Often people want to know the type of body we shall have in heaven. There are those who wonder how the bodies of the resurrected saints will be or which type of body they will put on. Today we will attempt to “Understand the Nature of Our Resurrection Bodies.” By the word “our” I mean “the Born Again Believers.”
“Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption (incapable of decay). 51 Behold, I shew you a mystery; we shall not all sleep (die), but we shall all be changed, 52 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. 53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality” (1 Cor. 15:51-53).
What is rapture? Rapture is the resurrection of those who have died in Christ and the transformation of the living believers (1 Thess. 4:16-17).
What will happen to those in Christ who are alive at the moment Jesus returns to Rapture the church? 1 Corinthians 15:51 says, “We are not all going to die, but we shall all be changed.”
The doctrine of the Rapture says, “When Jesus comes back to rapture the church, the dead in Christ will be raised (resurrected), and the living saints will be changed or transformed.”
What will happen to those that are not in Christ at the time Christ returns for the church? Those who died without accepting Jesus as Lord and Saviour will remain in their graves for another 1007 years after the Rapture, until they come to the Judgment of the wicked – “The Great White Throne Judgment.” The others who are alive but are not in Christ will enter the tribulation period.
Apostle Paul puts up a question frequently asked by many: “How will the dead be raised? What kind of bodies will they have?” (1 Cor. 15:35, NLT).
In 1 Corinthians 15:36-44, the Bible gives us some contrasts between the physical body that we have now and the body we will have someday when we depart from this earth.
1. What is the requirement for one to have a resurrected body? For you to get the resurrected body which God has promised to all Born Again believers, you must pass through the door of death, unless you are alive when Jesus returns to rapture the church.
“What a foolish question! When you put a seed into the ground, it doesn’t grow into a plant unless it dies first. 37 And what you put in the ground is not the plant that will grow, but only a bare seed of corn or whatever you are planting. 38 Then God gives it the new body He wants it to have. A different plant grows from each kind of seed” (1 Cor. 15:36-38, NLT).
In John 12:24 Jesus said, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, except a grain of corn falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone: but if it dies, it brings forth much fruit” (KJV).
What is Paul saying here? Paul is saying that you should not be afraid of death because if you don’t die you cannot have a resurrected body.
Suppose it were possible for you to live forever in this body you have now, then you will live forever in this present body that the Bible says is vile (Phil. 3:20-21).
For you to get the resurrection body which God has promised to all Born Again believers you must walk through the door of death, unless you are alive when Jesus returns to rapture the church.
2. The body you will have at the Rapture of the church will be a different kind of body.
In 1 Corinthians 15:37-38 the Bible says, “And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may a grain of wheat, or of some other grain: 38 but God giveth it a body as it hath pleased Him, and to every seed His own body” (1 Cor. 15:37-38, KJV).
This Scripture is simply saying that the body that comes out of the grave is totally different from the body that was put into the grave.
For instance, if you put a grain of corn into the ground to grow, what comes out of the ground when the grain germinates is not a grain of corn but a green stalk that looks totally different.
It is when the grain dies in the ground that a new product emerges with a new body that is totally different from the grain you sowed, and it will be looking far more beautiful, colourful and wonderful. It is God that chooses to give every seed the body that He wishes it to have in His own wisdom.
It is the same thing with the resurrection bodies. When a man dies and his physical body is buried in the ground, at resurrection God will give him a new body completely different from the one that was buried in the ground.
It is not going to be you looking as you were looking in your physical body before death. Whatever deformities or damage or weaknesses you had on your physical body before death will not be seen in your resurrected body, because you are going to come out of the grave with a new and glorious body.
The resurrection body is not a body that will be sick or fatigued or have any kind of deformity. All those imperfections and deformities will end on earth. It could be that you had eye problem, diabetes or cancer while on earth. All that will end here. May be your leg was even amputated such that you could not walk well. What will come out from the grave at the resurrection will be perfect such that you cannot compare your new legs with the one you had before.
In like manner, when you die and your body is put into the ground, on the day of resurrection, what will come out from the ground will be totally different from what was put into the ground.
At resurrection, every Born Again believer will look fine, beautiful, wonderful, and glorious.
The Bible describes 4 different qualities of the resurrection body in contrast to the physical body we have now:
1. Our resurrection bodies will be indestructible. “So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown (buried) in corruption; it is raised (resurrected) in incorruption: 43 it is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power” (1 Cor. 15:42-43).
We should know that in the entire universe, the only physical body that was never subject to corruption was that of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Psalm 16:10 says, “For thou wilt not leave My soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer (allow) thine Holy One to see corruption.”
Yes! The body of Jesus Christ did not see corruption when it was put into the grave. In order words, His body did not decay by any measure in the grave. This implies that our resurrection bodies will also be indestructible.
2. Our resurrection bodies will be identifiable. “It is sown (buried) in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power” (1 Cor. 15:43). It will be transformed to a glorious body like that of the risen Saviour.
“For our conversation (citizenship) is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: 21 who will change (transform) our vile (worthless) body, that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body, according to the working whereby He is able even to subdue all things unto Himself” (Phil. 3:20-21).
Now look at 1 Corinthians 15:43. “It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power” (1 Cor. 15:43).
What does this verse say to us about the resurrection body that we are going to have? Our bodies are going to be transformed so that it will be like the glorious body of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Here is the truth: The glory that Jesus has in His resurrected body is the same glory we will have when our bodies are resurrected from the grave on the day of rapture.
Our new resurrected bodies will be exactly like the resurrected body of our Saviour Jesus Christ.
This is what 1 John 3:2 is saying: “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is” (1 Jn. 3:1-3).
“And as we have borne the image of the man of dust (that’s our current body, the old Adam), we shall also bear the image of the heavenly man (Jesus)” (1 Cor. 15:49).
Just as we bear the image of Adam right now, on the day of Rapture we are going to have a body like that of Jesus.
What does the body of Jesus look like now? The only time anyone could observe the body of Jesus was within the 40 days He spent on earth from His resurrection to His ascension into Heaven.
i) Jesus said that His resurrection body was real. In Luke 24:39 Jesus said, “Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself: handle Me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see Me have.”
You are not going to have a body that floats around forever. Jesus said, “You are going to have a real body like His own.” He said, “Handle Me, I have flesh and bones. A spirit does not have flesh and bones.”
So when we get to heaven we are going to have real transformed bodies exactly like that of Jesus Christ.
ii) In His resurrected body, Jesus ate physical food on two occasions. Some people want to know if we are going to be eating in Heaven when we finally get there.
In Heaven we are going to be eating assorted kinds of food. We are not going to be eating in heaven to nourish ourselves, but we shall be eating just for pleasure. In Heaven, no matter what you eat, your size and proportions will remain the same. Wao!
Look at Jesus in His resurrected body: “And Jesus’ disciples gave Him a piece of a broiled fish, and of an honeycomb. 43 And He took it, and eat it in their presence” (Lk. 24:42-43).
Jesus even ate breakfast with His disciples in His resurrection body. In John 21:12-13 Jesus said to His disciples, “Come and dine (eat breakfast). And none of the disciples dared ask Him, Who art thou? Knowing that it was the Lord. 13 Jesus then cometh, and taketh bread, and giveth them, and fish likewise.”
iii) Jesus told Thomas to touch His resurrected body. Jesus’ resurrected body is touchable by someone in his physical body. So in our resurrected bodies, we will have the sense of touch.
It is not possible for a spirit to make contact with a physical body. Then saith Jesus to Thomas, “Reach hither thy finger, and behold My hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into My side: and be not faithless (unbelieving), but believing” (Jn. 20:27).
Also Jesus told Mary Magdalene not to touch Him. Jesus said unto Mary Magdalene, “Touch Me not; for I am not yet ascended to My Father: but go to My brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto My Father, and your Father; and to My God, and your God” (Jn. 20:17, NLT).
You see, if it was not possible for Mary to touch Him, Jesus wouldn’t forbid her from touching Him. You cannot touch something that is not touchable.
People are always asking, “In my new body will people recognize me and will I recognize others?” Jesus in His resurrection body is real, and His disciples knew who He was. They knew this so deeply in their hearts that they all went to their deaths proclaiming the reality of His resurrection.
When you get to Heaven, you are going to know all the people you met down here on earth and they will also recognize you.
In Heaven we shall know much more than we know now. “For now we see through a glass, darkly (dimly); but then face to face: now I know in part; but then I shall know even as also I am known” (1 Cor. 13:12).
3. Our resurrection bodies will be incredible. “…it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power” (1 Cor. 15:43b).
Our natural bodies will be buried in weakness but when we come out of the graves, it will be in power. In our natural bodies we are limited in power, but in our new resurrected bodies we are going to have capacities without limitation.
On one occasion Jesus entered a room without going through the door. In John 20:19 the Bible said, “Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and said unto them, Peace be unto you.”
In Jesus’ resurrection body the limitations of this life had no power over Him anymore. It will be exactly the same with us in our resurrected bodies.
4. Our resurrection bodies will be infinite. “It is buried a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body” (1 Cor. 15:44).
There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. What is the difference between these two types of bodies?
The Bible points to Adam as the image of the natural body, and to Jesus Christ as the image of the spiritual body.
What is a spiritual body? Jesus did not have a spirit body, but a material body with flesh and bones.
And we shall have a body exactly like His. The Bible is emphasizing that we are going to have a body that is no longer controlled by physical appetites, but a new body that will exist in a higher plane and totally governed by the Holy Spirit.
That’s what a spiritual body is. Romans 8:1-2 says, “There is therefore, now no condemnation (judgment) to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.”
The basic difference between the natural body and the spiritual body is this: The natural body is suited for life on this planet, but the spiritual body is suited for life in heaven for eternity with God.
The natural body is soul controlled, but the spiritual body will be Holy Spirit controlled. “Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption” (1 Cor. 15:50).
This is saying that in our natural bodies we cannot function in the heavenly realms. But God will give us new real bodies like the ones we have now only that it is totally transformed and no longer governed by the appetites of the flesh, but governed by the Holy Spirit.
Conclusion: My desire is to take as many people as possible with me to heaven. And that is why I ask you right now, “Is there any reason why you shouldn’t turn your life completely over to Jesus Christ? Is there any reason why you shouldn’t stop those things you are doing that are contrary to the Word of God?” Please do not delay. Do it today even right now!
Watch out for the next edition of Good News from the Pulpit!
- Your friend: I. I. MADUBUNYI (Head Pastor). 08.11.2020
Thank you Jesus
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