Never To See Decay

 DEVOTION

THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES

NEVER TO SEE DECAY

Acts 13:32-37

32 "We tell you the good news: What God promised our fathers 33 he has fulfilled for us, their children, by raising up Jesus. As it is written in the second Psalm: "'You are my Son; today I have become your Father.'   34 The fact that God raised him from the dead, never to decay, is stated in these words: "'I will give you the holy and sure blessings promised to David.'   35 So it is stated elsewhere: "'You will not let your Holy One see decay.'   36 "For when David had served God's purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep; he was buried with his fathers and his body decayed. 37 But the one whom God raised from the dead did not see decay.

NIV

There is no greater proof than the very words of God. Of course, there are those who argue the bible is written by men, like all other books. This argument has no merit, only a refusal to see the truth because they love the darkness and want to live as they please. Although these are the words spoken by Paul in his bringing the good news to these men in the synagogue, both Jews and God-fearing Gentiles, they are inspired by the Spirit. Paul quotes other scriptures to show that Jesus was in fact the Son of God who is divine yet was fully man and capable of death. It does seem weird to say that Jesus, being God, was able to die. However, he did come in the form of a man, exactly how he created us. So, because he could die, God, the Father raised him from the dead. We also note that Jesus raised several people from the dead, such as his friend Lazarus. However, Lazarus eventually died at some point in his life, whereas Jesus was resurrected to become divinely eternal, as he was in the beginning. This gives us our story. We were created by God to be eternal beings, like him, fully in his image, however, the man decided to follow another voice and lost his eternal being, becoming mortal, as Paul said about David. Therefore, David saw decay, but Jesus did not for he is God. Someday, we will be raised from the dead to never see decay. Paul uses the term the Holy One to describe Jesus, however, we have been declared holy and blameless in the sight of God because we are living in Christ. It does sound a little strange to think of ourselves as holy ones of God. Sure, we are not the Holy One, but we are holy and we are God’s people, thus we could be seen as holy ones of God and we will not see decay. If the Lord tarries, and we happen to live out our days in this mortal body until death claims it, we will be resurrected into a glorious unperishable, incorruptible, eternal body that will never see decay. Praise God, thank you, Jesus.