Just Like Him: the Promise of Glorification

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I do have a little bit of a voice left, but it's not much. So, I'm looking forward to our study, however, and I hated to miss so I want us to look tonight at the great issue of our glorification. This is really the culmination of all we've been studying. I won't have as much oomph to my voice, so you'll just have to listen yet a little more carefully. Someone asked me how I was doing, and I said, "I've been worse." I actually preached at Grace with less voice than this one time so I think we can make it through here tonight. I hope that, as I said this morning, my greatest desire, desires I should say, are twofold. One, that the truth that we'll look at tonight will be revolutionary in your own life and, secondly, that my voice won't, in any way, be a distraction from that great truth.

Max Lucado in his book, "Six Hours One Friday", tells the story that's often told in Brazil about a missionary who discovered a tribe of Indians in a remote part of the jungle. They lived near a large river. The tribe was friendly, unfortunately, in desperate need of medical attention. In fact, a contagious disease was ravaging the population of the tribe and people were dying every day. An infirmary was located in another part of the jungle and the missionary came to the conclusion that the only way to save these people was to get them to go to that infirmary and seek the care and the inoculations that they needed so desperately there.

So, in order to reach the hospital, however, there was a problem. The Indians would have to cross the nearby river, a feat that they were absolutely unwilling to perform. The river you see, they believed, was inhabited by evil spirits. To enter the water even met certain death. So, the missionaries said about the difficult task of overcoming their superstition and trying desperately to get them to cross the river for the care they needed. He explained, first, how he had crossed the river and he remained unharmed. No luck. He led the people to the bank and placed his hand in the water. People still didn't believe him. He walked out into the river and splashed water on his face. The people watched closely but, Lucado writes, "They were still hesitant." Finally, he turned and dove into the water. He swam beneath the surface until he emerged on the other side. Having proven the power of the river was farce, the missionary punched a triumphant fist into the air. He had entered the water and escaped. The Indians broke into cheers and followed him across.

Jesus came and saw people enslaved by their fear of a cheap power. He explained that the river of death was nothing to fear. People wouldn't believe Him. He touched a boy and called him back to life; they were still unconvinced. He whispered life into the dead body of a girl; the people were still cynical. He let a dead man spend four hours in a grave, or excuse me, four days in a grave and then called him out. Is that enough? Apparently not, for it was necessary for Him to enter the river, to submerge Himself in the water of death before people would believe that death had been conquered.

Ultimately, what we discuss in the reality of glorification, is the utter final defeat of death. That is our glorification. Not merely the defeat of death, in the way of resurrection, but being made like Jesus Christ. It is the culmination of our salvation. When Scripture speaks of our salvation, it speaks of it in three tenses. There is the past tense. We were saved in the past. Ephesians 2:8-9: "For by grace you have been saved..." We are being saved in the present from the power of sin. 2 Corinthians tells us that we are those who are being saved (2 Corinthians 2:15). But there's also a sense in which our salvation is yet future. We will be saved completely from the presence of sin. 1 Peter 1:5, that we looked at last week in the issue of assurance, says that we are being kept by the power of God for a salvation that is yet to be revealed.

For several months, we have examined what the Bible teaches about the past and the present tenses of our salvation. Tonight, we come to the future tense, what still lies in store for us, and it's called glorification. Now, let me remind you of all that we've looked at over the last number of weeks. Those of you who haven't been here, this chart may look a little odd. For those of you have, you've seen it many times now. Essentially, going from left to right, in the center you see a list of acts - some of them strictly divine acts, some of them divine and human acts. But they go from left to right, from eternity past in election all the way to glorification at the coming of Christ. Glorification, you see, is the great final act in the drama of our redemption. Sinclair Ferguson writes, "There is one last critical event to take place. It takes us to the outer limits of Christian knowledge and leaves us like men standing on the shore watching a boat disappear over the horizon, into an experience which we can only begin to guess. This event is our glorification."

And primarily, when we speak of our glorification, we're speaking of our soul being made perfect at death and our bodies being physically changed at the resurrection. By the way, this reality has always been the hope of God's people. There are those who would tell you that Old Testament believers had no hope of a resurrection. Listen to what they clearly say. Job - which...the timeline of Job, not when it was written necessarily but certainly the events that it describes, predate everything else in the Old Testament. They go back to the period of the patriarchs. And in Job 19, Job says: "As for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last He will take His stand on the earth. Even after my skin is destroyed, yet from my flesh I shall see God." Absolutely confident of a future. Psalm 49:15: "But God will redeem my soul from the power of Sheol, for He will receive me." Psalm 73: "With Your counsel You will guide me, and afterward receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven but You?". He anticipated an eternity with God in heaven. Isaiah 26:19: "Your dead will live; their corpses will rise. You who lie in the dust, awake and shout for joy..." And perhaps the preeminent passage in the Old Testament, Daniel 12:2: "Many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to everlasting life, but the others to disgrace and everlasting contempt."

When you come to the New Testament - not only do you have these clear statements in the Old Testament, but when you come to the New Testament, you find that the New Testament comments on the Old Testament believer's hope, specifically in Hebrews. Turn there with me for a moment - Hebrews 11. And notice in verse 10 what the writer of Hebrews says about Abraham: "...he was looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God." Skip down to verse 13: "All these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth." That was their confession. Why? Verse 14: "For those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a country of their own. And indeed if they had been thinking of that country from which they went out, they would have had opportunity to return. [But] they desire [verse 16] a better country, that is, a heavenly one... He has prepared a city for them." Verse 19: "He [Abraham] considered that God is able to raise people even from the dead, from which he also received him back as a type."

So, there was absolutely an expectation that God would raise those who belong to Him. When you look at the mindset of first century Jews, it's clear that this is what they believed as well. You remember the encounter Jesus had with Martha at Lazarus' raising. Jesus said, "Your brother is going to rise." Martha said, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day." Those first century Jews were convinced of a resurrection. Paul says that yet I hope in God which the rest of them in their cherished themselves that there shall certainly be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked. He appeals, there, to the reality that they both are convinced of this resurrection.

Now, when you look at the Old Testament hope however, you need to step back and realize that when we come to the New Testament, that hope is given to us in essentially two stages. The hope that we will be with God in eternity forever unfolds in two stages. First of all, at death, if we wait until - if Christ delays His coming and we're still here at the point of death, there is the perfection of the soul. The Bible doesn't tell us a lot about what happens at the moment of death. In fact, the most it explains is in Luke 15 where Jesus says, at the moment of death, the poor man (Lazarus), was carried by the angels into the presence of God. That's what I often explain to families who are waiting by the bedside of their loved one. This is the process. At the moment of death, that loved one, if they are in Christ, are borne by the angels into the presence of God. But it's a very short trip because Paul says, in 2 Corinthians 5, that to be absent from the body is to be in the Lord's presence. And at that moment, at the moment of death, the Bible teaches that our souls become perfect. In fact, in Hebrews 12:23, we're told that in heaven are the spirits of the righteous made perfect. That's Hebrews 12:23. In heaven are the spirits of the righteous made perfect.

At the moment of death, we enter what theologians call "the intermediate state". In other words, what happens when we die is not all there is. It's better than this life. In Philippians 1 Paul says, "to die is gain". I have the desire to depart and be with Christ for that is very much better and yet death is not the best and most glorious expression of our salvation. Why is that? The truth is death is an enemy. We were not created to be merely immortal souls. Let me say that again. You were not created simply to be an immortal soul, some disembodied spirit, floating around on clouds somewhere. God made a perfect man in Adam. He made man in His own image. And that first man was both body and soul. And when Jesus Christ took on humanity, what did He take on? He took on both the constituent part of the human soul as well as a human body. In fact, Christ continues to this day to have a perfect human nature, both body and soul.

You see, full humanity - listen carefully - full humanity consists of both parts - body and soul. But at death, something happens which God didn't originally design us for and that is death rips apart the body and the soul. It's different than the original design. That's why Paul calls death, in 1 Corinthians 15:26, "the last enemy". For the believer, death doesn't have to hold fear. But it's not a friend. It's an enemy, Paul says. Why? Because it rips the soul and the spirit, I'm sorry, the soul and the body apart. We're made to be one. But one day, death will be defeated. In 1 Corinthians 15:26, Paul says that the last enemy to be defeated is death.

So, listen, our blessed hope isn't death. If all you're hoping for is death, then you are sadly mistaken. Our hope is the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Because at His appearing, we're told, we will, what? Be like Him. We'll be like Him. So, the first stage of our glorification is, if Christ tarries, at death our souls will be made perfect. We will enter heaven as the souls of just men made perfect.

The second stage is at the return of Christ at the rapture, the redemption of the body. Turn first to Romans 8. Romans 8. Romans 8:22. He's talking about the fact that, right now, we're in a time of suffering. The whole creation longs for something. Verse 22: "For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now." What a powerful picture. It's as if this old creation, decaying and dying, is in the travail of labor wanting to give birth to a new earth and a new heaven. And he says, "And not only this [verse 23], but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, [that is] the redemption of our body. For in hope we have been saved..." In verse 25: "...with perseverance we wait eagerly for it."

This is what's coming. This is the culmination of the process of salvation that began when Christ called you to Himself - in some cases for you years ago, in other cases for you just in the recent past. Look down at verse 29. We've looked at this verse many times in our study of salvation. He initiated a process. "For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined [for what?] to become conformed to the image of His Son..." Listen, your glorification, when you were made like Christ soul and body, is what God saved you for. And until that happens, the process is not complete. He goes on to spell it out in verse 30. He says, "and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified." He uses the past tense to say it's as certain as if it already happened. This is what we were made for. This is what we were saved for - was for glorification, to be conformed to the image of Christ with both a perfect spirit or soul and a glorified body that resembles His own.

You see the same thing in 1 Thessalonians. Turn there. 1 Thessalonians 4. In 1 Thessalonians 4:14 he says, "For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus." Now, here we begin to see a little more of the specifics of what's going to happen. Notice verse 15: "For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord..." Here is one path to glorification. If you and I, by God's grace, are still here when Jesus returns, this is the path we will take. He says, "[we] will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God..." He says we're going to wait. If we're here, we've got to wait because something else happens first. The end of verse 16: "...the dead in Christ will rise first."

Now, he's just told us, back up in verse 14, he says, "God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep..." But then in verse 16, he says, "the dead in Christ will rise". The point is: those perfected souls, the souls of those you love and that I love who've gone to heaven before us who are in Christ, they are enjoying the presence of Christ even now. To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. But He will bring their perfected souls, the essence of their being, back with Him to this earth. And He will join that in a moment of time with their bodies, resurrected and glorified. We'll talk more about the nature of that body in the moment. That's what will happen first. Those perfected (already perfected souls) will be joined with, in a split second, perfected bodies, glorified bodies.

The second path, he tells us here, is for those of us who were still waiting. We're alive when Christ returns. We're still here. Verse 17: "Then [after that first event] we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air..." Now, he doesn't tell us the details - that he fills in a little more in 1 Corinthians 15, which we'll turn to in just a moment.

I want you to notice, however, that in 1 Thessalonians 4, the emphasis here is that it happens at once for all of us. It's amazing how unifying, common experiences can be. Part of what brings a family together is they've shared so many common experiences. Often, people who have endured great trauma together, are drawn to each other. I remember when I was growing up in Mobile. We would, every summer or almost every summer, face the possibility of a hurricane. And this storm would be heading our way, and everyone would be at the stores stocking up on all that they needed. And there was - I love those times, as a kid, because those were times when there was a commonality. Everybody was talking about the same thing. There was a sense of unity. It wasn't true biblical unity obviously, but there was a unifying element to those times. Everyone fought the storm together.

Until Christ returns, each of us has experienced His work in us at different levels, in different times. We were saved at different times. Our spiritual growth is at different levels. Our trials and joys come at different times. But at that moment, every single Christian will experience exactly the same great reality. Sinclair Ferguson writes, "On that day, we shall all together share. It is as though God has said to Himself, I have given My children so much as individuals and as little groups. But now, in this last decisive act in the appearance of My Son, I will give all of them My final special blessing all at once."

Now turn to 1 Corinthians 15 because here Paul fills out our understanding just a little bit more. In verse 51 he says, "Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep [as we just found there in 1 Thessalonians 4], 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." There it is in a nutshell. There are those two paths to glorification. Those who are alive, changed in an instant after those who are dead; their justified spirits returning with Christ and a moment of time united with a glorified body. In verse 22 he says, "For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ's at His coming..."

There are other passages throughout the New Testament that make this clear. For example, in John 5[:28] Jesus says, "Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, and will come forth..." He's coming. We'll talk more about the first and second resurrection when we get to last things, in a few months. I'm not making any promises.

John 6[:39-40]: "This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day." Same thing in John 6:44. In Romans 8:11: "But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you." And we'll come back to 2 Corinthians 5, in a little bit. All of these references and many others drive home the reality that at death our spirits will be perfected, and when Christ comes at the rapture to receive His church, we will all be dramatically changed, in a moment's time.

Now, what is the nature of our resurrected bodies? What exactly does it mean to be like Christ? Well, we've already learned that it means to be like Him morally. It means to have a perfected spirit that doesn't sin. It means that we will no longer be enticed and drawn away by sin. In fact, as the great theologians of the past have put it including Augustus himself, we will reach a state in our glorification when we are not able to sin. If that doesn't stir your heart and get you excited about your glorification, nothing will. There is coming a time, believer, when sin will no longer be an issue of any kind in your life for the rest of eternity.

But what about our bodies? What will the nature of our glorified bodies be? Well, there are three ways that we learn about this. First of all, we learn through the direct teaching of 1 Corinthians 15. Turn there with me again if you're not still there. 1 Corinthians 15, and notice verse 42. In this section beginning in verse 35 and down through verse 50, Paul is teaching about the nature of our resurrected bodies. We don't have time to exegete the whole thing but let me bring you to sort of the crux of his argument. Verse 42 he says, "So also is the resurrection of the dead. It [our human body] is sown a perishable body, it is raised an imperishable body..." As you go through this text, it's a series of contrasts. Paul says this is what we are now, and this is what we will be in the future. This is what our body is like today, and here's what our body will be like when it's like that of Jesus Christ. He says it will be not perishable but imperishable. That means, not given to perishing.

This means, folks - here's the good news - it will never wear out. You will never grow old. You know, the longer I live, the more I face the reality - and as I deal...as we have dealt with aging parents in our family, seeing them now in the Lord's presence - as I deal with my aging self, and I'm not about to say with my aging wife. I'm the one that's aging! Just let me be clear. I'm reminded of the fact that growing old is not for wimps. It's a difficult, hard, tedious process. But we one day will have bodies that are imperishable, that are not possibly given to age and decay, never affected by disease or sickness or allergies. Imperishable!

But Paul goes on with another contrast. In verse 43 he says, "it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory..." The new body we have will be a body that is raised in glory. There are a couple of things that Paul may mean here. One of them is a sort of inherent beauty or attractiveness. Glory is often used that way in the Scripture. But the contrast is with dishonor - dishonor versus glory. In other words, our new bodies will have no more shame, no more dishonor, created on them by the stain of our sin. It may even refer to a kind of shining radiance. You remember, like Moses had when he came down from the mountain and his face shone because of the radiance of the glory of God? Like Jesus had at the mount of transfiguration? Certainly, not glory and shining radiance like Jesus but perhaps after the same kind. We don't know, but certainly it refers to no more shame from the presence of sin.

He gives us another contrast. Verse 43: "it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power..." The contrast here is weakness. Certainly, it means no more physical weakness. There will be full human strength. Don't misunderstand, by the way. We're not going to be little gods in heaven. We are simply going to be the ultimate in human beings - what perfect human beings should be. That is what we will be. But we will have, according to this passage, full human strength not superhuman strength. Don't picture yourself like one of the superheroes you grew up reading about or watching on television. But we'll have full human strength. But I think there's more here. I think Paul is also telling us that we will have no more spiritual weakness, succumbing to temptation. Our bodies, now, are a beachhead of our sin, of our fallenness - what the Bible calls our flesh. While our flesh itself is not inherently sinful (matter is not inherently sinful) nevertheless, sin continues to have, as its final beachhead in us, our bodies. And Paul here says that weakness will be gone. We'll be raised in power.

The final contrast that he gives us here. Verse 44: "it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body." Now, that sounds like a contradiction. What's a spiritual body? Don't, for a moment, get the idea that Paul means some kind of ghost that appears to have a body, but in reality, is ethereal. This word "spiritual" never means nonphysical. It'll still be a physical body, but it will also, at the same time, be a spiritual body. What does that mean? Well, I think one commentator has it best when he says this means there are no more limits, in the time-space sphere. We're not bound anymore by time. We're not bound anymore by space. You see that, don't you, in the resurrected body of our Lord? And that's what we have to look forward to.

So, we can learn about the nature of our resurrected bodies from 1 Corinthians 15 - the direct teaching there. We can also learn about it from comparing with Christ's glorified body. Philippians 3 says that when He comes, He "will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory..." Philippians 3:20-21. We're going to be like Christ. Our body is going to resemble Christ's body - not in physical characteristics, but in quality, and how it's structured, and those qualities that distinguish it.

So, what do we know about Christ's resurrected body? Let me give you just a couple of things. First of all, His body was recognizable, but still different. You see that in John 20 when they don't immediately recognize Him. There are lots of different views, and I read several this week as to why that was. Some said He just decided not to be recognized. Others said no it's because, during His time on earth, He had aged, and they didn't immediately recognize Him in a non-aged state. I'm not sure how much you age by 33, but I suppose there might be something to that. But the point is, that Jesus was still recognizable but different. So, we know that we too will be recognizable but different. We also learn about Jesus that He was able to eat, but not necessarily compelled to eat. You remember, in Luke 24 He says give me a piece of fish. They gave Him the piece of fish and He ate it. In John 21, He makes breakfast for the disciples after His resurrection and apparently eats together with them. So, He can still use his body in similar ways but without the compelling needs that are characterized in this life.

We also see that Jesus was able to move through matter and yet still, at the same time, be touched. You remember in John 20:26, He just moves into a room where the disciples are meeting with the doors locked. And yet, He can then still say to Thomas, "Here, touch the scars. See that it's Me."

And finally, with Jesus' body, we see that there is continuity. There is continuity with His old body and yet it's new. Let me give you some examples for us. Romans 8:11. Jesus is going to... or God, rather, is going to raise us from the dead just as He raised Jesus. But notice what it says - how He's going to do. He's going to give life to your mortal bodies. There's some connection between our current bodies and our new bodies. In 1 Corinthians 15, he uses the illustration of a seed. Verses 37 and 38, he says you sow a seed, and you just sow the bear grain, not what's going to be - eventually grow from that seed. And that's the same way with our resurrection body. In other words, the relationship between our current bodies and our new bodies, is similar to that between a seed and the plant that grows from that seed. There's continuity, but it's different. In 1 Corinthians 15:51 it says we will be changed. Doesn't say will be entirely different. It says we'll be changed. The implication is there's continuity.

Now, this raises a question I often get. Some people are very concerned. What about bodies that have been lost at sea, are cremated and the ashes scattered. Listen, folks, if God can speak the universe into existence, He can deal with that problem. But it's also interesting - and this is pure conjecture on my part, okay? This isn't in the Bible, but I've just been thinking about this week. It's interesting to look at that seed illustration. Even today, there is considerable scientific discussion about what can be recreated from a single cell's DNA. Can I say that God can build you a new body from one old cell of that body that you have? All the documentation is included in that single cell. All God may need is one cell from your old body to make a new and improved one. So, don't sweat the details. God will take care of it.

There's one more way that we know what our resurrected bodies are going to be like and that's through how heaven is described. Particularly in Revelation 21:4 we're told that, at that time, He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There's not going to be any death. So, our bodies are not going to be subject to death. They'll no longer be any mourning or crying. So, there's no longer going to be any of that aspect related to our bodies. Or pain - there'll be no pain in heaven. So, we know that this is what our bodies will be like. Certainly, something worth longing for.

Now, briefly, let's look at what this means for us. Do you realize? Just think about it for a moment. You, one day, will be just like Jesus Christ - not a little God. You're still going to be who you are with all the distinctions that make you who you are, but perfected. You will have a perfected soul. That means there will be absolutely not one ounce of a stain of sin anywhere to be found in who you are. It means that you will, for every moment of eternity, love your God perfectly, with your whole heart. It means for every moment of eternity you will love others as you love yourself. There will not be one second, in the span of the eternal ages, in which you will selfishly consider what you want. You will live for God and for others, just as we were made to do. But it also means that you will have a body like His glorious body, that is, it will be imperishable, glorious, powerful, and all of the other characteristics that we looked at together.

So, what should this do for us? When we consider this reality, how should it affect us here and now? First of all, don't lose heart. Don't give up. It's so easy in the struggle that you and I face to just give in, to give up. Listen, folks, the story hasn't been finished yet. Don't give up. Listen to Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:58 after he lays out the glories of what we will be, how we will be changed into the likeness of Jesus Christ. He says, "Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord." Listen. If God chose you in eternity past and if He called you in time to Himself, if you repented and believed in His Son, that He justified you, and if He justified you, then He will glorify you, you are predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son. Don't lose heart. Don't give up. You're going to make it after all.

There's a second application of this great truth. Purify yourself. Look at 1 John first. 1 John 3. You know, we come back time after time to this text because John has so crowded it with rich theology. We came here when we looked at adoption because he begins verse 1 with that love that God has bestowed upon us, that we should be adopted, that we should be called the children of God and such we are. Verse 2: "Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be." In other words, we're not what we used to be, but we're not yet what we will be. We know that when Jesus appears, we will be like Him because we will see Him just as He is. There's the reality of our glorification. And, yet notice where Paul takes...or excuse me, where John takes that. Verse 3: "And everyone [without exception] who has this hope fixed on Him [Jesus and on His return and on what He is going to do to me when He comes back] purifies himself, just as He is pure." Listen, the reality that God will one day make you like Christ, is not an excuse to go live however you want. In fact, John says it's exactly the opposite. The one who really has this hope, purifies himself just as He is pure.

There's a third application of our glorification. And this is hard in our day. We live in a day that's given to the pursuit of youth, to the prolonging of the process of aging. It's shocking, in our day, how many people spend thousands of dollars to temporarily delay the inevitable. A third ramification of our glorification is: think like Christians about aging and death. Don't think like pagans. Look at what Paul says in 2 Corinthians. 2 Corinthians 4:16: "Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying [Boy, do I resemble that remark!], yet our inner man is being renewed day by day." Here's how you think about it. He says, listen, don't sweat that your body is decaying. It's okay because God's work right now is on who you really are, on your soul. And that's being renewed every day. Verse 16...or excuse me verse 17: "For momentary, light affliction [the sufferings and all that's involved in this life] is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison... [Stop looking at the things which are seen. Look at the things which are not seen] ...for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal." Start thinking like a Christian about all of this. And then he launches in verse 1 of chapter 5 into this metaphor about our bodies. He says, listen, "...if the earthly tent [that's our body] which is our house is torn down [there's a picture of decaying and death], we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." In fact, he says, let me tell you something - this house isn't worth sweating, because in this house we groan. Verse 4: "in this tent, we groan, being burdened..."

Listen, this life is a wonderful life and a gift from God. This body is a good gift from God, but it isn't work sweating. It's what Paul is saying. In this life, in this body, we groan. We want what is mortal (at the end of verse 4) to "be swallowed up by life". In fact, here's the key, verse 5: "Now He who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who gave to us the Spirit as a pledge." Listen! The gradual process of the renewal of your inner man, and the gradual process of the decay of your outer man, is part of the purpose God had for you. This was what you were designed for. It was for the tearing down of your earthly tent. This is God's plan. This isn't a mistake. Verse 6: "Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord...we are of good courage (verse 8), I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord. Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him." Paul is saying, "Listen, I know my body is decay. I know I'm aging. I know death is coming, and this is how I think about it." Is this how you think about it? This is right. Understand that this life is merely prologue.

There's an illustration I sometimes share at funerals, that I do. There's a statue in Washington, in Washington DC, of a girl sitting, reading a book. And it's obvious that she has approached the end of the book. But the last page says all that is past is prologue. That's how it is with this life. It seems like a lot, but it's just the prologue to eternity. So, start thinking like a Christian. This life isn't all there is. C.S. Lewis uses the illustration that, so often, we're like the little boy with the candy bar. Go up to a little kid with a candy bar, and offer him in exchange for that candy bar, all the joys of married love. And what's the kid going to do? He's sticking with his candy bar, because that's what he knows. And that's how we are. We hang on to the candy bar of this life, as if this was all there is. Listen, you were made for eternity. And you know that in your heart. You sense it. The constraints of your mortality burden you, and that's okay. You were made for God, for eternity. So, think about this process like a Christian.

Number 4: grieve over the death of believing family and friends but don't do it as those who have no hope or no comfort. We looked at 1 Thessalonians 4 but turn back there for a moment and look at the verse we skipped. 1 Thessalonians 4:13. He says, "But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest [of mankind] who have no hope." Verse 18: "Therefore comfort one another with these words." Listen, the reality of our glorification and the glorification of all of those we love who are in Christ, should cause us - yes, we miss them, that's human. But we should never grieve as those who have no hope. Comfort yourself. Find your hope in the reality of ultimate glorification - body and soul perfectly joined in perfection for eternity.

And, finally, live in eager expectation of your own glorification. Look at Philippians 3. We studied it together, now, some time ago. Philippians 3. You remember, in verse 10 Paul says, "that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead." Paul simply doesn't know how he will receive his resurrection body, but he knows he will. He doesn't know whether he'll be in the...among the dead in Christ or those who are alive and remain until the coming of Christ. Either way, Paul says I'm going to attain to the resurrection of the dead. "To attain" was used literally in Acts and it means to arrive at a destination. He says, listen, I'm going to arrive at the destination of a resurrection. It's what Paul lived for. He literally says, I may arrive at the destination of a resurrection out from among the corpses. Listen, don't count on me to stay in the grave. It's not going to happen. He says, I'm eager to gain the resurrection. That's what he longed for and that's what you and I should long for as well.

I don't long for death. It's an enemy. I certainly, like Paul, understand the benefits that death brings; it ushers us into the presence of God. But I'll tell you what I do long for, and that's to be made new, to be perfect in body and in soul, to be morally perfect in my soul and to have a body made like unto His glorious body. And that's the promise of glorification.

As a young man, in 1728, Benjamin Franklin composed his own mock epitaph, which read as follows: "The body of Benjamin Franklin, printer; like the cover of an old book, its contents torn out, and stripped of its lettering and gilding, lies here, food for worms. But the work shall not be wholly lost: for it will, as he believed, appear once more, in a new & more perfect edition, corrected and amended by the Author." For the Christian, that is not merely a thought-provoking epitaph. It is, according to Scripture, a reality.

Let's pray together.

Our Father thank You that You haven't left the story unfinished, that we will not merely live out our days here, gradually becoming more like Your Son, only to find our existence snuffed out and "The End" written across our lives. Thank You Father that to be absent from the body, is to be a perfected spirit in Your presence. And that someday, when Christ returns, and Lord we pray that it would be even today, we who are alive will be in a moment changed into His glory. Father I pray that You would help us to live in eager anticipation. Help us to think, as we go through this life, this time-bound space-bound life, help us to remember Father that You have made us for eternity, and our souls will only find their fulfillment in You in that eternity. Help us to think and to live like Christians here, and not like the unbelievers around us, because we have a promise from You, a promise that You will keep, that someday we will be conformed to the very image of Your Son. We thank You and praise You for that reality. In Jesus' name, Amen!

Well, thank you for your patience with me tonight. I hope, as I said at the beginning, that my voice wasn't a distraction. I trust that these great truths will be a great encouragement to you as they are to me.

Well, it's our joy tonight to welcome some folks into our church. And we want to do that together. And I'm going to ask these folks to come. As you come, just form a line, here across the front and look out, and let folks see you. It's such a joy to see the Lord adding to his church here and we welcome these dear folks - some who've been here a little while, others who are returning, others who have just found our church in recent days. So, I'll invite you to come as I call your name.

Eric Brabon. Eric lives in Colleyville, of course. He's a student. He's attended with his family for about 10 years. Glad to have you, Eric.

Krista Byers. Krista is from Keller. She also is a student, and she works at Cabelas. So, you might see her over there, some of you who frequent there. And she started coming in the spring of '05.

Dick and Marion Dewey. Dick and Marion are from Southlake. Their children are grown. Dick is a retired attorney. They celebrated their golden wedding anniversary in February, if I understand right. We're so glad to have them with us.

Alicia Dewey from Dallas. Formerly, an attorney, currently a full-time student, pursuing her PhD in history at SMU. So glad to have you as well.

Rich and Debbie Dewey, who could not be with us tonight, is my understanding. Is that right? They're away. But they also live in Southlake. They have four children - Richard, Campbell, Bell, and Chad. Rich is a neurologist UT Southwestern, and Debbie is a homemaker. So, when you see them around with the family, you welcome them.

Christy Greg. Christie is from Grapevine. She's a student and began coming in late summer of '05.

Craig and Liz Hayes. Craig and Liz are from Euless. Both are police officers with the Arlington Police Department, and they started coming in October of last year. Welcome, Craig and Liz!

Sandy Edmonds also started coming around the same time because she's Liz Hayes's mother from Bedford. She's a receptionist and she started coming in October of '05 as well.

Kerry and Shelly Konecny. Kerry and Shelly are from Euless. Kerry is an electrical engineer with Tell Labs, an internet franchise, and Shelly is network operations specialist for Verizon. They started coming in May of '04. Welcome you all. It's good to have you here.

Gwen Pennington - no relation, but a wonderful name! Gwen lives in Southlake. She's a homemaker and she started coming in July of '04. Welcome, Gwen! Good to have you here. I'll try not to sully the family name.

Virginia Piearcy from Justin. I don't know if Virginia is here or not. She works at Walmart. Began coming again in May of '05. She was previously a member, but moved away from the area in 2000, and she's now back. So, if you see Virginia, you welcome her as well.

Peter Scarborough. Peter is from Hurst. He's a student and a waiter at Steak 'n Shake. Some of you have seen him there, I can tell. In July of '03, he started coming when his family moved here from Missouri. Welcome, Peter!

Tim and Kelly Watson. Tim and Kelly are from Trophy Club. Tim is a physician recruiter for HCA. Kelly is a homemaker. They have two children - Ty and Cole. And they started coming in December of '04. Good to have you all here!

And then, finally, Annie Wyatt. Curtis asked if he could come with her and I said, "Sure!" But I see he's even bringing the baby. Now, there...that's some serious points, Curtis. I just want you to know that. Annie lives in Keller. She's a homemaker and, as you can see, a new mother. And in July of '04, upon her marriage to Curtis Wyatt, she began coming here to the church.

Well, it's a joy to have these folks. Let's welcome them together, shall we? Now, we're going to pray together. And as soon as we pray, we're going to ask these folks just to head out the center aisle. Just head toward Rocky, there at the back door. He'll usher you down to the Fellowship Hall. All of you are invited after the closing song, to go and spend some time getting to know these folks. Greet them. Enjoy each other. This is what the church is supposed to do - to reach out to others. We're so glad to have these folks. Let's take a moment now to pray and then as soon as I finish praying, you folks just head out the center aisle and we'll sing together when Seth comes.

Let's pray together.

Father we delight in Your goodness to us. You so much enrich our lives with the people that You bring into them, the people You have brought into Your church. Lord, we thank You for each of these dear people, for their love for You, for their love for Your Word, and their love for Your church. Lord I pray that You would make us, as a church, a blessing to them, that their lives would be built up in their faith through us. And Lord I pray that You would also make them a benediction to us, that their lives would encourage and strengthen, that each of them would fill their role that You have given them, the gifts that You've given them. May they use those faithfully here to serve others. Lord I pray that You would continue to build us all up together until we all arrive at the image of Christ, in whose name we pray, Amen!