Last week we began looking at the
future aspect of salvation. We learned
that we will be set free from the presence of sin. In the past we were saved from sin’s penalty. In the present we are being saved from sin’s
power. In the future we will be saved
from sin’s presence. When we became
Christians God did not take away the sin nature within us. He left it in. In the future we will be saved from this
indwelling presence of sin. This was our
first point last week. Let us continue
now with our second point related to our future salvation from sin.
Secondly, our
glorified bodies will be our future resurrected bodies.
The bodies we have now are not the
bodies we will keep. These bodies are
only seeds to be planted, from which our eternal bodies will come from at the
resurrection. These decaying and
degenerating tents are corrupted by sin, and are unfit for the kingdom of
God. They are patterned after Adam’s
body, and are only suitable for life here on earth. But, our new spiritual bodies will be fit for
God’s kingdom, patterned after our Lord’s resurrected and glorified body. Turn to 1 Corinthians 15:42-44 and lets read. Notice 4 features of our resurrection bodies.
First, they will be imperishable. He says in verse
42, “The
body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable.” In verse 53 he also says, “For
the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable.” These new bodies will have an eternal
durability - they will never wear out and they will never die. Illustration.
Lot’s of the food in our cupboards and refrigerators have expiration dates –
they are perishable. If we don’t eat
them before they go bad we have to throw them away.
Our current bodies are like that –
perishable. They have an expiration date
set. But our new bodies won’t. There will be no shelf life or expiration
date with our glorified bodies because they will never go bad. They will be completely immune to sickness,
decay or disease. Our coming glorified bodies
will give us a perpetual state of perfect health, strength, and vigor.
Think about this: in the kingdom of God we will sit around and
reminisce about the former days of medications, surgery, rehabilitation,
chemotherapy, pain and so on. If there
are archeologists during the next age they will probably dig up things like
pill boxes and bottles, crutches, wheelchairs, syringes, etc. None of those will be needed when we receive
our new bodies. All those things we are
now plagued by in these fallen bodies will be foreign to our glorious resurrection
bodies in the future.
Secondly, our resurrection bodies will be
glorious. Verse 43, “it is
sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory.” This is supported also by Philippians 3:21, “[He]
will transform our lowly bodies to be like His glorious body.” Colossians 3:4 says, “When Christ, who is your life,
appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.” Our bodies will be glorious
I like what Wayne Grudem says, “Our resurrection bodies will show the
fulfillment of God’s perfect wisdom in creating us as human beings who are the
pinnacle of his creation and the appropriate bearers of his likeness and
image. In these resurrection bodies we
will clearly see humanity as God intended it to be.”
Notice again what Paul says in verse
43, “Sown
in dishonor, raised in glory.” Right
now our bodies are bodies of dishonor because of sin. They are bodies of sin and there is no glory
where there is sin. But the bodies we
are raised with will be glorious because all effects of sin will be
absent. It is suggested that these
bodies will be both beautiful and bright.
First of all, these bodies will be
beautiful. God knows beauty and beauty
was part of what He called good in His original creation. I bet we can’t imagine how beautiful Adam and
Eve were, the freshness of perfection after just being created, untouched by
sin. But when sin entered the world it
has brought a ruinous effect on us in all ways – even our physical appearance. One author says these coming bodies will combine
the beauty and strength of youth with the maturity of age. Think about that: Aging will not touch these bodies. Why? Because
aging is the effect of sin leading our bodies to death. Aging is death pulling us closer and
closer. Each day now is one more day
closer to death. This doesn’t just mean
how many days we have left. It means
physically as we age we are slowly with each passing day conforming to death in
our physical constitution. But in our
glorious bodies they will have all the beauty that comes from freedom from sin.
Another aspect of our appearance that
will contribute to our beauty will be how bright we are. In other words, when it says we will be
glorious, it may be indicating that bright light will shine around us. So often in Scripture glory refers to the
outward shining of God’s radiance.
Theologians say this glory we have in our new bodies means that there
will be bright light surrounding our glorified bodies. Remember Jesus said in Matthew 13:43, “The
righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father.” In Daniel 12:3 the prophet is told, “Those
who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead
many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever.” Furthermore, we remember that God’s glory was
shining from Moses’ face – so brightly he had to wear a lamp shade over his
head. When Jesus was transfigured bright
light was shining from Him. If we take
all this together then we can reasonably anticipate that we will be surrounded
by a glorious light radiating out from us
Thirdly, our resurrection bodies will be
characterized by power. Verse 44
says, “sown in weakness, raised in power”. I think this power relates to two aspects. First it refers to the fact that God will
raise us up BY His power. He has power
to give life. It says in Romans 1:4 that
God raised Jesus up with power. Jesus
said in John 5:21, “Just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life even so the Son
gives life to whom He is pleased to give it.” Jesus told Martha in John 11:25, “I am
the resurrection and the life”.
These bodies are weak and getting
weaker with each day. Since these are
our sin-ridden bodies they must die so our new bodies can come forth. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15:37, “What
you sow does not come to life unless it dies.” We die in weakness and that weakness is
caused by sin. This is ultimately seen
in our death which is the ultimate weakness – our inability to live.
Second, though, this refers to our new power
as resurrected and glorified humans. Our
bodies will be characterized by strength and vitality. They won’t be weakened by sin. They will have new capacities for new kinds
of strength and power so we can do all that God wills for us in His Kingdom.
Fourthly, our resurrection bodies will be
spiritual bodies. Notice verse
44, “sown
a natural body, raised a spiritual body.” At first we might think Paul is saying our
spiritual bodies will be non-physical, like some sort of vaporous or ethereal
ghost like form. But notice he doesn’t
say “physical” versus “non-physical”. He
says natural vs. spiritual. What does
that mean? Well he tells us in the text. Notice verse 40. Then notice verses 44-49. These decaying and degenerating tents are
corrupted by sin, and are unfit for the kingdom of God. They are patterned after Adam’s body, and are
only suitable for life here on earth.
But, our new spiritual bodies will be fit for God’s kingdom, patterned
after our Lord’s resurrected and glorified body. These bodies are like seeds, which must be
sown. But what grows is not like what
was planted, 1 Cor. 15:37-38 says, “When you sow you do not plant the body that
will be, but just a seed…to each kind of seed God gives its own body.” So our glorified bodies will be both like our current bodies but also very different.
One more thought on this, many
theologians point out that these spiritual bodies will be spiritual because
they are physical bodies completely subject to the will and guidance of the
Holy Spirit. Whereas these bodies we have now are characterized by the age we
now live in. Spiritual here essentially
means the spiritual capacity of these bodies to carry out God’s will; they are
perfect and pure vehicles for expressing God’s holy will and accomplishing His
plans.
Thirdly, the
glorification of our bodies will happen when Jesus Christ returns for us.
We want the Lord to return to us so we
can finally be with Him and see Him. We
want Him to return so we can be with all those believers who have gone before
us. We want Him to return for us so we can
be delivered from His wrath to come on this earth during the Tribulation. And, we want Him to come so our salvation can
be completed by the transformation of our bodies to be like His glorious body
(Philippians 3:21). Read 1 Corinthians
15:51-54
Conclusion
There is a hymn called Ten Thousand
Times Ten Thousand by Henry Alford. It
pictures thousands of glorified believers streaming through the gates of heaven
on the day of Christ’s return, and ends with a prayer that Christ would come
back quickly.
“Ten
thousand times ten thousand in sparkling raiment bright,
The armies of the ransomed saints throng up the steeps of
light
‘Tis finished all is finished, their fight with death and
sin:
Fling open wide the golden gates, and let the victors in
What rush of alleluias fills all the earth and sky!
What ringing of a thousand harps bespeaks the triumph nigh!
O day, for which creation and all its tribes were made;
O joy, for all its former woes a thousand –fold repaid!
O then what raptured greetings on Canaan’s happy shore;
What knitting severed friendships up where partings are no
more!
Then eyes with joy shall sparkle, that brimmed with tears of
late;
Orphans no longer fatherless, nor widows desolate
Bring near thy great salvation, thou Lamb for sinner’s
slain;
Fill up the roll of thine elect, then take thy po’r, and
reign
Appear, desire of nations, thine exiles long for home;
Show in the heav’n thy promised sign; thou Prince and
Saviour, come.”
Salvation: From Sin’s Penalty, sin’s Power, Sin’s
Presence.
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