Lay Hold of True Life

Devotional

Day 1: Swallowed by Life While Still Breathing

Paul’s startling image of mortality being “swallowed up by life” redefines what it means to truly live. This isn’t about avoiding death but being overtaken by a reality so vibrant it consumes every frailty. Eternal life isn’t merely endless—it’s a fullness of being that transforms how we endure present struggles. Like a tent giving way to a permanent home, our current existence aches for this overwhelming vitality. To be swallowed by life is to let future glory invade today’s weariness. [25:16]

“For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.”
(2 Corinthians 5:4, ESV)

Reflection: Where do you feel the tension between life’s current burdens and the promise of being “swallowed by life”? How might this hope reshape your groaning into anticipation?

Day 2: Two Minutes on Earth, Eternity in Motion

Toby’s 120-second earthly life seems tragic until eternity reframes it. His story exposes our limited vision—we measure purpose by earthly achievements, but God designs lives for eternal weight. Like a child created not for brief breaths but everlasting reign, our truest calling waits beyond the veil. Every mundane act gains meaning when seen as preparation for celestial purpose. [14:19]

“They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.”
(1 Timothy 6:18–19, ESV)

Reflection: What earthly measures of success might you need to release to embrace your “true calling” in eternity? How does Toby’s story challenge your view of daily faithfulness?

Day 3: Hidden Life, Visible Hope

Christians resemble ordinary people, yet Paul insists our real life is “hidden with Christ.” Like a seed’s potential buried in soil, our true identity awaits revelation. This hiddenness isn’t absence but incubation—the Spirit’s work maturing what will erupt in glory. Present struggles gain dignity when seen as part of a story where hidden things shape eternal visibility. [21:33]

“For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.”
(Colossians 3:3–4, ESV)

Reflection: Where do you most feel the tension between your “hidden” identity in Christ and the world’s demand for visible success? How might this truth comfort you in seasons of obscurity?

Day 4: Every Wheel Turning Toward Dawn

Richard Baxter compared hope to a spring that sets every wheel of obedience in motion. Eternal life isn’t a passive reward but the fuel for present labor. Like runners fixated on the finish line, believers work vigorously because resurrection guarantees their efforts matter. Boredom and burnout dissolve when daily tasks become gears in eternity’s machinery. [04:28]

“Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.”
(1 Corinthians 15:58, ESV)

Reflection: Which “wheel” in your life (prayer, love, endurance) needs re-engaging by the spring of eternal hope? What mundane act could you reinvest with cosmic significance today?

Day 5: Already Alive, Not Yet Swallowed

We possess eternal life now yet ache for its fullness—like dawn’s first light anticipating noon. This tension fuels sanctification: tasting enough of Christ’s life to hunger for more. Paul urges us to “lay hold” of what we’ve been given but not yet fully inherited. Every act of faith stretches toward the day when partial becomes whole. [18:43]

“Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.”
(1 John 3:2–3, ESV)

Reflection: How does the “already but not yet” reality of eternal life stir both gratitude and holy discontent in you? What one step can you take today to “reach for the life that reaches back”?

Sermon Summary

Paul reaches for words that express the final condition of redeemed humanity in terms of life. Not merely life continuing, but “true life,” “real life,” life that is fully, really, beingly alive. First Timothy 6:19 commands believers to store up treasure for the future so that they may take hold of “that which is truly life.” That command means the fullness has not yet arrived. It is future. It must be laid hold of, lived for, and, if necessary, died for.

The end matters because the love of the end is “the poise and spring which setth every wheel a going.” An unknown end will not be loved, and a dimly seen prize will not produce vigorous motion. The New Testament repeatedly makes present obedience depend on future hope. John says that those who hope to be like Christ purify themselves. Paul says that resurrection glory makes believers steadfast and abounding, that God’s promise to be Father sets cleansing and holiness in motion, and that eternal glory keeps suffering saints from losing heart. Heaven is not an escape hatch from faithfulness. The sight of heaven is the energy for faithfulness.

Revelation’s picture of servants seeing God’s face, bearing his name, serving him, and reigning with him raises the question of true calling. Marshall Shelley’s brief son, Toby, was not created merely for two minutes on earth. God created him for eternity. Earthly callings matter, but they may be shadows and preparations for a role that finally fits in the presence of God, a calling that has seemed just out of reach in this age.

Christ has already brought this life into the world. The Son is eternal life, and whoever has the Son has life. Believers have passed from death to life, possess the Spirit, and taste the life of Christ now. Yet Colossians says that this life is hidden with Christ in God. The hiddenness explains why God’s children still look so ordinary, weak, burdened, and mortal.

Paul’s image in 2 Corinthians presses the point home. The body is a tent, and death is not the final Christian desire. The final hope is not to be unclothed but further clothed, “so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.” Present life is real because Christ is in it, but it is not yet life in its fullness. The final destiny of body and soul is life in God and in his Son, beyond all comparison, for endless ages.

##

Key Takeaways

1. The end sets every wheel moving The love of the final prize gives strength to the means God appoints now. Holiness, endurance, courage, and labor become thin and heavy when eternity is vague. The clearer Christ’s promised future becomes, the more present obedience gains motion and weight. [04:01]
2. True life is still ahead The life believers possess in Christ is genuinely eternal life, not a mere religious feeling. Yet the final condition of that life remains future, hidden, and incompletely experienced in mortal bodies. First Timothy 6:19 calls believers to reach for the fullness they do not yet possess. [18:06]
3. Heaven reveals true calling Earthly callings are real, but they do not exhaust what God created his people to be. Serving God, seeing his face, bearing his name, and reigning with him may disclose a purpose that earthly circumstances only faintly suggested. Even a life measured in minutes is made for eternity. [13:15]
4. Mortality will be swallowed by life Christian hope does not terminate in disembodied survival. Christ’s return brings a further clothing, where bodily weakness and death are overtaken by indestructible life. The resurrection does not merely restore what was lost; it brings creation into life as life was meant to be.

## [24:56]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[01:57] - The Final Condition of Redeemed Humanity
[03:03] - Why the End Matters Now
[06:46] - Future Hope Sets Holiness in Motion
[09:18] - Eternal Glory Keeps Saints From Losing Heart
[11:38] - Toby and the Purpose of Eternity
[15:02] - The Question of True Calling
[16:20] - Taking Hold of True Life
[19:00] - Eternal Life Has Come in Christ
[21:14] - Life Hidden With Christ
[22:56] - Striving to Enter Life
[23:40] - Mortality Swallowed Up by Life

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading

1 Timothy 6:19
“thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.” [16:20]

2 Corinthians 5:4
“For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.” [24:56]

Revelation 22:3-4
“No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.” [13:01]

Observation questions

In 1 Timothy 6:19, what are believers told to store up, and what future purpose does Paul give for doing so? [16:32]
What four activities describe the eternal future of God’s servants in Revelation 22:3–4? [13:10]
In 2 Corinthians 5:4, what does Paul say believers do while living in their present “tent,” and what does he say they ultimately desire? [24:51]
What contrast is made between possessing life in Christ now and experiencing that life in its fullness later? [21:14]

Interpretation questions

Why does Paul describe the life believers are to take hold of as “true life” if they already have eternal life through Christ?
How does storing up treasure for the future show that a person’s deepest hope is not tied to what this present world can offer? [18:32]
Revelation describes God’s people as seeing his face, serving him, and reigning with him. What does this suggest about the purpose and dignity of believers’ eternal future? [13:31]
Why is it important that Christian hope is not simply leaving the body behind, but mortality being “swallowed up by life”? [25:00]

Application questions

What tends to make eternity feel distant or unclear in daily life—comfort, busyness, suffering, fear, or something else? How might that affect present obedience and endurance? [05:16]
Where do you most need the hope of future life to “set every wheel going” right now: fighting sin, serving others, persevering through hardship, or faithfully doing unnoticed work? [22:23]
When life feels ordinary, weak, or disappointing, how does the truth that your life is hidden with Christ help you resist discouragement? [21:28]
Is there an earthly role, achievement, or disappointment that has begun to define your sense of worth? How does the promise of serving God and reigning with Christ reshape that perspective? [14:06]
What burdens connected to mortality are most present for you or someone you love—pain, aging, weakness, grief, or fear of death? How does the promise that mortality will be swallowed up by life speak into that burden? [25:07]
What is one concrete way you could store up treasure for the future this week through generosity, service, holiness, or courage? [16:36]

Sermon Clips

There is a present life and there's a future life and we should strive to enter that life. Here's what he says in Matthew 18:9. If your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into the hell of fire. We have a kind of life now, but there is a life into which we have not yet entered. So live to enter it. [00:22:53]

We do not lose heart because this light momentary like 80 or 90 or 100 years is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison. If you don't see it, if you don't love it, if you don't long for it, you're going to lose heart or you're going to become worldly and draw your strength from this world. [00:09:31]

"Serving God and reigning, those tasks sound like they have more significance than the careers most of us pursue in our lifetimes. Could it be?" He asks that when I finally begin serving God with his name on my forehead, I will find that this is what I was truly created for. I may find I was created not for what I would accomplish on earth, but for the role I will fulfill in heaven. [00:13:31]

Paul is trying to find words that express our final condition in terms of life. It's true life. It's real life. It's full of beingly life. Which means according to that verse that you don't have it yet. Lay hold on it. Reach out for it. Store it up. Go for it. You don't have it. Go for it. It's future. Live for it. Die for it. Real life. [00:18:11]

It is the heavenly Christian that is the lively Christian. It is strangeness to heaven that makes us so dull. It is the end that quickens to all the means. And the more frequently and clearly this end is beheld, the more vigorous will be our motion. We run so slowly and strive so lazily because we so little mind the prize. [00:05:03]

I was created for purposes in this life. And then will I find what I was truly created for in that life? Or is that even a biblical question? I think the Bible does encourage us to think of our eternal life beyond this present world as our true life and our calling there as our true calling. [00:15:30]

True life. Life which is life indeed. We have tasted it. In fact, it now defines us. We are far from experiencing it to the full body and soul. Our final destiny, our final condition for those endless ages is true life, real life. [00:26:04]

Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding, every wheel turning, abounding in the work of the Lord. Because in the Lord, you know, your labor is not in vain. You will be raised imperishable. [00:08:07]

While we are still in this tent, we groan being burdened not that we would be unclothed bodyless in death, but that we would be further clothed, clothed over so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. [00:24:51]

He created Toby for eternity. He created each of us for eternity where we may be surprised to find our true calling which always seemed just out of reach here on earth. [00:14:27]

One of the glories of Christianity is that this future life, this real life has come in to the world. by Christ, by the spirit and it is wonder of wonders dwelling in hundreds of people in this room. [00:19:21]

We shall be like him because we will see him as he is. Everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself. Every wheel of purification is set in motion by that vision of what we will be. [00:07:09]

"Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad because great is your reward in heaven." [00:10:20]

You have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, you will appear with him in glory. So I say it again, 1 Timothy 6:19 says, "You don't have it yet, fully." [00:21:59]

So take hold of it, live for it, preach for it, pastor for it, lead for it, eat for it, drink for it. Set every wheel in motion by hope for it. [00:22:23]

Ask a question about this sermon

Desiring God This sermon · AI assistant

What makes Christians strive toward their future life?

How does eternal hope energize present holiness?

What does being swallowed up by life mean?