continually to keep us living. We grow old and feeble in but a few brief years. Then, finally, we fall into devastating decay. How reassur ing to know that this will not be true of the body of glory which, in a coming hour, will be fashioned from this present one. Paul reminds us that the believer will have a per fect body, shining in the lustre of eternal life. Consider the life of Moses. Scrip ture tells us that when he came down from the mountain after his inter view with God, his face was shining. He had such a marked glory that he had to cover his countenance before the people. This hints at the glory that will someday possess our entire frame. In the New Testament we can see, in the transfiguration, the body of Jesus on the holy mountain. Peter, James and John saw Him and His body seemed to shine with a glorious lustre. Remember, we will be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. These are several important glimpses into the future. The third contrast is suggested in the last part of verse 43, “It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power.” How often we have heard men proud ly boast of their strength. Yet, even the most muscle-bound, are weak be yond measure. He may speak arro gantly of his energy but yet he has to leave many tasks undone, simply because he has no strength to finish them. How much more he would do if only he had the power. This is further complicated as the years go by. What little strength we may possess seems somehow to diminish until, when gradually gone, we cease activity altogether. How quickly man becomes so frail he can’t even per form the ordinary tasks of life. Even to take care of himself becomes al most more than he can bear. Look around you in convalescent homes and hospitals to see such prob lems of humanity. If there is one thing middle age people most dread
at all? Disease is always at work. What a difference this will be in the resurrection body! We will never grow tired! The head will never ache; the heart will never become faint. The second contrast comes imme diately following in verse 43. “It (the body) is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory.” That’s quite an interesting and apt comparison be tween the present and the future. Perhaps we might not like to think of the body as it is presently con stituted as being something of dis honour. In a mark of the pride of life we are all too frequently inclined to exalt the body by praising its grandeur and glory. Make no mistake as to the importance God places upon these tabernacles of flesh. They are the temple in which the Holy Spirit lives through us. When we stop to realize it, it is sad to know that the stamp of dishonour has been seen upon us. Of course, no one anywhere has ever seen anything else in this present life. It is the only body about which we know anything positively. Likewise, nothing is known from a firsthand measure as to the body be fore sin struck it such a fatal blow in the Garden of Eden through the sinfulness of Adam and Eve. Have you ever stopped to think what those first bodies, before the flood, must have been like. How sad to consider this difference. We can only exclaim, “How are the mighty fallen!” The truth is that much of the honor and glory with which the body was originally invested has now departed. As it is at best it is only a shell of its former self. What we see now is but the remains of the body’s original glory. You can see why there is not much reason to be proud and boastful of these bodies. We are so often filled with aches and pains. Each breath moves us gradu ally toward the grave. We may as well face the realization that we have bodies which have to be patched up
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