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The Daily Word of Righteousness
The Resurrection of the Body, #2
For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. (II Corinthians 5:4—NIV)
The resurrection of our mortal body and the clothing of our resurrected body with the body from Heaven bring us to the fullness of eternal life.
We cited previously four aspects of the resurrection from the dead. The first aspect is the development of eternal life in the Christian personality. The second aspect is the putting to death of the deeds of our physical body.
The third aspect is the process of transformation from mortality to immortality. The fourth aspect is our coming forth from the grave.
The fourth aspect is a sovereign act of glorification and Kingdom power. It will occur at the last trumpet. But the first three aspects, the development of eternal life in our personality, putting to death the deeds of our flesh, and the process of transformation from mortality to immortality are not sovereign acts of God in the sense of being independent of our efforts, of being acts that will take place some day according to Divine intervention. Rather, they are being worked out in us now as we cooperate with the Holy Spirit. The attaining of the first three is necessary if we are to arrive at the resurrection to eternal life that will occur at the coming of the Lord.
Eternal life is developed in us as we turn aside from our fleshly lusts and give time to prayer, reading the Scriptures, and serving the Lord in our daily life.
The deeds of our body are put to death as we confess our sins, turn away from them, and resist the devil.
When speaking of the process of transformation from mortality to immortality we are not referring to the making alive of our mortal body at the coming of the Lord. Rather we are speaking of the body of glory that now is in Heaven. It is being fashioned from our response to tribulation. The body we will receive in the Day of the Lord is being formed now by our conduct as Christian believers.
The resurrection to life must be attained now. The marriage takes place at "eventide," not at the midnight hour when the Lord returns (Genesis 24:63; Matthew 25:6). The marriage of the Lamb that will occur at the time of the return of the Lord will be the manifestation of a marriage that has occurred previously (Revelation 19:7). The kind of resurrection we shall experience will not come from grace or faith, except as faith transforms our behavior during our discipleship.
If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection [Greek, out-resurrection] of the dead. (Philippians 3:11)
The first resurrection, the resurrection of the royal priesthood, must be attained. It is attained as we enter today into the power of Christ's resurrection and the fellowship of Christ's sufferings.
There will be a resurrection of the unjust. It will be a resurrection to shame, contempt, and sentencing (Daniel 12:2; John 5:29; Acts 24:15). Paul refers to the resurrection to eternal life as our being "perfect," as the "mark," the goal of the Christian life. We are to be grasping the first three aspects of the resurrection in these days so we will be ready for the change in the body when Jesus appears in the cloud of glory. (from The Land of Promise)