Sermon: The foremost conformation (Phil 3:21)

WHAT IS FOREMOST?
The Foremost Conformation (Phil 3:21)
pdf
Dr. Paul Manuel—2012

(This sermon is part of Dr. Manuel's sermon series: "What is Foremost?" Links to
each of the sermons in the series will be found here as they are posted.)

When we enter a new stage in life, such as a new place to live or a new job, we may have certain expectations of how things are or should be, expectations that require some adjustment.

A social worker had recently transferred from the big city to the mountains and was touring her new territory. She came upon the tiniest cabin she had ever seen. Intrigued, she knocked on the door. "Is anybody home?" she asked. A child's voice answered, "Yep." "Is your father there?" "Pa? Nope, he left before Ma came in." "Well, is your mother there?" "Nope, Ma left just before I got here." "Are you never together as a family?" she asked. "Sure we are, but not here.... This is the outhouse!"

When we enter a new stage in life, we may have certain expectations that require adjustment. There is a stage of life we will all enter one day, The Foremost Conformation, and it is best to review whatever expectations you may have sooner rather than later.

On Paul's final trip to Jerusalem, after his third missionary journey, he encountered such opposition that he decided to take his case up the political ladder from the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem to the emperor in Rome. Critics, including those sympathetic to Paul's mission, may have thought that the apostle should keep a low profile and conduct his mission of spreading the gospel under the radar of imperial scrutiny. Apparently he felt differently,¹ opting for a more public stance. Taking advantage of his Roman citizenship,² he said to Festus, the procurator in Judea...³

Acts 25:10 ...I am now standing before Caesar's court, where I ought to be tried. I have not done any wrong.... 11 If, however, I am guilty of doing anything deserving death, I do not refuse to die. But if the charges brought against me...are not true, no one has the right to hand me over.... I appeal to Caesar!" 12 After Festus had conferred with his council, he declared: "You have appealed to Caesar. To Caesar you will go!"

Paul got his wish as Festus sent him to Rome. While there awaiting trial, Paul was under house arrest, which restricted his movement but not his productivity. He wrote four important letters, the so-called Prison Epistles, one of which was to the church at Philippi. That letter contains several familiar passages, from the theological in chapter 2...

Phil 2:6a [Christ Jesus], being in very nature God...7 [took] the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.

...to the practical in chapter 4...

Phil 4:4a Rejoice in the Lord always.... 7 And the peace of God...will guard your hearts and your minds....

Between these two parts of the letter, in chapter 3, Paul makes another practical appeal...

Phil 3:17a Join with others in following my example....

...but bases it on a theological assertion...

Phil 3:20 ...[because] our citizenship is in heaven.

Some at Philippi are giving an inordinate amount of attention to physical gratification, and that does not bode well for their future.

Phil 3:19 Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things.

Paul explains that there is much more to life than what they encounter here, and as they recognize what lies ahead, the less they will be distracted by what they will leave behind. If he can inform what they believe, he can influence how they behave. So, in addition to a fuller explanation of how the Philippian believers should act now, Paul gives a fuller declaration of what they can anticipate later. It will be an amazing transformation and will, in fact, be...

* LX. The Foremost Conformation⁴
...which shows...

• The power of God (Phil 3:21)

Please turn to...

Phil 3:21 [Jesus], by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.

In recognition of our physical limitations, we have developed devices that supplement our abilities and enable us to accomplish certain tasks. Many of these devices generate power that is measurable. For example...

• We build a well pump and measure its output in gallons per minute.

• Some can move 25 gallons or more per minute.

• We build an electrical plant and measure its output in kilowatts.

• The average home uses about 1000 kilowatt (hours) every month.

• We build a car engine and measure its output in horsepower.

• The most powerful car engine is in the Ferrari 599 GTB generating over 600 horsepower (used $500,000+).

The greater the task, the more the power is needed. So...

• We build a nuclear reactor (400+), a multi-billion dollar investment, and measure its (electrical) output in megawatts.

• The largest nuclear plant in the world is in Japan (Kashiwazaki—Kariwa, 1000+ acres) with seven reactors, each capable of generating 1000+ mega (million) watts.

That is an incredible amount of power, but it is inconsequential compared to Jesus' power.

Heb 1:3 The Son is the radiance of God's glory...sustaining all things by his powerful word.

Not only is he able to sustain everything, he is able to subdue everyone who opposes him, so that....

Phil 2:10 ...at the name of Jesus every knee [will] bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

This is not because he convinces his enemies to serve him but because he compels them to serve him.⁵ Moreover, when Jesus returns to reign, he will also defeat the most impersonal force.⁶

1 Cor 15:26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death.

Rev 21:4b There will be no more death....

...which is the final impediment to resurrection. In this way...

1. Your resurrection will demonstrate the ability of Jesus. showcasing "the power that enables him to bring everything under his control"

People have proposed at least three alternatives to resurrection, other kinds of renewal that are quite different and highlight what resurrection is not.

• First, resurrection is not reincarnation, as in the traditions of India, where a person's immaterial part is relocated to another form as someone or something else.

• In the resurrection, God will not turn you into a roach or a rhododendron. Resurrection is not reincarnation.

• Second, resurrection is not reanimation, as in Haitian religion (and George Romero's 1968 film Night of the Living Dead), where a person's material part is revived to resume its previous existence, albeit as a zombie.

• In the resurrection, God will not simply resuscitate your corpse. Resurrection is not reanimation.

• Third, resurrection is not reconstruction, as in Mary Shelley's 19^th c. novel Frankenstein, where several dead people's appendages and organs are assembled to provide a composite body.⁷

• In the resurrection, God will not use second-hand parts. Resurrection is not reconstruction.

Perhaps the most significant difference is that none of those three kinds of renewal—not reincarnation not reanimation not reconstruction—none extends beyond this world. The author of Hebrews writes...

Heb 9:27 ...man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment,

Besides, even among people who hold to such notions, the change does not last. At some point, each one ceases to exist. In contrast, resurrection is permanent, because it commences and continues beyond this temporal realm into the eternal realm.

Resurrection is not like these; it is like Jesus, that is, like what happened to him after his death, and Paul says here in Phil 3...

2. Your resurrection will demonstrate the identity with Jesus. ...because he "will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body."⁸

The Bible does not give as much detail as we might like, but it does gives some clues for what your resurrection body will be like.⁹

• The resurrection body is not limited by mortality; it is immortal.¹⁰

Rom 6: 8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him.

• The resurrection body is not limited by infirmity.

Rev 21:4b There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain....

• The resurrection body is not limited by gravity (or other natural laws).¹¹

1 Thess 4:17a ...we...will be caught up...in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.

• The resurrection body is not limited by locality; it can traverse two realms, the physical realm where man dwells and the spiritual realm where God dwells.¹²

1 Thess 4:17a ...we...will be caught up...to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.

These will be some characteristics of your resurrection body. There are also clues from what Jesus' resurrection body is like, because Paul says...¹³

1 Cor 15:49 ...just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we bear the likeness of the man from heaven.

What, then, do we learn from Jesus' experience?

• The resurrection body is recognizable (identifiable).

Luke 24:39a Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself!

• The resurrection body is physical (corporeal).¹⁴

Luke 24:39b Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.

These will be other characteristics of your resurrection body.

Some at Philippi have "[t]heir mind...on earthly things" (v. 18), and Paul wants to redirect their attention. So, he describes The Foremost Conformation, which shows the power of God. The apostle's goal is not to satisfy the curiosity of his readers, including you. Paul wants to inform what you believe and so influence how you behave, because...

Phil 3:20 ...our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.

Are you eagerly awaiting the savior's return?

Having considered The Foremost Conformation, we will look next at The Foremost Configuration, which is in the plurality of God, in 1 Pet 1:2.

For the Bibliography and Endnotes, see the pdf here.

(This sermon is part of Dr. Manuel's sermon series: "What is Foremost?" Links to each of the sermons in the series will be found here as they are posted)