“As is the heavenly Man, so also are those who are heavenly” (1 Corinthians 15:48)

If you’re saved, Christ, the heavenly Man, has already made you like Himself, but you should consciously seek heavenly things (Colossians 3:2). To the extent you see yourself as being IN Him, you’ll be able to resist the vanities of this world. If you’re saved, the Apostle Paul says, you will live eternally in an indestructible body like Christ. He’ll change you, “in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye …this mortal must put on immortality” (1 Corinthians 15:52-53).

Oh, saint, rejoice! Since Christ is immortal, you are immortal too. Pause here, devout reader, and contemplate the condescension of the Son of God in exalting you into union with His glory. He’s made you immortal! This was the conscious thought of Christians who walked into Roman arenas singing praises to God, knowing full well they would soon be eaten by wild animals.

Now it’s your turn. What will you do when given a choice between gaining the world or serving God? Will you obey Christ? If the same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead dwells in you, His resurrection power enables you to “Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:44-45).

Christ’s resurrection power rests upon those who rely on His grace. By faith, say with Paul, I “Count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found IN Him … that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead” (Philippians 3:7-11).