The people of Christ while living temporarily in the present age belong spiritually to the new age which has been inaugurated. The benefits of this new age are already made good to them by the Spirit. The last of the enemies which are to be subdued by Christ is death. The destruction of death will coincide with the resurrection of the people of Christ. Saint Paul wrote, "Just as all men die in Adam so all men will be brought to life in Christ; but all of them in their proper order: Christ as the first-fruits and then, after the coming of Christ those who belong to him. After that will come the end when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father, having done away with every sovereignty, authority and power. - 1Cor. 15:22-24 - The eternal kingdom of God will be consummated at that time.

The resurrection of the people of Christ ,then, takes place at His coming again.

At the trumpet of God, the voice of the archangel will call out the command and the Lord himself will come down from heaven; those who have died in Christ will be the first to rise and then those of us who are still alive will be taken up in the clouds, together with them to meet the Lord in the air. So, we shall stay with the Lord forever. - 1The. 4:16-17 -

Those believers who are still alive at the time will undergo a similar change to fit them for the new conditions. These new conditions, the eternal kingdom of God are something which 'flesh and blood cannot inherit' they make up an imperishable realm which cannot accommodate the perishable bodies of this present life.

Everything that is flesh is not the same flesh: there is human flesh, animals flesh, the flesh of birds and the flesh of fish. Then there are heavenly bodies have a beauty of their own and the earthly bodies a different one.

Or else, brothers, put it this way: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God: and the perishable cannot inherit what lasts forever. I will tell you something that has been secret: that we are not all going to die but we shall all be changed. This will be instantaneous in the twinkling of an eye, when the last trumpet sounds. It will sound and the dead will be raised, imperishable, and we shall be changed as well because our present perishable nature must put on imperishability and this mortal nature must put on immortality, then the words of scripture will come true: Death is swallowed up in victory.

Death, where is your victory? Death, where is your sting? Now the sting of death is sin and sin gets its power from the Law. So let us thank God for giving us victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Never give in then, my dear brother, never admit defeat; keep on working at the Lord's good work always, knowing that, in the Lord, you cannot be labouring in vain. - 1Cor. 15:39-40, 50-58 -

The assurance that the faithful departed would be present at the Second Coming of Christ was a great comfort to Christians whose friends and relatives had died. But the question of their mode of existence between death and the Second Coming remained to be answered. Saint Paul's clearest answer to this question was given after a crisis in which he thought he faced certain death.

For we should like you to realise, brothers, that the things we had to undergo in Asia were more of a burden than we could carry so that we despaired of coming through alive. Yes, we were carrying our own death warrant with us and it has taught us not to rely on ourselves but only on God, who raises the dead to life. And he saved us from dying as he will save us again; yes, that is our firm hope in him that in the future he will save us again. You must all join in the prayers for us; the more people there are asking for help for us, the more will be giving thanks when it is granted to us. - 2Cor. 1:8-11 -

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Sunday, May 24, 2009

I have through years of reading, pondering, reflecting and contemplating, the 3 things that last; FAITH . HOPE . LOVE and I would like to made available my sharing from the many thinkers, authors, scholars and theologians whose ideas and thoughts I have borrowed. God be with them always. Amen!

I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.

HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -