When Jesus comes, we need to go through a change so that we can be ready to enter Heaven. This devotional reading looks at how the change occurs and why it is needed. We become as Jesus is.
Nuggets
- Disciples – both living and dead – will be changed to possess our eternal bodies.
- The reason for the change is because sin cannot enter Heaven.
For the last two devotions, we stepped out of looking at Gritton’s sermon Christ’s Coming to finish looking at the verses in I Thessalonians 4.
In other words, we chased a butterfly while we were chasing a rabbit.
Now it is time to go back to the rabbit.
Our rabbit is still looking at the Second Coming of Christ. Let’s look at what Paul has to say in First Corinthians.
Let's Put It into Context
To read devotions in the On the Day of the Lord theme, click the button below.
Devotions in the The Second Coming of Christ series
The foundation of this series is Gritton’s sermon Christ’s Coming.
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Phil Weber
The Change
“Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed” (I Cor. 15: 51-52 ESV)
Disciples – both living and dead – will be changed to possess our eternal bodies.
Let’s start off by looking at some verses to see who are considered saints.
- “To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours” (I Cor. 1: 2 ESV).
- “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (II Cor. 5: 17 ESV).
- “Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus” (Eph. 1: 1 ESV).
- “So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart” (II Tim. 2: 22 ESV).
- “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light” (I Pet. 2: 9 ESV).
Where Paul was telling the Thessalonians that the dead would not miss being a part of the Second Coming, he told the Corinthians that not all of us are going to die.
But then, believing the dead will return to living, Paul was talking about all of us. “…. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed …” (I Cor. 15: 51 ESV).
Simeon helped us understand what all disciples will experience. He wrote, “Those who remain alive upon the earth will be charged. They will remain unchanged until all the dead are raised. Their change will be instantaneous.”
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This change is going to be into our glorified condition. In other words, we are going to get our eternal bodies – in whatever form that is going to take.
No, we don’t know what that form will be. When I first moved to Springfield and joined the singles group, one of the guys thought that form was going to be a speck of light. He felt that because we will be getting spiritual bodies.
What the imperishable actually will be is one for the UNR book – understanding not relevant. All we need to know now is we will be like Jesus when we have genuinely ABCDed. “Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is” (I Jn. 3: 2 ESV).
Whatever form God has in store for us is how we are going to remain for eternity.
Our bodies aren’t going to be the only thing that is changed. Our minds and feelings are also changed. Beveridge told us our opinions and conditions will also be changed.
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Since this is going to happen when we meet Jesus in the air, this will happen before judgment. Gritton said that the Day of the Lord is just breaking. Later the end of Revelation 20 will occur.
Gritton didn’t say how much time would elapse between meeting Jesus in the air and judgment. It doesn’t sound like he believed that the Church would be raptured much before judgment occurs.
What Gritton thought that was saying was true disciples would be safe from “… the judgment on the nations, judgment on Israel, judgment on apostate Christendom, judgment on Satan; but from all that the saints are safe; they are already and forever with the Lord.”
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Hmmmm. Where did Gritton get that the nations and Israel would be judged? When I read Revelation 20, I see it as an individual matter, not a national matter.
But we can table that for a further discussion.
The Reason for the Change
“I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable” (I Cor. 15: 50 ESV)
The reason for the change is because sin cannot enter Heaven.
We have to be pure and holy when Jesus comes. We can’t wait until He comes – either for the Second Coming or the Day of the Lord.
We aren’t pure and holy initially. Let’s talk about flesh and blood a moment.
When the term flesh and blood is used in God’s Word, it is talking about our human, sinful nature.
We cannot inherit the kingdom of God when our sinful nature rules us. We can’t enter His glory in eternity unless we have conquered our sinful nature. We only do that by ABCDing and navigating the Sanctification Road.
That is where the initial part of the change comes into play. We have to be changed so that we can be pure and holy to enter Heaven.
It is more than just cutting out the evil. We have to replace it with God’s attributes.
We are predestined to be as Jesus is.
This holiness is a product of love – love that changes our character to that of God’s. I like what Pope said. He wrote, “Holiness is the consummation of all that religion has to accomplish, and love is the law of heaven as well as of earth. Faith will cease by finding its object; and hope will never be conscious of an object waited for.”
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How do we get there? Prayer. It aligns us with God.
More importantly, it begins the change in us now. “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me” (Ps. 51: 10 ESV).
Putting on Immortality
“For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: ‘Death is swallowed up in victory.’ ‘O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?’ The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (I Cor. 15: 53-57 ESV)
We become as Jesus is.
According to Beveridge, we will be raised imperishable in our souls, bodies, and happiness. We will be perfected and find glorious peace with God.
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We have to put off our corruptibility and mortality – sinfulness – for incorruptibility and immortality – purity.
When Paul says put on, he is talking about, according to Cochrane, going into a place of shelter.
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We know that our bodies have been described as tents. “For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling” (II Cor. 5: 2 ESV).
Think about it. We have to take off through the change to put on for eternity.
We have to see this as a victory. Taking our place in eternity is a victory because we conquer death.
Making the Connections
You know, I don’t think we’ve mentioned faith much. We have to see all of this with the eyes of our hearts – our faith.
Having faith for the unseen will eventually be rewarded with sight.
Wadsworth explained it this way. He wrote, “Accepting immortality as a simple matter of faith we should expect that, as the last enemy rocked its dwelling into dust, it would emerge from the ruins with all its peculiar habits of thought, and at precisely its attained point of progress.”
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Okay. That didn’t say it the way I thought it said it. So, let’s process it.
- We can expect immortality as a part of faith.
- When Satan is defeated, we will still have our personality and thoughts.
- We will be wherever we are at on the Sanctification Road.
We think eternity means we become totally perfect. This makes it sound that we will be exactly where we end up here in this life. We won’t get an automatic upgrade.
But let’s see what we will lose. Thomas gave us a list.
- Errors of judgment in philosophy and theology.
- Wrong moral principles.
- Temporary human institutions.
- Religious institutions.
- Personal greatness.
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I think part of the problem is still how we translate perfected. We think that it means perfect. In a way it does, because it means no more sin.
But I don’t think it means a one-size-fits-all level of faith. I think we remain where we are when we are taken off the Sanctification Road.
How Do We Apply This?
- Be sanctified.
- Don’t be afraid to die.
- Study God’s Word to know that death will be destroyed.
- Know that to die is gain.
- Be amazed at the power and grace of Jesus, as shown by His victory over death.
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Father God. We don’t know what we will be like after the change of the Rapture. All we care about is that we will be with You. Help us to navigate the Sanctification Road so that we are in the best possible position when the Rapture occurs. Amen.
What do you think?
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