“For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself.” Philippians 3:20-21
In order for us to be living like spiritual amphibians, we need to focus on 3 realities.
In our last 2 blogs, we saw that we are citizens of heaven (vs. 20a), and we are to get excited about the Rapture (vs.20b).
This week we will focus on Paul’s exhortation to look forward to our New Bodies.
vs. 21-“who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself.”
Our physical bodies are subject to sickness, decay, weakness, and the power of sin which indwells them.
Our bodies have been humiliated by the fall and the curse of sin.
These bodies will be transformed into a body that will be refashioned with the glory of our Savior’s body.
They will be glorious replicas of Christ’s body that He had after the resurrection and that He has now in His present glorified state in heaven.
Our new bodies will be adapted to the eternal state and our spiritual life will dominate them.
They will not die, get weak or sick; they will have flesh and bones.
We will eat, talk, walk, fly through space, and be recognized by others. They will be patterned after our physical bodies but be without their limitations.
Christ has subjected the entire universe to His sovereign control, so He certainly will have enough power to raise our bodies and make them like His.
How often do we wrongly complain about life here on earth because we don’t have all we want or don’t like how people treat us?
This is not home; our citizenship is in heaven.
Let me illustrate.
Bob was staying at an expensive hotel in New York City, and he woke up in the middle of the night with an upset stomach.
So, he called room service and ordered some soda crackers.
Later, when he looked at the charge slip, he was furious.
Bob called room service and raged, “I know I’m in a luxury hotel, but $11.50 for six crackers is ridiculous!”
“The crackers are complimentary,” the voice at the other end coolly explained. “I believe you are complaining about your room number.”
As spiritual amphibians may we live out these verses by the power of the Holy Spirit:
“Since you were raised from the dead with Christ, focus on what is in heaven, where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God. Fix your thoughts on the things in heaven, not the things on earth. For your old sinful self has died, and your new life is kept hidden with Christ in God.” Colossians 3:1-3
Blessings!
Rev. Ken Keeler, Director of Church Ministries