We have already spoken about the thrill of our bodies being raised in power. The fact that our new bodies will be driven by a new, pure, wonderful, motivating energy, how wonderful that not only will we have the power to do what we desire to do in God’s service, but we will have the very desire to do it! Proverbs 3:27 warns readers not to withhold good from those who deserve it, when it is in your power to act (NIV). James adds, “Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins.” (4:17)
Here you are faced with two possible cases. A person who sees another who deserves good, and it is in his power to act; that is, to give that person good, yet he doesn’t act upon that impulse. Then there is a person who knows and understands the good things he should do, but he doesn’t do it. Are not these experiences the thing that doggedly mark our present existence? How we, in our natural bodies are weighed down by these things. May I use an analogy?
Many people in this sin-cursed world choose to end their lives by gassing themselves in their cars. In reality, this is not the peaceful death many perceive it to be. The experience of a person who gasses themselves is in fact one of the most terrifying experiences imaginable. You have made up your mind, and you have chosen to gas yourself. You cut yourself a length of pipe that will fit over the car’s exhaust and slip in through a small opening in the back window. You then climb in through the driver’s door, sit in the seat and start the car. As soon as the engine starts, you smell the sharp odour of carbon monoxide.
Everything is on track and you lie back in your seat, in tears. Suddenly, you become acutely aware of something alarming. Your body begins to feel heavy, like lead. You attempt to lift your head from the headrest and find you are unable to. This out-of-control feeling begins to make you fearful, because death, where you are going is also a state beyond your control. It is a small foretaste of what is to come. You wonder if what you have done is not a little rash. Maybe you should have thought about it a little longer.
In a state of panic, you decide to turn off the engine and reconsider. It is then that the terror really begins to lay hold of you. You can’t move your hands! You are completely alert, in fact, more alert and alive than you have ever been in your life! But for the first time in your life you really want to live! But regardless of how desperately you desire to lift your hand to the ignition key, you just can’t. The carbon monoxide has immobilised your motor nerve actions and you are no longer capable of operating your body according to your own desires. You can’t move a toe. You can’t lift a finger. You can’t scream. You can’t bang on something to get someone’s attention from your carefully-chosen, secret location. You are trapped, not only in this vehicle, but in your own body. No matter how you freak out in your mind, you will remain there until your final senses are deadened by the toxic gas to which you have exposed yourself. Many actually manage to turn off the key, but still die in the poisonous gas.
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