Resurrection: Our New Body

Resurrection: Our New Body 2 Corinthians 5:1-10 What a scene will occur at the sounding of the Lord’s trumpet! The “dead in Christ” will emerge from their resting places all over the earth and soar into the sky; these saints’ resurrected bodies will reunite with their spirits, which will have beenresiding in heaven with Jesus. Close behind them will follow believers who haven’t yet departed this life—at that moment, they’ll miraculously be changed as they are “caught up . . . to meet the Lord in the air” (1 Thess. 4:16-17). The description sounds extraordinary, but in fact, the plan is practical. We’re going to need a body with which to enjoy the new heaven and new earth that Jesus is preparing for His followers. However, earthly flesh and bones will not do. They age, break,and succumb to sin. So God promised to transform our humble structures into glorious bodies like the one Christ had after His resurrection. Common temptations and limitations will be gone. In addition, our physical substance will be altered so that we arenot restricted by time and space. Remember, Jesus didn’t bother with doors (John 20:19)! Our new bodies will be suited for the environment where we are to dwell forever—an ageless eternity in which all of our needs are perfectlymet. Each believer will still be him- or herself. Friends and family long separated will recognize one another; our personalities will be unchanged, except that we’ll be absolutely sinless. At last, you and I will be the persons that God intends for us to be.And we’ll be housed in a body fashioned like that of Christ—perfect, sinless, and complete. --------- Him That Cometh to Me �All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.� (John 6:37) In this verse and the verses to follow, we find Christ using a marvelous teaching technique. Several times He makes a general, generic statement but quickly advances from the general and impersonal to the particular and personal. Note that at the first, Christ tells of an abstract gift to Him from the Father of an entire group, (�all�) of which should come to Him for salvation. This is in itself a wonderful truth, for Christ highly values this gift from His Father: �And I give untothem eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father...gave them [to] me� (10:28-29). The entire group �shall come� to Him. But Christ switches in mid-sentence from general to specific: �Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out,� a concrete statement of the effect of this work on an individual. We are part of a group, without doubt, but also each one of us individually isHis precious child. The passage continues in the same vein. �And this is the Father�s will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day� (6:39). Again, the impersonal passes into the personal, for �thisis the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day� (v. 40). From the mass of created mankind, many have come to Christ for salvation. But each one who has believed and been granted everlasting life has great individual worth in the eyes of the Savior. �The good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep....I am the goodshepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine� (10:11, 14). JDM VISIT: PROPHECY WATCHER WEEKLY NEWS: HTTP://PROPHECY-WATCHER-WEEKLY-NEWS.BLOGSPOT.COM