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[0:00] Get rolling here. Welcome. This is our fourth installment in our class featuring the order of salvation.! Completely done is the official name title of this class.

[0:14] ! And the idea is we're reflecting on, particularly in Romans 8, this sequence of how do we get saved? What does it mean to be saved? Where are we headed with salvation? What is the point of all this?

[0:27] So I was thinking about this class in particular since the last installment. We're focusing in on kind of two facets, perseverance and glorification and what those actually mean.

[0:38] And so as I was thinking about this, I was reminded of my time back in high school. When we go to the football games at high school, it's a lot of fun.

[0:49] A lot of fans turn out, but they turn out for different reasons. As you know, you show up to the game. I don't know if you went to high school games back in the day or even currently. You show up and people are there for all different reasons.

[1:01] I mean, some are just there for the food. They're just looking to graze. They'll stand in the lines, eat the nachos, load it up with that fake cheese sauce. You know, others are there.

[1:12] They don't really care about the game. They're just there to find the ladies. You know, they're just kind of circling around, hanging out. They're not really watching the game. And then some are there maybe to scalp tickets and some of your bigger games.

[1:23] They're just outside. They're making a little bit of money on it. And then some are there because it's a social event. It's like there's another thing to go to. They just want to they just want to join with everybody else. Right.

[1:34] But then there's some that are there because they love the team. And they're engaged in the game. They're locked in. They love it.

[1:45] So they those are the fans that they watch as the battle unfolds. Their hearts are knit in. They wear their allegiance on their sleeves.

[1:55] Literally, usually they're wearing the team colors and their hearts soar whenever there's an offensive advance or if there's a big stop on defense.

[2:10] They go crazy. So even even when times are not good and their teams getting smashed down, which the Vols have experienced over the years, even in those times, their hearts stay with the team.

[2:25] They aren't fair weather fans. I guess we can say it that way. Not just when times are good. And then at the end of the game. If and when their team wins, there's this raucous joy, explosion of joy.

[2:40] Right. Everybody's going crazy. I was just thinking about in particular the Tennessee Alabama game a couple of years ago, 2022. Number six, Tennessee kicked a field goal with two seconds on the clock to take down number three, Alabama.

[2:57] So it was this underdog unprecedented victory. The Vols ended up. They broke this 15 game losing streak in this matchup.

[3:07] 15 games consecutively against their rival. And so the tension was finally over. Over. The tension was finally over.

[3:18] There are fireworks. I was watching the YouTube video. The fireworks exploded all around the stadium. And and then the fans just bust through all the barricades.

[3:28] They flood the field in celebration. And this like division between the fans and the team was just dissolved. And everybody runs onto the field and they just explode into this celebration.

[3:41] So the underdog triumphed. And the true fans stayed with their team to the end. And hope gave way to joy. And I think in a lot of ways, this really reflects what we're going to be talking about.

[3:56] Hope giving way to joy. Hope giving way to joy. So we're going to look at these two facets of doctrine, perseverance and glorification.

[4:09] If you have that imagery of hope giving way to joy from the football game, true fans stay with their team to the end. That's the doctrine of perseverance. The true fans stay with their team to the very end.

[4:22] That's the doctrine of perseverance. And then hope giving way to joy. This final dissolving of the boundaries and and unity and explosion of joy for all eternity is the doctrine of glorification.

[4:37] So those are kind of the two big headers that we're going to be looking at. I'm going to move more quickly through perseverance and then get into the glorification. Let me just ask the Lord to bless us as we jump into this.

[4:49] Lord, we thank you. Thank you for your kindness towards us and Jesus Christ. Thank you. You treat us better than our sins deserve. I pray now as we look at this content.

[4:59] It's not just content. This is intended to to give us hope that leads toward joy. So, Lord, even though we're diving into knowledge and we're diving into texts and scriptures or it's intended to affect our hearts and our lives and our actions even now.

[5:15] So, Lord, we we entrust these things to you now. Give us help. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. Amen. So Romans 8, the golden chain, as it's been called.

[5:27] And you've heard that a number of times of just to reiterate the golden chain. This is Romans 8. And you say it's on your paper for those whom he foreknew. He also predestined to be conformed to the image of his son in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.

[5:47] And those whom he predestined, he also called. And those whom he called, he also justified. And those whom he justified, he also glorified.

[5:58] And you can even see in the verses that we just look at, those two verses predestined to be conformed to the image of his son. We've already got this language of being changed, the conformity.

[6:11] So we talked previously in weeks past, especially last week, on the doctrine of sanctification, being more and more changed into the image of Christ.

[6:21] And so verse 30 also says those whom he justified, those who declared righteous, made right in the sight of God, he glorified. And so sanctification from last week that we talked about, this being more and more changed into the likeness of God and the likeness of Christ, that's going to continue until the final stage of glorification.

[6:45] That process just keeps going until the final stage. So our statement of faith that's on your paper for you, it says this. It captured these two concepts. It says believers must persevere in faith and obedience in order to be saved.

[7:00] Yet this perseverance is also a gift of God in Christ who preserves his own and keeps them safe forever.

[7:12] The ultimate goal of sanctification is our full conformity to Christ's image, which will finally come when believers are raised physically with Christ in glory, freed from sin and exulting in the presence of God forever.

[7:31] So we'll look first at this, this idea of perseverance, perseverance. Wayne Grudem, the definition that's on your paper here, give us some insight.

[7:45] He breaks it down this way. He says the perseverance of the saints means that all those who are truly born again will be kept by God's power and will persevere as Christians until the end of their lives.

[7:58] And that only those who persevere until the end have truly been born again. So you might have heard this doctrine sometimes referred to as eternal security or maybe once saved, always saved.

[8:13] Sometimes that that tagline is used over this kind of idea. We see this all over the Bible, especially in texts. I have some of them listed out for you there. John 10, for instance, Jesus is speaking.

[8:26] He says, my sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me. I give them eternal life and they will never perish. This is wonderful news here.

[8:37] And no one will snatch them out of my hand. My father who has given them to me is greater than all and no one is able to snatch them out of the father's hand.

[8:49] Praise the Lord. That's such encouragement to us. Philippians 1 6. And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

[9:02] So here again, this confirmation that that he's not going to drop the ball to use the football metaphor. He's not going to lose anyone that is in his flock. He's going to complete the work that he started.

[9:15] First Peter 1 5. Believers are kept by God's power through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed. And in this way, the salvation ready to be revealed is talking about the end of all things.

[9:29] This final consummate salvation when pain and sufferings wiped away. So all of these scriptures, they are so encouraging. They capture this vision of the Lord's unshakable saving work.

[9:47] That's what it's picturing for us. However, we've got to make sure that we catch this part here. A profession of faith, saying it with your mouth, A profession of faith must not be divorced from preserving faith.

[10:03] Excuse me, persevering faith. Those words, dyslexia. Persevering faith. We've got to make sure those two things don't get divorced. And here's what I mean. There could be people at the stadium.

[10:14] Back to the metaphor of the football. There could be people at the stadium for all sorts of different reasons. Like we talked about at the beginning. Some are just there for the food. Some are just there for the ladies.

[10:26] Some are there to scout the tickets and make a little bit of a profit. And some are there for the social event. And some, some are there because they love the team. They are engaged in the game.

[10:37] Their hearts are knit in. Right? So just because a person puts on an orange jersey doesn't necessarily mean they are truly a Vols fan.

[10:49] Amen? Isn't that true? Just because they put on the jersey doesn't, it's an outward display, but it doesn't necessarily reveal the truth of their fandom. If we can say it that way.

[11:00] It could mean that, but it doesn't necessarily mean that. So they could just be a fair weather fan. They could just be there because times are good. Or scalping the tickets is good.

[11:10] Or the nachos are good. We can't know their hearts. Right? Just from the outward. But we can see some evidence of their allegiance by how they act.

[11:21] Right? Especially, especially in hard moments. Do they bail? Or do they believe? Are they sticking with the team?

[11:31] Do they remain committed to their team in the midst of conflict and uncertainty? The true fans, they're going to stay the course all the way to the end.

[11:43] Not perfectly, but truly. We can say it like that. They don't become true fans by staying the course, but staying the course reveals the truthfulness of their fandom.

[11:57] Are y'all tracking with what I'm saying? Does that make sense? So in a similar way, a person may have a profession of faith. They might put the jersey on, but this does not necessarily mean he is a true believer, like a true fan.

[12:11] Has he been converted? That's the question of the heart. Has he been changed? Has his heart been changed? Has his allegiance changed from loving this world to loving the Lord and having him as his king.

[12:24] A true believer, like a true fan, will display evidence of faith over time. It's going to come out in these outward expressions, though not perfectly. It will express itself outwardly, especially in the face of suffering and trials.

[12:39] Those times particularly reveal persevering faith. So the true believer will persevere all the way to the end. All the way to the end. So they don't become a real believer by staying the course.

[12:53] That's not how you become a Christian. But staying the course reveals the reality of their belief. So Hebrews 3, 14, on your paper there, it says, For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end.

[13:11] So how do we know if we have come to share in Christ? How do we know if this being joined to Christ happened to us at some point in the past?

[13:24] So one way which we know that we've come to genuine faith in Christ is if we continue in faith until the end of our lives. That's one of the signs, one of the things that Hebrews is just outlining for us.

[13:36] So those who do not continue, those who do not continue in the faith show that there was no genuine faith, transforming faith in their hearts in the first place.

[13:47] So this is what John, the Apostle John, and church father in the early church, this is what he's trying to help his congregation with in the letter of 1 John.

[13:57] They're experiencing defection. They're experiencing people that used to run with them now are not running with them anymore. They're running into the world and they're saying, what happened? Is that going to happen to me?

[14:09] Could that happen to me? And so John is trying to help his congregation, his flock, his little children as he lovingly calls them. 1 John 2.19 He says, they went out from us, but they were not of us.

[14:28] For if they had been of us, they would have continued with us, but they went out that it might become plain. They all are not of us.

[14:41] You see what he's saying? Saying their perseverance, their continuing is revealing where their hearts really are from the very beginning, that they weren't really part of them from the very beginning.

[14:54] That's what he's saying. They had the semblance of being with them, but they were not of them. So this is part of the doctrine of perseverance. So I know the question might come, you know, is it up to us then?

[15:07] Is it up to us to prove that we're genuine believers by persevering? Do I need to like pull myself up on my own bootstraps, make sure I'm bearing enough fruit to pass the litmus test?

[15:18] Well, the word perseverance, this quote here is helpful from Danny Myers. The word perseverance might be somewhat confusing because it could seem to communicate that God has just started something and now it's your turn.

[15:33] You must persevere. But the biblical teaching, however, is that God has done something, God is doing something, and God will do something. The God who starts is the God who finishes.

[15:47] That's strong encouragement. It helps us make sense of these verses along with the previous verses that no one can snatch him from his hand. No one. He's strong. He's stronger than anyone.

[15:59] That's why the scripture is such an encouragement. Philippians 1.6 says, and I'm sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

[16:11] Wonderful encouragement. So the comfort that we get from reading a Philippians 1 or a Romans 8, it would be ruined apart from the promise of eternal perseverance.

[16:23] So if there's a chance that Christians might not totally and finally be saved, if there was a chance for them to fall away, then we would need to adjust our claims in these verses.

[16:35] So one author put it this way, Jesus would have had to say, no one will snatch them out of my hand, although they might snatch themselves out of my hand by a failure to persevere.

[16:46] He doesn't say it like that though. Or imagine Paul saying, nothing in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus, our Lord, except for your own weakness.

[16:59] He doesn't qualify it that way because that's not what's at stake. Those who are truly converted, those who are truly believers will persevere. He will make sure of it.

[17:10] He's going to guide you to the end. So the God of these scriptures, he gives us real hope not to live in anxiety and wondering and fear, but to bolster our confidence in the journey ahead.

[17:23] So between justification and glorification, the Lord is committed. He is committed to changing you and changing me. Second Corinthians 3 says it.

[17:35] And we all with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

[17:52] So while we're alive, we are journeying through this life. The Lord is committed to incrementally changing us little by little. I like the way that R.C. Sproul describes perseverance.

[18:07] He says, I think I have this on your paper. I prefer the term the preservation of the saints because the process by which we are kept in a state of grace is something that is accomplished by God.

[18:21] My confidence in my preservation is not in my ability to persevere. My confidence rests in the power of Christ to sustain me with his grace and by the power of his intercession, he is going to bring us safely home.

[18:36] I love the imagery of Psalm 23. Jesus associates himself with this strong shepherd. It's the same shepherd as Psalm 23 in the Old Testament that walks with his people through the shadow of the valley of shadow of the death.

[18:53] He's walking with them in the scariest moments of life, the places where you may be disoriented and seemingly straying off the path. And it says, his rod and his staff, they comfort me.

[19:05] And it's this picture of, hey, if you're straying, you're one of my sheep, I'm going to hook you and bring you back with my rod. So it's not perfect obedience, but it's obedience in alignment with the Lord Jesus.

[19:18] And he's receiving his discipline, it's receiving his correction and realigning our lives. This is the perseverance. We're walking with him and we're walking with him somewhere. His sheep are walking with him, trusting him and walking with him somewhere.

[19:31] Where are we headed? This is where the doctrine of glorification comes into view. So that's perseverance of the saints. Let's look for a minute at glorification.

[19:42] Glorification. Where are we headed? Revelation 21. It's Abe. It's like, what is that thundering sound? It's Abe.

[19:54] Revelation 21 shows us a picture of where we are going. It says, Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away and the sea was no more.

[20:09] And I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride, adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man.

[20:26] He will dwell with them and they will be his people. And God himself will be with them as their God. So what we see in this final vision from John is the great reversal.

[20:42] It's the great reversal of all that came undone in the fall in Genesis 3. Adam and Eve did not just lose the garden. They lost God in that act.

[20:54] Their unhindered relational access was compromised in Genesis 3. You see, sin in Genesis 3 created this impassable canyon like the Grand Canyon as far as the east is from the west between man and his creator.

[21:16] Holiness could not be in proximity with unholiness. Perfection could not be in proximity with imperfection. Light could not be in the presence of darkness because the light would consume the darkness and swallow it up.

[21:33] But Revelation, this text that we're looking forward to, it pictures this restoration. And in particular, supreme relational restoration and joy.

[21:46] That's what's pictured here. We all love the moment at a wedding when the doors open up for the procession of the bride.

[21:57] Everybody stands up. The groom is at the front. There's this climactic, joyful anticipation of her walking down that aisle. And you, I love looking at the groom.

[22:09] You look over his ears, you know, his smile is ear to ear. And all the waiting, you just imagine all the waiting, all the years apart that they've spent their whole lives.

[22:20] Now, they're about to be united in a new life brimming with joyful intimacy. And that picture, that picture of that processional is supposed to be a shadow that points to this future hope.

[22:38] That language is right there. It's in there. New Jerusalem descending like a bride. So, so how does a person in this sin-riddled world move from here to that vision, to that intimacy, that relational connection?

[23:02] Well, as creatures marred by sin, we are separated from our glorious God in two ways. And this is on your paper here. Two very important ways.

[23:13] First, we are separated because of the effects of our sin. And second, we are separated because we are creatures and not the creator. And so, when we're talking about glorification, and I'm aiming this specifically at believers.

[23:29] Unbelievers is a different conversation. So, initially, what it takes to become a believer is to profess that you cannot save yourself from your sin.

[23:42] Confess with your mouth, I cannot save myself. I am wrong. I cannot save myself from my sin. I have rebelled against God, the Most High Maker of heaven and earth. And you cry out to Him and say, I need you to save me, and He will save you through Jesus Christ.

[23:59] The gospel is, He died and was raised again to new life for you, to give you hope of a resurrection, to give you hope not only in this life, but in the life to come. So all who call out to Him can be saved.

[24:11] So that's just initial conversion, is to call out to this glorious God. Now what we're looking at is in glorification, where are we headed? Where is this new heavens and new earth?

[24:21] How do we get to this place? The two barriers here are these two barriers. We're separated by the effects of our sin, and we're separated because we are creatures and not the Creator. So the first part of glorification, it requires dying to our sin in this life, and our eventual death in our earthly body.

[24:44] Both deaths have to occur. And then the second part of our glorification is being raised to new life and a new body with Christ in the new heavens and the new earth.

[24:57] God So our statement of faith, just to refresh you, it lays it out this way, the ultimate goal of sanctification is our full conformity to Christ's image, which will finally come when believers are raised physically with Christ in glory, freed from sin, there's that language, freed from sin, and exulting in the presence, to say a big mansion, golden streets, is that the accent?

[25:28] No, the accent is the presence of God relationally forever, forever. And so we're going to look at these barriers and what it means for the Christian to come over these barriers by the grace of God into glorification.

[25:42] So the first barrier is this barrier of sin and the body. So you have to die, you have to die to sin, death to sin, Romans 6 11. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God and Jesus Christ.

[25:59] So that's the initial conversion that we were just talking about a second ago. We're dead to our old ways, we're dead, Taylor's dead, the old Taylor is dead, he doesn't live for himself anymore, I have a new king, I have a new team that I'm running for, I'm cheering for, I'm locked into what he's doing, I want to be about celebrating what he celebrates and hating what he hates.

[26:20] We have to be dead to our old selves and alive to Jesus Christ. That's the first thing, that's Romans 6. But then there's this death to the body. Romans 8 tells us there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

[26:37] So if that's true, if there's no more condemnation, then why do we still die? It's apparent from Scripture that for those who are in Christ, death is no longer a punishment for sins.

[26:58] So we can't view it that way. There's no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. So for the believer, it's different. Death is different for the believer. Paul, in fact, talks about death, not in terms of fear and punishment, but in terms of deliverance.

[27:14] Look at the text here, Philippians 1. This is imprisoned Paul writing to believers from the prison cell. He says, for to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain, not loss, gain.

[27:33] If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose, I cannot tell I am hard pressed between the two. Life and death is what he's talking about. My desire is to depart, die, and be with Christ, for that is far better.

[27:52] You see, he's talking about it in terms of freedom, of liberation, not punishment and fear. Death of the body. So what happens when a believer dies?

[28:03] What happens to us? What happens in that moment? Well, when a believer dies, the body is left behind, while his spirit is immediately united with the Lord.

[28:19] We see this like 2 Corinthians 5. Yes, we are of good courage. We're bold. We're courageous. Why? We would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.

[28:32] So there's this separation of body and soul and the soul goes immediately at death, physical death, to be united with the Lord. Luke, from the cross, Jesus is saying, truly I say to you, to the thief on the cross next to him, truly I say to you, today, today, you will be with me in paradise.

[28:53] His body is still hanging on the tree though, both of them. but today they will be united somehow, apart from their bodies immediately, in intimacy and relationship based on belief.

[29:07] Okay, so we can think of death for the believer not as a dead end, not as punishment, but as an on-ramp. Think of it as an on-ramp.

[29:18] Not a dead end, but as an on-ramp for glorification, where we await, our souls await, in the presence of the Lord, a physical resurrection and final judgment.

[29:31] That's what we're waiting for. So, floating up in la-la land with harps is not the vision, ultimately, of the Bible. We're to be reunited with our bodies at the end of all time, new bodies, so that we can physically, an embodied soul, dwell in the presence of the Lord, forever.

[29:51] That's what this is aimed at. So, if you have your Bibles, I'd encourage you to scroll or open up to 1 Corinthians 15. 1 Corinthians 15. We have a lot of help from Paul here on this question of death and the body, what's going to happen, the resurrection when Christ returns.

[30:12] 1 Corinthians 15. We're going to start by looking at verse 16. it says, for if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised.

[30:26] They're talking about a physical resurrection, right, of Christ's body from death to life. If the dead are not raised, then even Christ has not been raised.

[30:39] He's making the argument our whole faith revolves around Jesus being raised from the dead physically. the tomb was empty. Empty of what? A soul? No, a body too. A body and a soul combined.

[30:51] He has been raised. This is the resurrection. If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile. It means it's meaningless. Your faith, if he hasn't been raised, your faith is absolutely meaningless.

[31:03] And you are still in your sins. You see, he's capturing both of those things we've already pointed out. He's capturing a death to sin and a death to body. Both of those things being overcome in the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

[31:16] He's having victory for us in both of those areas. Sinlessness and a resurrected body ready to be in the presence of the Lord forever. That's what he's pointing to. That's the future hope.

[31:27] He's saying our hope is anchored to that hope right there. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. He's saying apart from that hope, man, there's no hope for anybody.

[31:40] People already died. People are already asleep. believers are already asleep. They have no hope. If that's not true, that's what he's saying. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.

[31:54] need. So this isn't like a fire insurance thing that you just like kind of get the plan policy just in case things go sideways in this world.

[32:05] It's not just saying like, okay, I just got to make sure my bases are covered so I can do me in this life so I can have no fear of hell interrupting It's not what this is saying everything is bound up in this glorious hope of Jesus Christ being raised from the dead.

[32:20] but in fact if christ has not been raised has been raised from the dead the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep first fruits is this uh this language of of tithe that they take the best of the best the first fruits from their garden the best of the harvest and they bring that before the lord it's the first offering to show this is this is what i want to bring to you and thanksgiving it's it's describing jesus's resurrection from the dead as the first fruits he's the he's the number one he's the cream of the crop and he's the first that paves the way for all the rest that will come after him all the other believers he's showing what happened to me is going to happen to you too a resurrection a physical resurrection to new life not just spiritual but physical as well for as in in adam all die so also in christ shall all be made alive okay if you if you skip down verse 23 but each in his own order christ the first fruits right first then at his coming at his coming when is his coming you don't have to give me a date and time or anything what is it talking about though what's his coming what coming is it referring to yeah he's coming back i'm not gonna we're not gonna try to get out the maps and everything right now we're not gonna try to do all that all we need to know ultimately is that he's coming back he guaranteed that and our our our main thing is to work while we wait just be ready just keep trusting in him he's gonna come back for his own and so that's what at the end when the end comes he delivers the kingdom to god the father after destroying every rule and every authority and every power he's gonna set all things right he's gonna lay the smack down once and for all on all injustice that's what he's gonna come to do that's the second coming he's coming he's delaying that right now he's coming for he must reign until he has put all enemies under his feet and the last enemy to be destroyed is what says the last enemy to be destroyed is death he's gonna swallow up death we we see this throughout scripture again and again it's been prophesied that this messiah is going to come to complete this isaiah 25 i think it's on your paper it alludes to his coming he will swallow up death forever so that's that's old testament prophecies and it goes all the way into the new testament to the very last book when john's looking forward to this the return of christ then death and hades were thrown into the lake of fire revelation 21 he will wipe away every tear from their eyes and death shall be no more so that's what we're looking ahead to the second second coming of jesus christ is the the consummation of all things if you look down in verse 35 first corinthians 35 he hits he hits the question i know the question what what what are we gonna look like what's it gonna look like what are the bodies gonna look like well paul anticipated this i didn't have to anticipate it paul did it for us he says but someone will ask how are the dead raised with what kind of body do they come he says you foolish person what you sow does not come to life unless it dies what you sow is not the body that is to be so when you die this body is not what's going to be raised up it's not going to be the same exactly and he makes this comparison to a kernel a bear kernel perhaps of wheat or some other grain when you put that thing in the ground it comes up it doesn't look anything like what you put in the ground

[36:22] does it you're like are those even the two same things and the lord uses that imagery he put that into our world as a signpost to point to what our bodies will do at death you have to be buried in order to be raised to new life and a resurrection body what is in verse 42 so it so is it with the resurrection of the dead what is sown is perishable this body could decay it falls apart we are already experiencing that more and more as the days go on what is sown is perishable but what is raised is imperishable so somehow not subject to decay not subject to the the woes of pain in this world it's not the same in that way it is sown in dishonor and is raised in glory it is sown in weakness and is raised in power not to be god not to be ultimate but different than our earthly bodies it's sown a natural body it's raised a spiritual body if there is a natural body there's also a spiritual body so once we get our spiritual bodies they'll be totally transformed i was just thinking about even in this world we experienced this like massive massive changes like reproduction as a little kid i didn't i was like you didn't have any kind of concept for that at all but then later on it becomes a very dominant concept in the life of people uh and the capacity to do that right uh that's a massive transition even in this earthly body so how much more for a an earthly body to be transformed into a spiritual body is supposed to be signposts that help us understand this they're going to be totally transformed like when jesus went up to heaven we'll leave behind everything from our current physical lives and move to a higher level that can withstand the heavenly realm it can withstand withstand the presence of holy god can withstand eternity so remember when jesus said there wouldn't be marriage in the resurrection he takes on the the the uh the banter of some of these religious leaders they're trying to bring them down whose wife is this this lady gonna be got all these all these remarriages so what's gonna happen and he says there's not gonna be marriage in heaven there's not gonna be marriage in the new heavens and earth and so he's pointing to that means our current human wants our current human needs they won't be a thing anymore all of our wants and needs will be totally satisfied in a way maybe even physically we won't even need stuff like that we won't have these kind of conversations there's not even going to be marriage in the same way and plus the the promise remains that all all earthly pain all earthly suffering will be gone so it sounds like our new spiritual bodies won't be affected by any of the troubles that we deal with now is the implication so this glorified state that we're headed towards is not a return to eden it's not a return to genesis 2 because the conditions that allow for the temptation the fall of adam and eve those things will no longer exist it's not just a return to eden it's it's a consummation it's a fulfillment it's a trajectory that goes to a new world where sin and temptation won't even be a thing so we don't have to have fear of oh man are we just going to do this all over again if we're gonna have another fall and just go all the way back around again it's intended to give us a sense of assurance and security in the presence of god forever finally i want to i want to conclude with this section here on on a future hope a future hope colossians 3 says if if then you have been raised with christ seek the things that are above where christ is

[40:27] seated at the right hand of god set your minds on things that are above not on things that are on earth for you have died and your life is hidden with christ in god when christ who is your life appears then you also will appear with him in glory so again an illusion a signpost pointing forward to the return of christ the making right of all things when christ who is your life appears then you also will appear with him in glory so it's it's it's drawing our gaze toward that future hope you know the reality is for each of us our view of the future shapes our life today every one of us our view of the future what things dominate our attention our minds our hopes our hopes our view of the future shapes what we do today what we think about today what we get excited about today our future hope is like a magnet that draws us into present action now we're moving towards it with vigor with zeal and here he is calling us to put our our hope our attention our vigor our zeal and the return of jesus christ when all things will be set right this this this future hope is what he's drawing us to he's saying look at this look at this live for this let your hope be set on this but i i tell you it's hard to imagine isn't it i mean for me it is difficult to set my hope on something that just it's so it's seemingly so far out so distant in some ways so abstract many many christians have nebulous ideas about heaven being that place where the chubby angels rock out on their hearts or or maybe it's just in our minds it's like a place where it's just a big family reunion with all the people that we miss in this world or people think man i'm going to be stuck singing the same song for all eternity and it sounds terrible it sounds more like hell than heaven to some people are like i don't want to do that and so we have to wrap our minds around what's an appropriate way to even think about this will heaven be boring is it even worth setting our hope on because there's so many other things that vie for our attention here and now it can it can seem so abstract and for many it's easier to set our hopes and our plans in this world because we're in it i mean we're we're flesh and bone and we're in this world right now and we have some semblance of how to function right here and right now so it can be easier to set our hopes here and now but every junkyard in every graveyard you pass it bears witness that this world cannot bear the weight of our hopes because there's there's this hunger pang in our soul always longing for more always and it cannot be satisfied in the here and now in his book remember heaven meditations on the world to come for life in the meantime author matthew mccullough helps us see the importance of hope he says hope matters we can't live without it but what we hope in matters even more we need a hope strong enough to bear the weight of our lives in the meantime and that's precisely what we have in the hope of heaven and his book i would recommend it these are the chapters generally outlining in his book he tells us the importance of setting our hope in this ultimate reality in the following ways he says because we are bound for fullness of joy we can persevere through the dissatisfactions of this life because we are bound for spotless righteousness

[44:30] we can persevere through our feelings of inadequacy in this life because we are bound for perfect holiness we can persevere through our battle with sin in this life because we're bound for untouchable security we can persevere through the anxieties of this life because we're bound for no more pain we can persevere through suffering in this life because we're bound for endless love we can persevere through our relational grief in this life and because we are bound for home together we can persevere in our mission in the church in this life i i listened to a sermon a number of years ago a guy named sam storms and he really captivated my attention with uh his depiction of of this glorification this moment when all things are made right i want to read just an excerpt from from that sermon and hopefully it'll encourage you as we get ready to close god made us alive together with christ and raise us up with him so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in his kindness toward us in christ jesus if you've ever wondered what god is going to do in heaven here it is listen to this we will constantly be more amazed with god more in love with god and thus ever more relishing his presence in our relationship with him when we get to heaven there will be nothing that is abrasive irritating agitating or hurtful nothing harmful hateful upsetting or unkind nothing sad bad or mad nothing harsh impatient ungrateful or unworthy nothing weak or sick or broken or foolish nothing deformed degenerate depraved or disgusting nothing polluted pathetic poor or putrid nothing dark dismal dismaying or degrading nothing blameworthy blemished blasphemous or blighted nothing faulty faithless frail or fading nothing grotesque or grievous hideous or insidious nothing illicit or illegal lascivious or lustful nothing marred or mutilated misaligned or misinformed nothing nasty or naughty offensive or odious nothing rancid or rude soiled or spoiled nothing tawdry or tainted tasteless or tempting nothing vile or vicious wasteful or wanton wherever you turn your eyes you will see nothing but glory and grandeur and beauty and brightness and purity and perfection and splendor and satisfaction and sweetness and salvation and majesty and marvel and holiness and happiness we will only see that which is adorable and affectionate beautiful and bright brilliant and bountiful delightful and delicious sweet and savoring tender and tasteful euphoric and unified why will these things be because we will be looking at god this vision will be utterly transparent now we see in a mirror dimly obscured and blurry but god will one day unveil himself in all his resplendent brilliance glory and clarity for us to behold there will be no bodily lust to pull you down no physical fatigue to cloud your mind no wicked impulses against which you must fight no dullness of heart to hold you back no lethargy of soul to slow you down no weakness of will to keep you in bondage no lack of energy to love someone else no absence of passion to pursue what is holy in so far as our bodies will be glorified in heaven and thus delivered of weakness and frailty and obscurity and our senses all heightened and magnified in their capacity to see touch feel hear and smell greatly increased and no longer hindered by disease or distraction our experience will be indescribably joyful

[48:31]  finally you need never live in fear that any heavenly joy will ever be lost or shaken or taken away we struggle in this life now because of fear that it will end soon we hesitate to savor what little happiness we have for fear that it may be taken away we hold back and we hedge our bets and we restrain our souls knowing that disaster may soon come economic recession may begin physical health may deteriorate someone may die or something unforeseen may surprise us and take it all away but not in heaven never the beauty and the joy and the glory and delight and satisfaction and purity will never end but only increase and grow and expand and multiply and all this for hell deserving sinners so at the end in heaven the fans the true fans will flood the field united in victory and joyful celebration it's it's only a foretaste of what is to come for those who trust in christ and persevere by his strengths the end because the end is only the beginning of infinite joy and eternal satisfaction so then we pray come lord jesus amen thank you guys for being here