Rise

“By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God. And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.” (Hebrews 11:5-6 ESV)

We are saved from God’s wrath by our faith alone in Christ alone. Enoch lived before the incarnation of Christ. God the Father took Enoch from the world so he would not taste death. It is the same with Christ. When we place our faith in Christ, we are taken from the world so we will not taste death. The body dies, but we are not of the world; we are in Christ. Christ resurrects our body in heaven, an eternal body.

The doctrine of the resurrection is crucial to our Christian faith and our assurances in the resurrection. Christ rose in bodily form. His apostles saw Him. They touched His hands that had been pierced. They saw the wound on his side. They ate a meal with Him. Jesus had risen in an eternal body. These details hold the promise of our resurrection. We will rise in an eternal spiritual body in heaven to worship God without end.

Paul writes, “But let me reveal to you a wonderful secret. We will not all die, but we will all be transformed! It will happen in a moment, in the blink of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For when the trumpet sounds, those who have died will be raised to live forever. And we who are living will also be transformed. For our dying bodies must be transformed into bodies that will never die; our mortal bodies must be transformed into immortal bodies.” (1 Corinthians 15:51-53 ESV).

This transformation Paul speaks of begins with faith. When we place our faith in Christ, we are transformed. We are no longer a part of the world, but Christ lives in us. My friends, Christianity is about dying. Dying to the world, the death of the mortal body, and the beginning of eternal life.

Peace and Grace!