Preparations and Provisions for Glory

Transcript

GRM 1264
04/17/2022
Preparations and Provisions for Glory
Selected verses from 1 Corinthians 15
Gil Rugh

Turn in your bibles to 1 Corinthians 15. And we’ll be some other places as well in the word of God. I want to talk to you about the believer’s resurrection body. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is God’s stamp of approval. It’s the mark that He accomplished what was necessary to provide redemption for fallen sinful human beings, like each and everyone of us are. The bible is clear, all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. There is none righteousness, not even one. But Jesus Christ, by His death on the cross, paid in full the penalty for sin. His resurrection not only is God’s stamp of approval on His provision, it is the guarantee of a coming resurrection for us as believers. It will happen whether you die or whether you’re alive. Jesus Christ is coming again and He will call to life the bodies of those who have died in Christ, believing in Him. And they will inhabit those bodies and we will be transformed who are alive.

1 Corinthians 15 deals with an issue the Corinthian church has, as churches do over time they deteriorate. It’s a battle. We gradually move away from the clarity and simplicity of the word of God. Key to all of it is the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. And it becomes a general thing, of course, every Protestant, every Roman Catholic believes in the death and resurrection of Christ. But that doesn’t mean they are saved. Because that faith has to be focused. And I realize I am a sinner, and Christ died for me. Individually, personally I’ve placed my faith in Him and Him alone. Not in this church, not in another church. Not in religious activities, but in the work that Christ accomplished for me on the cross. And He was raised because there was victory. He had paid the penalty in full. And so now all that is necessary is faith in Jesus Christ. As a result of the resurrection of Christ, we are guaranteed a resurrection as well. Every person who has placed their faith in Christ will be raised from the dead, or transformed if they are living when that event occurs. That’s all covered in 1 Corinthians 15.

That’s a long chapter, it has 58 verses. We took 11 sermons to get through 1Corinthians 15, when we did this several years ago. So, we’re going to do it in one message today. We should be done about 11:15 tonight, ha ha. We just want to take some highlights out of this and remind ourselves what the resurrection of Christ means for us. It means we will get a bodily resurrection.

Jump down to 1 Corinthians 15:42, Paul… as we have it, the first 41 verses of this has talked about the resurrection of Christ. The importance of the resurrection. Then he makes clear that we, too, will get resurrected bodies like the body that Christ had when He was raised from the dead. Now He was not only man, He was God. We will never be that. But His bodily resurrection of that physical body, that was His, born of the virgin Mary, was crucified and buried, was raised from the dead. And so, after talking about the fact that there are various glories God gives to each individual parts of His creation, He says in verse 42: “So also is the resurrection of the dead”. We understand God has something unique in store for us as His people. As those who have believed in Him. He says in verse 42, “So also is the resurrection of the dead.” And there are 4 comparisons drawn in these two verses here, verses 42-44. “It is sown a perishable body, it is raised an imperishable.” So the first contrast you want to keep in mind, when you talk about the resurrection of Christ and our resurrection as believers in Jesus Christ, is our bodies will be like His body was when it was raised from the dead. So, it is sown a perishable body. We get old, we die, we get a disease, we die. We die at various ages. Some die very young. Some die very old. But the penalty for sin is death. That’s clear. ‘Well, I don’t believe in sin.’ But nobody lives to be 200 years of age today. We all die. Somebody makes 100, as my mother-in-law did, that’s remarkable. But you didn’t make 101, because the penalty for sin is death. Now, she was a believer in Jesus Christ, so what is true here, will be true for her and every believer in Jesus Christ. So, it is sown, it is buried a perishable body. But when it is raised, it is an imperishable body. Jesus Christ, His resurrection is the pattern that we’re looking at. He was crucified on a cross. He died. He was put in a grave. But He was raised with a body that will never again face death. So, the comparison, it’s the resurrection of the dead. When you are raised from the dead, you will receive an imperishable body. Now, he’ll get to: what about those who are alive when Christ returns? Well, verses 50-58 of Corinthians will talk about that. We talked about that a number of months ago. The rapture of the church and the transformation that occurs in a body that is alive when Christ returns. We’re all going to get an imperishable body. Every believer in Jesus Christ, every member of the church from Acts 2 down to today. When the resurrection occurs, we will receive an imperishable body. So, that’s verse 42, it is sown a perishable body, it is raised an imperishable body. Now subject to corruption. It will never die. It will never be subject to deterioration of any kind.

He goes on in verse 43, “It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory.” It gets old. I’m aware of that. I’ve experienced that. Some of you have white hair. We look at these little kids and they just get up and down these stairs. I have to be careful, I could fall. They don’t even think about it. And if they fall, they get up. If I fall, I need half a dozen people to help me back up. But when it is sown in dishonor, it is put in the grave. Sown like a seed in the grave when it dies. But it is raised in glory. Again, like the body that Jesus Christ had when He was raised, it was glorious. “It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power.” We’ll talk about some of the things that characterize our resurrection body in a moment. But it is sown in weakness. This is a weakened body. And the passing of time and the building of years, it just seems like the natural process. But when it is raised, it will be raised in power. It will have no limitations that we know. It will not get old. It will not deteriorate. “It is sown a natural body,” verse 44. “It is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is a spiritual body.” They are not different bodies, but they are different. One is natural, the other is spiritual. It is produced and developed by the Spirit of God in the life of a believer. So, if given time and the resurrection, every believer who has died will be bodily raised, transformed. And that body will be like Christ’s body was when He was raised from the dead. 2,000 years have gone by, that body has not deteriorated. Christ has not suffered weakness of any kind. So, we will have a body like He had when He was raised from the dead. Now, He’s not only man, but He’s God. But in His manliness, we will be like Him. And we will receive a resurrection body. So, we’ll get a body that will never be deteriorated, never get sick, never get weary, never die. Up to this point in time, the only person who has received such a body is Jesus Christ. His resurrection from the dead. Old Testament saints will get glorified bodies, that will come as well at a future time. His resurrection is the guarantee of a coming resurrection.

What we’ve done, is taken from the 12 appearances of Christ after His resurrection from the dead and drawn some characteristics that will be true of us. And the older you are, the more you look forward to this. You anticipate it. When you’re young, you’ve got so many things that you’re planning on. But for everyone, with a believer in Jesus Christ, this is what we anticipate.

The first thing we’ll note, and we’re going to go to some other places, you can keep your marker in 1 Corinthians 15, because unless time runs out, which it may, we’ll come back here off and on. But backup to 1 Corinthians 15:3-4. It was the same body that was crucified and buried on Christ’s part that was raised from the dead. So, it was the same body, that’s key. The body that you have now, is the body you’re going to have. You say, wait a minute. I thought you said it’s going to be a lot better. It is! It won’t have the weaknesses, it won’t have the fragilities, but it will be this body. Look in verse 3 of 1 Corinthians 15, “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures. And that He was buried and that He was raised on the third day according to the scriptures.” In other words, it was the same body that was crucified on the cross, that was wrapped in burial clothes and placed in a tomb, that was raised back to life. That is the same body that He walked this earth in. And you and I will have this body raised from the dead, or translated if we’re alive at the rapture of the church. Which is when Christ comes to call the church into His presence.

A couple of things. We looked at the first one. Christ died, He was buried, He was raised. It was the same body that was crucified, buried, that was raised. The tomb was empty. He had the nail prints in His hands.

Come to John’s gospel, chapter 20. If you don’t want to turn to these, or you don’t have your bible handy, you can just jot them down. But I encourage you to look at these. In John 20:25, and this is after Christ’s resurrection from the dead. And He meets with the 12 disciples and Thomas was doubtful. He thought, you men say that Christ came and met with you earlier, I don’t believe it. I won’t believe it unless I see Him and I can see it’s the same body that has the nail prints in the hands, that has the wound in the side where they ran the spear. So, verse 25, “The other disciples were saying to him, ‘We have seen Lord!’ But he said to them, ‘Unless I see in His hands the imprint of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, put my hand into His side, I will not believe.’ ” I’ve got to have concrete proof. “After eight days, His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors having been shut and He stood in their midst and said, ‘Peace be with you.’ Then He said to Thomas, ‘Reach here with your finger, and see my hands, and reach here your hand, put it into My side; and do not be unbelieving but believing. Thomas answered and said,” what? “ ‘My Lord and my God!’ ” This is overwhelming, it’s you! You are really here in the body that was crucified. You note, Jesus said, “Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed.” So, we realize, we come down to today, we believe it, because of the record we have and the testimony we have, but I’ve never seen the resurrected Christ. But I believe He is alive. I believe He is coming again.

He was recognized, come to Luke, just before the gospel of John. You have the gospel of Luke, and come to the last chapter of Luke. Luke 24, again, you have the account. He’s readily recognized. Verse 36, “While they were telling these things, He Himself stood in their midst.” You can read the context, “They were startled and frightened and thought they were seeing a spirit. He said to them, ‘Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? See My hands and my feet, that it is I Myself.’” So, He’s recognized. Look, it’s Me, touch Me, touch My hands, My feet. You’ll note, verse 39, “For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” So, this is not just a spiritual resurrection. And this is key for the Corinthians, because Corinthians were in Greece. And in Greece, the Greeks believed in a spiritual resurrection, but not a bodily resurrection. They believed that the immaterial part of you would some day come and continue to live, but the body would just deteriorate and be gone. Jesus is showing that, no, it is Me, I have flesh and bones. And verse 42, “He took a piece of boiled fish; and He took it and ate it before them.”

We’re going to see a progression here. Not only is the same body that was crucified and buried, it was a body that had material substance. It was not just a spiritual body that looked, but when you went to touch it, you know your hand just went through it. You’ve seen pictures on television or movies that a spirit, and they just woosh, it just goes right though, there’s nothing there, but they are there, you see them, but they don’t have any substance. But He says, I have flesh and bones. Look at verse 30 of Luke 24, “When He had reclined at table with them, He took the bread and blessed it, and breaking it, He began giving it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized Him.” So, He’s having dinner with them. And then He’s gone! So, He doesn’t have the limitations He had when He normally walked the earth. And now, as a raised being, He has flesh and bones, but He’s not limited. He ate dinner with them. How in a resurrected body am I going to have dinner? Well, I have flesh and bone. Now, there will be a perfect absorption of everything. But they recognized Him. To not know who He was, it took a special work of God to keep them from recognizing Him until it was time. Well, now I see. And then He vanishes from their sight.

Down in verse 42, “When they gave Him a piece of broiled fish, and He took it and ate it before them.” This is not just a spirit. We want to be careful of that, because people think, well, yes, we’ll be spirit, but this body doesn’t matter. It does matter. He could eat. He ate with them.

In John 21:12-13, we won’t turn there, but He ate breakfast with the disciples on another occasion. So, Peter put it this way in Acts 10:40-41, just listen to it, you can turn there, but, “God raised Him up on the third day and granted that He become visible, not to all the people, but to witnesses who were chosen beforehand by God, that is, to us who ate and drank with Him after He rose from the dead.” We ate and drank with Him, after He was raised from the dead, Peter says in Acts 10:40-41. We ate and drank with Him. He’s not just a spirit, He’s not just ‘o-o-o,’ you know, we have substance. We have flesh and bones. You can grab onto us. We’ll be able to hug one another. And yet, we won’t have the limitations we had. Jesus disappears and shows up at another place in that same body. We think, well, how does that happen? As God He is omnipresent. But as man He is limited. And that body becomes an example of what we will receive, who have placed our faith in Jesus Christ.

You’re still in Luke 24 probably, look at verse 36, “While they were telling these things, He Himself stood in their midst. But they were startled and frightened and thought they were seeing a spirit.” It didn’t have the same limitations, all of a sudden they are having a conversation and Jesus shows up. Well, how? He didn’t come in through a door, He didn’t come in the window, He’s just there. So, He has flesh and bones, but He doesn’t have the limitations that we have. When we’re ruling and reigning with Christ in the kingdom He’s going to establish on this earth after the tribulation, we will rule and reign with Him. I take it, if He wants me to go to some part of the world, I’ll just go, be there. Be here, be there, be wherever, that’s the point. He was not restricted, He was able to appear and disappear.

Look at Luke 24:15, “While they were talking and discussing, Jesus Himself approached and began traveling with them. But their eyes were kept from recognizing Him.” So, He can show up wherever He is appointed to be. And it takes something special for them not to recognize Him. So, that’s good. You’re going to recognize Me in my glorified body. Because it will be this body, but it will be without its limitations. I’ll recognize you. Now I may have to look twice, but you’ll be transformed. And yet it will be still you. That’s the point. So, it was the same body that was crucified and buried. IT was a body that had material substance. It could eat food. It didn’t need food to sustain it, but it could eat food. And it didn’t have its previous limitations. It could show up. It could come into a room without opening the door. It’s going to be remarkable. I can’t wait! But I hope I get to rapture, but if not, we’ll go through death, and then we’ll be raised from the dead.

Now, this is all about Christ. And we say, well, Christ was the God/Man. But we understand that that is what Paul is saying in 1 Corinthians 15 as well as other places. That we’re going to be like Him. Come back to 1 Corinthians 15 for a moment now. 1 Corinthians 15:20, “Now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep.” So, what Paul is being directed to inform the Corinthians about is Christ is the first fruit. The Old Testament picture, you brought in the first years of grain and that was an indication of a coming harvest. There’s going to be more like these coming. That’s what Christ’s resurrection is about. So, we celebrate the resurrection of Christ today on Easter Sunday. We understand that is God telling us as believers in Jesus Christ we’re some day going to have a body like He had. He is the first fruits of those who are asleep. Verse 22 of 1 Corinthians 15, “For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.” So, everyone who is in Christ, by faith in Him and His finished work, will be made alive. So, I’ll have a body like Christ had. That’s why we look at the passages in Luke. And we could have looked at them in parallel gospels as well for some of them. We’re going to have a body like He had. After His resurrection from the dead, it’s the same body, but it’s a body that doesn’t have the same limitations, restrictions and so on, that we presently have. So, we’ll have a resurrected body.

Come over to Romans 8, or back to Romans 8 if you’re in 1 Corinthians, just before 1 Corinthians. Romans 8:11, “But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you.” If you have the Spirit of God dwelling in you -- and if you don’t you are not a child of God. You’re still an unredeemed, unforgiven sinner on his way to hell -- and you will get a resurrected body, but that’s a whole different discussion. So, “If the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies, through His Spirit who dwells in you.” So, the presence of the Spirit of God dwelling in each believer, is God’s guarantee that some day we’re going to ger a resurrected body. And it’s the same Spirit who acted to raise Jesus from the dead. He will raise you from the dead.

Come down to verse 18 of Romans 8, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is revealed to us. For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God.” And the corruption that characterizes us now, we deteriorate, we get old, we suffer, we die, we get a disease, we die… Verse 22,”We know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit.” The Spirit has worked in us, He’s made us new spiritually. He gives us hope. He gives us understanding of spiritual things. We have the first fruits of the Spirit, “even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoptions as sons.” What does that mean, the redemption of our body? When this body will experience the fullness of the Holy Spirit’s power. And I will be transformed and brought into conformity to have a body like Jesus had after His resurrection from the dead. “For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope.” Because you’ve already had it. So, this is the hope we have, that some day this physical body, deteriorating as it is, will someday undergo a transformation.

Come over to Philippians. You’re in 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians. And Philippians 3. You get to Colossians, you’re too far. Philippians 3:20, “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who will transform the body of our humble state,” now note this, “into conformity with the body of His glory.” So, what we read about in 1 Corinthians 15 and others, the end of Luke 24 and so on, about the resurrected body of Christ, that’s the kind of body we’re going to get, like He had. We’re not going to be deity. He’s the God/Man. But what He had as man in a glorified physical body, we are also going to receive. The Holy Spirit of God will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory. “by exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself.” That’s the hope we have. That’s the anticipation. There’s sorrow, loved ones die. Little ones suffer and die. That’s alright, in Christ there is a hope that goes beyond what we can realize here. We will be brought into conformity, ultimately. So, we’re going to hug each other. We’re going to know each other. We’re going to be rejoicing. And we have all eternity. So, yes, there is sorrow, there’s tears when we lose a loved one. But that’s all put into perspective. In a hundred years it won’t matter. And a thousand years, in a hundred thousand years. Now it will matter whether you know the Savior and are raised to life or raised to death. But the fact of the matter is, we’re going to be transformed. He’s going to transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory. So, we looked and saw what happened to Christ. Well, that was Christ, He was God in the flesh. Yes, but He was fully man. And we are going to get a transformed body like He had. That’s why we looked, you say, oh boy, yes, I’ll be able to eat. You’ll be able to touch. To have flesh and bone. Oh, I don’t know about blood, but flesh and bone. I will have substance to me. You could grab onto Christ. You could hold onto Him. He had to tell the women at the tomb, “Don’t cling to Me, for I haven’t yet ascended to My Father.” He’s not back yet. When He appears on earth the next time, it will be to establish His kingdom. But He wasn’t here for that. Please don’t cling to Me yet. So, they could hold onto Him. So, it’s a body that will have substance. It’s amazing.

Come back to Matthew 8:11, “I say to you,” and this is Jesus Christ during His earthly ministry, “that many will come from the east and west, and recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom.” But there will be those, talking about the Jews here, “the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into the outer darkness.” There’s a resurrection of life and a resurrection to condemnation. Jesus talked about it in John 5. We’re talking about the resurrection to life. We’re going to be reclining at the table. We’ll be eating with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. And they received their glorified bodies, they have each, in an order. But then when you get to the kingdom that Christ is going to establish on this earth, we’re going to be reclining at the table. Maybe I’ll go have lunch with Abraham today. We’re going to be reclining, yes, and talk about things. Are you going to Abraham tomorrow? No, no, I did him yesterday. It says, “many will come from east and west, and recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom.” He’s going to establish a kingdom on the earth. And people are going to be reclining at table. Now, there will be people in physical bodies in that kingdom that will come and want to recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. There will be a distinction in them, but yet those in physical bodies in eternity, that’s a different stage. They’ll have physical restrictions, but they won’t be bound by sin. But that’s another subject for another time.

Let me skip over some stuff here. In the resurrection, we won’t be married. Now, some of you say, well, that’s good. Keep that to yourself. But, you know, we do, that’s the closeness we have. But I look at it in the glorified body, our spiritual family will supersede what our physical family did. So, now we have that relationship, and it grows. Because then we have children, we love them. We have grandchildren, we love them. So, we don’t love our husband or wife less, but we love our children and our love grows in the family. Well, it would be similar when we’re in our glorified body. We’ll have a depth of love and relationship with all believers that goes far beyond anything we’ve had here. So, we won’t be given in marriage, but that’s because we’ll have a superseding depth of love and relationship that we’ve not had before. Now we have just a limited foretaste of what it will be like.

You’re in Matthew, come to Matthew 17, “He was transfigured before them; and His face shown like the sun, and His garments became as white as light. And behold Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him.” So, you see something of a foretaste and a glimpse of the glory that is yet to come. And the fellowship that we’ll have. Here Moses and Elijah appeared with Him. Moses’ body was buried, where we’re not told, but he’s going to have a glorified body eventually. But even now he exists. I experience physical death, if the Lord doesn’t come in the next 40 years, I’m going to die, maybe in the next 4 years, I don’t know. Ha, ha. But I will not cease to exist. This body will be put in a grave. But the body without the Spirit is dead. So, then I as a spirit, I will be conscious, aware, alert and in the presence of the Lord. And at the resurrection then, I move back into my body, that will be glorified. So, I will have existence, but that’s not my eternal existence. My eternal existence is to dwell in this body. I will dwell out of this body, the body without the spirit is dead, that’s physical death. The loved ones that you have, they have not ceased to exist, they’ve ceased to exist just in that physical body. That physical body is in the grave deteriorating. But that’s alright, because there is coming a time, and that’s connected to the rapture of the church, for the church, when we will re-inhabit those bodies. And those bodies will be transformed. But they will be these bodies. So, we’ll know each other. We’ll know our loved ones. We’ll have relationships that will go on. That’s why Paul could write in Romans 8:18, let me just read this to you. Romans 8:18, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be reveled to us.” There are sufferings in this present life. We never want to lose our perspective. This is where we’re back to 1 Corinthians again, that we’ve just looked into the first two chapters. They had lost sight of what it meant, that Christ was crucified for them. That He is the focal point. This life, it is important we number 1, have to settle our relationship with Jesus Christ, the One who loved us and died for us. But you have no relationship with Him until you place your faith in Him and Him alone. Once you have, He begins to develop you spiritually. But you know, now almost 80, I’m still not developed fully. And this body will die, if Christ does not come, and be put in a grave. But I will go into the presence of the Lord. To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord, Paul wrote to the Corinthians. So, there is a hope we have. But then there is coming a time when Christ will call this body back to life, and I will move back in. Why would I want to be in this old body for? But it won’t be this old body. It will be this new body, without its limitations, without it’s negative side, so to speak. And then I will be ready to live for eternity, enjoying the fellowship with God’s people, and serving Him forever.

The process going on now, 2 Corinthians 3:18, you can turn there if you want, otherwise I’ll just read it to you. 2 Corinthians 3:18, “But we all, with unveiled faith, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image.” “Are being transformed into the same image.” What image? We’re “beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord.” And we “are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord the Spirit.” So, this physical life has a purpose and a plan. And God is developing me, maturing me, making me more and more like Himself. In my interest, my desires and so on. But you know, I still have this body, the physical body that is deteriorating. Well, Paul could write to the Corinthians and tell them, though our outer man is deteriorating, our inner man is being made new day by day.

So, the question is, where are you in all this? In John 5, Jesus said, there’s a resurrection of life and a resurrection to condemnation. And it all depends on your relationship to Him. Doesn’t mean, do I go to church or I attend this church regularly. Oh, that’s nice, but have you placed your faith in Jesus Christ, in Him alone as the one who loved you and died for you? And the moment that happens, whether you’re young when it happens or whether you’re old, He makes a change on the inside. I still have this old body, and I struggle with that. But I’ve been made new and now I am being conformed and transformed into becoming more and more like Jesus Christ. The ultimate realization of that will occur for the church at the rapture. But Jesus Christ comes in the air and calls, first those from the grave, who are part of the church from Acts 2 down to that point in time, their body is transformed; and then we who are alive, will be transformed. Now why Paul spends such a long chapter in this letter, well, if you’re here, we’ve studied the opening chapters of 1 Corinthians again, it’s because the Corinthian church had lost sight of this. They become mired down in the todays of their life. In the negative things, their problems, their difficulties, their pain, their suffering, their heartache, their disappointments, their discouragement. Put that all in perspective. I am being prepared for glory. I want my focus to be on that. When the down times come, I remember, Lord, this is part of Your making me in the man You intend me to be. Ultimately, that will happen in an instant of time. But it’s important, if I’ve really trusted Christ as my Savior. I desire now to have Him develop that process. Transforming me day by day, to be more like Him. And anticipating the time. This life, 70, 80 years, 90 years and it’s gone. What does that mean? Well, for the believer in Jesus Christ, it means I’m getting closer to glory! Getting closer to the time when I will be called into His presence. I’m getting closer to the time, Paul wrote to the Romans in Romans 16, and said “Now is you salvation nearer than when you first believed.” We’re 2000 years nearer than when Paul wrote that. So, we have all the anticipation. No matter what comes, I want to bring my attention back and say, Jesus Christ died for me. I’m trusting Him. What my future is, is not what I do here and now. Ultimately, will be when He transforms me, finally, fully into conformity with the physical image of Jesus Christ. Is He your Savior? If He is, you have that hope. That effects the way we live. That’s where Paul is, in 1 Corinthians 15.

Let’s pray together. Thank you, Lord, for the riches of Your word. The greatness of the hope we have. Lord, we just don’t come and celebrate the resurrection of Christ because it’s a holiday. But for those of us who have believed in Him, His resurrection is meaningful. It’s determinative for us in everything we do, every day. We look forward to the time when He will call us into His presence, into Your presence. We will be transformed and brought into conformity, physically and spiritually. We will be made to be conformed to the image of the one who loved us and died for us. We thank You for such a Savior. We thank You for the privilege today of focusing attention in a special way upon His death. We pray for these young people, from the youngest age to the oldest age who presented the truth in music as we’ve considered it together. We ask that this will be a day to live for You. And every day until Christ comes. In His name we pray. Amen.