HOW WILL YOU LOOK IN THE FUTURE

Photo taken by B Smith from the kitchen window

HOW WILL YOU LOOK IN THE FUTURE

March 14, 1965

Pastor Henry F. Kulp

Romans 8: 17 - 19 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. 18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

God has been talking about the believer as a joint-heir, and we are going to share in everything that Jesus Christ is and has. We are not just heirs, but we are joint-heirs. Our inheritance in Jesus Christ will never be divided--it will never be parceled out, and this is far better than being part of an earthly kingdom, where the inheritance will be divided, where it will be parceled out.

1/ Then God goes on to talk about, …so be that we suffer with Christ, we may be also glorified together. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us. There is a word that is actually not written here, but it is implied and it stands out--it is a word that is so important in the Christian life.

2/ Before I tell you the word, I just want to stress a few things that I want you to see. There are many unsaved folks who look at the Christian life and they say, well, I don’t want the Christian life--those Christians aren’t any better off than I am. They have the same problems I do, they have the same things happen in their lives. I have known children of godly parents who have said this very thing, for they have seen that their parents have suffered and they have had a hard life, and they say, I can’t see what is in the Christian life, I am going to go out and eat, drink and be merry.

3/ Some who claim to love the Bible, have claimed to be Christians have tried to change all this. They have said, the church has lacked in all these wonderful spiritual gifts, and if you will just be the person God wants you to be, you’ll have all these things. You’ll have the finest car in your garage, you’ll have a beautiful house to live in, you’ll have a full pocketbook, you’ll have a good job, and you’ll have a healthy body. There is only one thing wrong when you look at these people, you’ll find that these things are not true--they do not really happen.

4/ But this one word that we have been stressing tells us what we need to know--it is the word, God doesn’t promise us physical, material things here, but He does promise us a glorious future. An example of this is that we need a Sunday School Building—an educational unit here at the Altoona Bible Church. We are in the process of getting ready for it now. We have an architect picked and he is drawing up the rough plans, they will be presented to you, and you’ll see the plans. You won’t have the building, but you'll have the plans. Then after the contractor is picked and the men go to work, it is up to the contractor to produce this building that will be like his drawings. He will have to oversee it, and then one day, you will see the building just as the architect drew the plans up. It is that way now-- we have this Architect, He is God, and He has promised us about the future, He has shown some of the plans to us in the Word of God, and one day, when we go to be with Him, all these things will become a reality.

5/ Every time I read this passage in Romans 8, my mind goes to II Timothy 4: 7, 8 

I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.

Here Paul says, I have fought the good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the

faith. You will remember that Paul was about to be martyred--he was about to be

beheaded and to go to be with the Lord Jesus Christ. But notice the first word of vs 8.

Henceforth-- and this is a wonderful word.  Do you have a henceforth in your life? This

word guarantees us a great future. Do you have just a now in your present life, or do

you have a henceforth? Yes, the Christian is waiting--henceforth there is laid up for me.

6/ Now notice, vs. 18--the glory which shall be revealed in us. Here is a subject that is beautiful to study. The Bible speaks of uncreated and created glory. 

I Corinthians 15: 41 There 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.

Here Paul is talking about the universe, and he says there is one glory in the sun, another glory in the moon, another glory in the stars. One star is different from another star in glory. They all have glory and since the universe shall be done away with--it is not--therefore, a lasting glory. 

II Peter 3: 10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.

So, this glory is not the glory that we are going to share.

7/ Notice, I Corinthians 15: 43 It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power:

The resurrection body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption--it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory, it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. 

Here we have three contrasts and these contrasts describe the condition of the body. First when it is buried, secondly, when it is raised. First of all, we are buried in corruption, we are raised in incorruption. The corruption is very evident then we bury a dead body. That body decays. Many ministers say, dust thou art to dust returneth. Perhaps we might just take a second, and go to John 11: 39 where Martha is before her brother’s tomb, and she says, Lord, by this time he stinketh. 

Incorruption is the opposite of corruption or decay. It is easy to say this--but it is impossible to really understand it as long as we are in this world, for only decay and corruption is before us. Incorruption is a timeless state, perfect, constant, changeless.

8/ Then it says the dead body is buried in dishonor, it is raised in glory. We certainly try to honor the dead when we bury them. By clothing them in the best that we can give them, giving them a fine casket, flowers, by going to the viewing of the body, and then to the funeral service, and all of this is well. But yet, the body itself is enveloped in dishonor. We soon hurry from its sight, for in a little while it will decompose, and it would cause us to shrink from it in horror. But the body we are going to receive at the resurrection will appear in glory. Actually, what it is teaching here--the body itself is made glorious. This is part of the glory we are going to share. This is the same time that is talked about in Romans 8--our bodies will be glorious. 

What will this be like? Let’s just take a few moments and see the Mount of Transfiguration. Matthew 17: 1, 2 And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart, 2 And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light.

It said, His face--humanity--did shine as the sun, and His raiment was white as the light. Our bodies will be like the body of the Lord Jesus Christ, as we have in Philippians 3: 21 Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby his is able even to subdue all things unto himself. 

If you are saved you can wait for this because your body will be glorious. Think of all we try to do for the body today. But one day the body itself will be glorious. Just the other day I read an article about a movie actress--it was in the Altoona Mirror in that magazine section on Saturday nights. And she had once been a beautiful woman, but now she was old and not so beautiful, but what we have, we will never lose--it will be ours for eternity. I can’t possibly describe it to you, but this is what we will possess. Certainly, it is worth waiting for.

9/ Then the dead body is buried in weakness. All the strength is gone. Not enough strength is left to draw even one breath---it hasn’t even the strength to resist decay. Helpless lies the dead body, prey to all of nature’s elements. But at the time of the resurrection, the identical body appears in power.

10/ Now let us understand something about this glory. 

John 17: 5 And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was. 

Jesus Christ here in His high-priestly prayer, prayed that the Father in eternity past, before He became a Man and laid aside this glory. This is uncreated glory. This is glory that is eternal. It always existed--just as God has always existed, this glory has always existed, and He prayed that the Father would give it back to Him, and, of course, this glory was given back to Him.

11/ But when He walked upon this earth, He did not have this glory. 

Mark 6: 1 – 3 And he went out from thence, and came into his own country; and his disciples follow him. 2 And when the Sabbath day was come, he began to teach in the synagogue: and many hearing him were astonished, saying, From whence hath this man these things? And what wisdom is this which is given unto him, that even such mighty works are wrought by his hands? 3 Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joses, and of Juda, and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us? And they were offended at him. 

When He walked upon this earth, He looked just like an ordinary man, He was just a carpenter. He didn’t have any glory about Him in that day. He performed wonderful works, but He was not a glorious Person. Just so with us at the present time. When we walk down the street, people don’t stand aside and say, there goes a child of God, there goes a glorious Person. Not at all, as a matter of fact, we are usually looked down upon by the men and women of this world.

12/ Colossians 3: 4 Here we read, When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in glory. We’ll be sharing in His glory, and this is uncreated glory--it is glory that once we have it will remain our possession.

13/ You will notice two doctrines here actually in Colossians 3: 4 For it says, When Christ, who is our life shall appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in glory. 

The word, appear, in the Greek is the word, manifested, also the word, revelation, or revealed. So, the doctrine of manifestation and the doctrine of glorification happen at the same time. When we are manifested, we shall be glorified.

AMEN

REF: 03/14/1965 / 290 – HOW WILL YOU LOOK IN THE FUTURE? / 2020