18 Oct Salvation Past, Present, and Future, Part III

When you accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, your salvation was immediate and complete. Salvation’s impact is also eternal: it has a past, present and future impact. In the first two parts of our series, we looked at salvation past and present: 

1. I have been saved from the penalty of sin. Salvation past tense
2. I am being saved from the power of sin. Salvation present tense.
   

Today, we will look at Salvation Future Tense: Glorification/Final Redemption–I will be saved from the presence of sin.

There is coming a day when God’s work of salvation will be complete. We will not merely be forgiven people living in a sinful world. God will ultimately remove sin, death, suffering, and corruption from His creation. This includes the transformation of our bodies:

²³ Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. ²⁴ For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? Romans 8:23-24 (NIV)

²⁰ But 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. Philippians 30:20-21 (NIV)

And we shall be like Christ:

² Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. 1 John 3:2 (NIV)

Finally, He will rescue us from the presence of sin, and all of the pain it causes:

³ And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ⁴ ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death‘ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” Revelation 21:3-4 (NIV)

The Point:

One day the struggle will be over. No more temptation. No more sin. No more death. No more brokenness. No more separation from God. We will be fully and finally transformed into the likeness of Christ. We will be saved from the presence of sin.

Pastor Jerry Bader