Date of message: 12 October 2003
Issue
113
Subject: Redemption For Our Physical Bodies
Shalom, Boker-tov (good morning),
In my last message on September 23, I shared how I was hopeful that the
Lord would come back that weekend for His church and then we would have
been home in heaven by now. However, that did not happen otherwise you
would not be receiving this mail today.
Someone asked me why I wrote that message the way I did? Why was I so
excited about going to heaven? Was I not afraid of death itself? A host
of questions and the underlying sentiment was - why was I so confident
of going to heaven? Indeed I pondered over those questions while I was
away in London for those two weeks and the Lord gave me this response
which I am about to share with you.
The apostle Paul wrote in his second letter to the Corinthian Church chapter
5: -
1. For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we
have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the
heavens.
2. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation
which is from heaven,
3. if indeed, having been clothed, we shall not be found naked.
4. For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not because we want
to be unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed
up by life.
5. Now He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who also has
given us the Spirit as a guarantee.
6. So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the
body we are absent from the Lord.
7. For we walk by faith, not by sight.
8. We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body
and to be present with the Lord.
Indeed, we need to remember that when God created man, He created us in
His image; that means we are created with a spirit as God is Spirit. All
of us have three parts - physical body, soul and spirit. I am (and you
are) a spirit housed in a body (and my body is my current address for
my spirit) and when my body dies, due to decay, my spirit lives on for
eternity but in a different form. My soul controls my mind, my emotions
and my will.
All of our spirits will live for eternity; the only question is; on which
side of eternity will our individual spirits live? If we believe in Jesus
and He lives within us, then we will go on and spend eternity by His side.
But if you chose not to believe in the One who died to give you eternal
life, then you will be separated from Him for ever, even after you have
died and your spirit returns to the spirit world.
When God created Adam, his body was covered with an aura of glory and
he was able to control all the creatures on this earth including the most
ferocious of all the wild animals (and I believe this included the dinosaurs).
However, when Adam sinned, that glory left him and his body began to decay.
The glory from God was the only thing that protected him from all the
elements and his body could not decay; but that 'seal' was broken when
Adam sinned in the Garden of Eden. That was why Paul wrote in Romans 3:
23, "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."
However, Jesus came and He took on the form of a man so that He was able
to legally represent us and take our punishment for our sin (which is
death). Because He died, there is the full payment made forever for our
sins and as an exchange, those who believed in Him and received Him into
their lives can now live forever. And all these happen in the spirit world.
Aha, but what happens to our physical bodies? Does that also mean that
our physical bodies will live forever? No, if Jesus were to tarry and
not come back soon our physical bodies will return to the earth. That
is what Paul was saying in the 2Corinthians 5 passage quoted above. In
their places, we will all receive eternal bodies that are beyond corruption
and we will spend eternity with our Lord in heaven in those bodies.
We have an example of this heavenly body shown to us in none other than
our Lord Jesus Himself. On the day of His resurrection, He appeared to
Mary Magdalene in the flesh in the garden and He also appeared to His
disciples by walking right through locked doors. In that body, Jesus shared
meals with His disciples and He showed them His nail-pierced hands and
the hole in His side (where the Roman soldier gorged Him to ensure His
death).
That was why Paul could state categorically that for him to live was Christ
and to die was gain. He was tossed between wanting to live in the flesh
so that his ministry would extend for Christ and wanting to return home
to be with Christ which is better (Philippians 1: 21 - 23). He was so
full of confidence in his destiny that he willing went home as a martyr
when his work was completed.
And just how did Paul know for sure that that was his lot? God who had
planned the whole salvation strategy and carried it out had also given
us a guarantee (2 Corinthians 5: 5). The Holy Spirit was poured out on
the Day of Pentecost and the church was born. He was given to each and
every believer the moment he received Him into his life and He is the
same Spirit who lives inside the believer to guide and to teach him everything
that he needs to know about Jesus.
And when God gave the Holy Spirit as a guarantee to you, you can mark
it down that the Lord will return and bring you home to be with Him for
all eternity. That is the confidence we have in the Lord and it is with
this same confidence we can now look forward to our physical redemption.
Before we can go up into heaven, we must leave our physical bodies behind
and take on that spiritual body that can transcend time and space and
that will not experience decay but is completely beautiful, without wrinkles
or spots.
It was with that confidence that I shared the last message because I was
really hopeful that our bodily redemption was near.
My friends, have you received Jesus into your heart? If you have yet to
do so, then I would urge you to take that first step of faith and invite
Him into your heart. He is faithful and He will definitely come and live
inside of you. Choose Life and put your faith in our Lord and Savior,
Christ Jesus and He will make you sons and daughters in His Family, special
positions reserved only for those whom He loves dearly (John 1:12).
One day (and I personally believe that it will be very soon), after all
the Christians have been taken home to be with the Lord, and should you
perchance be reading this article, be assured that Jesus loves you so
much that He already demonstrated His love for you on the cross and there
will be no condemnation for you once you put your faith in Him but you
will have eternal life (Romans 8:1). The Lord cannot lie. For Him, whatever
He speaks will come to pass.
Pray this simple prayer and invite Jesus into your heart and immediately
you will experience His peace coming your way.
Our heavenly Father, thank you for sending Your Beloved Son, our Lord
Jesus Christ into this world to die for all our sins so that we can enjoy
all Your blessings. Thank you that Jesus took all my punishment upon Himself
and because He died, I will not be condemned but I receive Your eternal
life.
Lord Jesus, thank you for coming into my heart and making my heart Your
home. Thank you for the witness of the Holy Spirit in my life that I am
now a child of God the Father and as Your child, I can start enjoying
all Your blessings for my life.
Thank you because of what You had accomplished for us on the cross and
having risen from the dead for our justification, I am now eternally forgiven
of all my sin, greatly blessed among all men, a highly favored child of
God, deeply loved by the Father and completely protected in the Lord and
in the most precious name of Jesus Christ, Yeshua Ha' Mashiah, I pray
Amen.
If you have prayed this prayer for the first time, welcome to the Family
of the Father (and it is a very large universal family). It is important
that you are not alone facing your personal challenges but that you can
obtain good help wherever you are. Why not take the time to find your
own local Christian family (local church) and worship the Father together?
You will be greatly encouraged when you meet together to worship the Father,
for fellowship and for the study of the Word of Christ.
Start receiving the blessings of the Father as you walk with Him in faith.
It is your inheritance in Christ and He wants you to start enjoying these
blessings right now. You do not need to wait until you reach heaven and
there is more from where they come from.
The Lord blesses you and keeps you,
The Lord makes His face shine upon you and be gracious to you and all
your loved ones,
The Lord lifts up His countenance upon you and gives you His shalom peace.
Numbers 6: 24 -26
Have a blessed week ahead, Shavrou-tov
Shalom,
Andrew L W Lee
This and other archived messages can also be found
on the following URL
http://www.oocities.org/fibredrive/index.htm