THE KI NG' S BUS I NES S “W e shall n o t all sleep, b u t w e shall all be changed. In a m om ent; in th e tw inkling of an eye, a t th e la s t trum p . T h e tru m p e t shall sound, an d th e dead shall be raised incorruptible an d w e shall be changed (1 Cor. 15:51, 52). C h rist is risen from th e dead an d becom e th e first fru its of th em th a t slept. In C h rist shall all be m ad e alive— th e y th a t are C h rist’s a t his com ing ( w . 20-23). Some will say, how are th e dead raised ? an d w ith w h at body do th ey com e? T h a t w hich th o u sow est is n o t quickened except it die. T hou sow est n o t t h a t body th a t shall be. God g iv eth it a body as it shall please H im , a n d to ev ery seed his own body. ( w . 35-41). T h e first body is of th e e a rth ea rth y ; th e second is of th e L o rd from heaven (v. 47). „ . ,, ' N ow a re w e th e sons of God, b u t it doth n o t y e t a p p e a r w h a t w e shall be, b u t w e know th a t w hen h e shall ap p ear, w e shall be like him fo r w e sh all see H im as h e is. (1 Jn o . 3:2). T hose who sleep in Je su s w ill God send b ack w ith him a t his com ing. W e w hich are alive an d rem ain u n to th e com ing of th e L ord shall n o t p rev en t (lit. "Go before” ) th em w hich a re asleep. T he dead in C h rist shall rise first, th en w e w hich are ¿live an d rem ain shall be cau g h t up to g eth er w ith th em in clouds to m éet th e L o rd in th e air, an d so sh all w e ev er be w ith th e L ord (1 T hes. 4:13-18). (T h a t is, th e sp irits of th e d ep arted will re tu rn w ith H im , w hen a new an d glorious body will suddenly ap p ear in w hich tíre sp irits w ill be in sta n tly clothed). W e know if o u r e a rth ly house of th is ta b e r n acle w ere dissolved, w e shall h av e a build in g o f God, a n house n o t m ad e w ith hands, etern al in th e heavens. W e 'g ro a n , earn estly d esirin g to be clothed upon w ith o u r house w hich is from heaven. If so th a t being clothed, w e shall n o t be found naked. W e groan, being burdened, n o t fo r th a t w e w ould be u n clothed b u t clothed upon, th a t m o rtality m ig h t be sw allow ed u p o f life. (2 Cor. 5:1-5). (N aked im m o rtality th en , is n o t th e com plete victory). O g rave, w here is th y v icto ry ? (1 Cor. 15:65).” Is Satan to be victorious over any p a rt of th e child of God? Has Christ redeemed only th e sp irit or soul? Shall Satan have our dust to gloat over? No! “We who have th e firstfru its of the Spirit groan w ithin ourselves, w aiting for the adoption, to-w it, THE RE DEMPTION OF THE BODY” (Rom. 8 :2 3 ). “Thanks be to God who giveth us th e victory th rough our Lord Jesus Christ,” (1 Cor. 1 5 :5 7 ). Satan shall be altog eth er beaten o u t of h is wages. Death is an ENEMY (1 Cor. 15:26) and th erefo re no t th e believer’s hope. Satan will eventually be shown th a t he has won nothing. W h a t is th a t New Body? The imm ortal sta te of the believer will no t be one subject to pain or decay. The glorified body will no t be of flesh
630 Note these distinctions.
ALL have etern al existence— th a t is, bof.li saved and unsaved, w hether in heaven or hell. E te rn a l life is possessed by those who have received Jesus Christ and have been born again. I t refers to th e receiving of th e sp iritu al n atu re of Christ in regeneration, which carries w ith it th e prom ise of con tinu ing forever in heaven. Imm o rtality will be received by THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN BORN AGAIN a t the R esurrection of the Ju st, when Christ retu rn s. 1 Cor. 15:51-53. Jesus by rising from the dead in a literal body, has illum inated, no t only L IFE , but IMMORTALITY. (2 Tim. 1 :1 0 ). Dr. A. J. Gordon therefo re righ tly says: “We should cease talk ing of th e imm ortality of th e soul, as though we knew no t th a t God has provided some b etter th ing for us. We should be con te n t w ith nothing less th a n God’s full provision of th is m o rtal pu tting on imm ortality. The theory th a t every man rises from th e dead as soon as the b reath is out of th e body, has no foun dation in S cripture.” It is indeed, to many, a blessèd change when th e sp irit escapes from th e body to leave th is world of Satan and sin, going to be in ano th er world where Christ is. When sickness is upon us; when disasters press us down and we feel our impotence and th a t life is a failure, th en the sp irit w ithin us feels h er wings and is im patient for the skies. But th is is not th e point to which S cripture directs our attention. P au l said, “ I have a desire to dep art and to be w ith Christ which is far bet te r”— b u t he w ent on to say, “We are to look for th e Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ who will come in th e heavens, changing th e bodies of th e living saints and giving to th e sp irits of th e saints who have died a glorious BODY fashioned like unto His glorious body. (Phil. 1 :21 ; 3:20, 21).
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