The promise of the inheritance is contingent on our present sufferings with Christ; the fellowship of His sufferings, sharing in His afflictions through faith. Since Christ suffered and gave Himself up for us, not living for His own will, but for the will of God; He followed God's will perfectly, even to death, even death on a cross; so we also pick up our cross, suffering for the sake of Christ: bearing His reproach and living not for our own will, but for the will of God; and so, we do not depend on our own strength for life, although death is at work in us, but we trust in the power of His life and grace. For we are to obey Christ in this way, following His example, for He is the Way; and His every directive very much direct us to everlasting life, so therefore they are not burdensome - they're for our good. Everything He commands us to do, our Commander and Chief has done; and we are His soldiers in His heavenly legion with weapons of warfare for good, fighting the righteous warfare with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and the left, striving for the faith, tearing down every stronghold of the enemy and every lofty imagination which exalts itself against the knowledge of the truth. And He trains our hands for battle, for we suffer for a cause not of our own, but for the one who enlisted us. We constantly hand ourselves over to death so that the life of Jesus may be expressed in our mortal body. So then we see that the newness of creation is not just something to be partaken of in the future, but it is also partaken of in the present: for the more we die, the more Christ lives in us. "For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body." (2 Corinthians 4:11) Therefore "Bear fruit in keeping with repentance." (Matthew 3:8) For in truth, this is death. As Paul said, “I affirm, brethren, by the boasting in you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.” (1 Corinthians 15:31) For this is the goal and the prize: to be filled with the fullness of the Spirit and to grow into the full maturity of Christ, to be in the like resemblance of perfection and holiness of the Father, to be in unity with the body of Christ with one mind and one purpose, loving one another in truth, keeping in step with all of God's saints. Growing up in the likeness of the Lord just as we're called to grow. For “though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day.” (2 Corinthians 4:16)
So mortification of the former body, and the fruitless deeds of it, is needed if we want any hope of an eternal heavenly life; “for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live.” (Romans 8:13) So, "I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.” (1 Corinthians 9:27) And so, " I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith. " (Philippians 3:7-11)
For the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God, neither can flesh and blood inherit the spiritual kingdom, nor the impure, the sexually immoral, or the covetous, who is an idolater. But we who have put off the misdeeds of the flesh will put on this new spiritual body at the coming of the Lord in the air. And in regard to these glorious bodies, the apostle says, " What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. And what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare kernel, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain. But God gives it a body as he has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body. For not all flesh is the same, but there is one kind for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish. There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is of one kind, and the glory of the earthly is of another. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory. So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual. The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven. " (1 Corinthians 15:35-48)
And, " For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who will transform the body of our humble state into comformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself. " (Philippians 3:20-21)
So then our spirits are growing into the likeness of Christ day by day and in the future we will be like Christ in spirit and body. As it is written, “Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is.” (1 John 3:2) The things we presently see are perishing, but our hope, which is unseen, is in Christ. He has promised us an imperishable body, free from sin and decay. And if we have the promise, we have what is promised, for God is faithful. For this reason we count ourselves to be saved even though eternal salvation has not yet come; as the writer of Hebrews says, "Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him.” (Hebrews 9:28) So when He comes, He will bring along this eternal deliverance with Him. As it also says, " Behold, the LORD has proclaimed to the end of the earth, Say to the daughter of Zion, "Lo, your salvation comes; Behold His reward is with Him, and His recompense before Him." " (Isaiah 62:11)
So our salvation has not yet come, even though we experience it on earth within us. As the apostle Paul says, “Not that I have already obtained it (the resurrection from the dead) or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:12-15) Then he says to the Corinthians, “You are already filled, you have already become rich, you have become kings without us; and indeed, I wish that you had become kings so that we also might reign with you.” (1 Corinthians 4:8) So it is clear, we patiently wait for what was promised by God; and this hope we do not yet have; "For who hopes for what he already sees?” (Romans 8:24) But we know if we have the promise, we have what was promised, considering we continue in faith and love, with holiness with self control, until the day of His coming. For Abraham believing the promise of God said, "O Lord GOD, how may I know that I will possess it?" (Genesis 15:8) And God affirmed the promise and made a covenant with Abraham, and said, "To your descendants I have given this land.” (Genesis 15:18) And when He says, "I have given it," it does not say, "I will give it." And even at that time, Abraham was one hundred years old and his wife Sarah was ninety years old, and he had no descendants, and he was still a foreigner in the land. But yet it says, "I have given." Even yet when Isaac was born, the descendants did not receive the land for another 400 years! But God said, "To your descendants I have given this land.” (Genesis 15:18) And this shows us that God's promise is sure, as if what He has promised has already been given. So it is: God has given us eternal salvation in Jesus Christ, our Lord. And we are saved by faith in His name. So therefore, hold fast to the truth committed to you!
For the new creation has already begun! It starts with our minds being renewed, then when Christ comes, He will bring with Him these new heavenly bodies - and we will be changed. The new creation will never die; they who are raised up in the first resurrection will live forever. We who have been born again through the eternal word of the gospel will be glorified with Christ; and our spiritual bodies will differ in glory; as it says, " Those who have insight will shine brightly like the brightness of the expanse of heaven, and those who lead the many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever. " (Daniel 12:3)
God put these heavenly bodies in the sky which differ in glory, showing unto us the future glory of the heavenly life. For heavenly things hang in the sky of heaven or fly in the heavens. Even the cheribum under God's throne have wings for flying, and these are spiritual beings. I am not saying all angels have wings to fly, but they do inhabit the heavens. And God shows us examples of these on earth, for God has created creatures which fly through the heavens, showing unto us how spirits operate in the unseen world. For earthly bodies walk on the ground, for they are from the dust; whereas spiritual bodies fly in the heaven, for they are from heaven. But the things that fly do not remain in the air, because they also have their home on earth; so we see by this, the heavenly is not independent from the earthly. For example: the Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus like a dove (Mark 1:10), and the Spirit of God fluttered over the waters in the beginning (Genesis 1:2). And unclean spirits are called unclean birds (Revelation 18:2), and Paul called the devil the prince of the power of the air (Ephesians 2:2). Also it says, " In your bedchamber do not curse a king, and in your sleeping rooms do not curse a rich man, for a bird of the heavens will carry the sound and the winged creature will make the matter known. " (Ecclesiastes 10:20)
(See more about the Two Resurrections)
Speaking further of the resurrection: there are certain creatures in nature which have their home on earth and die, transforming to a heavenly life. For instance, the butterfly: she was a caterpillar, moving on her belly eating the herbs of the ground. When her time came, she hardened herself into a caccoon and broke forth into a butterfly. Her home is no longer among the earthly, but it is in the heavens. A dragonfly is similar, except he lives in the water, in the depths of the water; he crawls up a leaf and becomes hard by the sun, breaking forth into a flying creature. These have not their home in their former estate, nor can they go back if they want to, but they live in the sky of heaven. They do not think to themselves, "How I wish I were still a worm." No! They do not even consider their old estate, for their new one is much better. And these are found in nature, for they are created by God as teachers unto us. For He has created nothing in vain. Creation cannot open its mouth and teach us, but God teaches us by His Spirit through His creation. Just as Paul used the example of sowing and reaping to explain the new body, so we see that nature testifies. Furthermore, all the living herbs and plants die in the winter and come back to life in the spring. These things relate to our new heavenly life, our spiritual bodies, the resurrection. It is at work now, but it is not seen; when we see Him, we will become as He is. For Jesus is the firstfruits from the dead. And He ate food in his spiritual body, He had evidence of His former wounds, He went to the disciples behind locked doors. A spirit without a body is a ghost, but we will not be ghosts; we will have spiritual bodies for our spirits to inhabit. Right now we have physical bodies for our spirits. In our new bodies, we will not be subject to mortality; for our strength will not be physical, it will be spiritual. Our strength will not wax old nor fade away as human strength does. So all of these things ought to be a great encouragement to us! So “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.” (1 Corinthians 15:58)