WHEN OUR CHANGE COMES

       " Behold, I show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed."  (1 Cor 15:51)

We know that "when He appears, we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him just as He is" (1 John 3:2-3). That will be the time of "the change"--an upward change or mobility that will fully adapt us for the homeland! This is the "change" Job longed for. "If a man die, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come"  (Job 14:14). It is the "change" Paul proclaimed would occur at the resurrection of the dead (1 Cor 15:51-52). No more will we live in a tabernacle of clay, frail and disintegrating! No more collapsable tent! Then, the treasure received in salvation will be transferred to a "building of God, eternal in the heavens" (2 Cor 5:1-2), no longer to be held in an "earthen vessel." What is more, this is something the saints of God "know," not something about which they speculate.
John associates the changing of our bodies with seeing the Lord Jesus Christ returning in glory. "Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we shall be. We know that, when He appears, we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him just as He is" (1 John 3:2, NASB). It is actually His glory that will change us. How wonderful it will be to be rid of this "vile body!" (Phil 3:21), or "the body of this death" (Rom 7:24).
Being a citizen of heaven  produces longings for our new frame. In fact, that is why God has recreated us. It is why we are "His workmanship" (Eph 2:10).  Thus it is written, "For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven . . . Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit" (2 Cor 5:2,5). Your citizenship in heaven makes the day of the Lord an advantage for you. That will be the day of ultimate blessing! Jesus will then "bring" the fulness of our salvation. Peter referred to this when admonishing us, "fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ" (1 Pet 1:13). This is not an option for the people of God! "We are saved by hope" (Rom 8:24), i.e.,we are able to work out our salvation with fear and trembling (sanctification) only in the anticipation of our completeness. The recollection that are citizenship is in heaven is a powerful motivation to complete the race. Without this persuasion, there is no guarantee that the race will be completed. The power of a living hope cannot be underestimated.