2 Corinthians 5:4-5
"For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that morality would be swallowed up by life. Now He who has prepared us for this very thing is God. Who also has given us the Spirit as a guarantee."
Here we're promised that the Spirit's touch is God's guarantee our bodies will one day be changed by God. We'll be transformed from death unto life, just as we've spiritually already been changed when the Spirit rebirthed our souls at the point of faith in Jesus Christ.
Paul describes this change in our bodies in two ways. First, as believers, we are those who are being further clothed. We're now clothed in our mortal bodies, and one day we'll put on immortality. Being further clothed describes the sense in which we are already clothed, but in the resurrection, we'll be reclothed. A body will remain, but it will be changed. Just as with Jesus in his resurrection, our bodies will become new, though still our bodies.
Next, Paul describes the transformation of our mortal bodies as being swallowed up by life. In this sense, death is completely overcome by life. That which was death is now part of that which is life in Christ. In another epistle, Paul says that death is swallowed up in victory. It no longer has the same meaning for the believer.
For the believer, this promise of a new, physical life in Christ, brings hope. Every time we experience the discomforts of this life, whether of disease, injuries, old age, or any number of trials, we need to remember that the Spirit's touch is our guarantee of something better to come--the transformation of our bodies in Christ.
While we can't realistically go through life ignoring our pains, just remember that the best is still to come!
LORD JESUS
Lord, I thank you for the guarantee of your Spirit, promising immortality in the place of mortality. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment