HOPE! - The Redemption of Our Bodies

We all have flaws. That’s just a part of being human.

However, God chooses to redeem our flaws for his glory.

God is all about redemption. He became a human in order to redeem humans after all. He became incarnate. And he works the same way today. He works in the flesh – our flesh. Our bodies. God became a human with a body… in order to redeem our bodies.

But we still have the ability to make choices. This is what we call our “will.” Within our will is the ability or power to experience freedom and creativity. We have the power to do both good and evil. We have the ability to say either yes or no to whatever comes to us.

However, through the Spirit of Jesus we have surrendered our will to the will of God. But this does not mean that we have lost our will. No. We will always have a will. It is just that our will has become identified with God’s will.

But praise God that we have the hope of redemption!

Redemption that has already begun and will continue on until the whole of creation is restored. And this redemption came through the incarnation of Christ – God became human in order to redeem humans.

The future that God has promised is the life of the Spirit. We are mortal beings, but will be resurrected to life again and we will live on forever with our God. Through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit we are being “clothed” with the immortal. God has given us his seal, his assurance, that he will raise us up with Christ. This seal is the Holy Spirit. The future God has promised us is one of glory. We experience a taste of that now through the Holy Spirit because of Christ’s death and resurrection on our behalf. The Spirit has made known to us the mysteries of God, because he is the Spirit of Christ who was the fullness of God made into flesh. He has promised us the Holy Spirit.

However, our future hope is even greater than this present hope. Paul writes that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. We are destined for glory. This is our future. Paul says that the whole creation is waiting, groaning, for the future hope of its liberation of bondage to decay. He says that we also “groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies.” Our future that God has promised to us is not only that our bodies will restored to us and liberated from destruction and decay, but that we ourselves will be adopted as the very sons and daughters of God.