Category: glorified physical bodies

Unfathomable Distances, Unsearchable Speeds #4

Friday, June 7, 2013

“For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself” (Philippians 3:20,21 KJV).

The vastness of space is mindboggling; today’s Scripture is equally mind-blowing….

When no one else wants to trust the Lord Jesus Christ alone as his or her personal Saviour, He will return to conclude the Dispensation of Grace. The “rapture” (“catching away”) is the event whereby the Church the Body of Christ is removed from Earth, thereby allowing Israel’s program to resume where it is currently paused. Unless we understand the Bible dispensationally—that the nation Israel and her prophetic program are separate and distinct from us the Church the Body of Christ and our mystery program—we will never understand the rapture (this is why many professing “Christians” either confuse the rapture with the Second Coming, or deny it entirely).

Scripture mentions “the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and… our gathering together unto him” in 2 Thessalonians 2:1. In 1 Thessalonians 4:16,17, we learn, “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up [in Latin, ‘raptured’] together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” The rapture is best illustrated by a magnet (the Lord Jesus Christ) attracting iron shavings (the Christians)—it is a forceful plucking or yanking.

In 1 Corinthians 15:51,52, Paul tells us about this secret resurrection (never revealed prior to him): “Behold, I shew you a mystery; we shall not all sleep [die physically], but we shall be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye…” (cf. today’s Scripture). We Christians will receive our glorified bodies instantaneously, soaring through Earth’s atmosphere, and zooming into the heavenly places with Jesus Christ….

Unfathomable Distances, Unsearchable Speeds #3

Thursday, June 6, 2013

“For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself” (Philippians 3:20,21 KJV).

The vastness of space is mindboggling; today’s Scripture is equally mind-blowing….

After spending 40 days with His disciples post-resurrection, teaching them and being seen of them, the Lord Jesus can ascend into heaven to sit down at His Father’s right hand, thereby fulfilling Psalm 110:1. Notice Acts 1:9,10: “And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel;” Luke 24:51 affirms: “And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he was parted from them, and carried up into heaven.”

Jesus Christ utters His final statements to His disciples, and then something thrilling happens. As they are watching Him, His feet suddenly begin to float away from the earth’s surface! He soars upward, as a rocket or space shuttle would depart from its launch pad! His disciples stand there amazed as He travels up, up, up!

An angelic escort carries Him off, literally, physically, visibly… and then, He vanishes completely, en route to the third heaven. The distance and speed the angels and our Lord Jesus Christ are now traveling are incomprehensible, but they are bringing Him across the universe and out of it. They arrive in the third heaven, and Jesus Christ then sits at His Father’s right hand, where He sits even today in the Dispensation of Grace (Colossians 3:1).

When no one else wants to trust Jesus Christ as their personal Saviour, Father God will send Him back to planet earth, to take home His people, the Church the Body of Christ. As the Dispensation of Grace winds down, Jesus Christ will cross the universe again. While standing in earth’s atmosphere, He will call up the Christians, who will also reach mindboggling speeds….

Unfathomable Distances, Unsearchable Speeds #2

Wednesday, June 5, 2013

“For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself” (Philippians 3:20,21 KJV).

The vastness of space is mindboggling; today’s Scripture is equally mind-blowing….

God will use us, the Body of Christ (who have trusted Jesus Christ alone as our personal Saviour), in eternity future to rule the heavens, just as He will use Israel to rule the earth. In order to function in the heavens, we need glorified bodies like Jesus Christ’s (today’s Scripture).

On resurrection Sunday around sunrise, Mary Magdalene goes to Jesus’ empty tomb. After seeing two angels, Jesus Himself appears. “Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God” (John 20:17). Jesus must travel to the third heaven to present Himself to the Father, so sinful human hands must not taint Him.

“Then the same day at evening” He reappears, showing Himself to His other disciples (Thomas absent): “after eight days,” He again appears to His disciples, and when Thomas doubts, Jesus instructs Thomas to touch Him (verses 18-29). So, in as little as 12 hours (but no more than eight days), Jesus left earth, crossed a vast portion of the universe and exited it, went to His Father in the third heaven, re-entered and traveled across the universe, and landed right back on earth! We can fathom neither the distance nor the speed Jesus Christ’s resurrected body traveled.

The Apostle Paul described our heavenly glorification in today’s Scripture. At the rapture, we Christians will receive glorified bodies like Jesus Christ’s. We cannot enter heaven with these current, sinful bodies: “for this corruption [deceased Christians’ bodies] must put on incorruption, and this mortal [Christians whose bodies are not yet dead] must put on immorality” (1 Corinthians 15:49-55).

Those new bodies will enable us to travel through outer space….

Unfathomable Distances, Unsearchable Speeds #1

Tuesday, June 4, 2013

“For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself” (Philippians 3:20,21 KJV).

The vastness of space is mindboggling; today’s Scripture is equally mind-blowing….

We who have trusted the Lord Jesus Christ alone as our personal Saviour, are members of the Church the Body of Christ. Paul’s epistles are very clear that, in eternity future, God will use us in the heavenly places just as He will use the nation Israel on the earth.

“And having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him [Jesus Christ] to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven” (Colossians 1:20). Verses 16 and 17 already identified these “things:” “For by him [Jesus Christ] were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: and he is before all things, and by him all things consist.” The “things” are offices of government!

Through the blood of Jesus Christ shed at Calvary’s cross, the governments of heaven and earth (currently occupied by Satan and his minions) will one day be restored, and their new occupants—redeemed Israel on earth and us the Church the Body of Christ in the heavenly places—will bring glory to the Lord Jesus Christ (after all, they were “created by him and for him”).

Distances in outer space are so enormous that scientists often utilize the astronomical unit (Earth’s distance from the sun, roughly 93 million miles / 150 million kilometers) and the light-year (the distance light travels in one year, about 6 trillion miles / 9.6 trillion kilometers). Actually, some objects in the universe are hundreds of light-years apart! In order to function in the vastness of outer space, we will need glorified bodies capable of doing amazing feats….

For In This We Groan #4

Friday, May 31, 2013

“For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven:” (2 Corinthians 5:2 KJV).

Having been stricken with a bacterial infection of the sinuses and eyes for the past week, I can give a hearty “Amen!” to today’s Scripture!

Physical death is actually a blessing for us Christians—it severs the final link we have to this fallen creation. (Can you imagine living in these bodies forever?) Once we leave these physical bodies, we are eternally, physically isolated from sin, and we go to be with the Lord Jesus Christ forever and ever!

In the context of today’s Scripture, the Apostle Paul writes that God the Father has given us “the earnest of the Spirit.” “Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord: (For we walk by faith, not by sight:) We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord” (verses 5b-8). By giving us Christians the indwelling Holy Ghost, God has guaranteed that He will one day rescue our physical bodies from sin (just as He has already rescued our spiritual bodies from sin).

While we moan and groan during sickness, let us remember that this body is not meant to last forever anyway, for it would pollute heaven. Our suffering is simply a testament that the great God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ still has a mighty work to accomplish—the redemption of these mortal “vile” bodies and their transformation into immortal and perfect glorified bodies like Jesus Christ’s (Philippians 3:20,21).

Dear readers, take comfort. This limited body of flesh and blood is not our permanent abode. It is merely the vehicle that carries around our soul and our spirit in this time-space continuum we call the natural world. As today’s Scripture states, it is actually our soul that is groaning, the “real” us inside this weakly and sickly physical body. How we long for a change of clothes, some which will not turn to rags! Patiently waiting for the “wardrobe upgrade….” 🙂

For In This We Groan #3

Thursday, May 30, 2013

“For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven:” (2 Corinthians 5:2 KJV).

Having been stricken with a bacterial infection of the sinuses and eyes for the past week, I can give a hearty “Amen!” to today’s Scripture!

Notice the boldfaced expressions, “For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven: if so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked. For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life” (2 Corinthians 5:2-4).

According to the Bible, our physical bodies are actually clothing. The “real” us is inside, a member of the invisible (spiritual) realm! Job 14:22 supplements: “But his flesh upon him shall have pain, and his soul within him shall mourn.” These aching, sickly physical bodies are merely vehicles for our soul and spirit inside them (hence, the language of the passage in the previous paragraph about “clothing”).

We who have trusted the Lord Jesus Christ are redeemed spiritually from Satan and sin. However, these bodies of flesh and blood are still connected genetically to Adam and the fallen creation, so they die. Once they die, our souls and spirits no longer have a means of traveling. This is why resurrection is necessary. Our “unclothed” souls and spirits need new garments, and this new wardrobe is the glorified body the Lord Jesus will give every Christian believer at the rapture (1 Corinthians 15:51-55). This is the “redemption of our body” mentioned in Romans 8:23 and Ephesians 4:30.

Our physical bodies are referred to as “tabernacles” in Scripture (2 Corinthians 5:1,4; 2 Peter 1:13,14). When we are conceived in the womb, these frail structures are “pitched,” and our soul and spirit spring up from within them. Unlike a permanent structure, however, they can and do suffer “dilapidation” quite easily. Eventually, they are “taken down.” But, the soul and spirit simply move on (necessitating the need for a new, resurrected and glorified body, a new set of clothes)….

Twice-Guilty Thieves #6

Friday, January 18, 2013

“For ye suffer, if a man bring you into bondage, if a man devour you, if a man take of you, if a man exalt himself, if a man smite you on the face” (2 Corinthians 11:20 KJV).

Beloved, take today’s Scripture to heart, lest religion take your heart so they can take from you!

Today’s “name it and claim it” preachers instruct us to claim Israel’s verses for healing and material wealth. Did this work for our Apostle Paul and other members of the Church the Body of Christ?

Paul described his life: “In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness” (2 Corinthians 11:27; cf. 1 Corinthians 4:11-13; 2 Corinthians 6:4,5). He knew what it was to “be full and be hungry, to abound and to suffer need” (Philippians 4:12). Consider the Macedonian Christians who knew “deep poverty” (2 Corinthians 8:2). Paul begged God for deliverance three times regarding his troubles, and yet they continued (2 Corinthians 12:7-10). Verse 10: “Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.” Which “name it and claim it” preacher quotes those passages?! None! (They ignore them because they are not conducive to funding.)

Rather than temporary physical healing, as God promised Israel, today in the Dispensation of Grace, the Lord promises us everlasting spiritual healing. We have forgiveness of sins in and through Christ (Ephesians 1:7; Colossians 1:14). At the rapture, we Christians will be eternally delivered from these bodies of sickness and death, and we will receive new glorified bodies (Romans 8:18-25; 1 Corinthians 15:51-55; 2 Corinthians 5:1-5; Philippians 3:20,21). We are already “blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ” (Ephesians 1:3). Everything God can give us, He did so the moment we trusted Christ as our personal Saviour. We did not work for those blessings; Jesus Christ did!

Dear reader, let not religion take advantage of you by (mis)using Israel’s verse to gain the purse (today’s Scripture). Stand by faith in your identity in Christ, and be not moved. Do not confuse yourself with Israel.

Aging Grace-fully

Friday, November 30, 2012

“For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day” (2 Corinthians 4:16 KJV).

As the aging process degrades our physical bodies, let us allow God’s grace to “renew” our minds.

I just heard people share their anxiety about their aging physical bodies. They loathe their gray hairs, sagging skin, and wrinkles, and do whatever they can to “look younger.” They are not focusing on the things of eternal importance, for they probably never have trusted Jesus Christ as their personal Saviour. All they think about is the here and now, failing to understand that there is more to life than this physical dimension.

In one recent year, Americans spent $10 billion (!) on cosmetic surgeries. These efforts to slow down and even reverse aging and its effects are futile. Death and elderliness will still come. Beloved, no matter what we do to these physical bodies, they will still age, and short of the Lord’s coming, they will die. “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23a). These are “vile bodies” affected by sin, and thus they must die (Philippians 3:21). They cannot enter heaven.

Thankfully, one day (the rapture), these physical bodies will be redeemed from death (Romans 8:23): we Christians will receive new bodies “eternal in the heavens” (2 Corinthians 5:1-5). As a dear brother in Christ always states, “In heaven, there will be no [from head to toe] baldness, bifocals, bridgework, bulges, and bunions!” Yes, we have those here, but be not depressed. We will not be here in this sin-cursed world forever. We are not bound forever in these limited (and weakening) bodies.

Today’s Scripture shows us that this physical body—the “outward man”—will ultimately die, and give way to a new glorified body. What we need to focus on is the “inward man,” our soul and spirit. We will leave these physical bodies behind, but we will take with us our spiritual bodies. When we daily study and believe the King James Bible rightly divided, it will “renew” and strengthen our souls, the bodies that count for eternity. And thus, we will age “grace-fully.” 🙂

Tabernacle

Friday, November 9, 2012

“For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens” (2 Corinthians 5:1 KJV).

This body of flesh and blood will be “dissolved” one day, but the Bible teaches a new, glorified body will replace it.

Genesis 2:7 describes the three-fold division of a human: “And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground [physical body], and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life [spirit]; and man became a living soul [soul].” Our visible, physical body houses our invisible soul and spirit. Originally, that physical body was to last forever. But, when sin entered the world, it became subject to death (when the soul and spirit leave the physical body). Hence, our physical body is a “tabernacle” (tent), a temporary abode that must be resurrected one day.

The oldest Bible book asserts, “For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: and though after my skin worms [maggots] destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God;” (Job 19:25,26). Yes, short of the Lord’s coming, this physical body will die and “sleep in the dust of the earth” (Daniel 12:2). Nevertheless, the Lord will awaken its remains, and return the spiritual body to it (the bodily resurrection of John 5:28,29).

When we stand before the caskets of Christian loved ones, and observe their lifeless bodies, we take comfort that they are not really there, for their soul and spirit are with God in the third heaven. Their “tabernacle” is empty, and for the Christian, “to be absent from the body, [is] to be present with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:8). At the rapture, they will receive a new glorified body like unto Jesus Christ’s resurrected body, and then we Christians who are alive and remain will receive our glorified bodies (1 Corinthians 15:49-56; Philippians 3:20,21; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18). Finally, all Christians will be caught up in the clouds to meet Christ in the air, to forever be with Him.

This body is not here to stay…. it is a “tabernacle.”

A Departed Saint

Saturday, October 20, 2012

“But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope” (1 Thessalonians 4:13 KJV).

Beloved, our deceased loved ones in Christ are not lost forever!

With the recent passing of a dear saint, who I personally knew and referenced in a previous devotional, today’s Scripture is of great solace. God does not want us to be “ignorant” (uninformed) about those who have died in Christ. We members of the Church the Body of Christ have hope in Christ, a hope that non-Christians do not have.

While a vast distance separates us from the dearly departed Christians, some of whom we have not seen in many years or decades, there is a glorious prospect that we shall see them again, as if they never parted from us. Yes, their physical bodies are “asleep,” but they will one day be wakened, reunited with their souls and spirits.

As soon as the Church the Body of Christ is complete, our Dispensation of Grace will terminate with the “rapture” (derived from the Latin word translated “caught up” in 1 Thessalonians 4:17). Jesus Christ will leave heaven, bringing with Him the souls of the Christians who have died: “For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him” (verse 14).

Christ will stand “in the air,” and from there, He will resurrect the physical bodies of deceased Christians and place their souls back into their bodies (verse 16). Then He will transform the physical bodies of us Christians who are alive. Both dead and living Christians will then “be caught up together… in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words” (verses 17,18). All members of the Body of Christ will meet each other… for the very first time!

We mourn their loss, but we have hope: our loved ones who are dead in Christ are still in Christ, and if we are in Christ, we shall see them again, and be with them forever with the Lord. 🙂

-IN MEMORIAM-
Mrs. B. P. R.
June 23, 1936 – October 15, 2012