About the Blog:
This blog is primarily the main website for IKON: the Rose Hill Church student ministry for middle and high schoolers. This is the place to come for updates, announcements, the calendar of events, resources, contact info, and much more…
Immortal Imago
Also, you will find articles on the topic of immortality which I love to think and write about. Paul says in Romans 2:7, “to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life.” This is 1 of 14 times in which Paul communicates the idea of immortality. Here it is considered one of the rewards of God and goals for which the disciple of Christ strives.
The idea of “immortality” in Scripture is communicated in several ways: God is immortal (Rom. 1.23), Jesus is immortal (1 Tim 1.17, 6.16), the Christian’s reward/goal is immortality (1 Cor 9.25; Rom 2.7; 2 Tim 1.10, 1 Pt 1.4), specifically the Christian’s resurrected body will be immortal (1 Cor 15.42, 50, 52, 53, 54), the Christian’s love for Jesus should be “immortal” (Eph 6.24), the word of God is “immortal” (1 Pt 1.23), and the beauty of a woman’s gentle spirit is considered “immortal” (1 Pt 3.4).
Three Greek words are used in Scripture to communicate the idea of immortality. First, aphthartos (adj.) is glossed as “pertinent to imperviousness to corruption and death, imperishable, incorruptible, immortal” (BDAG). Second, aphtharsia (noun) is glossed as “the state of not being subject to decay/dissolution/interruption, incorruptibility, immortality” (BDAG). And third, athanasia (noun) is simply glossed as “immortality” (BDAG). These three terms function synonymously to convey the idea of immortality by their almost 20 uses in the New Testament.
The one thought about immortality highlighted the most in Scripture is the truth that Jesus Christ made immortality possible for mankind through the gospel (2 Tim 1.10). This immortality is one in which Christian’s hope for now and experience for eternity once resurrected by the power of the Spirit (1 Cor 9.25, 15.42, 50, 52, 53 2x, 54 2x; Rom 2.7; 1 Pt 1.4). The immortality of the Christian’s resurrected body, mentioned 7 times by Paul in 1 Corinthians 15 alone, covers 50 percent of Paul’s discussion on the topic!
But how often do we think about the Christian life as striving for or pursuing immortality? Though it sounds mythical or even “Hollywoodish,” it is totally biblical. Our destiny in Christ is to be made immortal and live for eternity! We don’t often look at the Christian life like this nor do we accurately undertand exactly what this immortality entails. I will discuss in this blog apescts of our Christian life in light of it being a search for immortality. We will do this as we also pursue an immortal love (Eph 6.24) for our immortal Father (Rom 1.23), Son (1 Tim 1.17, 6.16), and Spirit with the help of His “immortal” word (1 Pt 1.23).
About the Blogger:
My name is Jordan Coss and I am married with two kids. I am the youth minister at Rose Hill Church of Christ in Columbus, GA. I am originally from Allen Park, MI (downriver Detroit suburb). I received my B.A. in Bible (2005) and M.A. in New Testament (2007) from Freed Hardeman University in Henderson, TN. My thesis was titled, “The Things Which are Unseen: A Discourse Analysis of 2 Corinthians 4:16-5:10.” I also just received my Masters of Divinity (2011) from Harding Graduate School of Religion (now Harding School of Theology as of July 2011) in Memphis, TN. I like to read, swim laps, weightlift, play church softball, golf, mountain bike, and hike (I completed my first section hike of the AT trail last summer).
