Metamorphosis … the Methuselah Generation

But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.

Philippians 3:20-21

At first I did not see the tiny web in the corner of the butterfly conservatory. At least, not until one of the staff hurried in and unceremoniously swept it away. Webs are a hazard to the butterfly. However, its wings are covered with detachable scales, millions of them that produce all those vibrant colors. These scales also form a natural protection, easily shed in the web allowing the butterfly to escape with its life.

Ladies, the web of the world seeks to entrap us and keep us from spreading our wings. But God has provided us with the way to escape: No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it (1 Corinthians 10:13).

And that’s not all, at the end of time our lowly bodies will be like His glorious body.

You have got to love the creative genius of God. You see, the Monarch butterfly, which inhabits the Great Lakes region every summer, cannot survive the cold. It has to fly south to winter. But with its total life cycle, egg to adult, only two to four weeks in length, how is this possible?

The adult generation alive in the fall is known as the Methuselah generation. Rather than dying within the four week time frame, it lives six to eight months. In October it migrates 2500 miles south to Mexico, where it hibernates, re-awakens in February, finds a mate and begins its trip north. In south Texas the female lays its eggs on its favorite milkweed and dies. Then the tag team relay begins all the way north, generation after generation. Isn’t God great!

Even greater than that is God’s plan for those who love Him. Yes, the Methuselah butterfly has one up on the butterflies born in the spring or summer. Yes, the man Methuselah lived 969 years (Genesis 5:27). And yes, one day when Jesus returns we are going to inhabit those glorious bodies He’s promised us and live forevermore as the citizens of heaven that we are. 

Nancy P