By Jim Alter
Your Pastor Speaks
I love the fall season. The colors, the smells, the food, football—what a wonderful time of year! When I think of fall, I think of change (the change of the leaves, the change of the seasons, the change of the clock!) It is a season of change.
The Apostle Paul wrote of change in First Corinthians 15:51-52 “Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.”
What is he writing about? Who is he writing about? What will be changed?
He is writing about the return of Jesus Christ. When Jesus ascended into heaven, two angels said, “… Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.” (Acts 1:10-11)
When Christ returns, a group of people will be changed. They will be made like Christ. 1 John 3:2 reads, “…but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.” This answers the “what” question, but what about the “who” question?
Who will be changed at the Lord’s return? Those who have been changed before! The Bible says, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” (Second Corinthians 5:17) What a change!
When a sinner places their faith and trust in Jesus Christ alone for their eternal salvation, acknowledging their sinfulness and the impossibility of being good enough to go to heaven, when they acknowledge Jesus as the crucified, buried, and risen Son of God and ask Him to save them—He makes them a new creature! What a change! These are the people who will ultimately be changed at the return of Christ.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if this fall was your personal season of change? Go to Jesus today and ask Him to save you. If you do that, He will make you a new creature today and make you like Him when he returns. What a change!
Alter is pastor of Grace Baptist Church.
