TEEN TREE OF LIFE
Receiving A Glimpse Of
The Resurrection Life Before We Die
Part 3
November 17, 2019

Before you begin, ask yourself a very important question: Do you believe that Jesus Christ died on The Cross for all of your sins? If you answered yes, you will need to be sure that you are filled with The Holy Spirit. How do you do this? You name your sins to God The Father in His Son’s Name. This is called rebound. As a Christian, you must rebound any time you sin. This is taught in 1JOHN 1:9: If we confess [name] our sins [directly to God], He [God] is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Now, if you have never believed that Jesus Christ died on The Cross for all of your sins, all you have to do is say to yourself that you believe in Him and you are saved! The Bible verse which teaches us this is ACTS 16:31: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.”

We learned at the end of last week’s Teen Tree of Life that that we’ll each have a resurrection body like Our Lord and Savor Jesus Christ’s but not all of them will look alike. There are different types of resurrection bodies, depending on your success or failure in the Christian life along with your attitude toward God’s Word.

Some believers will receive The Crown of Life which is awarded to the Church-Age believers who, in spiritual maturity, pass Evidence Testing. As we learned when we studied Job (February 3 through March 10, 2019), Evidence Testing is Satan's cross-examination of every witness presented by God in the historical trial of all fallen angels. This we’ve learned is the Angelic Conflict. Every believer who attains spiritual maturity is an argument or witness against Satan for the Prosecution. The Crown of Life is mentioned in REV 2:10: Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to cast some of you into prison, so that you will be tested, and you will have tribulation for ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life. The Crown of Life is awarded to all members of the Royal Family of God who utilize the Problem-Solving Devices (tools); who advance to spiritual maturity; and who use God’s Happiness to pass Evidence Testing. (Using God’s Happiness is Problem-Solving Device number nine.)

Some believers will receive The Incorruptible Crown. These are the believers who have mastered the Old Sin Nature through dedication and devotion to the the Pre-Designed Plan of God. The apostle Paul wrote about this in 1CO 9:24-27 (New International Version): Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize. Do you see how Paul compares our Christian Walk to a race? Isn’t it fascinating to think that by striving for the Mind of Christ, through daily intake of Bible doctrine, we can get to a point at which we actually sin less and eventually receive The Incorruptible Crown?

Some believers will be rewarded with The Crown of Rejoicing for being soul winners. These individuals are the ones who were accurate in their communication of the Gospel. They are the ones who were not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ! And they were the ones who led others to the Grace and Truth found in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. This is taught in: DAN 12:3 (The New International Version): Those who are wise will shine like the bright heavens. And those who lead many to do what is right and good will shine like the stars forever and ever. They are said to be filled with life and wisdom according to PRO 11:30 (New International Version): The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who is wise wins souls.

Look at how the apostle Paul compared our earthly bodies to tents when he wrote about the Resurrection Life: And what we believe is that the One who raised up the Master Jesus will just as certainly raise us up with you, alive. Every detail works to your advantage and to God’s glory: more and more grace, more and more people, more and more praise! So we’re not giving up. How could we! Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without his unfolding grace. These hard times are small potatoes compared to the coming good times, the lavish celebration prepared for us. There’s far more here than meets the eye. The things we see now are here today, gone tomorrow. But the things we can’t see now will last forever. For instance, we know that when these bodies of ours are taken down like tents and folded away, they will be replaced by resurrection bodies in Heaven—God-made, not handmade—and we’ll never have to relocate our “tents” again. Sometimes we can hardly wait to move—and so we cry out in frustration. Compared to what’s coming, living conditions around here seem like a stopover in an unfurnished shack, and we’re tired of it! We’ve been given a glimpse of the real thing, our true home, our resurrection bodies! The Spirit of God whets our appetite by giving us a taste of what’s ahead. He puts a little of Heaven in our hearts so that we’ll never settle for less. That’s why we live with such good cheer. You won’t see us drooping our heads or dragging our feet! Cramped conditions here don’t get us down. They only remind us of the spacious living conditions ahead. It’s what we trust in but don’t yet see that keeps us going. Do you suppose a few ruts in the road or rocks in the path are going to stop us? When the time comes, we’ll be plenty ready to exchange exile for homecoming. (2 COR 4:16-5:8 The Message Bible) Think about how tents are used. We put them up, just using them for a little while for our lives on earth.

This Resurrection Life or newness in life that Paul wants us to attain is explained in ROM 6:4 (The Message Bible): So what do we do? Keep on sinning so God can keep on forgiving? I should hope not! If we’ve left the country where sin is sovereign, how can we still live in our old house there? Or didn’t you realize we packed up and left there for good? That is what happened in baptism. When we went under the water, we left the old country of sin behind; when we came up out of the water, we entered into the new country of grace—a new life in a new land! That’s what baptism into the life of Jesus means. When we are lowered into the water, it is like the burial of Jesus; when we are raised up out of the water, it is like the resurrection of Jesus. Each of us is raised into a light-filled world by our Father so that we can see where we’re going in our new grace-sovereign country.

The Resurrection Life also includes an extraordinary peace that God wants us to experience right here on earth. This sense of peace will ebb and flow because this newness in life is given in small increments. But, in the eternal state, you will be entirely filled with this peace.

Eirene (often translated “peace”) is the Greek word that technically refers to the Doctrine of Reconciliation. “Peace” and “reconciliation” are synonymous terms in such passages as EPH 2:14-17 (New International Version): For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility , by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near.

All believers are reconciled to God the moment they believe in Jesus Christ, but the work of reconciliation, actually took place on The Cross for every member of the human race. Reconciliation means that the barrier that existed between fallen mankind and God has been torn down by the substitutionary spiritual death of Our Lord and Savior on The Cross. So, all that is needed for any person to have eternal peace with God is faith alone in Christ alone!
{to be continued}