Seven Incorruptible Things Series

3-29-04

Title: Seven Incorruptible Things

Text: “and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things.” (Romans 1:23)

Introduction:

In a world of decay and change, it’s good to know that some things are incorruptible. This word, “incorruptible”, literally means “incapable of death or decay,” and it occurs exactly seven times in the Bible, referring to:

1. God Himself

2. The King of Kings

3. The Incorruptible Word of God

4. The Christian’s Reward

5. The Inner Beauty of the Spirit-Transformed Soul

6. Our Heavenly Home

7. Our Transformed Resurrection Bodies

These things never change, either because they are God or they have been established eternally by God. We are going to take a brief look at what the Bible has to say about these seven incorruptible things, beginning with:

God Himself (Rom.1:23).

It states in Romans 1:23, “And changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things” (Rom. 1:23). Have you ever noted that the unsaved world has made caricatures, or cartoons figures of God? Look at the images and idols that the heathens have. Idolatry was never more common than in ancient Ephesus. Excavations of the city have revealed one of the most horrible images imaginable; enshrined there in the temple of Artemis, is one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. The image is called Diana; she was not the lovely image you see in Greek sculptures. She had a trident in one hand and a club in the other. She was a mean one. But that’s the idea that most people had of God back then.

Diana was a female, and gross immorality took place around her temple. They had turned the glory of the incorruptible God into the likeness of an image of corruptible man. Idolatry is a slander and a slur against God. We don’t see lot of idol worship today, or at least we don’t call it that. However, it’s there; it’s practiced in some of the major religions.

But, no matter how corrupt man gets, God will always be incorruptible. Jesus was the best example of that. He was sinless, even though He was tempted more than anyone, and His tempter was Satan. Man got so bad that He killed God’s Son. But Jesus forgave them as He hung on the cross. He said, “Father, forgive them…” Jesus could not be corrupted, by pain, by sin, by humiliation, by Satan, or by any thing else. And He will never be, because He is God. The Incorruptible King of Kings (1 Timothy 1:17). It says in 1 Timothy, “Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible…” The Greek word that is used here for immortal is translated “Incorruptible” in six other places in the New Testament. And the “King eternal” is none other than Jesus Christ. Jesus never allowed Himself to be corrupted by Satan or by man. But both Satan and man attempted to corrupt Him many times.

• After He was baptized by John, He went into the wilderness to be tempted by Satan. I believe He was tempted for all the forty days He was there, not just the one time that we are told about. atan offered Him riches, power and fame. But Jesus always defeated Him with the Word of God.

• Jesus was tempted by the Pharisees on many occasions. Once when He was in a synagogue, on the Sabbath, they put a man with a withered hand where He would be sure to see him. Then they watched Jesus to see if He would heal the man, and in that way break the Sabbath Law. He healed the man any way and they couldn’t do anything about it, because it was not yet His time to die.

• When Jesus hung on the cross, the crowd taunted Him, saying, “If you’re the Son of God, come down from the cross.” He could have come down; in fact, He could have called 10,000 angels to destroy His enemies and take Him off that cross. But instead, He chose to stay on the cross, for us. It was love that put Him there, and it was love that kept Him there. Friends, Jesus could have stepped off this world anytime He chose, but He stayed on that rough wooden cross for you and me.

The temptations that faced our Lord were meant to test whether or not He was God. But Jesus never could have failed the test and He couldn’t give into temptation, because He was the real thing. He was God! An actual diamond will never fail the test to prove its authenticity. And Jesus would never give in to temptation, because God can not be tempted like man can.