Page 156 - TH200 Abundant Life A4 Final

Abundant Life in the Son: A Study of Salvation

of the dead and the transformation of the living are miraculous events
that stagger our imagination. Our limited minds just can’t grasp what a
glorious, universe-shaking event the day of Christ will reveal. Like John,
we don’t know precisely what the nature of the glorified body will be
(1 John 3:2). To this question Paul answered that God will clothe us with
a body of His choosing. He added:

So it will be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is
sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonor,
it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it
is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.… And just as
we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we bear
the likeness of the man from heaven. (1 Corinthians 15:42–44; 49)

Paul compared the resurrection
of the body to the growth of a plant
As the glory of from a seed planted in the earth.
the mature grain The stalk of grain that comes up is
not exactly the same as the seed.
outshines the As the glory of the grain stalk—its

lowliness of the seed, fruit—outshines the lowliness of
the seed, so the resurrected body
so the resurrected is more glorious than the body

body is more glorious that was buried. The resurrected
body is not an exact copy of the
than the natural body. old body. The important thing
is that Christ’s resurrection is a
guarantee that those who die in
Him shall be raised to eternal life (1 Corinthians 15:20).

At our glorification, therefore, we will undergo the greatest change that
people have experienced since Creation and Calvary, as God brings us
into His presence forever. All creation will share in this glorious freedom
as it is set free from decay (Romans 8:19–23). There will be a new earth.
Death and dying will be no more, neither grief, nor crying, nor pain. All
tears will be wiped away forever. The God of creation and redemption is
the One who glorifies us and makes His home with us forever. With Paul,
we may rejoice in the confidence the future holds for us, sure that God
who began this good work will carry it on to completion (Philippians 1:6).

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