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The Daily Word of Righteousness
Fifty-two Kingdom Concepts, #61
Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. (Romans 8:23—NIV)
The primary goal of redemption is the adoption of our body so it is filled with the Life of God. The Apostle Paul groaned for the adoption of his body so he would be free from the compulsions of sin.
Such groaning is unknown to us today. Rather we are waiting for an unscriptural "rapture," which is not even an act of redemption. The catching up of the saints to meet the Lord at His coming is for the purpose of assembling the army of God. The redemption ceases when we are resurrected or transformed. The catching up is an act of Kingdom power. That it is not an act of redemption is illustrated by the fact that while the types and statements of the Old Testament speak of the resurrection, no type or statement has to do with the catching up of the saints.
Jesus Christ was raised from the dead on the third day, the day of the Jewish feast of Firstfruits. Jesus Christ was caught up into Heaven forty days after His resurrection. To my knowledge there is no symbolic feast celebrated forty days after Firstfruits.
However, fifty days after Firstfruits is the Jewish feast of Pentecost. Following the type, the Holy Spirit fell on the waiting disciples on day of the Jewish feast of Pentecost.
"When the day of Pentecost was fully come..."
The last enemy that shall be destroyed is physical death. This shall take place when the Lord returns. What we will face in that day depends on our behavior today.
Those who are living in total consecration to Jesus will be raised (or transformed) when He returns, and then clothed with the Glory of God. This completes their redemption. Then they shall be caught up to meet the Commander in Chief in the air in preparation for the Battle of Armageddon.
Those believers who are not living in total consecration to Jesus will be judged by the Lord and His saints, as we see in the Book of Jude.
In no case will the lukewarm, pleasure-loving, self-serving Christians of the United States of America be suddenly caught away to Heaven to escape Antichrist and the great tribulation. To teach or believe such a thing is to invite a dreadful future because of our lack of preparation. Such a hope is not scriptural, only a manmade tradition.
Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, (II Corinthians 5:2—NIV)
I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, And so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead. (Philippians 3:10,11—NIV)
To be continued.