THE FAMILY ALTAR, 14 April 2026:
April 14.
Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.
Phil. 3:21.
Job's faith in the resurrection of the body is Paul's faith, too.
It is the faith of every true Christian. We confess it in the Creed :
"I believe in the resurrection of the body"; but we say it often
so listlessly, when the sacred truth ought to fill us with bound-
less joy. Christ our Savior's almighty word and power are divine
and therefore absolutely reliable guarantees of our resurrection,
no matter what eur own sin-corrupted heart or ranting infidels
may interpose. It is only meet and just that our body should
rise again. Our body, together with our soul, has borne all the
painful burdens of our life here on earth, toiled and groaned
under the curse of sin, and suffered the wages of sin, which is
death. It is right and proper that it should share with the soul
the redemption from sin, the joy and happiness of eternal life.
Our body is an essential part of our being. If only our spirit
lived after death, as so many hold, we should be only half alive,
not the same beings or persons we were before death. But no !
Our redemption by Christ is a perfect redemption, including our
body as well as our soul, and we have our blessed Savior's word
for it that He will call our body forth out of the grave. And,
oh, glorious truth ! it shall then be like His own glorious body,
forever free from the trammels of this earthly existence, free from
all pain, sickness, disease, and deformities that so often afflict
us here. There shall be no blind, no deaf, no mute, no cripples,
no invalids, in heaven. Eejoice, ye unfortunate cross-bearers, who
are perhaps afflicted with some incurable disease or some bodily
defect. In a little while your cross shall cease, and your Savior
will come to change you into the beauty and glory of His own
glorified body. What happiness that will be!
What now sickens, mourns, and sighs,
Christ with Him in glory bringeth;
Earthly is the seed and dies,
Heavenly from the grave it springeth;
Natural is the death we die,
Spiritual our life on high.
Then take comfort, nay, rejoice!
For His members Christ will cherish;
Fear not, they will know His voice,
Though awhile they seem to perish,
When the final trump is heard,
And the deaf, cold grave is stirred.
