• At the Second Coming, the Lord will literally come to the earth and set up His kingdom on earth for a thousand years.
• When the rapture of the church takes place, the Lord will not come back to the earth, but the church will be caught up to meet Him in the air.
Look at 1 Thess 4:17 “Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.”
The word Rapture is not mentioned in the Bible, but there is a word in the Bible that means the same thing.
For example, the word “Caught” in verse 17, is the Greek word “harpazo´ (pronounced as har-pad'-zo). It means to SEIZE, CATCH, PLUCK, PULL, TAKE (BY FORCE).
All the demons in Hell will not be able to stop the rapture of the church. God, by His mighty power, will pluck the church from the earth.
The tribulation period is preparing to start, but before it starts, the church must be snatched away.
Illus: It will be like a child standing on a train track, with a train coming towards the child at a speed of a hundred miles an hour, and just before the train crushes the child, someone reaches out and snatches the child to safety.
It will all happen in the twinkling of an eye. It will happen so fast, it will all be over before anyone really knows what is happening!
When the rapture of the church takes place, it will be one of the greatest things that has ever happened to us mortals.
WHAT KIND OF BODY WILL WE RECEIVE?
The Bible says we are going to receive a body FASHIONED AFTER HIS GLORIFIED BODY.
Look at Philippians 3:21, we read, “Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.”
If our bodies are going to be FASHIONED AFTER HIS GLORIFIED BODY, we can see what kind of a body we will have. We have already seen that -
I. OUR GLORIFIED BODY WILL BE LIKE THE BODY OF CHRIST
II. OUR GLORIFIED BODY WILL BE A BODY OF FLESH AND BONES
III. OUR GLORIFIED BODY WILL BE A BODY FILLED WITH NEW KNOWLEDGE.
IV. OUR GLORIFIED BODY WILL BE A BODY WHERE THE SPIRIT DOMINATES
V. OUR GLORIFIED BODY WILL BE UNLIMITED BY TIME, SPACE AND GRAVITY
If God’s Word stopped there, and our new glorified bodies did not have anything else, it would already be something to shout about.
But here is the good news, THERE IS MORE! For example-
I. OUR GLORIFIED BODY WILL BE ETERNAL
These mortal bodies of ours are like the automobiles we drive in THREE ways.
(1) THESE MORTAL BODIES OF OURS ARE LIKE CARS IN THAT A CAR COMES WITH A WARRANTY
Illus: You can buy a brand new car, and before you ever buy the car, they will say, “We will only guarantee it will run 50,000 miles.” It doesn’t matter how much you paid for it, they are not going to guarantee you another mile!
These mortal bodies of ours are the same way. When we reach the age of 30 to 32, you can expect that they are going to start giving us some trouble and begin to slow down.
Illus: Baseball and football players have to retire when they reach their early 30’s, because they are going downhill from there. Boxers have to retire in their early 30’s because from then on it is downhill.
Our bodies not only begin to slow down, they are like a car in that they begin to show deterioration.
• We can buy Oil of Olay by the buckets, but if we live long enough, we all look like dried-up prunes.
• Every year, women spend billions of dollars trying to hide and cover up what nature is doing to them, but it is a losing battle. No matter how hard they try to win that battle, nature will eventually win!
• When we were young, we could jump out of the bed, but now we can lay in bed and our bones will snap, crackle and pop so loud that the noise will wake us up.
Someone asked, “When Grandma gets to heaven, will she have all those wrinkles?” Here is the good news, “No!”
Illus: Someone walked up to an elderly lady and said, “Lady you have wrinkles in your hose.” She said, “I do not have any hose on!”
These old bodies of ours are wearing out fast. But the aging process will have no affect on us in our glorified bodies.
One day we are going to receive our glorified body and it will be eternal.
Some of us might get more wear and tear out of these mortal bodies than others, but eventually one day, they will shut down on us.
(2) THESE MORTAL BODIES OF OURS ARE LIKE CARS IN THAT WE HAVE TO KEEP TAKING CARS TO THE GARAGE FOR REPAIRS
This is true for these mortal bodies. We have to keep going to the doctor to get a “tune up” or to have a part removed or replaced.
(3) THESE MORTAL BODIES OF OURS ARE LIKE CARS IN THAT WE ARE INSIDE THEM
Every day, we live within these decaying mortal bodies. Sometimes as we live in these mortal bodies, and we are looking out of them, we can not help but wonder how much use we are going to get out of them before we take our last step.
Illus: Have you ever been by the bedside when someone died? Many times they will take one final deep breath, and when they let it out - THAT IS IT!
As we drive down the highway, sometimes our cars will start to “sputter” and we can not help but wonder if we are going to make it over the next hill.
We must have a glorified body, because this body in which we live is not designed for ETERNAL LIFE. If you can get 70 to 100 years out of it, you are fortunate!
But one of these days, when the rapture of the church takes place, God is going to give us a glorified body that will last forever!
Look at 2 Cor. 5:1-4, we read, “For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, WE HAVE A BUILDING OF GOD, AN HOUSE NOT MADE WITH HANDS, ETERNAL IN THE HEAVENS. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven: If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked. For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life.”
Notice, some of the things this passage is teaching.
Verse 1 - We are going to be placed in a body that is eternal. “We have a building of God…eternal in the heavens.”
This glorified body will never wear out. I want to remind you that the Bible tells us we are going to have a body that is fashioned after the glorified body of Christ.
OUR GLORIFIED BODY WILL BE AN ETERNAL BODY. But let me show you one more thing briefly before we close.
II. OUR GLORIFIED BODY WILL BE BEAUTIFUL
In this life, those who are blessed with good looks are indeed fortunate.
• They get the attention
• They get the job opportunities
• Many times in this life people suffer because their body is not one that anyone desires to have
When the Rapture of the church takes place and we get our glorified body, we are all going to get a BEAUTIFUL BODY.
You can have a beautiful body in this life, but things can change very quickly.
Illus: A girl can be so attractive that she can walk down the street and young men will chase after her. But give her a few years, and the only thing that will chase her when she goes down the street are the dogs.
Remember, when we receive our glorified bodies, they are going to be FASHIONED AFTER HIS GLORIFIED BODY.
When Christ received His glorified body, he was in his early thirties. We are told that this is the prime of a man’s life. And if our bodies are going to be fashioned after His body, many theologians believe that when we get to heaven, even though there is no time in heaven, every one of us is going to appear in the prime of life.
When we all receive our glorified bodies, we most likely will have the same age appearance, even though age is no part of heaven.
Because of the aging in these mortal bodies, BEAUTY can be changed to UGLINESS in a short time.
Heaven will be a place of fairness. In this life, because of the age difference, many times we are not treated fairly.
• Many times boys and girls are discriminated against because of their youth
• Many times adults are discriminated against because of our age
But in heaven, we are going to be given a glorified body that age will not affect. This body is referred to as “glorified” for a reason.
1 Cor 15:43-44, we read, “It is sown in dishonour; 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. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.”
WHAT DOES THE WORD GLORIFIED MEAN? It means-
(1) BEAUTIFUL
Our glorified body will be beautiful. There will be no ugly people in heaven.
Illus: There was a dating game on television, and a young man took this very attractive young girl canoeing. The canoe turned over, and she was furious. He apologized for the accident, but she was furious and she said, “It takes me hours to look this good and look what you did!”
Listen, when we receive our glorified bodies, they are going to be beautiful in the “Twinkling of an eye!”
It also means-
(2) BRIGHT
Remember that when Paul was on the Damascus road, the Lord appeared to him in His glorified body.
Look at Acts 9:3-4 “And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven: And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?”
Listen, one of the reasons we are going to receive our glorified bodies is because to look at Him in this mortal body would be like a welder looking at the bright light they weld with.
Our new glorified bodies will be BEAUTIFUL, but also they will be fashioned like His in that they will be BRIGHT!
Listen, we are not going to outshine the Lord Jesus Christ, but WE ARE GOING TO SHINE!
Illus: When we get to heaven, the Father is going to take a look at us, and all of us who have been saved by the grace of God are going to be “Shining trophies of the grace of God.”
We are not the source of light, we are the reflectors of that light.
Illus: We look at the beautiful moon at night, and we see the brightness of that light. But listen, that moon is not the light, the sun shines on that moon and the moon reflects the light of the sun. The moon has no light of it’s own.
The grace of God has been shed upon us, and I am here to tell you that I am not that light, but I am a reflection of that light. And when I get to heaven in my glorified body, I am going to shine as a trophy of the grace of God.
Now as you look at me today, I want you to know that the Lord Jesus Christ has saved me
We won’t outshine Him, but we are going to shine and reflect the glory of God.
Today we live in this old body of flesh, and our life does not always reflect the grace of God, but one day when I receive my glorified body, I will no longer be controlled by this sinful flesh, I will be controlled by the Spirit of God.
Conclusion:
Before we close, I want to point out one more thing. This new body will not be plagued with problems as it is now. There will be:
• No more sickness
• No more colds
• No more blindness
• No more deafness
• No more cancer
• No more diseases
• No more tumors
Our glorified body will be free of all these things. This old body is vile, but the Lord is going to change it.
One day we are going to have a new body, and we are going to use it for eternity to praise the One who gave it to us.
(1 of 2)
I. OUR GLORIFIED BODY WILL BE LIKE THE BODY OF CHRIST
II. OUR GLORIFIED BODY WILL BE A BODY OF FLESH AND BONE
III. OUR GLORIFIED BODY WILL BE A BODY FILLED WITH NEW KNOWLEDGE
IV. OUR GLORIFIED BODY WILL BE A BODY WHERE THE SPIRIT DOMINATES
V. OUR GLORIFIED BODY WILL BE UNLIMITED BY TIME, SPACE AND
GRAVITY
(2 of 2)
I. OUR GLORIFIED BODY WILL BE ETERNAL
II. OUR GLORIFIED BODY WILL BE BEAUTIFUL
