“The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.” 1 Corinthians 15:45
Dear Ones:
In the book of Deuteronomy, we find Moses who had been told by God, that he was about to die. He was to climb Mount Nebo, look over into the promised land of Canaan, but could not enter there. Scripture tells us that he did die, and that the Lord buried him in a valley in the land of Moab. (Deut. 34:6) This is a most remarkable passage of Scripture because of several things. First, Moses’ time had clearly come to go and be with the Lord, this in spite of the fact that, “…his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated.” (v.7) We find him again coming from heaven with Elijah upon the mountain of transfiguration, there to meet with the Lord Jesus prior to His crucifixion. The second thing we notice about the death of Moses was the care, and honor, that the Lord Himself gave to Moses in that He chose to bury His servant personally. Lastly, and perhaps the most revealing thing at Moses’ death was that, regardless of the fact that he was a man of God, his body would still need to be buried. Why? It had to do with sin, and its effects. As soon as Moses’ body ceased to live, death’s corruption and deterioration set in. There was no alternative but to bury that body, and all that it represented of the curse of sin upon it. What a contrast, when over a thousand years later, the Lord will reveal to the Apostle Paul a marvelous reality and hope, concerning another body. He would write: “…There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.” (1 Cor. 15:44) Of what was he speaking? The “natural” body was that which died on Mt. Nebo. However, that which was given to Moses in return, and which is the certain hope of the believer, is a new body, a spiritual one that is NOT touched, affected, or has any rapport with sin. It is one in which there is no corruption, or deterioration and decay, no change. Paul would speak of the believer’s present body, this “clay,” as being a tent, a dwelling place of the soul. But, “flesh and blood” cannot inherit the kingdom of God, because of the corruption of sin. However, there is a body that bears “the image of the heavenly.” It is that which is given to the believer by Christ, a flawless, perfect one, like His own body. What then is the great hope of the Christian, with regard to a new body, but also, with regard to this present “tent?”
Paul writes to the Corinthian church, giving them a beautiful picture of sleep, an awakening, and the sudden bypassing of death, to know the reality of putting off forever the body of sin, to be given a spiritual body, in which we shall be able to know God, “…even as we are known.” He writes of it as being a mystery, something having been hidden, but now revealed. However, even in the revelation, our capacity to grasp the full meaning of such a hope and event, is so very limited. He writes: “We shall not all sleep, but we ALL shall be changed.” (1 Cor. 15:51) There are those who, like Enoch and Elijah, who “…shall not sleep,” or die, and need to be buried. At the “snatching away,” or rapture of the church this will occur. Concerning the “coming of the Lord Jesus,” (2 Thess. 2:1), and being “gathered together unto Him,” the believer will be clothed with a new unblemished, perfect body. For all believers, “…being absent from the body, and present with the Lord,” will result in the putting on of a new body, a spiritual one, enabling one to know, love, and worship God, without sin.
With regard to the present day, the “resurrection power” of Christ by His Spirit, is given to us to KNOW. He “quickens” your mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwells in you.” (Romans 8:11).
Dear Father, Give us to know the present, quickening power of the resurrection in these mortal bodies. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Love, Dad