INCORRUPTIBLE THINGS FOR THE CHRISTIAN

1 Pet. 1:23

Morning Meditation 12/13/14

"Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever."

I am an only child of my mother. My grandparents reared me until I was twelve years of age. They were the finest Christians I ever knew. They practiced the Christian life with steadfastness and consistency that testified to the genuineness of their faith. They were Christians twenty-four hours a day and you never had to fear of a slip when your friends were there. Their private lives were a compliment to Christ and His Word. This of course made me as a child, stands erect and steadfast, holding to the doctrine of salvation. I was taught that saved people were to prove their faith by godly living in private as well as in public. As I look back now, I am so encouraged that I can testify to my grandparents faith, and what they taught me, and saw to it when I made an error, they gently with meekness showed me where I made the mistake and helped me to correct the wrong by the use of 1 John 1:9, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

I am grateful that I was taught First Peter 1:23, "Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever."

John Gill comments: "Being born again," As they were of God, according to his abundant mercy, by the resurrection of Christ, to a lively hope of a glorious inheritance; as in 1Pet 1:3 and therefore seeing they were brethren in a spiritual relation, they ought to love as brethren; being children of the same Father, belonging to the same family and household, having the same spirit, and the same nature and disposition, and being members one of another, and heirs of the same grace and glory; and not only so, but were taught of God their Father, in regeneration, to love one another: it became them highly, therefore, to exercise that grace, and particularly since they were born again, that new birth giving them a living relationship to God as our Father."

"Being born again" As they were of God, according to his abundant mercy, by the resurrection of Christ, to a lively hope of a glorious inheritance; as in 1Pet 1:3 and therefore seeing they were brethren in a spiritual relation, they ought to love as brethren; being children of the same Father, belonging to the same family and household, having the same spirit, and the same nature and disposition, and being members one of another, and heirs of the same grace and glory; and not only so, but were taught of God their Father, in regeneration, to love one another: it became them highly, therefore, to exercise that grace, and particularly since they were born, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible; referring not to seed cast into the earth, which first corrupts and dies, and then is quickened, and rises, and brings forth fruit; but to human seed, and which the Jews call, "the filthy drop"; which is in itself corrupt, and is corrupted, and whereby the corruption of human nature is propagated; for whatsoever is born of the flesh is carnal and corrupt; and so the apostle has reference to the first birth, or natural generation of men, in which they are polluted and depraved, and confirms what the evangelist says, John 1:13 that regenerate persons are not "born of blood"; or become new creatures, and holy men, by their natural descent, or first birth, be it from whom it will; for all men are of one blood originally, and that is tainted with sin; nor by the will of fallen creatures, of corruptible men, themselves or others; but of water, and of the Spirit, of the grace of the Spirit of God, which is seed pure and incorruptible, having no mixture or taint of sin, nor any degree of pollution in it, and which remains so; nor can it be corrupted by all the wickedness there is in man's heart; nor by all the pollutions of the world, or temptations of Satan; and this seed is conveyed into the heart by the Spirit of God, in regeneration, and it contains all grace in it."

First of all when I think of incorruption, I think of God.

IT IS NOT POSSIBLE THAT GOD CAN BE CORRUPTED.

"And changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things."

This section in Romans is talking about the idolatry that invaded the human race in its infancy. It did not take long after man sinned that the human race degraded themselves and began worshiping the creature rather than the Creator. It is hard to imagine a man worshiping a man or a beast of the field. The world became so corrupt with idolatry and the awful sin of sexuality and homosexuality in the first two thousand years, He destroyed it with water. A part of the story is as follows: Genesis 6:1-8, "And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose. And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years. There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown. And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them."

Satan tried to use man to corrupt God. But it backfired on him. God destroyed the world with the flood and started over again with Noah and His family. But even in Noah's day there was sin. So God in His patience gave a sign that He would not destroy the world with water again. The beautiful rainbow is the sign. Now we have a man and his family to repopulate the earth. Noah knew that sin had caused the flood and he and his family had the opportunity to start over and keep the morality right. But the fact is Noah had no sooner disembarked from the ark than he had gotten drunk and one of his sons committed a sin with him while he was in a drunken condition and for this reason God placed a curse on Canaan. Then there is,

THE INCORRUPTIBLE BLOOD

1 Peter 1:18-19, "Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:"

The blood is the element in which we are washed clean of all sin. I praise the Lord for the Precious Blood of the Lord Jesus.. Hebrews 10:19 says, "Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus,"

When someone starts commenting on the "blood" and saying that it is the same as . . . something, I personally believe they are making a mistake. The blood of Jesus was literally shed for the sins of the world. When someone tries to explain away the literalness of the blood, they take away some of the impact of the truth that we are cleansed by the blood of Christ. It is always best to stay with what the Bible says and the WAY the Bible says it. The Bible is God's Word written with the USE OF WORDS that God chose. God has the best vocabulary of anyone in this world. You cannot improve on what God says, or the way He says it.

I believe that the blood was taken by Jesus our high priest, when He entered the holiest, after His resurrection, and will be preserved there on the altar in heaven as an eternal testimony that Salvation by the blood is the reason we are there. It exalts grace as the means of our salvation: Hebrews 9:12-14, "Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?"

Glory to God and the Lamb for ever and ever. 1 Corinthians 15:42 says, "So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption:

1 Corinthians 15:50 says, "Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption."

THE INCORRUPTIBLE BODY IN THE RESURRECTION

1 Corinthians 15:54 says, "So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory."

The language here is stated like putting on and taking off clothes. The corruptible is like taking off something that could never be what the second statement explains. He says, "and this mortal shall have put on immortality, THEN shall be brought to pass the saying that is written. The next clause is given as a victory. Then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, "Death is swallowed up in victory."

The only way one could get this body before the resurrection is the rapture. This truth is brought out in 1 Corinthians 15:51-52, "Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed."

The word incorruptible takes in the aging process, sickness, and death. When we get our incorruptible bodies we are free forever from anything that will threaten the body. We will have an eternal body. There will be no death in heaven. Death is corruption. So if we receive an incorruptible body we will also be free from all those things that would threaten our lives. No doctors saying, "I am sorry. This illness in terminal. It would be my guess that your loved one has 3 months to live." Those are shocking words to hear from a doctor. Those are also words that a doctor hates to have to say. Praise the Lord, we as believers already have everlasting life and will never cease to have a conscious existence for to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. That is the joyful expectancy of the Christian.

THIS IS AN INCORRUPTIBLE INHERITANCE

1 Peter 1:4 says, "To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you." The word "reserved" translates "tereo" and means, "to attend to carefully, take care of." It is a perfect passive participle. The perfect tense means that the action has been completed and it remains in that completed state. The passive voice means that the subject is acted upon.

It is so good to know that the believer already has an inheritance. It is reserved and the one who is guarding that inheritance is the Lord who gave it to us. There is not enough power in the universe that can keep us from that inheritance. Now let me say that one more time. We are saved and have a "know so" salvation. This salvation came to us by grace and is not subject to loss. Satan cannot get this salvation from us. God's power keeps us. We are not in a race to obtain an inheritance, it is a gift and it is being reserved for us by the Lord Himself.

There are some incorruptible things that already belong to the Christian. It is a motivation for us. And while the inheritance is never in danger of being lost, it is something that should motivate us to live a surrendered life for the One who gained it for us. May these words motivate us as believers to serve the Lord faithfully until His glorious return and we can thank Him face to face.

In Christ

Bro. White