{"id":7030,"date":"2020-10-02T18:51:50","date_gmt":"2020-10-02T22:51:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/christskingdom.org\/staging\/8402\/?p=7030"},"modified":"2026-06-04T19:50:48","modified_gmt":"2026-06-04T23:50:48","slug":"raptured-redeemed-revealed-and-a-restored-earth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/christskingdom.org\/staging\/8402\/raptured-redeemed-revealed-and-a-restored-earth\/","title":{"rendered":"Raptured, Redeemed, Revealed – And a Restored Earth (190)"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t

Raptured, Redeemed, Revealed - And a Restored Earth<\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n

By Steven J. Hogan<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

~ A Saturday Morning Post #190 ~

<\/em>What a magnificent and glorious salvation we have been given! And God gets all the glory! As Christians, we have been saved from the penalty of sin, are now being saved from the power of sin, and will soon be saved from the presence of sin. The book of Romans, more than any other epistle, best describes our salvation. From justification to sanctification to glorification, it gives us the big picture, telling us how we were saved by Christ, are to grow by the Spirit, and will be glorified by God. As always, our focus in this blog post is the future, and it\u2019s Rom. 8:17-30 that tells us what God has in store for us, and what we should be eagerly waiting for.

<\/p>\n

\n

From Romans 8:14-17 we learn we are children of God, that we are His spiritual sons and daughters, that we have been adopted into His family. That we can have an intimate relationship with God, our heavenly Father, is a most wonderful blessing and experience. Now we are at the very beginning of this relationship, this eternal life, but it will continue on forever, and only get better and better and better.

<\/p>\n\n

Romans 8:23 says, \u201chaving the first fruits of the Spirit\u2026 waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.\u201d <\/em>Eph. 1:14 tells us, \u201cyou were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God\u2019s own possession.\u201d<\/em> 2 Cor. 5:5 says something similar, that \u201cHe who prepared us for this very purpose <\/em>(redemption) is God, who gave to us the Spirit as a pledge.\u201d <\/em>Your Christian life has just begun, and you are not yet fully saved, for what God planned for you back in eternity past has not yet been realized. But God gave you the Holy Spirit as a pledge, as a guarantee that your salvation will be completed. The apostle John says it this way, \u201cnow we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we shall be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is.\u201d <\/em>1 John 3:2\u00a0

<\/p>\n\n

Did you get that? \u201cIt has not appeared as yet what we shall be.\u201d <\/em>The world doesn\u2019t know who we are, and even we don\u2019t have a full grasp of who we are, and will be. As Christians, we are still encased in this sin-prone body. Rom. 7:14-15 tells us, \u201cI am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin\u2026 I am not doing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate.\u201d <\/em>Rom. 8:23 says, \u201cEven we ourselves groan inwardly.\u201d<\/em> 2 Cor. 5:4 reminds us, \u201cFor indeed, while we are in this tent, we groan, being burdened\u2026\u201d<\/em> We still sin, cry, get sad, get tired, suffer, get sick, feel pain, and still grow old – that is, we are not yet acting like perfect children of God., like we were created and saved to be.\u00a0

<\/p>\n\n

Yes, the Holy Spirit lives in us, and because of Him we give off some spiritual light. There\u2019s a little truth and holiness in us, and we do bear some fruit, like love, joy, peace, patience, etc. At the present time, we do have a little of God\u2019s glory in us, for \u201cwe all, with unveiled face, beholding in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image, from glory to glory\u201d<\/em> (2 Cor. 3:18). Be encouraged, for if you are a true Christian, you are indeed growing, and going \u201cfrom glory to glory.\u201d

<\/em><\/p>\n\n

A Christian is now a little bit like Christ, but soon will be a lot like Christ, for \u201cwhen He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is\u201d <\/em>(1 John 3:2). That \u201cwe will be like Him\u201d<\/em> when we see Him is truly miraculous and most encouraging. What this means is that when Christ comes back, all Christians still on earth \u201cwill see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory\u201d<\/em> (Luke 21:27). Then we will be raptured and \u201cglorified with Him\u201d<\/em> (Rom. 8:17), be bodily \u201credeemed\u201d<\/em> (Rom. 8:23), experience \u201cfreedom\u201d <\/em>from sin (Rom. 8:21), and then be revealed as \u201csons of God\u201d<\/em> (Rom. 8:19). (Vines Dict. correctly defines the redemption of our body as \u201cthe deliverance of the believer from the presence and power of sin, and of his body from bondage to corruption, at the coming of the Lord Jesus.\u201d<\/em>)

<\/p>\n\n

This is not just good news, this is great news, for when we see Jesus, our salvation will be complete, we will be perfect, and we will be with loved ones who \u201chave fallen asleep in Jesus\u201d<\/em> (1 Thess. 4:13-14)! It\u2019s not just the Christians on earth who will be glorified at Christ\u2019s coming, but all believers who have already died and gone on to heaven. \u201cThe Lord will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord, and so we will always be with the Lord.\u201d<\/em> 1 Thess. 4:16-17

<\/p>\n\n

This is our future, what will be taking place not long from now. God wants us to be \u201cwaiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body\u201d<\/em> (Rom. 8:23). Every Christian should be looking forward to this, expecting this, hoping for this to happen. \u201cIn hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.\u201d<\/em> Romans 8:24-25

<\/p>\n\n

But there\u2019s much more, \u201cfor the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God,\u201d <\/em>for then \u201cthe creation itself will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God\u201d<\/em> (Rom. 8:19, 21). It\u2019s not just man who has experienced huge consequences because of his sin, but an entire creation has been corrupted because of his sin (Gen. 3:17-19). Only when Christians are revealed as sons of God at the start of the next age will this creation be restored and then filled with the glory of the Lord (Col. 3:4). \u201c\u2026 that He may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you, whom heaven must receive until the period of the restoration of all things\u201d<\/em> (Acts 3:20-21). \u201cThe whole earth is full of His glory.\u201d <\/em>Isaiah 6:3

<\/p>\n\n

P.S. God has given us so much wonderful detail about our future, for He wants us to have hope and to be encouraged by what He has planned out for us. This article will really help you understand more what God has in store for you – “Being in Heaven With Jesus, and the Believers, and in a New Glorified Body.”<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t