He is Risen!!! Our Heavenly Body Awaits Us
For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down – when we die and leave these bodies – we will have a home in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God himself and not by human hands. We grow weary in our present bodies, and we long for the day when we will put on our heavenly bodies like new clothing.(2 Corinthians 5:1-2 NLT)
Hello Friends in the Lord, Saints of the Most High, Chosen of God for salvation and eternal life!
I am writing with mixed emotions today, trying very hard to focus on the truth that this past weekend loudly declares: we have a God who sent His one and only Son to die in our place, to remove our sins, and pay the ransom required to satisfy our Holy God. And God received His sacrifice by raising Jesus from the dead, thus opening the door for all who believe and receive the Savior’s substitutionary payment for sins, to also be raised to everlasting life with God. As the scriptures declare, “If we have been united with Him like this in His death, we will certainly also be united with Him in His resurrection” (Rom. 6:5). This is the core belief of our faith – the death and resurrection of Jesus guarantees our death to sin and resurrection to new life. If this is not true, we are to be pitied above all people (1Cor. 15:13-19). It’s great news indeed! The greatest!!!
This wonderful truth however is obscured or overshadowed by the reality of death, human suffering, sickness, disease, etc. Too many people I love and admire are struggling with an illness and/or sickness that reduces their quality of life here on earth and causes great anguish for their families. We are after all, still human, filled with love and emotions. And this is the battle: that in the middle of the lost loved one and the negative doctor’s report, and being surrounded by friends and family that are struggling through illness, or as we ourselves endure the hardship of decaying bodies and discouraging diagnoses , we struggle and persevere to hang on to the truths of our faith – this is not my home, and God is preparing a new dwelling/body for me to inhabit which will never decay! For now, we live in the tension of ‘what is’, longing for ‘what will be’. The Apostle Paul captures well this tension in 2Corinthians 4 & 5.
We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed and broken. We are perplexed, but we don't give up and quit. We are hunted down, but God never abandons us. We get knocked down, but we get up again and keep going. Through suffering, these bodies of ours constantly share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies…. We know that the same God who raised our Lord Jesus will also raise us with Jesus and present us to himself along with you. (2Cor. 4:8-14 NLT)
The Easter message is not freedom from earthly pain and suffering, but a promise, because of Christ, of life eternal, with no more tears nor pain. Why? Because Jesus is preparing a new dwelling for us; is it really a mansion? The word of John 14:1-3 actually means ‘dwelling place’, a place for our soul/spirit to dwell after we die. Paul writes, “For we know that if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For indeed in this house we groan, longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven, inasmuch as we, having put it on, will not be found naked. For indeed while we are in this tent, we groan, being burdened, because we do not want to be unclothed but to be clothed, so that what is mortal will be swallowed up by life. Now He who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who gave to us the Spirit as a pledge” (2 Corinthians 5:1-5 NASB) If we have Holy Spirit, we have a guarantee, a down payment on our future dwelling…a new body with no more decay…. imperishable, incorruptible and eternal! Not to mention all the other benefits of gaining eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord, like living in the tangible presence of God, fulness of joy and peace, and perfect fellowship with loved ones who have died in the Lord before us.
Until that day, by death or rapture, or return of the Lord, we live to please God: “So we are always confident, even though we know that as long as we live in these bodies we are not at home with the Lord. That is why we live by believing and not by seeing. Yes, we are fully confident, and we would rather be away from these bodies, for then we will be at home with the Lord. So our aim is to please Him always, whether we are here in this body or away from this body” (2Cor 5: 6-9 NLT). Although it grieves me greatly to hear of another friend’s diagnosis and witness the heartache of a spouse caring for their ailing love, I do not grieve as those who have no hope. On this earth, we will have trouble, but we believe in Jesus and are supernaturally united to this One who has overcome the world and won the victory over death. Here is our hope: “But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for Him to return as our Savior. He will take these weak mortal bodies of ours and change them into glorious bodies like His own, using the same mighty power that He will use to conquer everything, everywhere.” (Philippians 3:20-21 NLT)
Let’s share this wonderful news and give the hope we have to others.
Be Blessed!
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