The Resurrection to Immortality

For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. 1 Thessalonians 4:14.
To the believer, Christ is the resurrection and the life. In our Saviour the life that was lost through sin is restored; for He has life in Himself to quicken whom He will. He is invested with the right to give immortality. The life that He laid down in humanity, He takes up again, and gives to humanity.
When Christ comes to gather to Himself those who have been faithful, the last trump will sound, and the whole earth, from the summits of the loftiest mountains to the lowest recesses of the deepest mines, will hear. The righteous dead will hear the sound of the last trump, and will come forth from their graves.
All come forth from their graves the same in stature as when they entered the tomb. Adam, who stands among the risen throng, is of lofty height and majestic form, in stature but little below the Son of God. He presents a marked contrast to the people of later generations; in this one respect is shown the great degeneracy of the race. But all arise with the freshness and vigor of eternal youth…. The mortal, corruptible form, devoid of comeliness, once polluted with sin, becomes perfect, beautiful, and immortal…. Restored to the tree of life in the long-lost Eden, the redeemed will “grow up” to the full stature of the race in its primeval glory….
The living righteous are changed “in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye.” 1 Corinthians 15:52. At the voice of God they were glorified; now they are made immortal, and with the risen saints are caught up to meet their Lord in the air…. Little children are borne by holy angels to their mothers’ arms. Friends long separated by death are united, nevermore to part, and with songs of gladness ascend together to the city of God.
All the precious dead, from righteous Abel to the last saint that dies, shall awake to glorious, immortal life.
The Faith I Live By p. 183
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Prayer Requests
—-Please pray for those on my mom’s side of the family as well as my mom. Huntington’s disease runs on that side. It’s a very devastating disease and affects everyone in my immediate and extended family in one way or another. Eunice
—-Friend has coded in the hospital. Her disease is attacking her lung muscles. Prayers for her, her doctors, and those who love her. Jarita
—-I am asking for Prayers for my niece Dionne. She gave birth to a baby last night, but she has fallen into difficulties. The bleeding will not stop….she was taken into surgery last night and to the ICU.. Cherylann
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Dear Friends
I told this for children’s story a few weeks ago, so I thought I would share it with you today.
One warm, sunny day, we went with Ron’s family to swim at a park at Baden Lake. It was a pleasant place. We laid down our blanket under a large tree, to get some shade. I stayed there with Esther Marie, who was barely a toddler at the time, and gave Ronnie Jay, who was not much older, careful instructions on the dangers of going out over his head when he couldn’t swim. He promised that he would stay at the water’s edge. We gave him a plastic float to play with and he joyfully ran to play in the warm water. Ron and his family walked out on a raised, but submerged pathway to an old piling. They enjoyed diving from that cement piling that was reminiscent of some long ago bridge.
As Ronnie Jay played in the shallow water, he held on tightly to his little plastic float. He became more and more confident and began getting farther and farther from the shoreline. I called to him and he came back…..for a while. Then, while I was busy with Esther Marie, he saw his chance to explore. He had seen his father and the others diving and splashing and having a fun time. He didn’t think that it was a bit fair that he was stuck at the water’s edge. Gripping his float, he waded out into the water at the very spot where he had seen Ron go.
For a few yards, all was well. Suddenly Ronnie Jay stepped off from the submerged walkway. Down he went. The water was way over his head. He didn’t struggle: he just disappeared. About that time, I looked up. No Ronnie Jay! Scanning the water frantically, I spied his float, but he was nowhere to be seen. No, there he was! I could see one little hand still gripping that float tightly.
I shouted for Ron and headed toward the water. Ron got to him before I could and before long, our son was back on dry ground. Never again did Ronnie Jay try to go out into deep water. From that moment, he was content to play at the water’s edge. In fact, even though today he is an adult, he still does not enjoy the water although he can swim.
Many times we have an experience as did Ronnie Jay: we find ourselves submerged in our sins. We feel as did David when he said, “For mine iniquities are gone over mine head: as an heavy burden they are too heavy for me.” “My heart is sore pained within me: and the terrors of death are fallen upon me. Fearfulness and trembling are come upon me, and horror hath overwhelmed me.” Ps 38:4; 55:5 We can feel the spiritual life fading from us, yet, we cannot rise above the waters of sin. How much we need a Saviour! How much we long to be lifted up above the overwhelming flood.
Praise God, He has provided the way of escape! “Behold, for peace I had great bitterness: but thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption: for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back.” Isa 38:17 Our Great Creator could not enjoy the glories of Heaven, while we were ensnared in the devil’s traps. He left His Glorious Kingdom and came to this sinful planet “to seek and to save that which was lost.” Luke 19:10 “God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” John 3:16-18
How foolish it would have been if Ronnie Jay had told his
father that he was happy drowning under the water and did not want to be rescued. So it is when we turn from our Only Helper to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. Our Loving Redeemer suffered untold agony that we might be saved. He pleads with us, “As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die?” Eze 33:11
Let us be filled with love and gratitude for His great
sacrifice. “Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering” and turn away from sin. Heb 10:23 Let us share the good news of salvation with those around us, that they, too, may be rescued from the engulfing waters that surround them
Rose