“And not only they, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body.” V. 23. We can take possession of our inheritance only after our body has been redeemed from corruption. That will be when Jesus fetches His bride. Those who have fallen asleep prior to this are with the Lord on Mount Zion—they are the spirits of just men made perfect. Heb. 12:23. They are without bodies. When Jesus returns, they will arise first, and then we who are alive will be changed, and we will, together with them, meet Jesus in the clouds. That is the time when Jesus will establish a new dispensation together with us. We will receive our inheritance together with Him. Eph. 1:9-11. “But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.” Rom. 8:11. Here we can see that we have a promise, not just for our spirit, but also for our body. However, there are conditions attached to all promises. Here the condition is that our body must be the temple of the Holy Spirit. Just as our spirit is being set free from sin when we repent and confess our sins, so our body, too, must be set free from the power of sin. If we are to be along with Jesus in the rapture and inherit together with Him we must, while we are alive, experience redemption from the power of sin for our spirit as well as for our body. Many people believe in this redemption for their spirit. They have confessed their sins and desire to live an overcoming life; but they fall repeatedly. They believe that God’s will should be done, and they also want to do it; but actually getting their body to do it—that is where they stop. Previously we presented our body in the service of sin leading to death, but now we have also been set free from sinning with our body, so it can be used in the ministry of righteousness. Rom. 6:19-23. Only those whose bodies have been set free from the power of sin have the spirit of adoption; they will inherit and be along in the rapture. Paul delivered a person to Satan for the destruction of the flesh “that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.” 1 Cor. 5:5. This is the case with the majority of people. They serve sin with their body until it is broken down. Their bodies are worn out with anxiety and the vanity of this world. Many of them acknowledge their sin before they die so that their spirit is saved, but they have lost their right of inheritance together with Jesus, who said, “A body You have prepared for Me . . . to do Your will, O God.” Heb. 10:5-7. His body never committed a single sin, which is why it did not see corruption; therefore He received His body immediately in the resurrection. Thus He proved that the way He had gone led to life. He is the firstfruit, and those who are Christ’s will also be raised up. They are members of His body and are going the same way. 1 Cor. 15:21-24. They have all sinned, so their bodies have to see corruption, but they have also presented their bodies in the ministry of righteousness; therefore they will experience the fulfillment of the promise of the redemption of their bodies. You cannot enjoy the world without a body. When the body becomes weak, it is hindered from enjoying the world. There is no glory without a body. This also applies to the spiritual realm. There would be no glory over a family, even though they all desired to have victory over sin, if they didn’t do anything about it. There is no glory if they are subject to anger, regardless of what they desire, think, and wish for. But once the body has been set free from the power of sin there will be victory, and then the glory will also come. If we are to be glorified together with Jesus, we must also suffer together with Him by putting to death the deeds and demands of the body, by the Spirit and by presenting the body as an acceptable offering to God. Paul says this suffering of presenting the body as a sacrifice is not to be compared to the glory that will be revealed in us. Rom. 8:18. Then he continues to explain how great these people are whose bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit. He says that the whole creation eagerly waits for the revelation of the sons of God. All of creation is in birth pangs. It was made subject to futility through the fall of Adam, but it will be redeemed through the revelation of the sons of God when they come, together with Jesus with incorruptible bodies. The earthly glory in Sodom was so great that Lot chose to live there despite the fact that he suffered torment in his righteous soul from day to day. Because of man’s ungodliness this glorious creation that was full of life had to be laid under the corruption of death with the result that nothing since then has grown there. If there had been only ten righteous people, they could have saved Sodom from this terrible curse. We shouldn’t be amazed that the creation is waiting for the sons of God. This is how great and valuable a righteous person is. Israel’s sins destroyed the seasons for the rain and caused the land to become a desert until this very day. Jer. 5:24-25; Ezek. 36:33-36. If you want to do some good for your country and thus for your fellow men, you won’t do it by engaging in politics, but rather by living righteously and being led by the Holy Spirit. When Paul speaks about these things he says toward the end: “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.” 1 Cor. 15:58.Sigurd Bratlie