Our lives are like grass, here one day and gone tomorrow. Our death is always imminent. And I’m looking forward, not just to the redemption of my body, but also the sinful tendencies I struggle with every single day. In his book the Triumph of the Crucified, in the chapter on the Rapture and the First Resurrection, Erich Sauer tells us that the nature of the new body is indescribable. Scripture only gives us some glimpses. Yet Sauer helpfully assigns the “Resurrection Body” (I prefer the term “glorified”) a “Sevenfold Glory.”

What is the Nature of Our Hope? Is it not the redemption of our sick dying bodies and our wicked natures? And is not that hope found in Christ’s accomplished work on our behalf?

In Prayer and Spiritual Warfare (Saved in Hope), Charles Spurgeon wrote,

Our hope of being completely delivered from sin in our spirits and of being rescued from all sickness in our bodies arises out of a solemn assurance of our salvation. The revelation of Him who has who has brought life and immortality to light, bears witness to us that we also will obtain glory and immortality. We will be raised in the image of Christ and will share in His glory. This is our belief because we know that Christ has been raised and glorified and that we are one with Him.

So the nature of our hope is our conforming to Christ. One of my favorite verses is 1 John 3:2

Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.

As I age I’m able to relate more and more with those who’ve grown older and passed on before me. Our bodies become weary and we groan with aches and pains, and often endure debilitating disease

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