To the angel, divine messenger of the church in Philadelphia write.These are the words of the Holy One, the True One. He who has the key to the house of David, He who opens, and no one will be able to shut. He who shuts, and no one opens.
I know your deeds. See, I have set before you an open door which no one is able to shut. For you have a little power and have kept My word and have not renounced or denied My name.
Take note. I will make those of the synagogue of Satan who say that they are Jews and are not but lie. I will make them come and bow down at your feet and make them know without any doubt that I have loved you. Because you have kept the word of My endurance, My command to persevere. I will keep you safe from the hour of trial. That hour which is about to come on the whole inhabited world. To test those who live on the earth.
I am coming quickly. Hold tight what you have so that no one will take your crown by leading you to renounce the faith. He who overcomes the world through believing that Jesus is the Son of God. I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God. He will most certainly never be put out of it. I will write on him the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God, the new Jerusalem which descends out of heaven from My God and My own new name.
He who has an ear. Let him hear and heed what the Spirit says to the churches. Revelation 3: 7-13
A cataclysmic earthquake struck Philadelphia in 17 AD. Although Rome ceased taxation for five years, no financial aid for rebuilding was provided.
This betrayal was compounded when Emperor Domitian ordered all vineyards, the backbone of Philadelphia’s economy, razed so they couldn’t compete with the Roman vineyards. Philadelphia’s prosperity would never return.
Initially, Christians were allowed to worship in the synagogue. However, when people began converting to Christianity because of the Good News. This privilege was revoked, and their names removed from the roll of attendees.
For the Christians in Philadelphia this was problematic. If your name was on the synagogue’s roll, you were exempted from declaring Cesar as Lord.
Like the gentiles of old, individuals today must continually decide who or what is worthy of their loving loyalty. For disciples of Christ this is a no brainer.
JESUS!
As Christ’s disciple you must never forget that you Gentiles used to be outsiders. You were called “uncircumcised heathens” by the Jews who were proud of their circumcision. Even though it affected only their bodies and not their hearts.
In those days you were living apart from Christ. You were excluded from citizenship among the people of Israel, and you did not know the covenant promises God had made to them. You lived in this world without God and without hope. But now you have been united with Christ Jesus. Once you were far away from God, but now you have been brought near to Him through the blood of Christ.
For Christ Himself has brought peace to us. He united Jews and Gentiles into one people when, in His own body on the cross, He broke down the wall of hostility that separated us. He did this by ending the system of law with its commandments and regulations. He made peace between Jews and Gentiles by creating in Himself one new people from the two groups. Together as one body, Christ reconciled both groups to God by means of His death on the cross, and our hostility toward each other was put to death. Ephesians 2:11-21
But Christ’s crucifixion isn’t the zenith of the Good News. There’s more, so much more— our victorious resurrection.
Now listen to this brothers and sisters. This present body is not able to inherit the kingdom of God any more than decay can inherit that which lasts forever. Stay close because I am going to tell you a mystery. Something you may have trouble understanding.
We will not all fall asleep in death, but we will all be transformed. It will all happen so fast, in a blink, a mere flutter of the eye. The last trumpet will call, and the dead will be raised from their graves with a body that does not, cannot decay. All of us will be changed! We’ll step out of our mortal clothes and slide into immortal bodies, replacing everything that is subject to death with eternal life. When we are all redressed with bodies that do not, cannot decay. When we put immortality over our mortal frames. Then it will be as Scripture says.
“Life everlasting has victoriously swallowed death. Hey, Death! What happened to your big win? Hey, Death! What happened to your sting?”
Sin came into this world, and death’s sting followed. Then sin took aim at the law and gained power over those who follow the law. Thank God then. For our Lord Jesus, the Anointed, the Liberating King who brought us victory over the grave.
My dear brothers and sisters, stay firmly planted. Be unshakable. Do many good works in the name of God, and know that all your labor is not for nothing when it is for God. 1 Corinthians 15:50-58
How will the dead be raised? What kind of bodies will they have? What a foolish question! When you put a seed into the ground it doesn’t grow into a plant unless it dies first. And what you put in the ground is not the plant that will grow but only a bare seed of wheat, or whatever you are planting. Then God gives it the new body He wants it to have. A different plant grows from each kind of seed. Similarly there are different kinds of flesh— one kind for humans, another for animals, another for birds and another for fish.
There are also bodies in the heavens and bodies on the earth. The glory of the heavenly bodies is different from the glory of the earthly bodies. The sun has one kind of glory. While the moon and stars each have another kind. Even the stars differ from each other in their glory.
It is the same way with the resurrection of the dead. Our earthly bodies are planted in the ground when we die, but they will be raised to live forever. Our bodies are buried in brokenness, but they will be raised in glory. They are buried in weakness, but they will be raised in strength. They are buried as natural human bodies, but they will be raised as spiritual bodies. For just as there are natural bodies, there are also spiritual bodies.
The Scriptures tell us, “The first man, Adam, became a living person.” But the last Adam— that is, Christ— is a life-giving Spirit. What comes first is the natural body. Then the spiritual body comes later. Adam, the first man, was made from the dust of the earth. While Christ, the second man, came from heaven. Earthly people are like the earthly man, and heavenly people are like the heavenly man. Just as we are now like the earthly man, we will someday be like the heavenly man. 1 Corinthians 15:35-49
Just imagine. No more…
Battling sin.
Attending funerals.
Scheduling medical appointments.
Succumbing to mental, physical or emotional pain.
Dreading growing old.
Yes, it is my resurrection— my eternal destination that is my hope on this side of eternity. My eager expectation and hope is that I will not be ashamed about anything, but that now as always, with all boldness, Christ will be highly honored in my body, whether by life or by death. Philippians 1:20
An indestructible hope that prevails no matter my circumstances because Papa is faithful. What was hidden for ages, generations and generations, is now being revealed to His holy ones. He decided to make known to them His blessing to the nations.The glorious riches of this mystery is the indwelling of the Anointed in you! The very hope of glory.
We are preaching Him, spreading the Word to all with equal amounts of wise warning and instruction. So that, at the final judgment, we will be able to present everyone to the Creator fully mature because of what Jesus the Anointed, our Liberating King, has done. Colossians 1:27-28
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