Ensign: the resurrection of the body
All ye inhabitants of the world, and dwellers on the earth, see ye, when he lifteth up an ensign on the mountains; and when he bloweth a trumpet, hear ye. Isaiah 18:3
AN ENSIGN ON THE MOUNTAINS 24 September 2017
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
We're coming into the home stretch!
In our review of the third article of the Apostles' Creed (which has been sporadic on my part, for various reasons -- I promise to get back to a regular schedule with these posts), when we come to the resurrection we come to some confusion. Especially with THE Resurrection of Jesus Christ, but I digress. Not because we don't know that resurrection means restoring life to what once was dead, but because it's hard to imagine. That. Happening. To. Us.
"Luminous beings are we -- not this crude matter."
I'd like you to think that Yoda stole that from me, but oh well. We tend to pay so much attention to taking care of our bodies -- feeding them right, exercising them, making them look appealing to others and functioning well for as long as possible -- that we forget, as spiritual beings undergoing a temporary human experience (just now the source of that eludes me, but feel free to believe it's mine), that even our life "is even a vapor, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away."
THAT'S from James 4:14 in the New Testament. It wasn't stolen from me.
You and I, whether we've accepted Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord or not, experience this resurrection every day when you think about it. Next time you open your eyes after a few hours on the couch or in the bed, think about that. Christians and Scripture both refer to the church -- the assembly of believers in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord -- as "the body of Christ" because we (and He) do His work in the world today through us.
But even we need resurrection, not only to be born again.
"Born again" (check out Jesus' night-time confab with Nicodemus from John 3 for more details) refers to what happens to you -- and what happened to me -- when you confess your faith in Jesus God's only begotten Son as the One Way to God, another resurrection. You don't literally die first, but you become alive again. And even though we in these bodies, this crude matter, are going to die, it's not going to be the end for us.
It can be the beginning,
David
AN ENSIGN ON THE MOUNTAINS 24 September 2017
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
We're coming into the home stretch!
In our review of the third article of the Apostles' Creed (which has been sporadic on my part, for various reasons -- I promise to get back to a regular schedule with these posts), when we come to the resurrection we come to some confusion. Especially with THE Resurrection of Jesus Christ, but I digress. Not because we don't know that resurrection means restoring life to what once was dead, but because it's hard to imagine. That. Happening. To. Us.
"Luminous beings are we -- not this crude matter."
I'd like you to think that Yoda stole that from me, but oh well. We tend to pay so much attention to taking care of our bodies -- feeding them right, exercising them, making them look appealing to others and functioning well for as long as possible -- that we forget, as spiritual beings undergoing a temporary human experience (just now the source of that eludes me, but feel free to believe it's mine), that even our life "is even a vapor, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away."
THAT'S from James 4:14 in the New Testament. It wasn't stolen from me.
You and I, whether we've accepted Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord or not, experience this resurrection every day when you think about it. Next time you open your eyes after a few hours on the couch or in the bed, think about that. Christians and Scripture both refer to the church -- the assembly of believers in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord -- as "the body of Christ" because we (and He) do His work in the world today through us.
But even we need resurrection, not only to be born again.
"Born again" (check out Jesus' night-time confab with Nicodemus from John 3 for more details) refers to what happens to you -- and what happened to me -- when you confess your faith in Jesus God's only begotten Son as the One Way to God, another resurrection. You don't literally die first, but you become alive again. And even though we in these bodies, this crude matter, are going to die, it's not going to be the end for us.
It can be the beginning,
David
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