February 14, 2012
When my wife was thirteen, she traveled to South Carolina to spend a month with her aunt and uncle. Visits in the past had been for a short stay and were filled with days at the beach and having fun with her cousins. Before this month was out, however, she was smitten with a bad case of homesickness, even to the point of being physically ill.
Paul had a case of homesickness also. God had taught him to live this life with eternity in mind. More and more Paul allowed the Spirit of God to train him to see with his mind’s eye that which this fallen world cannot see. At one point God graciously snatched him away and gave him a short glimpse of the heavenly home that was prepared for him. The memory of this heavenly vision became Paul’s motivation to stay the course of his ministry to a fallen world. It gave him a deep longing to be with Christ. He realized that this world was not his home; he was just passing through. In fact, he was one heartbeat away from his real home, and these thoughts made his earthly troubles seem so very temporary and bearable.
Paul realized that his physical body was perishing. It was growing older, weaker, and just plain worn out. In fact, he referred to his body as an earthly tent that was soon to be destroyed. God had a brand new model – a new body – designed for him. I’m sure he was tempted to daydream, longing for his new body.
Paul had become a part of a new civilization through his encounter with Jesus Christ.
God is the ultimate genius. He is in the process of using Adam’s corrupt physical seed to produce a civilization “after his kind.” It is a world of sinful people with bodies that are locked in time and space – and, like grass, all are destined to die and perish. Human glory – all that sheds light upon man: pride, wisdom, beauty, talent, wealth, achievements – is temporary and its fame is fleeting. It appears briefly like a vapor, and it is quickly gone and will be forgotten.
Jesus Christ, the last Adam, is using the spiritual, incorruptible seed of His amazing gospel to generate a heavenly people “after His kind.” Like Him, these bodies are destined to live forever. Jesus said, “That which is born of flesh is flesh and that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit” (John 3:7).
Paul described these new bodies as having a new glory, shedding light upon the creative genius of God. They will be made of a new kind of flesh that can never be destroyed. Paul said that as we (Christians) have born the image of the man of dust, Adam, we will also bear the image of the heavenly man, the Lord Jesus Christ.
It has been my joy to spend some quality time with aging believers who have spent much of their lives studying the Word of God. I sense that as their bodies begin to wear out, their longing for heaven becomes more and more pressing. They begin to sever the chords that tie them to the glitz and glitter of this life and attach their thoughts to the promise of another world. As the songwriter says, the things of this earth grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace. At some point known only to God, many of these precious saints cross over an invisible line – a mental threshold – having more of a desire to be with their Lord than to be here. God makes them homesick for heaven. And what a home-going that will be.