Leslie M. John
So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised
in incorruption: (1 Corinthians 15:42)
Bible says we were dead in trespasses and sins; but to those who believed in
Jesus Christ as personal savior, it is the quickening of the spirit. We, who are
born again, are redeemed from the bondage of sin. We are saved unto eternal
life.
Sin held us as slaves; made us blind to the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ;
made us liable for condemnation; had us as aliens from the commonwealth of
Israel; strangers to the covenants of promise; had us in a state of
hopelessness, and it treated us a strangers and foreigners to the living God.
But God delivered us and made us servants of righteousness. We, who were the
children of wrath are given the privilege of calling the living God, as ‘Abba,
Father’. He has given us the privilege of be called as sons of God. He has
translated us into the Kingdom of His dear Son. Dead in trespasses does not mean
that a man is fully dead in all respects to the extent that he can not believe
on Jesus, but it means that Satan has blinded his belief and understanding to
the extent that the Scriptural truth appears to him as foolishness. (Ref: Eph
2nd Chapter, 2 Cor. 4:3-4, Romans 6:17-18, John 3:19-20, Mark 2:17, Luke 15th
Chapter, Col 1:13)
The only requirement that God has placed on a sinner is to repent of his sins
and call on Jesus to forgive his/her sins. Entire price for redemption from
sinful life is paid for by Jesus on the cross. There is nothing that a sinner
needs to do except believing in the blood of Jesus, who paid the price for our
redemption already.
God formed our bodies with the dust of the ground. When he created the first
man, on this earth he breathed his life into the nostrils of the man and the man
(Adam) became a living soul. The living soul that God created was in the image
of God.
After man had committed sin he lost that image of God, and ‘death reigned from
Adam to Moses even over that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s
transgression’. By the offence of one many came under the penalty of death, but
by the gift of God that is 'grace' many have become eligible to receive eternal
life. It was by one, (Adam), who sinned that death came to reign on man, and it
is by the ONE (Jesus), that the gift of God is available for all sinners. All
those who accept that the Son of God, Jesus, died for his/her sins, and accept
him as the 'Lord' of one’s life are saved from damnation. It is then that the
soul dead in trespasses is redeemed; it is then that the soul is delivered from
suffering the wrath of God. The soul that does not repent of his/her sins will
be cast into lake of fire, by God, after the 'Great white throne judgment',
which is the final judgment.
As and when our earthly house of this tabernacle gets dissolved we gain a
building of God, the house not made with hands, but that which would be eternal
in heaven. We groan in this body desiring to be clothed upon with the house that
we would have in heavens, and that glorified body, which resurrects from the
dead, when Jesus comes again, would not be naked; but the living soul with
eternal life that does not marry nor is given in marriage. (Ref: 2 Corinthians.
5th Chapter of Matthew22:30 and Romans 5th Chapter.)
Apostle Peter reveals a marvelous truth in 1 Peter 1st Chapter. Addressing to
the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and
Bithynia he calls on Elect by God the Father, and wishes them ‘Grace’. All
those, whom he addressed were, as he says, were begotten unto lively hope by the
resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and to inherit incorruptible, and
undefiled rewards that do not fade away. These are reserved for them in heaven.
If we read 2 Timothy 3:16 it says, ’All scripture is given by inspiration of
God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for
instruction in righteousness’.
Depending upon 2 Timothy 3:16 every one, irrespective of his belonging to the
clan of Jews or Gentiles can claim this verse to be applicable in one’s life,
provided he/she has accepted Jesus Christ as his/her personal Savior.
The power of God keeps us and assures us that inheritance, which is in heaven.
We have the eternal life to be with the Lord Jesus Christ always. That
inheritance is incorruptible, and undefiled. It does not fade away. We may face
trials and tribulations in this world, but the rewards that are reserved for us
in eternity are great and beyond description.
If we call on the Father, He will help us to pass our pilgrimage on this earth
in fear of Him, rendering to Him His due worship. We are not redeemed by silver
or gold, but by the blood of His only begotten Son Jesus Christ, whom John
identified as the Lamb of God. Peter confirms that this Lamb of God was Lord
Jesus. John said this is the Lamb of God came to this world to take away the sin
of the world.
The Father in heaven judges every man according to his/her works while
sojourning on this earth. He keeps record of our vain conversations that we may
have received from our earthly fathers following traditions.
Therefore, let us keep in mind that as the Scripture says, Lord Jesus Christ was
‘foreordained before the foundation of the world’ and he was revealed unto us in
the form of man. He died on the cross, bearing our sins, so that we may have
redemption from sin. God raised him from the dead on the third day after
crucifixion. Jesus is not dead lying in the grave just as any other man; but he
was raised from the dead on the third day as prophesied. Later, after forty days
on this earth he ascended into heaven. He is now seated on the right hand of the
Majesty, pleading on our behalf with the Father. Our faith in God increases as
our days pass on this earth because of this infallible truth.
Our souls are purified by believing on this truth and hope increases as our
sojourning on this earth tapers to start afresh eternal life with the only one,
who paid the price for our salvation. Likewise, our love for one another should
be fervent and pure. Just as grass withers, and flower fades, our life on this
earth is also temporal and temporary, but the life with Jesus is eternal as the
Word of God endures for ever. (I Peter 1st Chapter)
Apostle Paul warned (in Romans 1st Chapter) all those Romans that they had
changed the glory of the un-corruptible God into images of God’s creation. They
made beasts and creeping things and made them as their own gods. Therefore, ‘God
also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts to
dishonor their own bodies between themselves’.
But for those, who honor Lord Jesus Christ and take refuge in him, there is hope
that they will rise from the dead unto incorruption. The body of the believer in
Christ is raised in power, even though on this earth he/she was in weakness. The
believer in Christ rises in an incorruptible body that has natural body and also
spiritual body. The first man Adam was made a living soul and the last Adam
(Jesus) was made a quickening spirit. 1 Corinthians 15:42-45
It is a great blessing because we, who were dead in trespasses and sins, are
also quickened.
“And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins” Ephesians 2:1”