(tm) The new body will be an aid to righteous living
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But the new body alone cannot live a holy life. Being in Heaven will not guarantee a loving obedience to God on our part. Satan and his angels originally were in Heaven and it is not recorded that there was a law of sin governing their bodies. Yet, they rebelled against God!
It is the love of righteousness and hatred of sin and rebellion inherent in the Nature of Christ that must govern the spirit and soul of the believer, and his body as well. Righteousness, holiness, and obedience are developed in us while we are on the earth in mortal bodies.
We demonstrate now, in the present life, our determination to live the kind of life found in Heaven, that characterizes the inhabitants of Heaven—those with whom we are seeking fellowship. We show our determination by putting to death the deeds of our fleshly body. We reveal on earth whether or not we are citizens of Heaven. Living in the appetites and lusts of the flesh works against our being prepared for the heavenly attitude and behavior.
There is this about Enoch, Elijah, Moses, and the other heroes of faith: they please God. They are the kind of people God and Jesus enjoy having around themselves. David is a man after God’s own heart.
Moses and Elijah appeared with Jesus as He prayed on the mountain and they discussed "his decease that he should accomplish at Jerusalem" Luke 9:31) There is a heavenly fellowship and it is pleasing to the Lord, just as the fellowship of like-minded people is enjoyable to us.
If we say we love God and enjoy His company, and we do not obey God or cooperate with His Spirit in putting to death the deeds of our fleshly nature, there is a question about whether we really love God after all (I John 2:15).
The maturing of Christ in us, which is the same as the maturing of the fruit of the Spirit, will create in our personality a heavenly attitude radiating blessing and good will toward all God’s creatures, and terror toward the workers of darkness.
If this kind of attitude and actions is being developed in us, our ruling with Christ over the nations of the earth will bring about the kind of environment for earth’s peoples that God desires. There will be a peaceful, happy, and righteous spiritual and social environment. Persons who, through Christ, can accomplish such a government, will be clothed by the Spirit of God with a body of eternal life and invested with Divine authority and power over the earth.
The "dew" of the Holy Spirit on the grave of a saint is as the natural dew on a plant—it will result in return to life.
Thy dead men will live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead. (Isaiah 26:19)
The physical remains of the Spirit-filled Christian have been "sealed" by the Lord. They are not the same as the remains of the sin-filled unbeliever. The anointing of the Holy Spirit who abode on Elisha remained in his bones after his death.
And it came to pass, as they were burying a man, that, behold, they spied a band of men; and they cast the man into the sepulchre of Elisha: and when the man was let down, and touched the bones of Elisha, he revived, and stood up on his feet. (II Kings 13:21)
Each of God’s true saints is alive in Christ and has the stamp of God on the members of his mortal body. At the summons of Christ the body of the Christian will respond to the incorruptible resurrection Life of Christ—the Holy Spirit of God. The grave of the believer will open and the Holy Spirit will convert his body into an eternal state.
The parable of the ten virgins (Matthew 25:1-13) is an illustration of the need for readiness during the Day of the Lord; of the relationship between the quality of our Christian life now and our fitness for the body of life when Jesus comes; and of the necessity for having the anointing of the Holy Spirit on our life now in order that we may participate in triumph in the resurrection from among the dead, at the appearance of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The virgins took their lamps (the Word of God) and went forth to meet the bridegroom (started out on their Christian pilgrimage). The virgins who "took no oil with them" represent Christians who live in the flesh rather than in the Spirit of God.
When the bridegroom delayed his coming they all slumbered, speaking of the fact that the Christians of the first century and of succeeding centuries have died without witnessing His expected appearing.
"At midnight there was a cry made," indicating that the appearing of our Lord will take place at "midnight"—at the time of the maturing of sin on the earth.
"Then all those virgins arose"—the time of the resurrection had come. But the five foolish virgins discovered to their dismay that the light of Christ in them, their faith in His Word, had gone out because they had not obtained enough oil (the resurrection Life of Christ in them). While they attempted to seek the Lord for the "oil" of the Spirit, the five wise virgins went in to the marriage and the foolish virgins were left outside the door.
When we say that the virgins have the anointing of the Holy Spirit we are not referring to speaking in tongues or any of the gifts of the Spirit, as valuable as these tools are for the building up of the members of the Body of Christ. Rather, we are referring to the Life of Christ that is being formed in the cross-carrying victorious saints who are living and walking in obedience to the Holy Spirit, who are learning to love righteousness and hate sin and rebellion, and who therefore carry the abiding Presence of the Glory of the Lord in their lives.
So will it be at the appearing of Christ. The Christians who have died with the Life of the Lord Jesus in them will be caught up to meet the Lord, as will the Christians who are alive at that time and are walking in the Spirit of God.
But the "Christians" who have lived in the appetites and impulses of the flesh, whether they are dead or alive at the coming of Christ, will not have the eternal Life required in that Day.
All of us need more of the abiding Presence of the Holy Spirit and the Life of Jesus in us during every moment of our time and throughout every aspect of our personality and behavior.
As part of our preparation for ruling with Christ, and for the first resurrection (which is associated with our ruling in Christ—Revelation 20:4,5), we first must suffer. The cross and the crown go together.
And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. (Romans 8:17)
Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life. (Revelation 2:10)
Paul linked knowing the power of Christ’s resurrection with knowing the fellowship of Christ’s sufferings.
That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable to his death; (Philippians 3:10)
The Book of First Peter shows us the necessity for our suffering and comforts us with the hope of the "glory that shall be revealed."
That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found to praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: (I Peter 1:7)
It is through suffering that we are brought to the place where we cease from sin and live no longer "in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God." It is through suffering that we experience the power of resurrection life and are prepared for the body fashioned from resurrection life.
Another way in which God views our pursuit of eternal life and glory is as a business transaction. The grace given to us in Christ, and the gifts and ministries of the Holy Spirit, are pictured as sums of money. We can apply the money in a businesslike manner, earning interest and making a profit. Or we can refrain from using the Divine money, keeping it out of circulation. God is displeased with the latter action. Lack of diligence in the use of God’s money is one way to be unprepared when Jesus appears.
And so he that had received five talents came and brought other five talents, saying, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me five talents: behold, I have gained beside them five talents more. His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord. (Matthew 25:20,21)
The parable of the talents shows us that the Christian who has attended diligently to the gifts of God that have been given to him will take part in the joy of Christ at His appearing. The joy of Christ is the inheriting of the nations and the possessing of the farthest reaches of the earth. Included also is the surpassing joy of the fullness of life in the Holy Spirit of God.
But the slothful Christian will not find the Day of the Lord to be such a pleasant experience. A wrathful Lord Jesus will say to him:
. . . Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed: Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury. Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him that hath ten talents. For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath. And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (Matthew 25:26-30)
The gifts and ministries that God has given to us as an individual may seem small to us now; but Jesus knows that if we are not faithful in the use of them we would not be faithful with greater responsibilities. However, if we faithfully use the gifts He has given us, seeking His will in all that we say and do, we can be trusted with the riches of the Kingdom when Jesus returns.
We know the coming Day of days will bring redemption to the Body of Christ Our physical bodies will come from the grave and we shall live and rule with Christ forever. Eternal life is the hope of the Gospel of Christ. If we follow Jesus with all our strength, and the Glory of God rests on our life, then the sting of death has been removed from us and victory of the grave has been turned into defeat (I Corinthians 15:55).
Enoch (Genesis 5:24) and Elijah (II Kings 2:11) are forerunners of those who will be taken up to God at the appearing of Christ. Whether or not Christians are physically alive at His coming is of little consequence (I Thessalonians 4:15). The important factor is that the Glory of God must rest on us if we are to attain the first resurrection from the dead. Many of the saints arose immediately after Christ’s resurrection and joined with Him in His triumphal procession (Matthew 27:52,53) as a sheaf of the firstfruits of the earth (Leviticus 23:10).
When Jesus returns, the multitude of those who have died in Him will rise to meet Him in the air. It is the bodies of the disciples that will be rising from their place of burial, because the reborn spiritual nature of each believer will be returning from Heaven along with the Lord Jesus (I Thessalonians 4:14; Colossians 3:1-4). These are God’s saints who have suffered with Christ, who have been faithful to death, and who now are receiving the crown of righteousness, glory, and eternal life.
If we hope to be clothed will the body of resurrection life we must be strengthened in the inner man. Our faith must be brought up to translation strength. We must be purified so we shall enjoy dwelling in the fiery holiness of God’s Presence. We must adopt the heavenly attitude and behavior.
We must come under the discipline of the Holy Spirit, being quick to confess our sins and forsake them by the wisdom and strength given us through the Spirit. We must leave all in order to know Christ, to know the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being struck down in the likeness of His death in order that we may experience the likeness of His resurrection. We must take up our cross and follow Christ daily, diligently employing our talents in building the Kingdom of God, faithfully carrying out each small task and responsibility.
Let us not be among those who neglect their salvation. Let us rather be "followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises" (Hebrews 6:12).
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