Category: Columns
Our Once and Future Glory
This is another in a series of excerpts from What Every Christian Should Know About the Return of Jesus, released by High Street Press and available at Amazon.com.
The Bible speaks of at least four phases of glory for Christians: glory now, glory in death, glory in resurrection, and glory in the restoration of the cosmos. We explore the first two in this column, and the final two in future columns.
Glory now
It’s our Christian duty to glorify God. As we honor the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit for their divine attributes and redemptive work, we replicate God’s glory in our thoughts, words, and deeds.
This requires more than mere reflection. Consider how the moon, which generates no light, reflects the brilliance of the sun. In a similar way, all of God’s creation declares his glory, including his eternal power and divine nature (Ps. 19:1; Rom. 1:20).
But followers of Jesus have something more: the Shekinah glory residing in our human spirits; thus, we radiate God’s eternal light from within. This should lead us to shine in such a way that others see our good works and give glory to our Father in heaven (Matt. 5:16).
Continue reading
The Glorification of the Saints
This is another in a series of excerpts from What Every Christian Should Know About the Return of Jesus, released by High Street Press and available at Amazon.com.
Memphis Belle is one of the most celebrated aircraft of World War II. Named after the girlfriend of chief pilot Robert Morgan, the lumbering B-17F Flying Fortress carried the first U.S. crew to complete twenty-five combat missions over Europe before returning to America.
Based in England, Belle coursed through flak-filled skies over France and Germany in 1942-43. The 10-man crew battled Nazi fighter planes and delivered its payload before returning to base through the same menacing skies. The crew’s survival through more than two dozen missions was rare indeed. The Army Air Forces lost 30,000 airmen in battles against Nazi Germany. During the heaviest fighting, U.S. bomber-crew airmen had a one-in-four chance of survival.
For a time after the war, however, Memphis Belle sat outdoors, neglected, until an ambitious restoration project began, requiring more than 100 workers and thousands of hours to scrape paint, bend metal, and fabricate parts. In 2018, on the 75th anniversary of Belle’s historic 25th mission, the fully restored legend was reintroduced to the public at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio.
Continue reading
Everyone’s Day of Reckoning
This is the 22nd in a series of excerpts from What Every Christian Should Know About the Return of Jesus, released by High Street Press and available at Amazon.com.
One day, every person is resurrected and summoned before Christ in final judgment. While salvation is a gift of God, received by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, our lifestyles reflect our beliefs. That is, our words and deeds reveal our citizenship, either in the kingdom of God or in the domain of the evil one.
Put another way, our works count for something. Heaven is not the same for every believer, nor do all those who reject Christ experience hell identically. Our final, personal, individual judgment before Christ is his way, as the righteous judge, of setting things right for eternity.
Our short stay on earth is a dress rehearsal for life beyond the grave. One day, we all stand before Jesus to give an account of what we did with the gospel, as well as our time, talents, opportunities, and other gifts God has entrusted to us. This results in varying degrees of reward for believers, and varying degrees of punishment for unbelievers.
Continue reading
The Unbeliever’s Resurrection
This is the 22nd in a series of excerpts from What Every Christian Should Know About the Return of Jesus, released by High Street Press and available at Amazon.com.
There’s less in Scripture about the resurrection of the wicked than there is about the glorification of the just. Nevertheless, the Bible gives us enough information to know that those who reject Christ are physically resurrected one day and separated forever from God.
Daniel gives us the clearest Old Testament glimpse of the resurrection of the wicked, and their everlasting destiny: “Many who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake, some to eternal life, and some to disgrace and eternal contempt” (Dan. 12:2). Job and Isaiah also offer insights into future resurrection (Job 19:25-27; Isa. 26:19).
In the New Testament, Jesus tells us a day of reckoning is coming for all people, an event that begins with resurrection (John 5:28-29). The New Testament writers confirm final judgment of the wicked in numerous places, a judgment that presupposes resurrection.
It is reasonable, but by no means certain, to conclude that the wicked of all ages are the last to be resurrected, depending on how one interprets Revelation 20. John writes, “The rest of the dead did not come to life until the 1,000 years were completed” (Rev. 20:5). These dead, great and small, stand before a great white throne and are judged according to their works (Rev. 20:11-13).
Continue reading
The Believer’s Resurrection
This is the 21st in a series of excerpts from What Every Christian Should Know About the Return of Jesus, released by High Street Press and available at Amazon.com.
It’s comforting to keep in mind that when Christ died, he redeemed our bodies, souls, and spirits. Our salvation doesn’t stop with the forgiveness of sins, the declaration of our right standing with God in Christ, and the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit, although these are unfathomable gifts of grace.
Rather, the redemptive work of Christ finds its ultimate fulfillment in future resurrection and glorification, when the effects of sin are completely removed, and believers are fully conformed to the image of Christ.
Equally comforting is the Lord’s promise that neither death nor hades threatens his children again. John, who hears Christ assure him that Jesus holds the keys of death and hades, later bears witness to the fact that these enemies are thrown into the lake of fire (Rev. 20:14).
In our glorified bodies, we no longer sin, nor are we drawn to rebellion against God. As a resulting benefit, we have no reason to fear death, for it is but a distant memory God banishes from the realm of possibility.
Continue reading
OnceDelivered.net 