will not in any way fail you, nor give you up, nor leave you without support. I will not I will not, I will not in any degree leave you helpless, nor forsake, nor let you down (relax my hold on you). Assuredly not!’” His gift of life is indestructible, his grip on you is undetachable.
The life of Jesus, which is growing in us now, is a down payment of God’s eventual purchase, possession, and complete renovation of our body. Someday resurrection will happen to our mortal bodies, and we’ll walk out of the grave as triumphantly and gloriously as Jesus did. On that day, He will complete the process of giving life to our mortal bodies. Hallelujah!