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human David. ancl the other. by His
resurreclion lo g1ory, as Son ofGocl.
Emphalically this cloes NOT imply
lhat Jesus was a sinner needing sa 1-
vation. He was the pionee r. se tting
us 1hc cxampl e. 1ha1 we. too. may be
BORN ofGod.
When Born Again What Shall We Be
Like?
When we are born aga in. wha t shall
we be like? The Bib1e gives us t l1e
answer: "For our conversation [citi–
zenship] is in heaven;
from whence
a1so we look for the Saviour , the
Lord Jesus Christ: who shal l
change
our vile body [FLESH]. tha t il may be
fashioned like unto hi s glorious
body . .."(Phi!. 3:20-2 1).
Now notice a scripture in the 3rd
chapter of 1 John. Here it plai nly
says that "wE"- meaning begotten.
convened Christians - are now. al–
ready. the SONS of God. as was ex–
plained ea rl ier. Next. this scripture
reveals thal " il doth not yel appea r
WHAT WE SHALL BE." We are, laler.
to be something different. As Jesus
ex plai ned to icodem us, we SHALL
BE immortal spirit. Thal is whal we
sha llla ter be.
" But." lhis scriplure cont inu es -
read it - understand lhis WONDER–
FUL TRUTH - ' 'we know that, when
he [Ch rist] sha 11 appea r [at His sec–
ond coming lO ea rth) WE SHALL BE
LIKE H!M ... ." We shall look li ke
Chri st!
Whal does th e GLORIFIED Chrisl
look li ke? His eyes blaze forth like
fiames of tire ! His feet glow like
fin ely burn ished brass. His face
s hine s like th e SUN . in FULL
STRENGTH -
SO
bright il wou ld blind
your eyes if He were visible lo yo u
nowt (Rev . 1:14-16 ; 19: 12- 13; Matt.
17:2.)
And THAT is the way YOU a nd
1
shall look if and when we are fina lly
BORNofGoo!
Our Transcendent Potential
There is a nother passage. under–
stood by a lmost none , tha t reveals
our astonishin g
transcendent
poten–
tia!! ll beg ins in Heb rews 2:6:
"What is man. that thou art mindfu l
of him?"
Yes. why should the greal God be
concerned about us morta ls? WHY
did He put us here on earth? Wha t
is the PURPOSE of life? What is our
42
transcendent potentia l?
1t
is so far
above and beyond anylhing yo u
have th ough t or imagined. it seems
shocki ngly incredible !
Can you believe it? Are you will–
ing Lo believe what is now plainl y
sta tcd? Hcre comes the astonishing
answe r. begin ning ve rse 7:
"Thou madest him a liltl e lowe r
than th e angels." Some lransla li ons
have il, "for
a
little while lower lhan
th e angels ." Cont in ue: " T ho u
crowned s t him [kings hip] wit h
GLORY and ho nour. and didst sel
him over the wo rk s o f thy
hands ..." - tha l is. God 's crea tion.
NOT Yet the Universe!
"Thou has t put ALL THINGS (Mof–
fatl: the universe] in subjecti on un–
der his fect. For in lhat he put ALL
in subjection under him, he
fejt
n o thing
th a t is not put under
him ...
: ·
Can you grasp th at? Th e
entire. vast. endless UNlVERSE ! Bul
that is for BORN sons ofGod. Man is
not ye t BORN - exce pl Christ onl y!
Continue: Here comes the answer:
"But
now
[in this present gesta–
tion sla te] we see NOT YET all things
[the universe] put under him' ' (verse
8) .
But whal
do
we see, Now?
" But we see JEsus ... crowned
wit h glory and
honour~'
(verse 9) .
Y
es. Jesus has a iready been given
the execut ive admin istration o f
God's government - the KlNGDOM
of Gon - over th e en tire UNIVERSE!
Only,
untif
our time to inherit and
possess the government of EARTH. al
Christ's return, He is a llowi ng Sa tan
lo continue on this earth bi s work of
deception. Now continue:
"For it became him [Jesus]. for
whorn a re all thi_ngs. and by whom
a re a ll things, in brin ging many sons
unto GLORY, to make th e captain
[margin - leader. forerunner. or
pioneer - th e one who has gone on
before us, as we a re to follow] of
th ei r salvation perfecl through suf–
fer ings. For both he that sancti fie lh
and they who are sanctifi ed are all
of one: for which ca use he is not
ashamed to ca ll th em
brerhren"
(verses 10- 11 ).
Christ Our Elder Brother
We are, as quoted before, he irs of
God . and joint-heirs - as BRETHREN
- with Chri st. He has gone on
ahead. th rough a resurrection. Lo
GLORY as the pioneer!
He is the firs lborn of many breth–
rcn! He has INHERJTED "a ll lhings"
- the U1!VERSE! We a re stil l heirs –
still in the ges talion stage or th e pro–
cess of being BORN of God . Jcsus is
now our cldcr brother a nd high
priest, supervising ou r spir it ua l de–
ve lopment - p repa ring us to be
ki ngs a nd pr icsts. rcigni ng
with
Him !
The first thousand years we shall
reign ON THE EARTH. For He shal l
ha ve " made them kings and pr ics ts:
and they sha ll reign on the ea rth ' '
(Rev. 5:10.
RSV).
Ruling With Christ
For that firsl thousa nd ycars. Jesus
is to reign on lhe throne of His
earth ly ance tor DAVID in .J erusalem
(Isa . 9:6-7
).
And "he that ove r–
cometh. and keepeth my works unto
the end . to him will l give power
over the nations: and he shall rule
them with a rod of iron .. ." (Rev .
2:26-27). Bu t how and from where
sha ll we ru le?
Jesus said . aga in, "To him that
overcometh will
1
gran t to sit with
me in my throne [at Jerusa lem].
even as
l
also overcame, and am
[now] set down wi th my Falher in
his throne' ' (Rev. 3:21).
When BORN of God. we sha ll BE
sp irit, no longer human ft esh and
blood. We sha ll be given POWER!
As Daniel revealed. the saint
then shall ta ke the kingdoms of
ea rt h
's
na tions and rule lhem for the
firs t thousa nd years - esta bl ishing
WORLD PEACE and div ine gove rn–
men t under Christ.
And after lhat'? The passage in
Hebrews 2 shows lha t then. aga in
under Christ. we shall be given
power to rule over the entire vast
uni verse - literally a ll things. For
tha t i the power tha t has been
given to Christ and will be ours as
joim in heritors with Him!
Yes. there is a LIFE AFTER DEATH
for those obed ien t to God - a sp irit
life of incredible poten tial beyond
ou r wildest dreams! Can we humans
grasp the awesome portent or these
as toundi ng lruths? Atta in ing im–
mo rtal life should be our all-encom–
passi ng goal. For tha l is the gift and
desire of our mercifu l Fa ther and
His son Jesus Christ.
o
The
PLAIN TRUTH August 1976