Raised In Glory - David Roper Years ago, I heard a story about a man looking for flowers for spring planting. At the greenhouse he came across a golden chrysanthemum, bursting with blooms. To his surprise, it was hidden in a corner and growing in an old, dented rusty bucket. “If this were my flower,” he said to himself, “I would place it in a beautiful pot and display it proudly! Why is it confined in this old bucket and hidden away in this concealed place?” When he remarked to the owner about the flower, she explained, “Oh, I started the plant in that old bucket until it blossomed. But it’s just for a short time. Soon I’ll transplant it to my garden.” The man laughed, and imagined such a scene in heaven. “There’s a beautiful one,” God will say, “the product of My lovingkindness and grace. Now it’s confined in a broken body and in obscurity, but soon, in My garden, how tall and lovely this soul will stand!” So we may now be “planted” in bent and battered containers for a short time while our Lord beautifies our souls. But, “as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man” (1 Cor. 15:49). Then He will display His handiwork and our loveliness for all to see. This is our assurance and delight. In bodies that will ne’er grow old, We’ll reign with Him through years untold; O precious thought: We all shall be With Christ through all eternity. —Watson While God is preparing a place for us, He is preparing us for that place. "So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. The first man was of the dust of the earth; the second man is of heaven. As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the heavenly man, so also are those who are of heaven. And just as we have borne the image of the earthly man, so shall we bear the image of the heavenly man." 1 Corinthians 15:42-49
Posted on: Sun, 01 Sep 2013 02:09:55 +0000
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