Question 83. What is the communion of glory that the members of the invisible church enjoy with Christ in this life?

 

Question 83. What is the communion of glory that the members of the invisible church enjoy with Christ in this life?

Answer. The members of the invisible church, being members of Christ, their Head, enjoy the first fruits of glory with Christ in this life, and in Him they partake of the glory that He possesses, and as a pledge of this they enjoy the love of God, peace of conscience, joy of the Holy Spirit, and hope of glory. On the other hand, the vengeful wrath of God, the horror of conscience, and the fear of judgment follow the wicked, and these are the beginning of the sufferings they will endure after death.

 

These are the words Jesus shared with Mary during a conversation about the resurrection. John 11:25-26 "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?"

When Martha's brother Lazarus died, Martha said that if Jesus had been at her house, he would not have died. In chapter 11, verse 22, Martha answered, "I believe that whatever we ask of God, he will give us." That is why Jesus said, "He will live again," but Martha was thinking of "living again" not as something present, but as a resurrection on the last day in the future after the death of the flesh.

What Jesus says to Martha in chapter 11, verses 23-26, is, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me, though he was dead in spirit, will live, and when the spirit lives, he will receive the gift of faith from heaven and never die." If we look at these words from the perspective of the flesh, they mean, "Whoever believes in me, though his flesh dies, will be resurrected and live someday, and will never die in the future."

The words Jesus spoke in John 5:24-25 are words of present resurrection, and what Martha spoke of refers to the future resurrection mentioned in John 5:28-29. However, the doctrine connects and integrates the present and the future by saying, “It exists in this world and happens immediately after death, and it will be completed on the day of resurrection and judgment.”

If the spirit is not alive, it is not the word of life. Only those who repent are alive in spirit. The Lord is the present resurrection. The power of God comes to those who repent at this moment. Repentance is not reflecting on sin, but dying to sin, and 'denying oneself' full of sin. 'The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.'

This is rebirth into resurrection life. In other words, rebirth is a present resurrection. Those who are reborn believe that although they have a physical body, they are resurrected with a spiritual body (spiritual body) like Jesus’ resurrection. Those who do not believe in the present resurrection will die and suffer the second death. In order not to suffer the second death after death, believers must believe in the present resurrection. In other words, believers must be united with Jesus Christ (the second death) while they are alive in order to participate in the present resurrection.

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