Finestwheat
11-01-2006, 06:25 PM
Christ our redemption is not a small matter. Being our redemption, Christ not only becomes today the life of our body but also gives us a great hope, even "the redemption of our body" (Rom. 8.21-23; 1 Cor. 15.50-54; Phil. 3.21). One day, God will reveal how He has redeemed the creation and how we are His. At that day our body will be fully redeemed. It will put off corruptibility and put on incorruptibility. It will be delivered from the bondage of corruption and enter into the liberty of glory. Then, the dead will be raised, and we shall all be changed. This body of our humiliation will be transformed and be conformed to the body of Christ’s glory. At that time we shall fully realize how Christ is our redemption! Who has the assurance of having a part in the first resurrection? Who has the certainty that one day his body will be changed? We do believe, and therefore we have the confidence. It is all because Christ is our redemption.
We are told in 1 Corinthians 15.42-44 that after a Christian is dead, he is not to be buried, but is to be "sown". We know how totally contrary burying is from sowing. If, for instance, you bury a piece of copper beneath the earth, it is buried because it will never grow up. But, if you sow a seed into the ground, it will come out after certain days. After a Christian is dead, he is not buried in the earth as a piece of copper, but like a grain of wheat he is sown into the ground and will one day come up again. He will rise again because the life of Christ is in him, which life cannot be held by death. A born-again Christian has Christ in him, and Christ is his redemption. His resurrected body is incorruptible, glorious, strong, and spiritual.
Furthermore, due to the fact that Christ is made redemption to us, some Christians may possibly not see death. This is rapture. On one occasion a little girl asked a preacher, "Is it difficult for a Christian to be raptured?" To this child’s mind, rapture must require much effort. We know, however, that rapture is quite different from our human concept. A believer is raptured because he has Christ in him. Christ being his redemption will carry him up.
We are told in 1 Corinthians 15.42-44 that after a Christian is dead, he is not to be buried, but is to be "sown". We know how totally contrary burying is from sowing. If, for instance, you bury a piece of copper beneath the earth, it is buried because it will never grow up. But, if you sow a seed into the ground, it will come out after certain days. After a Christian is dead, he is not buried in the earth as a piece of copper, but like a grain of wheat he is sown into the ground and will one day come up again. He will rise again because the life of Christ is in him, which life cannot be held by death. A born-again Christian has Christ in him, and Christ is his redemption. His resurrected body is incorruptible, glorious, strong, and spiritual.
Furthermore, due to the fact that Christ is made redemption to us, some Christians may possibly not see death. This is rapture. On one occasion a little girl asked a preacher, "Is it difficult for a Christian to be raptured?" To this child’s mind, rapture must require much effort. We know, however, that rapture is quite different from our human concept. A believer is raptured because he has Christ in him. Christ being his redemption will carry him up.