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Thursday, April 26, 2012
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
The Spirit Beareth Witness
I
have a friend who has struggled for years with being sure that she is
saved. One reason is this verse:
Romans
8:16
The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit,
that we are the children of God:
She believes that she should be hearing something or feeling
something that is proof that the Holy Spirit is testifying to her that she is
saved. Could you please explain what that verse means so that she won't
be waiting for something that is just not going to happen?
The reason your friend has struggled for years with being sure she is saved is because she doesn’t rightly divide the word of Truth. One of the verses I like to show people who have this issue is:
Romans 6:23
For the
wages of sin is death; but the gift [you
must focus on that free gift] of God is eternal life through Jesus
Christ our Lord.
It is simple yet profound. I just ask them, “What is the gift of God?”
“What type of life?” “Eternal?” How long
is eternity? “Forever?” Then I show them:
Romans 11:29
For the
gifts and calling of God are without repentance.
When God gives a gift, he doesn’t
change his mind; he doesn’t take it back.
There are many verses to support that truth like…
Romans 5:1
Therefore
being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:
2 Timothy 2:13
If we
believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself.
1 Corinthians 12:13
For by
one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles,
whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.
Ephesians 2:8-9
For by
grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of
God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.
That eternal life, that salvation,
is a gift of God!
Colossians 2:13
And
you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he
quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;
But they have to be willing to
listen to our Apostle Paul thoroughly.
And speaking of that in regard to our verse Romans 8:16…
Romans
8:16
The
Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children
of God:
…you are right to say that she is
waiting for something that will not happen.
She will not hear or feel something that will prove that the Holy Spirit
is testifying to her spirit.
It says that the Spirit (capital S)
‘beareth witness with our spirit’
(not with our flesh), but it is not something that we will hear audibly, nor
feel. It is a spiritual thing.
1 Corinthians 2:9-11
But as
it is written, Eye hath not seen [you
can’t see it], nor ear heard [you can’t hear it], neither have entered into the heart of man [it
isn’t something that even the soul of a man would grasp from a human viewpoint], the things which God hath prepared
for them that love him. But God hath
revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea,
the deep things of God. For what man knoweth
the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things
of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.
The Spirit of God operates within
our spirit and it is a spiritual thing.
In other words, you won’t feel or hear it. But what is Paul talking about in Romans
8:16? Look at Romans 8:14 and 15. These verses work together and it is very
simple.
Romans 8:14-15
For as
many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God [he is
talking about walking in the Spirit and not after the flesh]. For ye have not received the
spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption,
whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
Now in the context notice what Paul
is saying. In Chapter 7 he was speaking
to Jews in the body of Christ in Rome who know the Law.
Romans 7:1
Know ye
not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law,) how that the law hath
dominion over a man as long as he liveth?
The Law is what Paul calls the flesh.
Galatians 4:24
Which
things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount
Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar.
The law was bondage and
condemnation.
Romans 6:14
For sin
shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.
But that is not the Spirit that God
has put us as grace believers under.
Romans 8:15
For ye
have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear;…
That was the Law (the operating
principle that Jews were under in Time Past) that performance-based, fear-based,
acceptance system.
…but [contrast] ye have received the Spirit of
adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
What is that? We are no longer children under tutors and
governors. Paul uses the title Abba,
Father which has to do with our sonship status before Almighty God. It is mentioned three times in the Bible:
Mark 14:36
And he
said, Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee; take away this
cup from me: nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt.
This is Christ during his passion
in the garden. It is laboring with the Father; that close,
intimate relationship with “Daddy.” It
is more than just a relationship with him; it is also laboring with Him. The Lord Jesus says in this verse that he is
going to labor with the Father in Israel by going to the cross. We have that same privilege.
Galatians 4:1-7
1Now I say [talking about the
human economy], That the heir [see Romans 8:17], as long as he is a child [a minor], differeth nothing from a servant,
though he be lord of all;
A man would have a son, but as long
as his son was a minor he was no different than the servant although he was
lord of all. He was his father’s son; he
was going to gain the inheritance. The
status of being a child represents being under the Law.
2But
is under tutors and governors…
He is the father’s son, but he is
still under tutors and governors that have to teach him and tell him what to do
and not to do – that represents the Law.
…until the time appointed of the
father.
He is not going to be under tutors and governors (types of the Law) forever. The father will appoint a time when he will
become an adopted son.
3Even so we, when we were children
[Paul is dealing with Jews who understood this issue of the Law], were in bondage under the elements
of the world:
Notice that in time past these Jews
were under the bondage of the Law—the same thing that Paul says in Romans
8:15. These two passages go
together. Tutors and governors were to
put fear in the child. They were to put
them in bondage.
4But
when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman,
made under the law, 5To redeem them that were under the law,…
Notice that when Christ came, the
purpose was to redeem them that were under the Law. We (Jews and Gentiles in the body of Christ)
gain the benefits of the cross work of Christ.
…[why?] that
we might receive the adoption of sons.
We are full-grown sons; we are no
longer children.
6And
because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your
hearts, crying, Abba, Father. 7Wherefore thou art no more a
servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.
Paul is dealing with the issue that
we are no longer under the Law, but now we are under Grace. Now let’s go back to Romans 15.
Romans 8:15-16
For ye
have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the
Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our
spirit, that we are the children of God:
That is what Paul was just saying
in Galatians 4. How does the Spirit bear
witness with our spirit that we are the children of God? It is through the Word of God. It is through the word of God! “Hearing” is not an audible voice; it is
hearing the word of God’s grace.
Romans 10:17
So then
faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
That is how the Spirit beareth
witness – through the Word of God. ‘eth’
on the end of a word means ‘continual.’
The Spirit continually bears
witness that we are the children of God.
How do we know that? By reading (receiving/believing)
Paul’s epistles. We just read that in
Galatians 4. God’s Spirit wrote that
information through the Apostle Paul.
Galatians 4:4-7
But
when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman,
made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might
receive the adoption of sons. And
because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your
hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Wherefore
thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God
through Christ.
How does the Spirit bear witness to
that? Through the words that were
written.
1 Corinthians 2:9-13
9But
as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into
the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.
Left on our own, humanity cannot
know these things. Why? Because of sin. The unregenerated human hearts of lost men,
and even saved men who are in the flesh and do not know the Word of God, do not
know these things. Watch what Paul says:
10But
God hath revealed [past tense] them
unto us by his Spirit:…
This is the same thing as ‘the
Spirit bearth witness with our spirit.’
…for [further explanation and amplification] the
Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.
What are the deep things of God?
11For
what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him?...
The reason I can communicate with
you from another state is because you can listen to the words that I say - words
are spiritual. Remember what the Lord
Jesus said:
John 6:63
It is
the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I
speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.
The word of God is a spiritual
thing.
…even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.
No man can know the things of God,
but the Spirit of God does and He communicates them to us.
12Now
we have received, not the spirit of the world [Romans 8, Galatians 4], but the
Spirit which is of God;…
He gives us His Spirit and the Word
that the Spirit wrote. That is how He
beareth witness. Why did God give us His
Spirit?
… that
we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.
That includes eternal life and all
the things that come along with the Mystery, the Grace of God. How do we know ‘beareth witness’ is words?
13Which
things also we speak,…
Your friend is right. She should be hearing something. If her feelings follow the words of grace
that she hears, praise the Lord! But
feelings aren’t the issue here. ‘Feeling
something’ needs to go; but hearing (not an audible voice out of nowhere) preaching
of Jesus Christ according to the revelation of the Mystery is the issue.
…not
in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost
teacheth; [how does the Holy Ghost
teach?] comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
Again, if these are things that are
spoken, what would the Apostle Paul want to be spoken?
Romans 16:25-26
Now to him [God] that is of power to stablish you [God is going to stablish you from the inside
out; He is going to build you up.] according to my gospel [how that Christ died, was buried and rose again
– Paul’s Gospel], and the preaching
of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which
was kept secret since the world began, But now is made manifest, and by the
scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting
God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith:
So she has to hear a constant
preaching of Jesus Christ according to the revelation of the mystery – the
things of God’s grace; the doctrine of Paul.
As she needs to take in that doctrine and allow God to build that up in
her through the preaching of Grace preachers.
Preaching is an important part of our job as Grace preachers, but also
as Paul says:
1 Timothy 4:16
Take
heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this
thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.
Those who listen to good,
expository Grace preaching (the preaching of Jesus Christ according to the
revelation of the mystery; what God says through Paul in Romans through
Philemon and the rest of the Bible when rightly divided) will be built up. That is
how the Spirit beareth witness.
The way the Spirit beareth witness
with our spirit that we are the children of God is by what He has written down
through Paul. And He tells us the
blessings that come with being the children of God through Paul’s epistles.
Acts 20:32
And
now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace,…
This is what we speak – the word of
His grace.
…which is able to build you up,…
This is the establishing.
…and to
give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified.
That comes after salvation and is
based upon your work. God’s will is that
all men be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth (1 Timothy 2:4). Sanctification also comes from a constant
intake of sound, Pauline doctrine. We
talk about the word of his grace, the mystery of Christ…
Ephesians 3:8
Unto me [Paul], who am less than the least of all
saints, is this grace given, that I should preach [Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the
mystery] among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ;
…the Spirit of God whom we have
living in us as believers the moment we trust Christ…
Romans 5:5
…the
Holy Ghost which is given unto us.
…beareth witness with our spirit through
words…
John 6:63
It is
the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I
speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.
…the words that the Holy Spirit wrote
through Paul in Romans through Philemon.
It is the word of God.
Hopefully this
helps!
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Do you have a question
for Pastor Ron?
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Thursday, April 19, 2012
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
No Second Chance
If 2
Thessalonians 2:10 is saying that after the rapture no Gentiles will be given a
second chance, will the tribulation saints [those who become believers after
the rapture] all be Jewish?
2 Thessalonians 2:10 - 12
And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish;
because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong
delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be
damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
Paul,
our apostle, is dealing with what is going to happen in the future. In 1 Thessalonians he is telling the saints
to stay strong as they endure the sufferings of this present time for believing
the message of God’s grace.
2 Timothy 3:12
Yea, and all that will
live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.
They
were enduring persecutions and afflictions.
They believed God’s word through Paul:
1 Thessalonians 2:13
For this cause also thank
we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye
heard of us [Paul, Timothy and Silas], ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is
in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that
believe.
So these saints at Thessalonica
that Paul established in Acts 17 followed the Apostle Paul and persecution came
to them from Satan and those he energized to withstand the grace of God.
In 2 Thessalonians, Paul is dealing
with the issue of the 70th week of Daniel and the time of Jacob’s trouble
- that future tribulation period, that future time of God’s wrath. The saints were being bombarded with false
doctrine [like the church does today] about the fact that they would have to go
through the tribulation period. Men who
did not rightly divide the word of truth were coming and trying to get these
saints to believe that the Day of Christ was at hand:
2 Thessalonians 2:2-3
That ye be not soon
shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by
word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. Let no man deceive you by any means: for that
day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of
sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
That day of Christ in context is
the Lord’s wrath. He is reminding them
that he told them they were not appointed to that wrath.
1 Thessalonians 5:9
For God hath
not appointed us to wrath, but to
obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,
1 Thessalonians 1:10
And to wait for his Son
from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from
the wrath to come.
But Paul does go into detail in 2
Thessalonians [particularly chapter 2] about that future day. That’s the context.
So who are those in 2 Thessalonians
2:10 who will not have a second chance?
It will be anyone [primarily Gentiles, but also Jews] who has had a
clear presentation of the gospel of God’s grace in this present dispensation of
grace. In other words, those who were
exposed to the truth—that being, a clear testimony from Almighty God about
their sin, judgment for it before God, and the answer which is in Christ’s
death on the cross. If they reject that
truth they will not get a second chance.
2 Thessalonians 2:8-9
And then shall that Wicked [the Antichrist] be revealed, whom the Lord shall
consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of
his coming: Even him, whose coming
is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,
This is dealing with the Antichrist
and the context of this passage has to do with the Middle East. The stage is being set for the last days of
the nation of Israel in the future. God
is not fulfilling Bible prophecy outside of Paul’s epistles now, but God has a
timetable for humanity. There is a focus
on the Middle East in the world today - so much talk about Iran, Iraq and
Afghanistan. Why so much focus on the
Middle East in particular? Because the
last days of Prophecy before the Lord Jesus returns will be centered in the
Middle East – the land of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. That land mass is now inhabited by the Muslim
nations which surround Israel, and it is the land involved in the Kingdom of
God where he will live. It includes
Egypt, parts of Africa, Iraq and what is called Palestine.
2 Thessalonians 2:10
And
with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they
received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
Again, the context is the Middle
East and the nation of Israel. We have
to remember that when Paul was writing this very early in his ministry, God was
still dealing with the Jewish people with a ‘provoking’ ministry. Although he was not offering them the Kingdom
anymore, He was offering them the opportunity to become members of the body of
Christ as Paul was. Through Paul’s
ministry among the Jewish people in the Middle East, including Thessalonica,
God says:
Romans 11:14
If by
any means I may provoke to emulation them which are my flesh, and might save
some of them.
The church started in the Jewish synagogues
where Paul would preach.
Acts 17:1-2
Now
when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to
Thessalonica, where was a synagogue of the Jews: And Paul, as his manner
was, went in unto them, and three sabbath days reasoned with them out of the
scriptures,
I want you to remember that the
focus is on the Middle East, but when Paul was there with them there were both
Jews and Gentiles. Let me be clear, when
I say “post-rapture Gentiles”, I should use the Bible definition - anyone who
rejects the truth will deal will this man, the Son of Perdition.
But in our day in America the same
thing holds true. It is clear from these
verses in 2 Thessalonians that anyone, both Jew and Gentile, who has had a
clear testimony of the Gospel of God’s Grace [only God knows who that is and he
will be the final judge], will not be given a second chance by God.
Let me qualify that because there
are some people on earth even in our day who have not been given a clear
testimony about the Lord Jesus Christ.
For example, many of the Muslim nations don’t even allow Bibles. Some are smuggled in, but it is against the
law under the threat of death.
There are people on earth who have
never been exposed to the truth of the Lord Jesus Christ. God gives them light [Romans 1] and they must
respond to that light; but I am saying that there is a policy of evil to stamp
out the Gospel of the Grace of God.
2 Corinthians 4:4
In whom
the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest
the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should
shine unto them.
There are those who ‘believe not.’ They receive the light but they don’t believe
it. But there are others who, for whatever
reason, have been kept from the doctrine of grace by their family or culture
for generations [i.e. Muslims and Jews].
There will be Jews in the land of
Israel whose families have been kept in darkness for centuries about who Jesus
Christ really is. They don’t see Him
like the Jews did in the first century.
Some believed that Jesus was their Messiah; some believed Paul’s
gospel. Now, for the most part, Jews
reject the Lord Jesus Christ as Messiah and Saviour.
So there will be people who have
never been properly exposed to the Lord Jesus Christ. God will deal with them on His own terms -
whether they die in their sins in this dispensation, or if they are given a
chance to hear the truth after the dispensation of grace has ended. Most of them will be Jews [again the focus is
on the Middle East] because God will be dealing with the Jewish people at that
time. And then through the Jews, when
Christ sets up his earthly Kingdom, others [Gentiles] will hear.
It is difficult to pinpoint every
detail because this is all future.
2 Thessalonians 2:10
And
with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they
received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
There will be people who perish out
there in the future. The focus is mainly
on the Middle East in this passage, even though the same principle applies to
the anywhere in the world if a person has received and rejected a clear
presentation of the gospel of grace in this present dispensation. For that person the day of salvation [2 Corinthians 6:2]
will be over. Why? Because ‘they received not the love of the
truth that they might be saved.’ Just
like in Christ’s day:
John 1:11
He came unto his own, and
his own received him not.
So anyone, Jew or Gentile, who has
been exposed to the Gospel of Grace before the Rapture will not be given a
second chance and this is what God will do:
2 Thessalonians 2:11
And for
this cause God shall send them strong delusion [through the Antichrist], that they should believe a lie:
They didn’t want the truth so God
will give them a lie. Why?
2 Thessalonians 2:12
That
they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
The words ‘perish’ and ‘damned’ are
used and believe me, those are not good words.
Those are words that say there will be no second chance.
+++
Regarding the second part of your
question, “Are the tribulations saints, those who become believers, all
Jewish?”
No.
Just like in time past, the focus will be on the Jews; but just like
when God brought Israel out of Egypt and there was a mixed multitude that
included some Egyptians and others who believed His Word, and like all
throughout the history of the Jewish people, there has been a small remnant of
‘strangers’ [Gentiles who wanted to be blessed by the God of Israel through
Israel]. If they were circumcised and
kept the Law, they were a part of Israel.
Uriah the Hittite is an example [2 Samuel 11:3]. In the book of Esther many in that land
became proselyte Jews because of the fear of the Jews.
So the tribulation saints will be
mostly Jewish, but there will be Gentile proselytes.
Acts 2:10
Phrygia,
and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers
of Rome [Jews were strangers in Rome],
Jews and proselytes [Gentiles who became Jews],
Hopefully
this helps!
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Thursday, April 12, 2012
Spiritual Resurrection Bodies
Will the type of
body that we receive (that is, resurrected, spiritual, heavenly bodies) be like
Jesus’ resurrection body in which he could talk, walk and eat here on
earth? Will we use our resurrection
bodies here on earth, in heaven or both?
That’s
a fantastic question. Go with me to 1
Corinthians 15 where our Apostle Paul deals with this issue of the physical,
bodily resurrection, particularly of our Lord Jesus Christ and they who are in Christ at his coming [1 Corinthians
15:23]. In verse 35 Paul deals with
the objections of some regarding the type our resurrection bodies will be.
1 Corinthians 15: 35-49
35But some man will say, How are the dead raised up?
and with what body do they come?
Paul is
talking about the physical, resurrection body and he is anticipating objections
from what he calls ‘thou fool.’
36Thou fool, that
which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die:
He is
telling them to look at nature. He will
show them from nature how the resurrection will happen exemplified by a seed
that is buried in the ground. The
symbolism of burying someone who dies is the anticipation of resurrection.
37And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body
that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other grain:
When you sow a seed in the ground,
the body of that seed is not the same as the body that comes from the
seed. For example, a cornel of corn or
wheat will produce a stalk.
38But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to
every seed his own body.
Although you plant a seed in the
ground it will grow with a different type of body as God chooses.
39All flesh is not the same flesh [here on earth]: but
there is one kind of flesh of men [our
physical bodies], another flesh of beasts, another
of fishes, and another of birds.
All these are living creatures on
earth with difference types of flesh.
40There are also celestial
[heavenly] bodies, and bodies terrestrial [terra firma – earthly]:
but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is
another.
Celestial bodies are in the heavens
and terrestrial bodies are on the earth.
But the glory of these bodies differ.
41There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the
moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star
in glory.
Even in the heavens there are
different types of glory.
42So also is the resurrection of the dead….
If you can understand all the
differences in the types of flesh on earth and the different glory associated
with each, and the differences in types of heavenly bodies and their glory,
then you will understand the difference in glory of resurrection bodies.
42So also is the resurrection of the dead. It [the dead body of a human] is sown in
corruption; it is raised in incorruption: 43It is sown in dishonour [There is no honor
in a dead body. It is unclean.]; it is raised [resurrection
of the dead to life] in glory [It is glorious.]: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power: 44It is sown a natural body;…
When a believer dies, his body is
corrupted, dishonourable, weak and natural—the body he was born with. But…
… it is raised a spiritual
body….
So at the
resurrection of the body of Christ (that is, the rapture - our blessed hope
Titus 2:13), even those of us who are alive and remain, will have
changed bodies that are spiritual. We
will all have spiritual resurrection bodies.
…There is a natural body,
and there is a spiritual body.
The natural body is the one we now
possess; the spiritual body is the one we will
possess.
Philippians 3:20-21
For our conversation is in heaven;
from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: 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.
Our bodies will be spiritual and
glorious like the Lord Jesus Christ’s.
1 Corinthians 15:45-47, 49
45And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a
living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.
He’s showing the difference between
Adam and our Lord Jesus Christ.
46Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that
which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.
First you have to have a natural
body; but then you will have a spiritual body.
First there was Adam (natural); then there was Christ (spiritual). Our bodies now bear Adam’s image; but one day
they will bear Christ’s image.
47The first man is of the earth, earthy; the second man is
the Lord from heaven. 48As is
the earthy, such are they also that are earthy
[Adam and all humans]: and as is the
heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.
As the Lord is, one day we will be
also.
49And as we have borne the image of the earthy [Adam], we shall also
bear the image of the heavenly [Christ].
So yes, our resurrection bodies
will be exactly the same type as Christ’s and we will walk, talk and eat as He
did after he was resurrected. Paul shows
us that here in 1 Corinthians 15 and in Philippians 3.
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Regarding your second question about
whether we will use our spiritual resurrection bodies here on earth, in heaven
or both - our primary position and sphere of influence is in the heavenly
places.
Ephesians 2:6
And hath raised us
up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
But that doesn’t mean that we will
be confined or limited to heaven. If we
want to come down to this earth in our spare time to visit David, Abraham, or
any other saint in the earthly kingdom, we will be able to just as our Lord
will come down to earth. We will be
serving the Lord in his Kingdom in the heavenly places, but we will also be
permitted to come to earth to talk with people face to face.
Right now the Lord Jesus Christ is
in heaven in his spiritual resurrection body and he will come down to earth in
that body. Therefore, we will also be
able to go back and forth between heaven and earth, as do angels which are
ministering spirits.
Hebrews 1:14
Are they not all
ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of
salvation?
Hopefully
this helps!
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