DIVINE REALITIES
[p. 24] DIVINE REALITIES
1 Corinthians 15:1-4; 1 Corinthians 15:20-23; 1 Corinthians 15:47-49
Just a few words to bring afresh to our souls the great divine verities which have been for many years the comfort and rest of our beloved sister. It is to be noticed that we all began with the thought of resurrection. It was bound up in the gospel which we first heard as sinners, for that gospel told us “how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures”. So that in our faith — I speak, of course, of those who have, like our beloved sister, believed on our Lord Jesus Christ unto salvation — we began with the thought of resurrection, for we began with Christ as risen. And we are told in this important chapter that Christ is the Firstfruits; He is the great Pattern of that resurrection harvest which is so shortly to be reaped; “afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming”.
Let us ponder that word, beloved brethren; “they that are Christ’s”! What volumes of meaning are in it! How wonderful is the Christian, for he is CHRIST’S! He is the property of a risen, heavenly, glorified Man at the right hand of God. Every believer belongs to that Man, is of Him, for we are “of the Christ”. He has come down into death, and has taken up the question of our sins, and settled it for ever to the glory of God, so that we are no longer in our sins. The Lord could indeed say to some, that they would die in their sins; but believers in Jesus will never die in their sins, because Christ has died for our sins. If He had not risen we should be still in our sins, but He is risen and we are as clear of our sins as Christ Himself in heaven. How wonderful to think of it! And the ultimate issue of His death and resurrection is that we shall be conformed to His image in glory. He is now “the heavenly One”. He is not only risen, but He has gone into heaven as the Pattern of the whole heavenly company. He is the heavenly One, and all those who believe on Him are, by the grace of God and by the work of God, constituted “heavenly ones”. This is what we are by divine grace,
[p. 25] it has nothing to do with any merit or worthiness of any kind which could attach to us. It is the fruit of the precious and eternal thoughts of the love of God; and at a moment like this we wish to speak of what is greatest.
We might say much of our beloved sister who has departed. We might speak of her separation from the world, and of her love for the things of God, of her service to His people, and of her labour in spreading the truth, and of her unceasing hospitality; we might say much, and those things are not small in the eyes of the Lord. He remembers every act of service, He treasures the memory of all that has been done for Him and for His people, and He will recompense it according to the measure of His valuation of it in a coming day. Yet even those precious fruits, which are the outcome of grace and of faithfulness in the pathway here, are small as compared with the stupendous results of the death of Christ for all who believe on His name. They will be conformed to His image in heavenly glory; they will be invested with all the holy splendour that is set forth in the glorified Man, Christ Jesus. We remind our hearts of these things, and we love to think of them at a moment like this, when what belongs to the natural order has come to an end. What belongs to the natural order we shall never see again in our sister. When next we see her, we shall see her invested with all that belongs to a spiritual order, to the order of Christ risen and glorified. What a wonderful person a Christian is! Would to God we took it more fully into our hearts! How it would alienate us from all the empty follies and vanities of this world, and link us up in our affections with that risen, glorified Man in heaven, who is the Firstfruits and Pattern of all those who are to be His companions eternally!
These are the things that gave the heart of our sister joy for many years. What she believed and enjoyed is truly great and glorious, and we can rejoice that there is only a little while to wait until she and all the saints, by the power either of transformation or of resurrection, will be conformed to the image of God’s Son in eternal glory. For ever blessed be His name! Amen.
A Word given at a Burial, Teignmouth 1940