Glorification |
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In the last session we looked at understanding God’s earthly calling for our life. But what happens when our time on earth comes to an end? God has made us all unique. He designed you in his heart before you were born and he designed you just as he wanted you to be. However, being born into a fallen world that is ruled by the ‘god of this world,’ (the devil), this perfect design has been corrupted both in a physical sense and in terms of your personality through the impact of sin. Yet God has determined that his original design for you in all its perfection and individuality will become a reality. This is why you needed to be saved. In Session One we saw that through justification and through receiving the Holy Spirit you were saved. As you grow in faith you continue to be saved and this is the process of sanctification. Now we come to glorification – this speaks of a future event when you will be fully saved and when you will fully become the person God designed you to be. This will happen at the return of Jesus. Paul expressed it in these words.
Philippians 1:6
‘Being confident of this very thing that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ’
It is God who will complete the work in you.
When you were saved it was through an outpouring of his grace (unmerited favour). This same grace remains on you to enable you to grow in faith. The following verses tell us that at the ‘revelation of Jesus Christ’ or at the time when you will ‘see Him as He is’ (1 John 3:2), another measure of grace or unmerited favour will come upon you. This measure of grace completes in you the final transformation…
1 Peter 1:13
‘Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.’
This verse informs us that this last outpouring of grace completes our transformation and in this we fix our hope. Biblical hope is not something that may happen; it is a certain expectation of good. The perfect you, as originally designed in the heart of God will become a reality. You have never been the perfect you and you don’t know what it is like. God‘s grace will supernaturally surge through your old body to bring this about.
Philippians 3:20-21
‘For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself.’
1 Corinthians 15:42-44
‘So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption. It is sown in dishonour, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.’
These verses tell us that we are waiting for the coming of Christ who by his power will transform our current bodies to become like his body. Corruption and weakness are replaced by incorruption and power. We are also told that our resurrected bodies will be like the resurrected body of Jesus. We know that his body was both physical and spiritual. When he appeared in the upper room they touched the wounded hands of his crucified body to show that his resurrected body was physical. Yet he entered the room whilst the door was closed.
John 20:20-26
‘And after eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, “Peace to you! “Then He said to Thomas, “Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing.”
Our resurrected body
1 Corinthians 15:43 describes our resurrected body as being glorious. What does that mean?
The word ‘glory’ is often used to describe the shining radiance that surrounds God himself. The ‘glory’ that describes our resurrected body could mean that there may be a kind of brightness around our bodies that reflects the status of exaltation and rule over all creation.
This is suggested in Matthew 13:43
‘…then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.’
Daniel 12:3
‘Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament, And those who turn many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever.’
There is a lot we do not know about the resurrected body. For example, what about the reproductive part of the male and female! It seems we can eat and drink as Jesus did in his new body, but in doing so, is there any waste and if so what happens to it? One can go on and on with questions but the point is it will be perfect for eternity.
Our minds
Our minds will receive some sort of upgrade.
1 Corinthians 13:11-12
‘When I was a child, I spoke as a child; I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.’
In Paul’s day, a mirror was made from polished metal; bronze, tin, or silver. The reflection would have been dim at best. This verse uses this illustration and says that that dim image reflecting back from polished metal will be replaced by a face-to-face encounter. Our understanding will no longer be clouded.
Our wills
We will also have free will. Does that mean that sin could return?
There were two trees in the garden in Genesis 2:9, the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Sin came when Satan enticed Adam and Eve and they ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Before Satan enticed them, there was nothing in Adam and Eve that made them wanted to eat of that tree. In Revelations 22:2 we see that in the new heavens and earth, which will be our eternal home, there is only one tree - the Tree of Life. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil is totally absent. Also at this point Satan has been cast into the lake of fire and will never able to influence us again. Finally, there will be no more sin.
Our personality
If my body will be without defect and eternal, what about my personality?
Read the following verses.
Romans 8:21
‘because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. ‘
1 Corinthians 15:54
‘So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.'’
Ephesians 5:27
‘that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.’
From the above we can see that not only are our new bodies incorruptible but also the totality of who we are, including our personality is incorruptible. All is made ‘holy and without blemish’ and brought into a complete liberty. We are going to be presented to Christ as ‘holy’. If your body is holy then so is everything in it. You have never known what it is to be perfect in body and personality. We will marvel at this coming liberty.
What will we be doing in our new perfect selves?
Revelation 3:21
‘To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.’
The big picture presented here is one of overcoming believers reigning with Christ over all of creation. Our whole existence in the eternal realm is a completely different dimension from anything we have ever known or could ever know in this age. There is so much to look forward too.
In the next session we will look the resurrection of our bodies and a time of judgment at the second coming of Jesus.
Suggested Further Study
Shaping Your Eternity