40B.1 What will happen to those
who are in Christ Jesus when the Lord comes for the second time? What
is this secret truth that Apostle Paul is talking about?
In I Corinthians 15:51-53, Apostle Paul narrates:
Listen, I will tell you a mystery! We will not all die, {Gk [fall asleep]} but we will all be changed,
in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.
For this perishable body must put on imperishability, and this mortal body must put on immortality.
(NRSV)
Apostle Paul told the early Christians
— those who are in Christ Jesus, about
a mystery that will happen during the second coming of our Lord and Savior
Jesus Christ:
-
Not everyone will die
but all will be changed,
in
a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last
trumpet.
-
The dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be
changed.
-
For this perishable body
must put on imperishability, and this mortal body must
put on immortality.
40B.2 What is the reason
why this earthly body must be changed, from perishable (can decay) to
imperishable (cannot decay) and from mortal (can die) to
immortal (cannot die)?
In I Corinthians 15:50, Apostle Paul answer is very
clear:
I tell
you this, my brothers: an earthly body made of flesh and blood
cannot get into God's Kingdom. These perishable bodies of ours are not
the right kind to live forever. (LVB)
The same verse in another
version of the Bible:
Brothers, I am saying this, because men in their physical form cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which can decay cannot have a share in what never dies. (IEB)
The reason is that an earthly
body made of flesh and blood cannot get into God's Kingdom. These perishable
(can decay) body is not the right kind to live forever.
40B.3
What will Christ do to this earthly
(perishable
and mortal) body so it will conform to the kind of life in heaven?
In Philippians 3:20-21, it is clearly explained:
For our
citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the
Savior, 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. (NKJV)
Christ will transform this
earthly or lowly body to conform to His glorious body, thus making it fit
for eternal life in heaven,
40B.4 To what did Christ
liken those who are resurrected to everlasting life?
In Matthew 22:30, the Lord Christ Jesus explained:
"For in the
resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are
like angels of God in heaven. (NKJV)
They are likened to the
"angels of God" in heaven. They will no longer die but will live forever.
And they neither marry or given in marriage.
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