For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
This corruptible must be clothed with a body that cannot decay and this mortal with life that cannot die. The change comes in a moment at the last trumpet when Christ comes in glory as Lifegiver to raise the dead incorruptible and change the living. It is still future, not at death, for the dead sleep without awareness in the grave until called, then the righteous dead are raised in glorious immortality and the righteous living are instantly changed without seeing death and caught up together to meet the Lord. The change is of the body and not of the character, for all come forth as they went down, so moral fitness and cleansing from sin must be completed beforehand and putting on immortality is only the finishing touch upon the holy. Then death is swallowed up in victory, the bereaved are reunited to know one another again, and the changed saints are made fit to inherit the incorruptible kingdom, endure God's glory, and live forever.
Time and Occasion of Change
The change to incorruption and immortality comes at the last trumpet, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, when the dead are raised incorruptible and the living are changed from mortality to immortality. Perishable nature is then clothed with imperishability and dying nature with deathlessness, bringing to pass victory over death and the grave. The living faithful have no cause for fear at that instant change, but are to welcome bodies made like Christ's glorious body, trusting God as the eternal source of life. When Christ comes the righteous dead are raised at that trumpet and clothed with immortality to meet Him, and the conflict is ended for the overcomers who receive immortal glory.
The change comes at Christ's personal second coming and appearing, when He comes in glory as Lifegiver to bring deliverance and call the dead from their graves to immortal life. At that coming the righteous dead are raised incorruptible and the righteous living are changed at the same time, mortality and corruption giving way to immortal life. Together they meet the Lord in the air, and this change fits them to inherit God's everlasting kingdom, which mortal corruptible people cannot inherit in their present state. Living believers are represented by Elijah, who was translated without death, while Moses represents those raised from the dead, so that both groups were pictured in the future kingdom of glory.
Incorruption and immortality are put on at the future resurrection, not at death, for the righteous do not go to their reward at death but sleep until the trumpet of God sounds. The trumpet has not yet sounded, so the dead remain resting as sleeping dust in the grave without awareness, and to them time long or short is only a moment until the awakening. Then God awakens them, the Lifegiver calls them forth, conscious thought resumes where it ceased, and mortal corruptible nature is changed to glorious immortal life that dies no more. To treat the righteous as already enjoying immortal blessedness obscures the resurrection and weakens its place as the central Christian hope, since all present immortality is held only by faith in hope of that future change. At that raising death is swallowed up in victory, and those called from slumber triumph over death and the grave and enter everlasting life in God's kingdom.
Believers who anxiously waited for their Lord with fasting, watching, almost constant and solemn earnest prayer, full sacrifice and entire consecration expected the change to immortality at the time they looked for deliverance. With affections placed on heaven they tasted immortal deliverance in sweet anticipation, but the time passed while they remained upon the earth where the effects of the curse were still visible, and they were sadly disappointed.
The present trying, waiting, watching state is a dark night and the coming glory is the morning, which has two parts, first the dawn and second full daylight completed by the rising of the sun. The day of rest dawns at the voice of God when His light and glory rest upon His people, then they rise from glory to glory until Christ appears to complete the change by clothing them with immortality and giving eternal life. The saints are thus changed to immortality and then caught up together with Jesus, receiving harps and crowns and entering the City. This change comes before the thousand years in which Jesus and the saints sit together in judgment on the wicked dead before the City descends to the earth.
Raised Dead and Changed Living
The righteous dead who sleep in Jesus will be raised from their graves clothed with glorious immortality and incorruption, freed from death's dominion when the Lifegiver breaks the tomb's hold. At the resurrection the mortal and corruptible must be changed so the faithful can live forever with their Lord, with the corruptible clothed with incorruption to complete their preparation for eternal life. When Christ comes and the last trumpet sounds the righteous dead will be raised to meet their Lord, and this promise gives hope that loved ones who sleep among the dead will rise and be reunited with the living.
The righteous living will be changed instantly from mortal and corruptible to immortal and incorruptible and translated to heaven without seeing death. Their mortal bodies will be fashioned like Christ's most glorious body, and this change is no cause for fear but is to be welcomed in trust. Those who anxiously waited for their Lord with fasting, watching, almost constant and solemn earnest prayer, full sacrifice and entire consecration expected that change to immortality then, with affections placed on heaven and tasting immortal deliverance in sweet anticipation, but the time they looked for passed while they were still upon the earth where the effects of the curse remained visible, and they were sadly disappointed.
The resurrected saints and the changed living saints are caught up together to meet the Lord in the air, recognizing friends torn away by death, entering through the opened gates of the city of God with crowns and shouts of victory. When Jesus descends on the cloud at the sound of His silver trumpet He gazes on the graves of the sleeping saints and cries, Awake! awake! awake! ye that sleep in the dust, and arise, then there is a mighty earthquake, the graves open, and the dead come up clothed with immortality. In the same moment the living are changed and caught up together with them in the cloudy chariot and taken up to the Holy City, where mortality and corruption give way to immortal life and bring victory over death and the grave.
At deliverance a glorious light shines on the faithful and remains until Jesus is seen in the clouds, taking away weariness and marks of care and giving health and beauty, while the living are changed from glory to glory and the dead come forth crying victory, including the living 144,000. After the voice of God shakes heaven and earth and turns their captivity, the faithful, tried people are changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, from glory to glory, and put on immortality while that light and glory remains on them until Jesus is seen in the clouds of heaven. At the same time the graves are opened and the dead saints come forth clothed with immortality crying victory over death and the grave, and together with the living saints who were changed they are caught up to meet the Lord in the air with rich, musical shouts of glory and victory on every immortal, sanctified, holy tongue, while their enemies fall like dead men unable to endure the light shining on the delivered, holy ones. The voice of the Son of God calls forth the sleeping saints clothed with a glorious immortality, the living saints are changed in a moment, and both together are caught up into the cloudy chariot and carried upward to the holy city where Jesus opens the gates and leads them in.
Moses represents those who will be raised from the dead and Elijah represents living believers who will be changed instantly, so the transfiguration pictured both groups in the future kingdom of glory. At Christ's second coming living believers, represented by Elijah, will be changed instantly, with mortality clothed with immortality and corruption with incorruption, while Moses represents the righteous who will be raised from the dead. Those who are living on earth will be changed from mortal to immortal and taken to heaven without seeing death.
Identity between the mortal and immortal person lies in organization rather than requiring the same particles of matter, and the change transforms the body into Christ's glorious image without destroying personal identity and appearance, so saints remain recognizable and family ties are known. The mortal body is changed into an immortal one without requiring the same particles of matter to make up the raised person. Because Christ died and was raised, the redeemed will come forth from the tomb with mortality exchanged for immortality, transformed into Christ's glorious likeness while keeping faces recognizable, entering glorious companionship with heavenly angels, meeting their loved ones, so that every saint joined by family ties here will know each other there.
When mortals become immortal Jesus as the great Restorer makes whole those who through no sin of their own remain children in reason with dimmed minds and degenerate bodies, wiping away all sad physical and mental marks so a faithful mother meets her children again. In the morning of the resurrection those who died as children with dimmed minds and degenerate bodies from a father's drunkenness and intemperance, with deficiency of intellect through hereditary imbecility and degeneracy, who remain childlike in understanding yet cheerful and innocent as God's lambs, will be fully restored with all sad marks obliterated, given reason and wholeness and an inheritance among the saints in light. This future immortal life is assured to such innocent, submissive sufferers, including children like John and Mary, while those to whom God has given reason and intellectual advantage will lose it and have their light go out in darkness if they live in disobedience and transgression instead of loyally serving the Lord Jesus.
Nature of Immortal Bodies
This corruptible must be clothed with incorruption and this mortal with immortality, when perishable nature is clothed with imperishability and dying nature with deathlessness at the last trumpet in a moment, bringing to pass victory over death and the grave. A believer who dies rests as precious sleeping dust until the trump of God wakes her to live again, when decay is exchanged for a body that cannot decay and death for life that cannot die.
The vile, mortal, corruptible, disease-prone body will be changed in an instant at Christ's coming and fashioned like Christ's most glorious body, and this is the hope of His return to be welcomed without fear. The change is of corruptible bodies, not a purification and refining of character at His coming, for earth is the quarry and workshop where all hewing, fitting, polishing and refining must be done during probation, and only a symmetrical and perfect character fitted beforehand entitles men to the finishing touch of immortality, as stones for Solomon's temple were fitted in advance and came together without ax or hammer. When He comes some will have died and those still living will be changed from mortal to immortal and glorified, and those who have purified their souls by obeying the truth and believed in Jesus will receive a higher nature. Mortal humans become immortal and corruptible become incorruptible only at His coming with a great sound of a trumpet to call the dead from their graves and change the vile body to be like His glorious body, and the faithful dead come forth clothed with immortal splendor for reunion with loved ones.
The final change comes when Jesus is seen in the clouds of heaven after captivity is turned, when a glorious light shines upon the faithful tried people and remains until He is seen, taking away all weariness and marks of care and giving health and beauty to every face. The living saints are changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, from glory to glory and put on immortality while that light remains, and at the same time the graves are opened and the dead saints come forth clothed with immortality crying victory over death and the grave. Together the risen and the changed living are caught up to meet the Lord in the air with rich, musical shouts of glory and victory on every immortal, sanctified, holy tongue, while enemies fall unable to endure the light on the delivered holy ones. God's faithful ones are thus called forth from death to health and immortality for reunion with loved ones, when mortal disease-prone bodies are glorified and the dead come forth in immortal splendor.
The risen will never again know pain, sorrow or death when the Lifegiver raises the dead immortal and breaks the fetters of the tomb to release the captive from his dusty bed deathless. Death is only a short rest, so even lingering distressing sickness can be borne with cheerfulness and radiant joy in communion with the Redeemer in view of that changed undying life. Freed from mortality and made immortal, the redeemed have immortal minds and bodies to explore the universe without weariness, continually gaining knowledge and developing powers. They receive immortal youth and vigor, with glorious rest from earthly toil and conflict after fighting the good fight of faith against sin and Satan, yet with active life and not eternal idleness.
Holy flesh is received only at Christ's coming with the trumpet call, not in this life, for while sin is forgiven now its results are not wholly removed now. When He comes with a great sound of a trumpet and calls the dead from their prison house, He changes the vile body to be like His glorious body. Those changed do not remain on earth but are taken to heaven, where Christ is admired in all who believe and sees the travail of His soul and is satisfied, and immortal beings break forth in triumphant song to the Lamb.
Rising from the grave to glorious immortality for those who sleep in Jesus shares Christ's victory over the grave, made possible because He Himself entered the tomb and broke its bonds and declared Himself the resurrection and the life so man can pass through the tomb and rise when the last trumpet sounds and the Lifegiver opens the graves. It is an inheritance purchased by Christ's blood, made possible by His death and resurrection, through which by a life of obedience fallen humanity may overcome sin and receive the position lost through disobedience. Through His power it is man's privilege by faith to be made immortal, lifted from depravity, purified, made more precious than the golden wedge of Ophir, made a companion of angels in glory, and enabled to reflect the image of Jesus shining in the bright splendor of the eternal throne.
Sleep of Dead Until Resurrection
Incorruption and immortality are put on at the resurrection, not at death, when the dead are raised incorruptible and mortal life is changed to glorious immortality. Until God’s trumpet sounds the dead sleep in the grave without awareness, the whole person resting while knowing no trouble. When the Lifegiver awakens them and breaks the tomb’s hold to release the captives, conscious thought resumes where it ceased at death. Then death is swallowed up in victory and those called from slumber triumph over death and the grave. This certainty comforts the living that the faithful dead are safely sleeping and will be raised to deathless life.
The dead do not go to their reward at death nor enter eternal happiness or misery then, but rest as precious sleeping dust in the prison house of the tomb until the Lifegiver calls. At that day He raises them from the grave and clothes their mortal bodies with glorious immortal life in the first resurrection. This hope makes death a peaceful sleep rather than a dark uncertainty.
The grave is a place of still rest where the aching heart is stilled without suffering until the morning of the resurrection. Even a little child laid in the cemetery sleeps there until Jesus comes to break the fetters of the tomb and call forth the mortal to exchange mortality for immortality. Believers who die remain as precious dust with no further meeting with loved ones until the trump of God sounds, when the dust is called forth to health and immortality and reunion takes place then. So a mother whose death is temporary rests in the grave and will be released and restored to her children who prepare to meet her, and a daughter who died in hope also rests awaiting that day when the dead are brought forth immortal.
To the sleeping righteous, time long or short is only a moment, so death is only a short rest in the grave and those who die in faith are laid away for only a little while until called forth to glorious immortality. Sudden death that spares a believer a dreaded lingering disease is mercy. Aged believers whose work and toil of life has ended and who go down to the grave are ripening for the glorious resurrection morning when mortality is swallowed up of life and the Lifegiver breaks the fetters of the tomb to bring them from their dusty bed deathless to undying life that never more knows pain, sorrow, or death. Knowing this future sustains amid sickness, disappointment, poverty, reproach and distress of breath, so that even lingering, distressing sickness can be borne with cheerfulness, communion with the Redeemer with countenance radiant with joy, and contemplation of the future with heavenly satisfaction.
Bodily Change Not Character
The change to be put on is of the body, not of the character, for the mortal body becomes immortal and the corruptible incorruptible while the character taken into the grave is the character with which one rises. People come up from the grave just as they go down into it, with the same disposition they manifested in the home and in society, for at His coming Jesus does not change the character. God gives a lifetime to form character, and every defect must be overcome before Christ comes, so that a character long forming that remains defective in several points or even in one loses heaven. If a defect is barely overcome at the last extremity, the coming only changes the body, and failure through negligence or any other cause in this life is felt through all eternity. The present probationary life is therefore the time to cleanse character and make robes white in the blood of the Lamb, to repent of defects and overcome them through grace, and to form a symmetrical character fitted for the mansions above, since to be a saint in heaven one must first be a saint on earth.
Putting on immortality is the finishing touch given at Christ's appearing, not a cleansing from sin, a removal of defects of character, or a cure of infirmities of temper and disposition. It is not a moral change, since moral fitness for the next life is gained in this life, but the exchange of the corruptible body for an incorruptible one, fashioned like Christ's most glorious body. All hewing, fitting, polishing, refining, elevating, and removal of imperfection and sin must be accomplished beforehand during human probation, for earth is the quarry and workshop where men are fitted and refined for the courts of heaven and for the society of heavenly angels. As the stones for Solomon's temple were fitted in advance and came together in the wall without ax or hammer, so each one, whether resurrected or alive at His coming, must be fitted beforehand to take his proper place in the temple of God when caught up together to meet the Lord in the air. Only a symmetrical and perfect character will in that day entitle men to the finishing touch of immortality.
Only those who have preserved their bodies holy and their spirits pure in sanctification and honor, standing unstained amid surrounding corruption and defilement, receive that finishing touch and are prepared to see the King in His beauty. Those who are holy will be holy still, but those who are unjust, unsanctified, and filthy will remain so forever, with no further work done for them. Preparation must therefore be made now by standing on a higher plane of action, strengthening God-given capabilities instead of enervating, confusing, and enfeebling the mind, and growing in grace and in knowledge of the reasons of faith, which requires a wise choice of reading. That present work in these last days is to preserve the body holy and the spirit pure amid a world opposed to righteousness and purity of character and growth in grace and full of defilement, corruption, deformity, and sin, to be undertaken at once, heartily, earnestly, and understandingly, with no selfishness influencing it. It includes Christian temperance and purity of soul, body, and spirit, with hygienic reform replacing harmful habits, with the Spirit of God in perfect control influencing every action, with a right hold on Heaven and power from above, and with sanctification through truth.
Candidates for immortality must lay hold upon it through Christ Jesus by becoming partakers of the divine nature, which was made possible because Christ came clothed in humanity as substitute and surety and in His own life met and discomfited the powers of darkness. It is given only to those who walk with the Lord Jesus in this life in continual communion, with earth's power over mind and character broken and the eyes fixed on unseen heavenly things, bringing the abiding presence of Christ and the manifest working of the Holy Spirit now with power to withstand temptation. It is received by those who follow Christ earnestly and faithfully, finding in Him present help in every time of need as guide to the higher and better life, cultivating moral and intellectual powers, diligently studying the Word that points out salvation through Christ, and gaining salvation by obedience to that Word and faith in His redeeming grace. Through faith a person may thus become immortal by Christ's power, coming into a life that runs parallel with the life of Jehovah and lasts as long as God lives, elevated, ennobled, and sanctified, holding converse with God with the moral image of God developed in him, to be a child of God and heir of God and joint heir with Christ. In everything such candidates represent the advantages of association with the Lord through His revealed truth and through sanctification of the Holy Spirit.
Readiness is gained by daily experience in the things of God, daily self-denial, cheerfully bearing the cross and following Christ, and advancing daily in the divine life toward perfection, for conversion is experienced every day and is not completed until perfection of Christian character is attained. Until then the faithful remain in this mortal state with the effects of the curse around them, first proved, purified, made white, and tried, passing through affliction and the fires and perils of the last days that remove impurities from character. Those who have an experience for themselves founded in God will stand in that trial, be purified and not consumed, and then be made immortal to endure to drink in the light of His countenance and ever feast upon His glory. Until mortality is swallowed up by immortality, repentance must be a daily, continuous exercise, with humiliation and sorrow of soul as daily meat and drink, because imperfections and failures are still carried. Full comprehension of experiences now very mysterious waits until this mortal puts on immortality, and some will never be fully comprehended in this life, so until then faith must pierce the cloud to reach the light beyond.
At that change from mortality to immortality the words and deeds of goodness of God's chosen ones will be made manifest and preserved through the eternal ages. Love, courtesy, amiability, and self-sacrifice are never lost, and no act of unselfish service, however small or simple, is ever lost. Through the merits of Christ's imputed righteousness the fragrance of such words and deeds is forever preserved, appearing as witnesses to approve at the great day of final retribution and reward.
Victory Comfort and Reunion
The putting on of incorruption and immortality brings death's defeat to pass at the last trumpet, when in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, the dead are raised incorruptible and the living are changed, perishable nature clothed with imperishability and dying nature clothed with deathlessness. Incorruption and immortality are put on at the resurrection in the future, not at death, for the righteous do not go to their reward at death but sleep without awareness until God's trumpet sounds, time long or short being only a moment to them, and when awakened their conscious thought resumes where it ceased. Then death is swallowed up in victory, and those called from their slumber triumph over death and the grave. At that deliverance, when Jesus is seen in the clouds of heaven, glorious light shines upon the faithful tried people and remains upon them, taking away all weariness and marks of care and giving health and beauty in every face, while the living saints are changed from glory to glory and the graves are opened and the dead saints come forth clothed with immortality crying victory over death and the grave. The risen saints join the changed living saints and together they are caught up to meet the Lord in the air with rich, musical shouts of glory and victory on every immortal tongue, while their enemies fall like dead men unable to endure the light shining on the delivered, holy ones.
The promise is the hope of the bereaved, that the righteous dead will rise from the grave and receive glorious, immortal life when the Lifegiver breaks the tomb's hold and ends death's dominion at His appearing. Loved ones who sleep among the dead, sealed in Jesus and freed from temptations and trials to come, will live again, be freed from the tomb, be called forth from death to health and immortality, and be reunited with the living. On the resurrection morning Brother S. will rise from death immortal. Because Christ died and was raised, the redeemed will come forth with mortality exchanged for immortality, transformed into Christ's glorious image without destroying personal identity and appearance, so the saints remain recognizable, enter glorious companionship with heavenly angels, meet their loved ones, and every saint joined by family ties here will know each other there, when the veil hung between mortality and immortality is rent away, the Bible is understood in a higher, broader, clearer sense, and the redeemed see His face.
The verse means deliverance from this present body of suffering to receive a glorious immortality, a future change to long for while enduring sickness, weakness and distress of breath and poor health. That raising of the righteous dead incorruptible and translating of the living righteous without seeing death at the second coming is certain because Christ is the resurrection and the life, the Author of the resurrection, in whom is life original, unborrowed, underived, and whose divinity is the believer's assurance of eternal life. The raising of Lazarus is a pledge and representation of that resurrection of all the righteous dead, accomplished by the Saviour's power who, though soon to die on the cross, stands as conqueror of the grave. Christ Himself entered the tomb and broke its bonds and declared Himself the resurrection and the life so that man can pass through the tomb and rise, and when the last trumpet sounds He as Lifegiver will open the graves and those fallen asleep in Him will come forth to glorious immortality with resurrection life. He stands with the keys of death and with right and power to give eternal life and to raise His saints and clothe them with immortality, giving everlasting victory over death and the grave, and therefore He alone can rightly estimate souls and keep those entrusted to Him now against that day, delivering them in perplexity and giving peace and rest to all who come to Him wearing His yoke and learning meekness and lowliness, so no man is to interpose himself to condemn and judge His blood-bought heritage.
Kingdom Glory and Eternal Reward
The putting on of incorruption and immortality fits the righteous to inherit the everlasting kingdom of God. In the present mortal and corruptible state flesh cannot inherit that incorruptible kingdom. That fitness is given at Christ's personal coming, when the dead are raised incorruptible and the living are changed, and those who were heirs then enter into possession.
Only after mortality is changed to immortality can God's children endure the undimmed glory of God and see Christ as He is. In mortal flesh even John fell as dead before that glory and could not endure the sight. After the change the faithful stand before the throne of God and of the Lamb, accepted in Christ with sins blotted out and transgressions removed. That seeing of the King in His beauty in glory and majesty belongs to those purified from cherished sin through Christ's sacrifice and obedience that redeems Adam's fall, on condition of receiving Him in full trust and self-surrender. Sharing His sufferings now leads to receiving the crown of life, entering through the opened gates of the city of God, sitting with Christ on His throne, and then casting every crown at the feet of Jesus in praise to the Redeemer.
When Jesus comes on the great white cloud as the Son of Man, His voice calls forth the sleeping saints clothed with glorious immortality, the living saints are changed in a moment, and both together are caught up in the cloudy chariot to the Holy City. Jesus opens the gates and leads them in, where they receive harps and crowns and enter the City. This change to immortality comes before the thousand years, during which Jesus and the saints sit together in judgment on the wicked dead before the City descends to the earth. It comes as the day of exile nearly ends, when all in the graves hear His voice and come forth, the saints to be glorified with immortal bodies with the gates of the city of God opened to them, and the rest to final destruction by fire. Through that millennium the changed saints reign as kings and priests with Jesus.
Because Christ died and rose, the redeemed come forth from the tomb with mortality exchanged for immortality, crowned with glory, honor and immortality, with joy beaming from every countenance. The change transforms the body into Christ's glorious image without destroying personal identity and appearance, so the saints remain recognizable and family ties are known in glorious companionship with angels and loved ones. Then the veil hung between mortality and immortality is rent away, the Bible is understood in a higher, broader, clearer sense, and the redeemed see His face. Thus those who love and fear God, supported through the dark valley of the shadow of death, rejoice in the unfading glories of the earth made new in an endless life of unalloyed happiness, which makes being among those raised to eternal life at the trumpet the decisive hope at death.
God's plan moves from type to antitype, from rulers that die to the King eternal, from glories that fade to glories everlasting and fadeless, and from mortal people who sin and perish to a people righteous in God and immortal forever. Those saved eternally escape the corruption in the world through lust and become heirs of immortality, a portion realized in faithful households where the father stands as priest with morning and evening prayer and Jesus abiding in the home.
Immortality is a gift of great value, bound up with the honor and glory awaiting the redeemed, made possible through God's Son and to be received as an eternal inheritance. Every reasoning son and daughter of Adam may come into its possession, a life running parallel with the life of Jehovah and lasting as long as God lives, reached by being elevated, ennobled, sanctified, holding converse with God, and having the moral image of God developed within. To possess it is to be a child of God and joint heir with Christ, a reality that fills the mind with awe and reverence and reveals the value God has placed upon man. The prospect of it shows the importance of turning from error to truth and living for Christ who died to ennoble humanity, gives the overcomer a royal diadem, lifts man from depravity, purifies him, makes him more precious than the golden wedge of Ophir, a companion of angels, and one who reflects the image of Jesus shining in the bright splendor of the eternal throne, with an abundant entrance into the kingdom for law-abiding citizens of the heavenly country whose names are written in heaven.
Immortality is still future, so believers remain mortal, militant and liable to err and must be tested to the last. Those who do not live until Jesus comes rest in hope of the resurrection morning when the mortal puts on immortality at the last day when Christ gathers His own who have lived in obedience and honored the Creator. That hope calls for working on until the Master bids lay off the armor, laboring without ceasing for souls in sin and danger of ruin, arranging affairs so that oneself and those connected with one can serve God fully without obscuring heavenly things, and developing spotless Christlike character in connection with God and strength from Jesus.
The future change from mortality to immortality stands in contrast with the present privilege of having Jesus abide in the heart by faith. Those expecting translation to heaven by receiving the finishing touch of immortality are to maintain the dignity proper to followers of Jesus Christ. They refuse degrading acts of voluntary humiliation and groveling bodily tests, since God requires elevating duties commending themselves to good judgment and conscience rather than degrading physical acts. Full comprehension of experiences now very mysterious waits until this mortal puts on immortality, when what is now seen only by faith piercing the cloud will be explained. Then the seal truth, risen in the east like the sun with healing beams and growing stronger and brighter until the redeemed are made immortal after entering the goodly land, keeps its course forever like a sun that never sets, lasting on when the Bible is not needed.
This corruptible must be clothed with a body that cannot decay and this mortal with life that cannot die.
The change comes in a moment at the last trumpet when Christ comes in glory as Lifegiver to raise the dead incorruptible and change the living.
It is still future, not at death, for the dead sleep without awareness in the grave until called, then the righteous dead are raised in glorious immortality and the righteous living are instantly changed without seeing death and caught up together to meet the Lord.
The change is of the body and not of the character, for all come forth as they went down, so moral fitness and cleansing from sin must be completed beforehand and putting on immortality is only the finishing touch upon the holy.
Then death is swallowed up in victory, the bereaved are reunited to know one another again, and the changed saints are made fit to inherit the incorruptible kingdom, endure God's glory, and live forever.
Time and Occasion of Change
The change to incorruption and immortality comes at the last trumpet, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, when the dead are raised incorruptible and the living are changed from mortality to immortality. Perishable nature is then clothed with imperishability and dying nature with deathlessness, bringing to pass victory over death and the grave. The living faithful have no cause for fear at that instant change, but are to welcome bodies made like Christ's glorious body, trusting God as the eternal source of life. When Christ comes the righteous dead are raised at that trumpet and clothed with immortality to meet Him, and the conflict is ended for the overcomers who receive immortal glory.
The change comes at Christ's personal second coming and appearing, when He comes in glory as Lifegiver to bring deliverance and call the dead from their graves to immortal life. At that coming the righteous dead are raised incorruptible and the righteous living are changed at the same time, mortality and corruption giving way to immortal life. Together they meet the Lord in the air, and this change fits them to inherit God's everlasting kingdom, which mortal corruptible people cannot inherit in their present state. Living believers are represented by Elijah, who was translated without death, while Moses represents those raised from the dead, so that both groups were pictured in the future kingdom of glory.
Incorruption and immortality are put on at the future resurrection, not at death, for the righteous do not go to their reward at death but sleep until the trumpet of God sounds. The trumpet has not yet sounded, so the dead remain resting as sleeping dust in the grave without awareness, and to them time long or short is only a moment until the awakening. Then God awakens them, the Lifegiver calls them forth, conscious thought resumes where it ceased, and mortal corruptible nature is changed to glorious immortal life that dies no more. To treat the righteous as already enjoying immortal blessedness obscures the resurrection and weakens its place as the central Christian hope, since all present immortality is held only by faith in hope of that future change. At that raising death is swallowed up in victory, and those called from slumber triumph over death and the grave and enter everlasting life in God's kingdom.
Believers who anxiously waited for their Lord with fasting, watching, almost constant and solemn earnest prayer, full sacrifice and entire consecration expected the change to immortality at the time they looked for deliverance. With affections placed on heaven they tasted immortal deliverance in sweet anticipation, but the time passed while they remained upon the earth where the effects of the curse were still visible, and they were sadly disappointed.
The present trying, waiting, watching state is a dark night and the coming glory is the morning, which has two parts, first the dawn and second full daylight completed by the rising of the sun. The day of rest dawns at the voice of God when His light and glory rest upon His people, then they rise from glory to glory until Christ appears to complete the change by clothing them with immortality and giving eternal life. The saints are thus changed to immortality and then caught up together with Jesus, receiving harps and crowns and entering the City. This change comes before the thousand years in which Jesus and the saints sit together in judgment on the wicked dead before the City descends to the earth.
Raised Dead and Changed Living
The righteous dead who sleep in Jesus will be raised from their graves clothed with glorious immortality and incorruption, freed from death's dominion when the Lifegiver breaks the tomb's hold. At the resurrection the mortal and corruptible must be changed so the faithful can live forever with their Lord, with the corruptible clothed with incorruption to complete their preparation for eternal life. When Christ comes and the last trumpet sounds the righteous dead will be raised to meet their Lord, and this promise gives hope that loved ones who sleep among the dead will rise and be reunited with the living.
The righteous living will be changed instantly from mortal and corruptible to immortal and incorruptible and translated to heaven without seeing death. Their mortal bodies will be fashioned like Christ's most glorious body, and this change is no cause for fear but is to be welcomed in trust. Those who anxiously waited for their Lord with fasting, watching, almost constant and solemn earnest prayer, full sacrifice and entire consecration expected that change to immortality then, with affections placed on heaven and tasting immortal deliverance in sweet anticipation, but the time they looked for passed while they were still upon the earth where the effects of the curse remained visible, and they were sadly disappointed.
The resurrected saints and the changed living saints are caught up together to meet the Lord in the air, recognizing friends torn away by death, entering through the opened gates of the city of God with crowns and shouts of victory. When Jesus descends on the cloud at the sound of His silver trumpet He gazes on the graves of the sleeping saints and cries, Awake! awake! awake! ye that sleep in the dust, and arise, then there is a mighty earthquake, the graves open, and the dead come up clothed with immortality. In the same moment the living are changed and caught up together with them in the cloudy chariot and taken up to the Holy City, where mortality and corruption give way to immortal life and bring victory over death and the grave.
At deliverance a glorious light shines on the faithful and remains until Jesus is seen in the clouds, taking away weariness and marks of care and giving health and beauty, while the living are changed from glory to glory and the dead come forth crying victory, including the living 144,000. After the voice of God shakes heaven and earth and turns their captivity, the faithful, tried people are changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, from glory to glory, and put on immortality while that light and glory remains on them until Jesus is seen in the clouds of heaven. At the same time the graves are opened and the dead saints come forth clothed with immortality crying victory over death and the grave, and together with the living saints who were changed they are caught up to meet the Lord in the air with rich, musical shouts of glory and victory on every immortal, sanctified, holy tongue, while their enemies fall like dead men unable to endure the light shining on the delivered, holy ones. The voice of the Son of God calls forth the sleeping saints clothed with a glorious immortality, the living saints are changed in a moment, and both together are caught up into the cloudy chariot and carried upward to the holy city where Jesus opens the gates and leads them in.
Moses represents those who will be raised from the dead and Elijah represents living believers who will be changed instantly, so the transfiguration pictured both groups in the future kingdom of glory. At Christ's second coming living believers, represented by Elijah, will be changed instantly, with mortality clothed with immortality and corruption with incorruption, while Moses represents the righteous who will be raised from the dead. Those who are living on earth will be changed from mortal to immortal and taken to heaven without seeing death.
Identity between the mortal and immortal person lies in organization rather than requiring the same particles of matter, and the change transforms the body into Christ's glorious image without destroying personal identity and appearance, so saints remain recognizable and family ties are known. The mortal body is changed into an immortal one without requiring the same particles of matter to make up the raised person. Because Christ died and was raised, the redeemed will come forth from the tomb with mortality exchanged for immortality, transformed into Christ's glorious likeness while keeping faces recognizable, entering glorious companionship with heavenly angels, meeting their loved ones, so that every saint joined by family ties here will know each other there.
When mortals become immortal Jesus as the great Restorer makes whole those who through no sin of their own remain children in reason with dimmed minds and degenerate bodies, wiping away all sad physical and mental marks so a faithful mother meets her children again. In the morning of the resurrection those who died as children with dimmed minds and degenerate bodies from a father's drunkenness and intemperance, with deficiency of intellect through hereditary imbecility and degeneracy, who remain childlike in understanding yet cheerful and innocent as God's lambs, will be fully restored with all sad marks obliterated, given reason and wholeness and an inheritance among the saints in light. This future immortal life is assured to such innocent, submissive sufferers, including children like John and Mary, while those to whom God has given reason and intellectual advantage will lose it and have their light go out in darkness if they live in disobedience and transgression instead of loyally serving the Lord Jesus.
Nature of Immortal Bodies
This corruptible must be clothed with incorruption and this mortal with immortality, when perishable nature is clothed with imperishability and dying nature with deathlessness at the last trumpet in a moment, bringing to pass victory over death and the grave. A believer who dies rests as precious sleeping dust until the trump of God wakes her to live again, when decay is exchanged for a body that cannot decay and death for life that cannot die.
The vile, mortal, corruptible, disease-prone body will be changed in an instant at Christ's coming and fashioned like Christ's most glorious body, and this is the hope of His return to be welcomed without fear. The change is of corruptible bodies, not a purification and refining of character at His coming, for earth is the quarry and workshop where all hewing, fitting, polishing and refining must be done during probation, and only a symmetrical and perfect character fitted beforehand entitles men to the finishing touch of immortality, as stones for Solomon's temple were fitted in advance and came together without ax or hammer. When He comes some will have died and those still living will be changed from mortal to immortal and glorified, and those who have purified their souls by obeying the truth and believed in Jesus will receive a higher nature. Mortal humans become immortal and corruptible become incorruptible only at His coming with a great sound of a trumpet to call the dead from their graves and change the vile body to be like His glorious body, and the faithful dead come forth clothed with immortal splendor for reunion with loved ones.
The final change comes when Jesus is seen in the clouds of heaven after captivity is turned, when a glorious light shines upon the faithful tried people and remains until He is seen, taking away all weariness and marks of care and giving health and beauty to every face. The living saints are changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, from glory to glory and put on immortality while that light remains, and at the same time the graves are opened and the dead saints come forth clothed with immortality crying victory over death and the grave. Together the risen and the changed living are caught up to meet the Lord in the air with rich, musical shouts of glory and victory on every immortal, sanctified, holy tongue, while enemies fall unable to endure the light on the delivered holy ones. God's faithful ones are thus called forth from death to health and immortality for reunion with loved ones, when mortal disease-prone bodies are glorified and the dead come forth in immortal splendor.
The risen will never again know pain, sorrow or death when the Lifegiver raises the dead immortal and breaks the fetters of the tomb to release the captive from his dusty bed deathless. Death is only a short rest, so even lingering distressing sickness can be borne with cheerfulness and radiant joy in communion with the Redeemer in view of that changed undying life. Freed from mortality and made immortal, the redeemed have immortal minds and bodies to explore the universe without weariness, continually gaining knowledge and developing powers. They receive immortal youth and vigor, with glorious rest from earthly toil and conflict after fighting the good fight of faith against sin and Satan, yet with active life and not eternal idleness.
Holy flesh is received only at Christ's coming with the trumpet call, not in this life, for while sin is forgiven now its results are not wholly removed now. When He comes with a great sound of a trumpet and calls the dead from their prison house, He changes the vile body to be like His glorious body. Those changed do not remain on earth but are taken to heaven, where Christ is admired in all who believe and sees the travail of His soul and is satisfied, and immortal beings break forth in triumphant song to the Lamb.
Rising from the grave to glorious immortality for those who sleep in Jesus shares Christ's victory over the grave, made possible because He Himself entered the tomb and broke its bonds and declared Himself the resurrection and the life so man can pass through the tomb and rise when the last trumpet sounds and the Lifegiver opens the graves. It is an inheritance purchased by Christ's blood, made possible by His death and resurrection, through which by a life of obedience fallen humanity may overcome sin and receive the position lost through disobedience. Through His power it is man's privilege by faith to be made immortal, lifted from depravity, purified, made more precious than the golden wedge of Ophir, made a companion of angels in glory, and enabled to reflect the image of Jesus shining in the bright splendor of the eternal throne.
Sleep of Dead Until Resurrection
Incorruption and immortality are put on at the resurrection, not at death, when the dead are raised incorruptible and mortal life is changed to glorious immortality. Until God’s trumpet sounds the dead sleep in the grave without awareness, the whole person resting while knowing no trouble. When the Lifegiver awakens them and breaks the tomb’s hold to release the captives, conscious thought resumes where it ceased at death. Then death is swallowed up in victory and those called from slumber triumph over death and the grave. This certainty comforts the living that the faithful dead are safely sleeping and will be raised to deathless life.
The dead do not go to their reward at death nor enter eternal happiness or misery then, but rest as precious sleeping dust in the prison house of the tomb until the Lifegiver calls. At that day He raises them from the grave and clothes their mortal bodies with glorious immortal life in the first resurrection. This hope makes death a peaceful sleep rather than a dark uncertainty.
The grave is a place of still rest where the aching heart is stilled without suffering until the morning of the resurrection. Even a little child laid in the cemetery sleeps there until Jesus comes to break the fetters of the tomb and call forth the mortal to exchange mortality for immortality. Believers who die remain as precious dust with no further meeting with loved ones until the trump of God sounds, when the dust is called forth to health and immortality and reunion takes place then. So a mother whose death is temporary rests in the grave and will be released and restored to her children who prepare to meet her, and a daughter who died in hope also rests awaiting that day when the dead are brought forth immortal.
To the sleeping righteous, time long or short is only a moment, so death is only a short rest in the grave and those who die in faith are laid away for only a little while until called forth to glorious immortality. Sudden death that spares a believer a dreaded lingering disease is mercy. Aged believers whose work and toil of life has ended and who go down to the grave are ripening for the glorious resurrection morning when mortality is swallowed up of life and the Lifegiver breaks the fetters of the tomb to bring them from their dusty bed deathless to undying life that never more knows pain, sorrow, or death. Knowing this future sustains amid sickness, disappointment, poverty, reproach and distress of breath, so that even lingering, distressing sickness can be borne with cheerfulness, communion with the Redeemer with countenance radiant with joy, and contemplation of the future with heavenly satisfaction.
Bodily Change Not Character
The change to be put on is of the body, not of the character, for the mortal body becomes immortal and the corruptible incorruptible while the character taken into the grave is the character with which one rises. People come up from the grave just as they go down into it, with the same disposition they manifested in the home and in society, for at His coming Jesus does not change the character. God gives a lifetime to form character, and every defect must be overcome before Christ comes, so that a character long forming that remains defective in several points or even in one loses heaven. If a defect is barely overcome at the last extremity, the coming only changes the body, and failure through negligence or any other cause in this life is felt through all eternity. The present probationary life is therefore the time to cleanse character and make robes white in the blood of the Lamb, to repent of defects and overcome them through grace, and to form a symmetrical character fitted for the mansions above, since to be a saint in heaven one must first be a saint on earth.
Putting on immortality is the finishing touch given at Christ's appearing, not a cleansing from sin, a removal of defects of character, or a cure of infirmities of temper and disposition. It is not a moral change, since moral fitness for the next life is gained in this life, but the exchange of the corruptible body for an incorruptible one, fashioned like Christ's most glorious body. All hewing, fitting, polishing, refining, elevating, and removal of imperfection and sin must be accomplished beforehand during human probation, for earth is the quarry and workshop where men are fitted and refined for the courts of heaven and for the society of heavenly angels. As the stones for Solomon's temple were fitted in advance and came together in the wall without ax or hammer, so each one, whether resurrected or alive at His coming, must be fitted beforehand to take his proper place in the temple of God when caught up together to meet the Lord in the air. Only a symmetrical and perfect character will in that day entitle men to the finishing touch of immortality.
Only those who have preserved their bodies holy and their spirits pure in sanctification and honor, standing unstained amid surrounding corruption and defilement, receive that finishing touch and are prepared to see the King in His beauty. Those who are holy will be holy still, but those who are unjust, unsanctified, and filthy will remain so forever, with no further work done for them. Preparation must therefore be made now by standing on a higher plane of action, strengthening God-given capabilities instead of enervating, confusing, and enfeebling the mind, and growing in grace and in knowledge of the reasons of faith, which requires a wise choice of reading. That present work in these last days is to preserve the body holy and the spirit pure amid a world opposed to righteousness and purity of character and growth in grace and full of defilement, corruption, deformity, and sin, to be undertaken at once, heartily, earnestly, and understandingly, with no selfishness influencing it. It includes Christian temperance and purity of soul, body, and spirit, with hygienic reform replacing harmful habits, with the Spirit of God in perfect control influencing every action, with a right hold on Heaven and power from above, and with sanctification through truth.
Candidates for immortality must lay hold upon it through Christ Jesus by becoming partakers of the divine nature, which was made possible because Christ came clothed in humanity as substitute and surety and in His own life met and discomfited the powers of darkness. It is given only to those who walk with the Lord Jesus in this life in continual communion, with earth's power over mind and character broken and the eyes fixed on unseen heavenly things, bringing the abiding presence of Christ and the manifest working of the Holy Spirit now with power to withstand temptation. It is received by those who follow Christ earnestly and faithfully, finding in Him present help in every time of need as guide to the higher and better life, cultivating moral and intellectual powers, diligently studying the Word that points out salvation through Christ, and gaining salvation by obedience to that Word and faith in His redeeming grace. Through faith a person may thus become immortal by Christ's power, coming into a life that runs parallel with the life of Jehovah and lasts as long as God lives, elevated, ennobled, and sanctified, holding converse with God with the moral image of God developed in him, to be a child of God and heir of God and joint heir with Christ. In everything such candidates represent the advantages of association with the Lord through His revealed truth and through sanctification of the Holy Spirit.
Readiness is gained by daily experience in the things of God, daily self-denial, cheerfully bearing the cross and following Christ, and advancing daily in the divine life toward perfection, for conversion is experienced every day and is not completed until perfection of Christian character is attained. Until then the faithful remain in this mortal state with the effects of the curse around them, first proved, purified, made white, and tried, passing through affliction and the fires and perils of the last days that remove impurities from character. Those who have an experience for themselves founded in God will stand in that trial, be purified and not consumed, and then be made immortal to endure to drink in the light of His countenance and ever feast upon His glory. Until mortality is swallowed up by immortality, repentance must be a daily, continuous exercise, with humiliation and sorrow of soul as daily meat and drink, because imperfections and failures are still carried. Full comprehension of experiences now very mysterious waits until this mortal puts on immortality, and some will never be fully comprehended in this life, so until then faith must pierce the cloud to reach the light beyond.
At that change from mortality to immortality the words and deeds of goodness of God's chosen ones will be made manifest and preserved through the eternal ages. Love, courtesy, amiability, and self-sacrifice are never lost, and no act of unselfish service, however small or simple, is ever lost. Through the merits of Christ's imputed righteousness the fragrance of such words and deeds is forever preserved, appearing as witnesses to approve at the great day of final retribution and reward.
Victory Comfort and Reunion
The putting on of incorruption and immortality brings death's defeat to pass at the last trumpet, when in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, the dead are raised incorruptible and the living are changed, perishable nature clothed with imperishability and dying nature clothed with deathlessness. Incorruption and immortality are put on at the resurrection in the future, not at death, for the righteous do not go to their reward at death but sleep without awareness until God's trumpet sounds, time long or short being only a moment to them, and when awakened their conscious thought resumes where it ceased. Then death is swallowed up in victory, and those called from their slumber triumph over death and the grave. At that deliverance, when Jesus is seen in the clouds of heaven, glorious light shines upon the faithful tried people and remains upon them, taking away all weariness and marks of care and giving health and beauty in every face, while the living saints are changed from glory to glory and the graves are opened and the dead saints come forth clothed with immortality crying victory over death and the grave. The risen saints join the changed living saints and together they are caught up to meet the Lord in the air with rich, musical shouts of glory and victory on every immortal tongue, while their enemies fall like dead men unable to endure the light shining on the delivered, holy ones.
The promise is the hope of the bereaved, that the righteous dead will rise from the grave and receive glorious, immortal life when the Lifegiver breaks the tomb's hold and ends death's dominion at His appearing. Loved ones who sleep among the dead, sealed in Jesus and freed from temptations and trials to come, will live again, be freed from the tomb, be called forth from death to health and immortality, and be reunited with the living. On the resurrection morning Brother S. will rise from death immortal. Because Christ died and was raised, the redeemed will come forth with mortality exchanged for immortality, transformed into Christ's glorious image without destroying personal identity and appearance, so the saints remain recognizable, enter glorious companionship with heavenly angels, meet their loved ones, and every saint joined by family ties here will know each other there, when the veil hung between mortality and immortality is rent away, the Bible is understood in a higher, broader, clearer sense, and the redeemed see His face.
The verse means deliverance from this present body of suffering to receive a glorious immortality, a future change to long for while enduring sickness, weakness and distress of breath and poor health. That raising of the righteous dead incorruptible and translating of the living righteous without seeing death at the second coming is certain because Christ is the resurrection and the life, the Author of the resurrection, in whom is life original, unborrowed, underived, and whose divinity is the believer's assurance of eternal life. The raising of Lazarus is a pledge and representation of that resurrection of all the righteous dead, accomplished by the Saviour's power who, though soon to die on the cross, stands as conqueror of the grave. Christ Himself entered the tomb and broke its bonds and declared Himself the resurrection and the life so that man can pass through the tomb and rise, and when the last trumpet sounds He as Lifegiver will open the graves and those fallen asleep in Him will come forth to glorious immortality with resurrection life. He stands with the keys of death and with right and power to give eternal life and to raise His saints and clothe them with immortality, giving everlasting victory over death and the grave, and therefore He alone can rightly estimate souls and keep those entrusted to Him now against that day, delivering them in perplexity and giving peace and rest to all who come to Him wearing His yoke and learning meekness and lowliness, so no man is to interpose himself to condemn and judge His blood-bought heritage.
Kingdom Glory and Eternal Reward
The putting on of incorruption and immortality fits the righteous to inherit the everlasting kingdom of God. In the present mortal and corruptible state flesh cannot inherit that incorruptible kingdom. That fitness is given at Christ's personal coming, when the dead are raised incorruptible and the living are changed, and those who were heirs then enter into possession.
Only after mortality is changed to immortality can God's children endure the undimmed glory of God and see Christ as He is. In mortal flesh even John fell as dead before that glory and could not endure the sight. After the change the faithful stand before the throne of God and of the Lamb, accepted in Christ with sins blotted out and transgressions removed. That seeing of the King in His beauty in glory and majesty belongs to those purified from cherished sin through Christ's sacrifice and obedience that redeems Adam's fall, on condition of receiving Him in full trust and self-surrender. Sharing His sufferings now leads to receiving the crown of life, entering through the opened gates of the city of God, sitting with Christ on His throne, and then casting every crown at the feet of Jesus in praise to the Redeemer.
When Jesus comes on the great white cloud as the Son of Man, His voice calls forth the sleeping saints clothed with glorious immortality, the living saints are changed in a moment, and both together are caught up in the cloudy chariot to the Holy City. Jesus opens the gates and leads them in, where they receive harps and crowns and enter the City. This change to immortality comes before the thousand years, during which Jesus and the saints sit together in judgment on the wicked dead before the City descends to the earth. It comes as the day of exile nearly ends, when all in the graves hear His voice and come forth, the saints to be glorified with immortal bodies with the gates of the city of God opened to them, and the rest to final destruction by fire. Through that millennium the changed saints reign as kings and priests with Jesus.
Because Christ died and rose, the redeemed come forth from the tomb with mortality exchanged for immortality, crowned with glory, honor and immortality, with joy beaming from every countenance. The change transforms the body into Christ's glorious image without destroying personal identity and appearance, so the saints remain recognizable and family ties are known in glorious companionship with angels and loved ones. Then the veil hung between mortality and immortality is rent away, the Bible is understood in a higher, broader, clearer sense, and the redeemed see His face. Thus those who love and fear God, supported through the dark valley of the shadow of death, rejoice in the unfading glories of the earth made new in an endless life of unalloyed happiness, which makes being among those raised to eternal life at the trumpet the decisive hope at death.
God's plan moves from type to antitype, from rulers that die to the King eternal, from glories that fade to glories everlasting and fadeless, and from mortal people who sin and perish to a people righteous in God and immortal forever. Those saved eternally escape the corruption in the world through lust and become heirs of immortality, a portion realized in faithful households where the father stands as priest with morning and evening prayer and Jesus abiding in the home.
Immortality is a gift of great value, bound up with the honor and glory awaiting the redeemed, made possible through God's Son and to be received as an eternal inheritance. Every reasoning son and daughter of Adam may come into its possession, a life running parallel with the life of Jehovah and lasting as long as God lives, reached by being elevated, ennobled, sanctified, holding converse with God, and having the moral image of God developed within. To possess it is to be a child of God and joint heir with Christ, a reality that fills the mind with awe and reverence and reveals the value God has placed upon man. The prospect of it shows the importance of turning from error to truth and living for Christ who died to ennoble humanity, gives the overcomer a royal diadem, lifts man from depravity, purifies him, makes him more precious than the golden wedge of Ophir, a companion of angels, and one who reflects the image of Jesus shining in the bright splendor of the eternal throne, with an abundant entrance into the kingdom for law-abiding citizens of the heavenly country whose names are written in heaven.
Immortality is still future, so believers remain mortal, militant and liable to err and must be tested to the last. Those who do not live until Jesus comes rest in hope of the resurrection morning when the mortal puts on immortality at the last day when Christ gathers His own who have lived in obedience and honored the Creator. That hope calls for working on until the Master bids lay off the armor, laboring without ceasing for souls in sin and danger of ruin, arranging affairs so that oneself and those connected with one can serve God fully without obscuring heavenly things, and developing spotless Christlike character in connection with God and strength from Jesus.
The future change from mortality to immortality stands in contrast with the present privilege of having Jesus abide in the heart by faith. Those expecting translation to heaven by receiving the finishing touch of immortality are to maintain the dignity proper to followers of Jesus Christ. They refuse degrading acts of voluntary humiliation and groveling bodily tests, since God requires elevating duties commending themselves to good judgment and conscience rather than degrading physical acts. Full comprehension of experiences now very mysterious waits until this mortal puts on immortality, when what is now seen only by faith piercing the cloud will be explained. Then the seal truth, risen in the east like the sun with healing beams and growing stronger and brighter until the redeemed are made immortal after entering the goodly land, keeps its course forever like a sun that never sets, lasting on when the Bible is not needed.