Good morning,
Because He Lives!
Long before Moses sat down to write the first five books of the Bible, people who loved the God of creation knew that they were given life on earth as a beginning to another life in another perfect dimension. The Old Testament saints were all looking ahead to living with God and Isaiah spoke for all of them when he wrote, But those who die in the LORD will live; their bodies will rise again! Those who sleep in the earth will rise up and sing for joy!(Is.26:19) Godly people prayed for forgiveness for their sins, and received his peace without knowing how God could do that. They also were looking ahead to life with God in eternity without knowing where that place would be. When Jesus came as the promised Messiah in a human body, they had no clear idea how he would conquer Satan and his angels and his wicked followers. When Jesus died on a cruel cross at the hands of wicked men, they had no idea that what Jesus did was exactly what was needed to conquer death and the Devil, and make possible the joy filled lives they were longing for. Jesus paid the price for all of our sins in his death and came back to life three days later willing to save all those willing to turn from their sins and trust Him as their Lord and Savior. In God’s plan, death is the gateway to life and joy and victory in his heaven, in eternity and in a perfect body just like his.
When Paul wrote to God’s children in his day he explained, It is the same way with the resurrection of the dead. Our earthly bodies are planted in the ground when we die, but they will be raised to live forever. Our bodies are buried in brokenness, but they will be raised in glory. They are buried in weakness, but they will be raised in strength.(1Cor.15:42,43) It’s not easy for any of us to live our lives here in a world filled with sin and a body that enjoys sin naturally. Our Enemy does his best to get us looking at our challenges and weakness and at the success of those around us who want nothing to do with the God who has given us life. We will groan now but again Paul points out that, We grow weary in our present bodies, and we long to put on our heavenly bodies like new clothing. For we will put on heavenly bodies; we will not be spirits without bodies.(1Cor.5:8,9) He also explained, For our dying bodies must be transformed into bodies that will never die; our mortal bodies must be transformed into immortal bodies.(1Cor.15:53) Right now we are also surrounded by challenges that come from bodies that are broken or formed in ways that make us considered as special needs people. God doesn’t make mistakes when these challenges are a part of our lives. For those of us who are in this situation as God’s children we have the opportunity to demonstrate to the watching world that our God is with us and will take care of us in this life as well as in the next. Paul puts one more element on this challenge when he writes, So whether we are here in this body or away from this body, our goal is to please him. For we must all stand before Christ to be judged. We will each receive whatever we deserve for the good or evil we have done in this earthly body.(2Cor.5:9,10) Because Jesus came and lived with us, died for us, and is now living with each of us, it is only right that we should be praying and loving and serving him until he calls us home to live with him.
1 John 3:2 Dear friends, we are already God's children, but he has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is.
Roy Wisner
