As I was listening to a sermon this morning on heaven and hell, I am reminded of the words of Skip Wilkins, a famous Christian speaker while I was in high school. After a freak water skiing accident left him paralyzed from the waist down, he was forced to spend the rest of his life on earth in a wheel chair. Skip went from a high school all-American athlete in 4 sports with thousands of scholarship offers to a high school senior with shattered dreams.
In his second letter to the church at Corinth, the apostle Paul addresses this issue in 2 Corinthians 4:16-5:5. Skip’s temporary situation and body was bound to a chair. Other people have lost their sight, hearing, an arm or leg or other things people take for granted. However, 2 Corinthians 5:5 is a powerful promise. God has given us the Holy Spirit as a deposit, a down payment on our future in heaven of a new body. Paul does not say this might happen, this will happen.
While many of us may not be in a wheelchair, we all have perishing bodies, 1 Corinthians 15:53-54. Our bones, joints and limbs are in the process of breaking down. Surgery’s may help momentarily, but in the end we will return to the dust of the earth. Instead of holding on to this temporary world, we need to remember the promise of Revelation 21:1-4. The old will pass and the new will come in a place without wheelchairs or tears. Set your eyes on the prize of heaven, Philippians 3:12-14.
by Jay Mankus
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