Transcript

1 Corinthians 15. We’ll begin in verse 20 as a foundation for this study this morning, our glorification in the eternal state. There’s a new order, actually I was going to say a new world order but there’s a new cosmos order coming. A whole new everything is coming. A new system is going to be installed, we call it the eternal state and you and I are going to be wondrously glorified in that place. 1 Corinthians 15, beginning in verse 20 through verse 26,

20 But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep. 21 For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam [that’s your first father, Adam] all die, so also in Christ [that’s the second Adam] all will be made alive.

There are two creations going on, the first one, then there’s a new creation Jesus is building. Then verse 23,

23 But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ’s at His coming, 24 then comes the end, when He [Jesus] hands over the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power. 25 For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. 26 The last enemy that will be abolished is death.

“Our Glorification in the Eternal State.” The doctrine of glorification is the doctrine of that final stage, that final piece, that is the completion of our salvation. Now listen to me: glorification completes the goal of the Father in electing, predestining and choosing his children. Glorification is the final piece of our salvation bought and secured by Jesus Christ primarily in his work on the cross. So glorification is the goal of the Father and it is the final part of the work of the Son, Jesus Christ.

Now, I. Glorification is not, not the blessed state we enter at our death. Glorification is not the blessed state that we enter at death. Now, when you get to heaven, by the way, you die, you depart this earth, you go to heaven and that is glorious but it’s not your glorification. It’s wonderful but it’s not the final thing. 2 Corinthians 5:8 reminds us, “we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord.” Now that happens when you die. You leave your physical body in the grave, literally it’s decaying, the Scripture speaks, though, that your body is left sleeping in the grave, you go to be with the Lord and that’s wonderful. Hebrews 12:23, “to the general assembly and church of the firstborn,” that means we’re of Jesus who is the firstborn, we are of him, we are a part of his work; we’re not just of the first Adam in the garden of Eden, that Adam, we are a part of that but when Jesus saves us, we become part of this second Adam who is the firstborn from the dead. In other words, listen, he’s already glorified. He’s already come out of the grave and got his glorified body. But you can go to any saint of God of any era and go find their body, it’s not yet glorified. It’s still in the grave. They are with the Lord soul and spirit but their body is in the grave. “The firstborn who are enrolled in heaven.” It’s good to have your name on the roll in heaven, by the way. “The firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect.” When you die, you leave your body, you go to be in heaven and your are perfected but you are not yet glorified.

This separation of spirit and soul from the body, the body which is left in the grave, and this uniting with the Lord is wonderful and glorious indeed but it’s not glorification, and we’ve got to remind ourselves that the body is important. I’m just going to take a side note here. There have been so many heresies throughout the centuries that have come into Christendom and the heresies often were centered around the fact that the body is just inherently evil and it’s bad and it’s wrong, and they miss what the Scripture says. No, the body is a part of God’s original, beautiful, holy creation, it’s just been corrupted by sin. So the redemption and the ultimate glorification of your body is important to God. He doesn’t want to just save your soul and spirit, he came to die for you to save you body, soul and spirit.

Just as a side note, we get a lot of excessive and unbiblical doctrine from this concept that physical things, including your body, are just inherently bad and evil. The Roman Catholic Church has a vow of poverty as if we can get people to do without certain material things, we can make them holy. Don’t you wish it was that easy? We could just have the holy man in Rome to tell us, “Okay, don’t ever buy a car over $30,000. Don’t ever buy a suit over $100,” and about 12 other things, “Now you’re all holy. Now you’re all spiritual.” The problem is we would all do that and be proud of it and pride is a sin. You can be just as proud and have nothing as you can be proud and have a lot because it’s a heart issue. So what I’m saying is a lot of dominoes of false doctrine fall when you get unbiblical in your viewpoint. Listen, the body is holy and the body is good and the body is God’s creation but it’s corrupt and fallen in sin. Jesus paid for all of it when he died on the cross. Jesus redeemed us spirit, soul and body, yet for right now even if you die and go to heaven, you’re still un-united with your body. It sleeps in the grave until the resurrection.

The Bible says in Romans 3:23, “The wages of sin is death,” so part of the curse of sin, part of the effects of sin is still in effect even after you go to heaven because the body is rotting in the grave. At our death and parting with our bodies we, indeed again, are present with the Lord yet we are not yet fully delivered from death. An important part of who you are is still in the grave. Resurrection of the body and glorification of the body, that’s the last victory that will be realized for the child of God.

1 Corinthians 15:24-25, notice how it’s worded here, “then comes the end, when He delivers up the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet.” Now verse 26, and “The last enemy,” the ones yet to be done, he’s won all the other victories, but one last victory is yet to be done and that’s when he will abolish, that’s the word there, death which is yet in the future for the child of God.

2 Corinthians 5:8, “we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord.” Certainly we do. It’s a wonderful thing. It’s a praise. It’s a glory to think on a departed child of God is present with the Lord. As a matter of fact, the joy of that and the wonder of that is beyond description yet it is not our full glory yet. There’s even more to come.

“Well, pastor, what could be better than to be absent from the body and be present with the Lord?” What could be better is to be present with the Lord glorified with him. There’s good stuff yet out there even after you get to heaven. The Bible speaks in Romans 8:23 of how creation itself is waiting eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God and we’re waiting eagerly for the redemption of the body. Why would we be waiting for something if it’s already done? It’s not already done. So glorification is not that blessed state we enter when we die down here. Glorification is the final accomplishment of our salvation and that part is yet to be completed.

II. Our glorification is connected with creation’s glorification. This is an interesting thing that Jesus when he died, he didn’t just purchase you soul, spirit and body, all of you, he purchased the title deed to everything else. All of the cosmos, all of heaven and all of earth, he purchased but it is not yet perfected and it is not yet glorified. All that is yet to come and the Bible teaches when we are glorified as his children, all of creation is going to be regenerated in a sense so there will be a new heaven and a new earth.

Romans 8:20-23 speaks of this. Romans 8:20-23, the Bible says, “For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be set free,” that’s a future thing, “from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God.” Now he connects the two, when the children are freed and they’re glorified, then creation will know its freedom from the cruse and pollution of sin that effects it. Verse 22, “For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now.” In other words, it’s coming. It’s coming. Just like a woman expecting a child, it’s coming but it’s not here yet. Verse 23 of Romans 8, “And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit,” we know the Spirit has worked in us, we know the Spirit’s changed us, we know we’ve become a repenter of sin and a faither in Jesus Christ, we know we’re beginning to love and treasure things that only God could help us or enable us to do so, it’s started in us and we ourselves having the first fruits of the Spirit, “even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body.” In other words, the Bible is saying you’re not even fully adopted as God’s son until that final day of glorification when the body is fully redeemed from the presence of corruption and the pollution of sin and glorified with Jesus Christ. Are you learning something new this morning? I learned some new things studying. While it’s not evil or wrong to see it as one whole, we die, we go to be with the Lord and we’re in glory, that’s not sin and wrong to just view it that way, but we short-change our joy if we leave out all the dynamics and components of what God does for us through saving us in his Son Jesus Christ.

So the Bible teaches there are three significant unveilings to come. Now that’s why the last book of the Bible is called Revelation, the word “revelation” means “unveiling.” The veil between the temporal and the eternal will be peeled back and Christ will appear and be seen for who he really is. He will be the unveiled Christ. So when that end-time event comes, there will be the unveiling or revealing of Jesus in all of his glory; there will be the unveiling and the revealing of the bride in all of her glory, that’s us; and there will be the unveiling and the revealing of creation in all of its new glory. Glory, glory, glory. Folks, there is some great stuff yet to come, some amazing stuff yet to come.

III. Our glorification is corporate. All will be glorified at the same time. Did you know that? Nobody is going to get ahead of anybody else. “Now wait a minute, he’s already with God in heaven.” Well, he’s already perfected, he got ahead of you on that but he’s not yet glorified. All of us get in on that at the same…so close that you could say it was just simultaneous. Everyone who has ever been saved, when they are finally glorified, they will be glorified together with everyone else.

1 Thessalonians 4:16-17, “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then,” right on their heels, if you will, literally, “we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord.” That’s the day of resurrection and glorification. It’s one whole. That final resurrection and glorification all occurs simultaneously and all the saints of God simultaneously glorified together.

1 Corinthians 15:51-52, “Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep,” in other words, not everybody is going to go put their bodies in the grave and then on the resurrection day be reunited with their bodies, some won’t do that, “we will not all sleep,” but what does he say at the end of verse 51? “But we will all be changed.” Now you may be alive when Jesus comes back but you’ll be glorified when he comes back because he’s going to change your old mortal body into immortality. Your old cursed, polluted, sin- affected body is going to be made a holy, pure and righteous body and glorified. Then those in the grave, by the way, you’re not even going to get glorified ahead of them, they’ll rise first and then we’ll just rise right behind them and all the body of Christ which is the bride is glorified and perfected.

You know, everything about it, I don’t know if you knew it but we just had a wedding in my family. That’s my third one. My banker is happy and I’m happy that that’s my third one. But do you know what? When a bride is presented to her groom, that’s a picture of the church, the bride, and Jesus, the groom. Everything about marriage points to God and Jesus Christ. Everything. It’s meant to be.

Can I just give this side note? Tongue-and-cheek me and my friend, Brother Jono Sims, have been talking about encouraging our girls to bring their weddings back off the farm. You know, everybody wants to be married in a barn today and I’m not saying that’s sin, I’m not saying it’s wickedness, but one thing could very well be sin depending on your heart, your wedding is about Jesus. A to Z, top to bottom, everything is about Jesus and if it’s all about Jesus and you want to go out to the barn, I don’t know why you’d want to go out to the barn. Have you see this chapel over here? That’s fine if you do, as a matter of fact, if you get married in Hawaii and you want me to do the ceremony, fly me out there and I’ll probably do it for you. But it’s got to be about Jesus. That’s one thing it has to be about and when that bride comes in, she represents…why is she so white and beautiful? She represents the glorified bride of Christ.

Brothers and sisters, our bodies right now are rotting in the grave, they are not fitting for the groom Jesus, but when that day comes, he will regenerate – listen to me – there’s not blowing down the byways, the highways, the boulevards or a lane in the tiniest village, the tiniest particle that was once a piece of a son of Adam that will not be brought together, regenerated by God, resurrected and then glorified with Jesus Christ on that day and we’ll all be together as one glorious bride. Jesus doesn’t want a little piece of his bride and another little piece of his bride and another. No, on that day the entire bride, every part of her is glorified and we’re all parts of that bride. When that bride comes in, I know this for a fact – listen to me – from the very tip of her big toenail to the very top of her head, every piece of her is adorned as gloriously as possible and that’s good. That’s the way it ought to be because she represents the glorified bride of Christ. Not a part of her. She doesn’t come in with tattered jeans, well, some of them would today. Look, people have made marriage about them and about what they think is cool and about what they think is right. You listen to me: marriage is about him. You don’t get to make it about you. You don’t get to define who can be married. God’s already done that. It’s about him. I lost my train of thought.

It’s one complete whole. That bride has worked on the veil, she’s worked on her eyeliner, she’s worked on her toenail polish. The whole bride is adorned for that groom and that’s what God the Father is doing for God the Son. He says, “Son, you’re just not going to believe the bride I’ve got ready for you.” Of course, he knows what she is because he’s made her what she is. We’re all going to be glorified and we are presented to Jesus as his bride on that day. We’ll all be changed to be glorified.

1 Corinthians 15:51-52, I didn’t get to verse 52, ” in a moment,” how quickly we will be glorified, resurrected and glorified, “in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable,” that’s because you’ve got glorified bodies now, “and we will be changed.” When you die and leave this life, you’re perfected in heaven and it’s wondrous beyond compare. It’s bliss. It’s glory. It’s heaven but it’s not done yet. There’s something wonderful yet to come, the resurrection and glorification of our bodies.

All will be changed in a moment. The whole company of the redeemed will be changed instantly. 1 Corinthians 15:54-55, “But when this perishable,” you could just add for clarification this perishable body, that’s the ones we are in right now, “will have put on the imperishable,” that’s the new bodies we receive when Jesus returns and we’re all glorified together, “and this mortal will have put on immortality, then,” on that day, something yet to come, “then will come about the saying that is written, ‘Death is swallowed up in victory. O Death, where is your victory? O Death, where is your sting?'” It’s just going to be, I mean, we can’t envision it but if we should try, we see the great, perfected, glorified bride of Christ. I’m in that, you’re in that if you’re saved and there we are before him and it’s as if God’s angels shout down to death and say, “Hey, Death, have you got anything to show us now?” They’ve all left the grave. “Corruption, disease, decay, rottenness, pollution of sin, hey, where’d you go?” Look what Jesus did to these folks, they’re all perfected and glorified, resurrected from the dead. Death can’t hold them. The grave is no longer where they belong. They’re with Jesus and we will all be changed because we’re all his.

In Christ, we were alike elected, predestined and chosen. In Christ, we were all alike, redeemed by his precious blood on the cross. In Christ, we were all quickened by the Spirit through the preaching of the Gospel, repented and placed faith in Jesus, and the Bible says when you’re quickened and you come to faith, you’re already seated together with God in heavenly places. As I’ve told you, the book of Ephesians teaches this very clearly, you’re seated in heaven before you die and then in Christ we will all together simultaneous as a corporate whole be glorified and presented to Jesus because Ephesians 5:27 reminds us, “that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory.” Does he have the church in all of her glory? No, because he redeemed the bodies and the bodies are in the grave. That hasn’t happened yet but the day is coming it’s going to happen. He’s going to have you for himself, soul, spirit and body. He’ll present to himself a church in all her glory. My, my, my, my, my. “Having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless.” That’s why Romans 8, again, says creation eagerly waits for the revealing, the unveiling of what we really are when we come forth from the graves and bear his glory.

IV. Our glorification occurs at Christ’s return. It’s not just that there’s a date set, though there is a date set. It centers on a person, Jesus Christ. Titus 2:13 reminds us, “looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus.” When he appears in his great glory, that’s when our resurrection and glorification occurs. That’s when the revelation of the sons of God occurs. In one glorious event when Christ returns, there will be the perfect harmony of the revelation of the Father’s glory and the revelation of the glory of Christ and the liberation of the children’s bodies from the grave and the glorification of all of them together for Jesus. It’s at his return because it’s for him, by him and through him.

Romans 8:17 tells us, “and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ.” Part of what we inherit as being a fellow heir is his glory because we’re connected to him, “if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.” In other words, listen, when God saves you – are you listening to your pastor this morning? When God saves you, he changes you and you begin to have new appetites and new desires, the old Puritans would call it new affections. You begin to be drawn to new kinds of people. You begin to want to enjoy different types of entertainments. You begin to want to put your money into different types of investments, things that matter for eternity. And all of a sudden the people of the world think you are strange. They think you are weird. They think you are extreme. They think you are a religious fanatic. Jesus said, “When you became Mine, you began to experience in one form or fashion at least from time to time, some suffering, some ridicule of those around you in the world, and if you’re really Mine, that’s going to be true to some extend, but also it’s equally going to be true you suffered with Me in time in this world, there will be a time when you’ll be glorified with Me in eternity forever.” But all of it is centered in Jesus Christ.

You see, glorification has no meaning and no purpose apart from the revelation and glorification of Jesus Christ. Why? Because we’re his body. We’re inseparably unified with him. He’s the head, we’re the body. He’s the groom, we’re the bride. We’re his church. In one sense, we have to be glorified because he’s glorified. Do you understand that? It’s radically impossible for you not to one day be glorified because your Savior, your Lord, your head is already glorified. My, my, my, my. Jerry Vines used to say, “Hold my mule while I shout for a while,” and that’s the way I feel right now.

Glorification is glorification with Christ. Are you getting this? You’re not just glorified by Christ, you’re glorified with Christ, with the glory he has. It’s all about him. Your connection to him, you’re in him. He chose you. He died for you. He redeemed you. He sent his Spirit to regenerate you. He sent his Spirit, church fellowship, Christians helping one another in a local church to keep sanctifying you so that one day he will glorify you because you’re all his.

In 1 John 3:2 the Bible says, “Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be.” Even if you die and go to heaven, it’s not appeared as yet what we shall be. Now you’ll see Jesus in heaven so maybe in a sense you can see it in him but you can’t see it in you yet. But, “We know that when He appears,” what’s the key? He appears. That’s the key, “when He appears, we will be like Him,” then finally when he’s unveiled and appears to the earth on that final day, then on that day we will be like him in glory, when he appears we shall be like him “because we will see Him just as He is.”

So apart from his returning glory, we would not know glory or our glorification. Philippians 3:21 tells us, “who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself.” When he returns, at last he will finally and fully subject all things to himself, this includes subjecting death and the grave to their rightful end and we, his elect children, will be in subjection to his will for us which is, “Arise, my love, and take My glory.” You can’t stop my glorification unless you can stop Jesus from coming. Woo, glory! Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful is it all.

Our victory in this final piece of the salvation puzzle, our glorification, our victory is in Christ and will be realized when he returns in glory because, again, it’s all about him. 1 Peter 1:3-5, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again.” He caused us to be born again, “to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,” but he’s not done there. Verse 4, “to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away.” A part of what we’re going to inherit is a new glorified body which is imperishable and undefiled and it can’t fade away and it’s “reserved in heaven for you.” The final piece of glorification is on deposit in heaven’s bank. It’s reserved for you. It’s coming. Verse 5, “who are protected,” have y’all seen this? Yeah, “who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”

“Well, pastor, salvation, I thought we were already saved?” You are but salvation is more than one thing. Your justification is secured, your sanctification is being played out, but the final piece of glorification is yet to be realized. It’s reserved for you in heaven, by the way, and the only way you could miss it is if somehow somebody keeps Jesus from coming back.

Now he said it’s going to be revealed in the last time, the last verse there, “ready to be revealed,” last two words or last four words, “in the last time.” It’s the very last event of time. Are you listening to me? The very last thing on the calendar of time is Jesus splitting the skies. Then when he comes, he will be revealed and we will be glorified with him. Time will end at that point and the glorious eternal state will have begun.

V. I only have 12. No, this is the last one. If you’ll listen like you love Jesus, this is the last one. 1 Corinthians 15:20. Have you got your Bibles still open there? Let’s just all turn there, 1 Corinthians 15:20, and let’s unpack this verse in closing, alright? 1 Corinthians 15:20. Is everybody there? If I’ll run back there and say, “Are you there?” You’ll be able to say, “I’m here. I’m right here. I’m with you, pastor.” Verse 20 of 1 Corinthians 15, “But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep.” In other words, Jesus is the first of many others. He went to the grave, he went to that sleep realm of the body, but his body has already come up from the grave, resurrection and glorification. He’s already done. He’s the first of what’s going to happen to many others. That’s what it’s saying.

Verse 21, “since by a man,” our first father, Adam, in the garden of Eden, “came death,” he sinned and he brought death upon all of his posterity, and “by a man also came the resurrection of the dead.” That’s Jesus.

Verse 22, “For as in Adam,” our first Adam, “all die,” we all inherited death, hell and the grave in our first Adam, but “also in Christ,” the second Adam, “all will be made alive.” All who are in Christ will be made alive.

Here’s another point. Boy, if I could just go back without losing you, here’s another place where an all-inclusive term is meant to be used in a more restrictive sense. Are all saved? Are all made alive? No, they’re not. He’s talking about of the elect, all of those who are chosen, all of those who are predestined, all of them are made alive in Christ. If you don’t believe that, then you believe in Universalism and we might as well just quit everything which means that Jesus died and everybody’s going to get saved and that’s just the way it is, period. But that’s not what the Scripture is saying at all.

So all that are in union with the first Adam, they die and inherit eternal death, but the elect are united to the second Adam and all of these inherit immortality and eternal life which includes a resurrected glorified body.

Now look at verse 23, “But each in his own order: Christ,” I think you can best understand this by saying, “Who is the first fruit?” Christ was the first one to do this, and “after that those who are Christ’s at His coming.” So Jesus is the first. Colossians 1:18 says he’s the firstborn among many brethren. We’re the many brethren. He’s the first to be resurrected and glorified. Secondly, when he comes the dead in Christ will rise first, they’ll be resurrected and glorified. Right on their heels, third, those who are alive and remain at the coming of the Lord will be resurrected and glorified.

Verse 24, “then comes the end.” It’s all done now, he’s saying. “Then comes the end, when He hands over the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power.” Now listen as we close. Now don’t shuffle around, you’ll make me nervous. Just listen. Then comes the end. In other words, God’s final purpose is now achieved. All previous events of all time and eternity were for this end, this prescribed end, that is, the summing up of all things in God. All the pieces and parts of all things that ever were now have come to the proper fruition.

Now to get this done, verse 24 says, he had to abolish all rule, all authority and all power. He had to get rid of everything that in the slightest way or in the greatest way was opposed to God and God’s purposes. He abolished them, that means he put them down. He’s done away with them. He brought them to nothing. You listen to me: every single thing on this earth, every single person who has ever lived on this earth who has not belonged to Jesus Christ, who does not uphold the things of God, will be brought to nothing. That’s the end God’s bringing this thing to. I don’t care how mighty and how loud, how commanding, Barack Obama, Donald Trump, whoever, if they’re not with Jesus and for God’s purposes, they will be brought to nothing. Jesus is going to it. Listen, when Jesus says, “I’ll save,” to something, it’s done.

So Christ by his power has removed all that are ungodly, all that don’t fit with God. He’s removed Satan now. He’s removed the fallen angels. He’s removed kings great and small that opposed him. He’s purged and cleansed the souls of his elect children and on this day, he cleanses and regenerates their human bodies, resurrecting them from their graves and gives them his own glory and brings about their glorification. He will also cleanse and purge all creation, the heavens and the earth, of all pollution and curses from sin, and now in this new state there will be the perfected and glorified saints and a perfected and glorified cosmos, that is, a new heaven and a new earth, and the Bible says it’s a new heaven and new earth where righteousness dwells.

Then comes the end. We’re back to that phrase. Jesus gets all that done, then comes the end; the end God had ordained in the counsels of the Godhead in eternity past before the worlds and time began has now come. This prescribed end was secured by the power of the second person of the Godhead, Jesus Christ, and then the Bible says he hands, verse 24 of our text, “He hands over the kingdom to the God and Father.” “Father, you sent Me on this conquest, you sent Me on this mission. I’ve performed it perfectly. Here it is, including all those vile sinners that I went and cleansed them up and redeemed them, purified them, now I’ve resurrected their bodies and now they’re all glorified. Father, here it is.” It’s as if Jesus says, God the Son bows to God the Father and says, “Here it is, Father. I performed Your will perfectly. You gave Me the office of Mediator/Savior and I fulfilled the duties of My office.”

Christ having accomplished the mission presents the spoils of his labor to the Father. Now Jesus’ mediatorial and salvific office is finished. He presents the kingdom he won and secured to God the Father. Jesus now having done all this, steps down in retirement from the office of Mediator/Savior. He steps down not because he’s tired, he steps down because he’s thoroughly finished. Do you understand in heaven you need no Savior? Do you understand in heaven you need no Mediator between you and God? That’s all done away with now. You’re glorified with him. You just walk up and say, “Hey, God.” There’s nothing between you that Jesus has to intercede for you.

Jesus has put down all that was opposed to God and now he delivers up the kingdom to God the Father. Now listen, Jesus is still man and he everlastingly will be man though he remains fully God. He is co-equal with God the Father but as man he subordinates himself to God the Father. He was at the right hand of the Father interceding as a Mediator for the children, but now he sits on the throne of the Lamb as co-Regent with God the Father. Revelation 22:3 says, “There will no longer be any curse; and the throne of God,” listen, “and of the Lamb,” he’s got his own throne up there with the Father, “will be in it, and His bond-servants will serve Him.” Notice subordination continues in heaven, the co-equal with God the Father, God the Son, still subordinates himself to the Father and we’re all glorified but we still submit ourselves to the Father and the Son. Revelation 3:21, “He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.”

Jesus gave the kingdom to the Father. He wrote out his resignation slip from the office of Mediator/Savior because that job’s finished and resigned. He’s no longer Mediator/Savior. He goes over here and he sits down. The Father is on his throne and Jesus sits down on his throne. What do you think they’re looking at? What do you think they’re looking at sitting on that throne in heaven? You. You are their work. You are their accomplishment. You are their glory. Why do you think God ordained that our babies and our grandbabies are our glory? Because that’s a tiny tiny tiny glimpse of the pride and the glory he’ll have in his finished church, his children and his bride. Oh, my goodness.

Now the unity of the Godhead and the unity of the church in God has all come together at this moment of unveiling of Jesus and glorification of the saints. The final piece of the plan is in place. Creation and the church, the bride, are now glorified and Jesus and the Father are now magnified. Then the heavenly choir will begin the song that is the enduring never-ending theme of the glorious eternal state as we see in Revelation 5:9-14, “And they sang a new song, saying, ‘Worthy art Thou to take the book, and to break its seals; for Thou wast slain, and didst purchase for God with Thy blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. And Thou hast made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God; and they will reign upon the earth.” Down to verse 12, they continue singing, “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing.” Verse 13, “To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb,” Father and the Son, ” be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever.’ And the four living creatures kept saying, ‘Amen.’ And the elders fell down and worshiped.” The glorious eternal state. And all of God’s children said, “Amen. Praise his name.”