What A (Resurrected) Body!

What A (Resurrected) Body!

Titus 3:3-5

“At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another.

“But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.”

Romans 12:1-2

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God - this is your true and proper worship.

“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is - His good, pleasing and perfect will.”

Today we will be reading from 1 John 3:1-10

This past week I did a search through all of the sermons I have in a folder on my computer and found that the return of Jesus is a recurring topic.

When Jesus was just starting His ministry He read from Isaiah 61 in the synagogue in Nazareth, His home town. The interesting thing is that even though the entire chapter is prophecy about what He would do He only read the first part. Why? Because the part after where He stopped is prophecy that is yet to be fulfilled when He returns!

Jesus Himself spoke of His return multiple times. One of the most prominent ones is where He said …

Matthew 24:42, 44

“Keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.” “So … be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect Him.”

The angels said at Jesus’ ascension into heaven …

Acts 1:11

“Men of Galilee why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen Him go into heaven.”

The writer of Hebrews said …

Hebrews 9:28

“Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and He will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for Him.”

And one of our Scripture memory verses says …

1 Thessalonians 4:16-18

“For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.

“Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we shall ever be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.”

And there are many more. Let’s read one of them found in

1 John 3:1-10

(Prayer for help)

OK. Let’s pick two verses out of this amazing passage.

1 John 3:8b says,

“The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.”

And 1 John 3:2a says,

“But we know that when Christ appears ….”

These verses are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Scriptures about the return of Jesus. And, so, if you believe the Bible is God’s Holy Word then you and I MUST believe that at some point Jesus will return. Right?

OK. Are you ready for this? This week as I was doing some administrative work in the office I was listening to a recording from an old Oak Ridge Boys album. It was from the 1970’s when the Oaks were still a Christian Southern Gospel Group.

In this song, called, “It Won’t Be Long” there is a quotation from 1 John 3:2 KJV where it says, “We shall be like Him.”

I made a video of the song with that memory Scripture on it.

Let’s listen to it now.

The amplified Bible says it like this ….

“Beloved, [even here] we are now God’s children; it is not yet disclosed (or made clear) what we shall be [in the future], but we know that when He comes and is manifested, we [as God’s children] shall resemble and be like Him, for we shall see Him just as He [really] is [in all of His glory].

What does that mean, “we shall be like Him????”

One thing we know that it does NOT mean is that we will become a God. We will not become a part of the Trinity, the Trinitarian Godhead!

Well, what does it mean as far as our old aching bodies are concerned?

1 Corinthians 15:35-44

“But someone will ask, ‘How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come?