Here we see our two bodies in contrast. Our present physical body is liable, as was Paul's, to dissolution. Paul was in danger of his life on many occasions, the most recent instance having occurred "in Asia" (II Corinthians 1:8).

None of us knows when his body may succumb to sickness or to an accident. But we have also a "building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." That house cannot be dissolved. The "weight" of our house from Heaven is created by our "light affliction." Our present body will be glorified by being clothed with the eternal body.

For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from Heaven: (II Corinthians 5:2)

When we state the "weight" of our house from Heaven is created by our "light affliction" we are explaining that our response to our afflictions and tests, as we are brought down to death and raised again by the Life of Jesus, is creating the body from Heaven with which we shall be clothed in the Day of the Lord.

Now—today—we are weaving our eternal robe, our house from Heaven. As we sow, so shall we reap. If we do everything in our power to escape the tests and prisons the Lord would have us endure, we will be clothed with corruption in the Day of the Lord. If we faithfully endure the tests and remain in the prisons assigned by the Lord, we will be clothed with a body of eternal life.

For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. (Galatians 6:8)

The above verse was written to Christians. It applies only to Christians. A non-Christian does not have the choice of sowing to the Spirit.

If a believer continues to live in the flesh he will slay his own resurrection. Today's overemphasis on grace, which is a perversion of the true doctrine of Divine grace, has destroyed the truth of Galatians 6:8. If we would be clothed with a body of glory like the body of the Lord Jesus, then we must come to know the power of His resurrection and we must share His sufferings. Those who do so will attain the first resurrection from the dead. Those who do not will be judged by the Lord.

From Paul's writings we know he was pressing toward the "mark" of being clothed with the house from Heaven. As soon as we move past Pentecost in our Christian experience, the Holy Spirit begins to create in our heart the fervent desire to attain the body of resurrection life.

We always are more than willing to escape this present wilderness, whether by death, by translation, or by any other means. But such a desire is to be expected when one compares the life of bliss that God's creatures enjoy in Paradise with our daily problems in the world. Who wouldn't want to go to Heaven? Yet, there are loved ones in the world, and these ties of love temper our desire to go home to be with the Lord Jesus.

To be continued.