'Christ will take His stand in the air.'
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Then His victorious saints will come down to the earth in the power of the Spirit of God and take back their bodies from the ground. After that, the resurrected saints will return to the Lord in the air so that they may descend with Him in the cavalry charge of the Battle of Armageddon.
As we understand it, it is at this point, just prior to the onslaught of Armageddon, that the Lord will clothe bodies of His resurrected saints with their houses from Heaven—the weight of glory that has been created as they have participated in the power of Christ’s resurrection and have shared His sufferings.
Christ Himself possesses a glorified house from Heaven. It also is true that He returned from the spirit realm in the power of the Holy Spirit and claimed His flesh and bone that were "asleep" in the cave of Joseph of Arimathea.
Our mortal body will be clothed with our house from Heaven. We can notice this in the fifteenth chapter of I Corinthians:
For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. (I Corinthians 15:53,54)
The context of the above two verses suggests that Paul is not referring to the soul and spirit of the believer, to his new born-again inner man, and his spirit that now is one with the Holy Spirit; for they are not corruptible.
What is it, then, that puts on the incorruptible house from Heaven?
It is the resurrected body that puts on the immortal house.
The incorruptible body from Heaven swallowing up the corruptible mortal body is typified by the refined gold that "swallowed up" various parts of the Tabernacle of the Congregation.
And they shall make an ark of shittim wood: two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof, and a cubit and a half the height thereof. And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, within and without shalt thou overlay it, and shalt make upon it a crown of gold round about. (Exodus 25:10,11)
The wood, the redeemed mortal body to speak in a figure, still is present. It is invisible to the eye for it has been covered within and without with refined gold.
Our "house from heaven" is the "gold" that has been "refined" by our momentary and light afflictions on the earth.
It is peculiarly the body, not the soul or spirit, which is the Temple of God.
Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? (I Corinthians 3:16)
What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? (I Corinthians 6:19)
We are the Temple of God. Our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. God will raise our body from the grave and then clothe it with the body from Heaven.
It is the Body of Christ that is the Incarnation of God. The Word became flesh. We gain eternal resurrection life by eating the Body of Christ and drinking His blood.
The Body of Christ was raised from among the dead and then glorified with the house from Heaven. Our body, which is one-third of our personality so to speak, will be raised from the dead and then glorified by being clothed with the house from Heaven.
Since it is our body that is the Temple of God, and since the holy city is the "tabernacle" of God, it is possible that the holy city, to a certain extent, actually is an expression of the Church, the Body of Christ, now dwelling in bodies that have been glorified by being clothed with supremely magnificent bodies formed from the substance of eternal life.
Not nearly enough attention has been paid to the redemption of the body of the saint. In fact, Christian theology tends to reflect the Eastern religions, which stress that spirit is good and matter is evil.
It is the contrary that is true. Sin originated in the spiritual realm. The material realm was "very good" when it was created.
Nevertheless, the flesh profits nothing. The flesh and blood realm cannot enter the Kingdom of God. Flesh and blood are nothing more than a primitive setting, a form and vehicle for the true riches of the Kingdom. Until the Spirit of God makes the flesh alive we labor in the bondage of decay and futility.
Our house from Heaven is the robe of salvation of which the Scriptures speak, the white garment of the royal priesthood. We are weaving that robe now as we permit the Holy Spirit to sow our flesh to the death of the cross. Our behavior in the world is very important; for we shall be clothed with our own deeds in the Day of Christ. Here is the righteousness of God.
For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven: (II Corinthians 5:2)
Did you ever hear a Christian groan that he might be clothed with his house from Heaven? Probably not. Why is it that we do not groan according to the Scriptures?
The reason is, we do not understand the goal of the Christian redemption. We are under the impression that eternal residence in a golden mansion in Heaven is the goal of the Divine work of redemption.
Whenever the members of an organization lose sight of the goals of the organization or misunderstand the goals of the organization, there is confusion and ineffectiveness in all the operations of the enterprise.
The briefest reflection on the Scriptures and on the dealings of God with the saints will reveal quickly that rest in Heaven is by no means the goal of the Divine redemption.
If it were God’s intention that man spend eternity resting in the spirit Paradise He would have created him in the spirit Paradise. God created man on the earth and permitted him to be tempted, knowing he would fall.
Let us say that God did not realize Adam and Eve would be tempted successfully, and now the Lord wants to make up for His blunder by forgiving our sins through Christ and allowing us to go to rest forever in the domain of spirits.
In this case, most of the statements and operations of the new covenant are misdirected and superfluous. It is necessary only that we profess Christ so when we die physically we can attain the goal, which is Heaven. Actually, the resurrection of our body is unnecessary. We do not need to be resurrected because we have attained our goal by dying and going to Heaven.
Why should we groan, earnestly hoping to be clothed with a house from Heaven? It makes no sense.
A study of the Scriptures will reveal quickly that God knows what He is doing, that He has specific plans for the saints whom He is preparing with such meticulous care, and that the Kingdom of God is destined to be located on the earth.
When we die physically we shall enter the spirit Paradise. To those of us who are older and worn in body, accustomed to pain, frayed in nerves (although Christ provides us with all the strength and joy we need to accomplish His will), entrance into Paradise is a wonderful prospect. We shall see God, Christ, our loved ones, and the saints of the Scripture. We shall have the opportunity to pursue our interests without the dread and confusion that result from sin and rebellion. We shall understand that which in the present hour is so confusing.
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