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THE KING’S BUSINESS
the glory o f the resurrection body o f Christ that it blinded Saul o f Tarsus when he behold it (Phil. 3:21, R. V .; Acts 22:11; Rev. 1 :17J. “ It is sown in weakness” : the strongest human body is a weak thing after all. How narrow are the limitations within which it must work. How easily it wearies. How .suddenly it falls sick and dies. But it shall be “ raised in power” (cf. Isa. 33:24; Rev. 21:4 ). Little do we dream what tre mendous energy there will be in our resur rection bodies (cf. Matt. 22:30). They will be able to execute without weariness every thought and ambition o f our redeemed spirits. Well may we who are in this present .frail body groan, longing for the time when we shall be clothed upon with that glorious, mighty, incorruptible body which is from heaven (2 Cor. 5:2-4), “It is sown a natural (literally, soulical ) body” : our preseht body is ' controlled by our soul; it is the servant, and oftentimes the victim, o f our animal appetites and lusts. It will not always be so: it shall be “raised a spiritual body,” i. e., a body that is molded by and controlled by the" spirit, that which is highest in us, that which responds to the Holy Spirit and links us to God. The body will net longer be the favorite lurking place o f sin, but the dwelling place o f holiness. “ I f there is a natural body”—and we all know that there is, for we all have it and are all hinderéd by it—there is also a spiritual body.” Thank God for that. God speed the day when we shall have that "spiritual body.” Thursday, January 3 . 1 Cor. 15 : 45 - 49 . “ The first man Adam became a living soul” (cf. Gen. 2 :7) : that is all, just “ a living soul.” He had a spirit, God breathed His spirit into him (Gen. 2 :7 ), but all that resulted from this union o f spirit and body was a living soul; that is to say, soul, not spirit, was the predominant thing. But “the last Adam became a life-giving spirit." By union with the first Adam we become men o f soul: by union with the last Adam we become men o f spirit. And what we are by union with the last Adam will deter
mine whether the body shall be in the resurrection a spiritual body. But the nat ural body comes first, and must die before the> spiritual comes. Note in passing that Jesus is “the last Adam” : He is not merely a man, but man, the ideal man, “the Son o f man,” the head o f a new race, “ The first man is (out) o f the ear(h;” i. e., he was made out o f it (Gen. 2:7 ), his crumb ling body returns to it (Gen. 2:19). His very name “Adam” seems to signify “ red (earth).” And as he is "out o f the earth," he “ is earthly” (the Greek adjective used here is from an entirely different root from the word translated “earth,” it means “an earth heap” ).. Man in his natural body is a pile of dirt; that is all. But “the sec ond man is ,(out) o f heaven,” i. e., his origin is from heaven. W e have borne the dirt image o f the first Adam, and “we shall also bear the image” (i. e., the heavenly image) “o f the second Adam” (Phil. 3:21; 1 John 3:2). Friday, January 4 . 1 Cor. 15 :50:53- Paul brings his wonderful exposition of the doctrine o f the resurrection body to a close with a song o f triumph, a call to service: “Flesh and blood (such as we are in^our present bodies) cannot inherit the kingdom o f God.” “Flesh and blood” are in their nature subject to decay, but “the kingdom o f God” is eternal and imperishable, so the one cannot inherit the other. Furthermore, “corruption” does not “ inherit incorruption,” therefore, the pass ing away o f these present “flesh and blood” bodies is not to be dreaded, but to be wel comed in order that imperishable bodies that can inherit the imperishable kingdom may take their place. Does some one object by saying, “the resurrection body of Jesus was flesh and blood?” Well, look again at what the Bible says, and you will see that the record does not say so. It does say that the resurrection body o f our Lord Jesus was “flesh and bones” (Luke 24:39), but that is not at all to say that it was such flesh as comes from the union with blood. Such a thing is not even
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