This thinking (that our goal is residence in the spirit realm) must come from Satan. Satan regards the material realm as his own possession—even our physical body. Satan desires that we forget about the conduct of our body and concentrate on leaving the earth and remaining in the spirit realm. Satan wants the earth to himself.

But the earth and its nations are the inheritance of Christ and His coheirs. Our land of promise includes life on the earth in an incorruptible body. So it is only reasonable that Satan would work to change our goal from overcoming sin to leaving the earth and living forever in the spirit realm.

Does this make sense to you?

This is why we seldom hear Christians talking about groaning inwardly as they wait eagerly for their adoption as sons, the redemption of their bodies. In fact, the fundamental doctrine of the resurrection of the human body has been removed from Christian thinking along with the doctrine of the coming to the earth of the Kingdom of God. These two doctrines are terribly threatening to Satan and so they have been removed from our thinking.

Today God is restoring to us the original doctrines of the resurrection of the body and the coming of the Kingdom of God to the earth.

Paul talks about hope, how we are saved by hope

For in this hope we were saved. But hope is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? (Romans 8:24—NIV)

We are saved in the hope of the making alive of the mortal body. Why and how are we saved in this hope? We are saved in the hope that one day, if we continue to patiently sow to the Spirit of God, the Lord will return and validate our salvation with the desired change in our body.

But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. (Romans 8:25—NIV)

All the promises of God are fulfilled in the same manner.

We have to know what God has promised. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.

We have to choose to believe what God has promised.

We have to wait patiently for the promise to be fulfilled no matter how long it takes.

We are saved by patiently hoping and waiting for the fulfillment.

Faith is the assurance of things hoped for. The righteous live by patiently hoping and waiting for the fulfillment of God's promises, in the meanwhile obeying the many commandments given by Jesus Christ and His Apostles.

The redemption of our body will take place in the twinkling of an eye, Paul tells us. But the redemption of our inward nature must occur in advance. One cannot pursue a fleshly, self-willed life and then be changed into incorruptibility at the last minute.

In a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. (I Corinthians 15:52,53—NIV)

To be continued.