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ENCOURAGEMENT TO ETERNAL FOCUS IN UNITY AND FELLOWSHIP OF THE GOSPEL

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With What Body?

17

What is the glorified body of God's Children like?

• Myth: Our glorified bodies are the perfection of this flesh

• Myth: Our glorified bodies are like Jesus resurrection body

• Myth: Our relationships will be the same in heaven as on earth

• Myth: Our life in heaven is similar to that on earth - only perfect

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1 Corinthians 15:35

35 But someone may ask, "How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come?" NIV

The Apostle Paul asked this question after writing on the resurrection. Those who face end of life issues as well often consider this important question. Since God has promised us eternal life in Jesus Christ we naturally want to know what our eternal form is like.

As I first tried to visualize in thought the glorified body my first thoughts were fleshly. My mind went to the picture in our Wellness Center of Mr. Atlas and his hard body on one of those workout motivational posters. Every muscle large rippled and smooth with a little waist in a Speedo bathing suit. Once I told the staff at the Wellness Center I was genetically superior to the guy posing in the picture. They immediately wanted to know how in the world I could think such a thing? I told them if God sent a famine I would live at least a month… that fellow would not last the week.

So with that let’s leave the thoughts of the flesh and center our attention for a few moments on some spiritual truths about our future bodies.

With What Kind of Body Do They Come?

The Flesh Must Die

1 Corinthians 15:36-38

36 How foolish! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. 37 When you sow, you do not plant the body that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or of something else. 38 But God gives it a body as he has determined, and to each kind of seed he gives its own body. NIV (Emphasis mine)

Paul starts his explanation with a rule required to obtain this body promised in Scripture. Once a teacher was presenting a lesson to her kindergarten Sunday School class. She asked, “What must one do to go to heaven?” To help her students arrive at the proper answer she asked, “Do you join the church?” “No!” they said. “Do you get baptized?” “No!” was echoed. “Do you give lots of money?” “No!!” again thundered from the young crowd. “So what do you do?” as she called on one little guy with his hand raised. He yelled, “You have to die.” He well demonstrated the truth Paul says must absolutely be true. The only way to heaven is through the portal of death of our fleshly body.

It’s difficult to face our own mortality. We would like to believe our mortal bodies last forever. People spend billions of dollars on vitamins, treatments, medicines, foods, cosmetics, exercise, and preventative tests trying to ensure long life and quality years. Others omit certain foods, seek some level of spiritual intervention, read self-help materials, or wear good luck charms. Everyone wants an edge on beating his own mortality.

Early explorers commissioned by wealthy monarchs sailed the sea and searched thousands of miles of North America looking for the proverbial fountain of youth. In all their efforts they died without finding it.

In their day just as today, no one wants life to end. God created man with the will to live and survive. There are endless stories of struggles for survival in difficult life threatening circumstances. We feel sad and disillusioned when tragedy or illness results in an early death. The contemplation of the possibility of death frequently brings great levels of irrational thought and denial. Most just cannot accept that possibility no matter the reason. In many circles it is considered morbid to talk of death. Some cultures think it is a curse to approach the subject.

I have often found the discussion of the inevitability of death like the story of the intern and psychiatric patient in California. A new young intern with limited educational experience was given a patient on his psychiatric rotation that believed himself to be dead. He had felt he was dead for years as the result of his psychiatric condition disconnecting him for reality. The intern immediately determined to persuade the man he was not dead. As he sat with him he asked, “So you believe you are dead?” The man responded, “Yes, I have been dead for years.” The intern then asked the man, “Do you believe dead people can bleed?” “No” the man responded, “Everyone knows dead people can’t bleed.” So the intern took a needle and poked the man’s finger and squeezed several drops of blood out. He looked confidently at the man awaiting his response. Without a moment of hesitancy the patient said, “ Gee, I guess dead people do bleed.”

This aloofness to possibilities of death is especially true with the young teenage mind. It is a universal fact one cannot reason with a teenager. Due to little life experience the concept of loss of quality of life or death itself is not a real possibility. Such negative experiences only happen to others distantly far away. For example, note the teenage driver. Insurance Actuaries know teenagers are an increased risk due to this. Those of you paying insurance premiums on teenagers know. Joggers know the danger. Teen drivers believe if the speed limit says thirty-five mph they have the right to go thirty-five mph or better regardless of the conditions. An experienced jogger can just about tell the age of the driver of an approaching car by speed and cautiousness. Elderly people will begin slowing and yielding far down the road. The younger the driver the faster and less cautious their approach becomes. Young people do not have the experience to realize life is fragile and quickly lost.

So how does God want us to face the thought of our mortality? The answer is simple. The end of this life is not an end at all…it is a beginning “to life.” While we are not to long, seek or chance our end of life we are to live in service of Christ believing death is a gain. Paul wrote the example for the believer in Christ.

Philippians 1:21

21 For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. NIV (Emphasis mine)

In 1 Corinthians 15 the Apostle Paul writes of the hope of the resurrection of Jesus Christ that can only come after death.  Paul shares that just like a seed dies in the ground springing forth some form in new life believers will do the same.

When one plants a seed you do not have the same seed spring forth, but a new form such as wheat something else. When this body is planted in death the resurrection does not bring back this same body, but a new life form.

The Form is Different

1 Corinthians 15:39

39 All flesh is not the same: Men have one kind of flesh, animals have another, birds another and fish another. NIV

Paul shares our new form will be different from that we have now. With the truth of the different kinds of flesh he wanted his readers to understand the new body will be different. His logical conclusion he wants his reader’s to see is the body will be unlike the one they had now.

If we took a poll how many people would want the body they have now? I think we would find that probably depends on a lot of factors such as age and appearance. I once read a cartoon where two very elderly ladies in wheel chairs were conversing about getting to heaven. They were gray haired, had wrinkled age weathered skin, and had a worn deformed skeletal appearance of long life wear and tear. As one of the ladies spoke to the other she said, “If the angels don’t hurry and come for me, when I get to heaven when everyone sees me as I look now their going to wonder if I really made it.”

In answer to the age dilemma illustrated above many authors create interesting scenarios to explain age in this new body. Our focus is often temporal on our present physical flesh when looking at possibilities of God’s design. For example C.S. Lewis[1] is said to describe the new bodies of heaven as having an “ageless” appearance seen as any age desired by either the individual or the beholder.  As one studies more thoroughly the teaching of Scripture concerning the glorified body to come the outward show of age is probably not a relevant question. The exterior descriptions are much different than anything we presently have in this world.  

The Fashion is that of Light

1 Corinthians 15:40-42a

40 There are also heavenly bodies and there are earthly bodies; but the splendor of the heavenly bodies is one kind, and the splendor of the earthly bodies is another. 41 The sun has one kind of splendor, the moon another and the stars another; and star differs from star in splendor. 42 So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. NIV (Emphasis mine)

Often the question has been asked, "In heaven are there different levels?" The following example might be given. An evil doer accepts Jesus as his savior just before death. Will he be on the same level in heaven as the person who spent all his life serving the Lord? Or part of his life? The  question is a valid one. We might ask why serve the Lord if there is no difference in reward when we get to heaven? While the Scripture is clear our works of life on earth do not determine our gift of eternal life from the Father they do follow us in heaven. Our inheritance in eternal life from the Father is determined by our degree of faithfulness to serve the Lord in His will in this temporary world. The Scripture does give several differences among the redeemed in heaven that are determined by faithfulness as noted below.

For one, the degree of brightness that externally clothes our glorified bodies is determined by faithfulness to kingdom work in the Father's will. This is noted from Scripture below. The second mentioned in Scripture is different levels of responsibility given according to faithfulness as referenced chapter The First Thousand Years.

While there are noted differences according to faithfulness in our eternal inheritance two things are clear in Scripture. First, eternal life is a free gift not dependant on works of righteousness on earth.

Titus 3:4-8
4 But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, 5 He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, 6 whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 that being justified by His grace we might be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. 8 This is a trustworthy statement; and concerning these things I want you to speak confidently, so that those who have believed God may be careful to engage in good deeds. These things are good and profitable for men. NASB (emphasis mine)

 

Ephesians 2:4-10
4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places, in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not as a result of works, that no one should boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. NASB (emphasis mine)

Second, there is no segregation of different classes of believers in a sort of cast system. Also there is no segregation in different groups of believers by age, time, race, gender, vocation, talent or otherwise.. All believers are always together with the Lord and thus are always together as family being children of God.

1 Thessalonians 4:17
17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and thus we shall always be with the Lord. NASB (Emphasis mine)
 

1 Thessalonians 5:9-11
9 For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10 who died for us, that whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with Him. 11 Therefore encourage one another, and build up one another, just as you also are doing. NASB (emphasis mine)

Third, when the New Heaven, New Earth, and New Jerusalem come at the end of the age after the thousand year reign of Christ there will be no separation of heaven in different dimensions. Heaven and earth will be one again in fulfillment of God's plan for this age. Ephesians 1:10 "That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:" KJV. Now we have a separation in different dimensions that is clearly depicted by the tabernacle as seen in chapter Tabernacle Not Made With Hands.

Remember in heaven in the presence of God the Father there are no shadows. Since there is no degree of darkness to contrast one object from another how then do we distinguish one thing from another in heaven? Clarity, definition and sharpness will be determined by varying degrees of brightness and color. Every description of the appearance of heavenly objects or people compares to earthly brightness or colors.

Daniel 12:2-3

2 Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt. 3 Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever. NIV (Emphasis mine)

While our salvation is by grace apart from works our brightness relates to God’s service. Our robes are made white through the blood of the Lamb, but the intensity of our brightness is determined by the righteous acts we do in the will of God. The Apostle John shared this truth in Revelation.

Revelation 7:9

9 After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. NIV (Emphasis mine)

 

Revelation 7:14

14 I answered, "Sir, you know." And he said, "These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. NIV (Emphasis mine)

 

Revelation 19:6-9

6 Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting: "Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns. 7 Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. 8 Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear." (Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of the saints.) 9 Then the angel said to me, "Write: `Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!'" And he added, "These are the true words of God." NIV (Emphasis mine)

The outer garment of the new bodies God prepares is clothed in light.  These glow and radiate in different levels of intensity according to our faithfulness in spiritual matters here on earth. This is why Jesus exhorted the Laodicea church to seek to improve the quality of their faithfulness.

Revelation 3:18

8 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see. NIV

The Founding of the New Body is  in The Life of Our Present Body

1 Corinthians 15:42-44

42 So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; 43 it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; 44 it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. NIV

The sowing of this new body is made in this life. Once death comes it is too late. Once sown in the resurrection we receive an imperishable, glorious, powerful, spiritual body. 

Paul aptly describes the frail shell we presently dwell. It is perishable whereby many things in this world can easily bring harm and ruin. It dishonors us in not doing what we always desire. Weakness allows subjection to all kinds of undesirable maladies. This natural body while a marvelous complex creation in far from being an eternal model designed to last forever. 

In receiving Jesus Christ as Savior our natural body receives the Holy Spirit in the new birth. The presence of the Holy Spirit guarantees our new life. [See Chapter 7 – The Blessing of Being Guaranteed Inheritance]

Romans 8:11

11 And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you. NIV (Emphasis mine)

The Figure of the New Body is the Lord’s Glorified Body

1 Corinthians 15:45-49

45 So it is written: "The first man Adam became a living being"; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. 46 The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. 47 The first man was of the dust of the earth, the second man from heaven. 48 As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the man from heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. 49 And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we bear the likeness of the man from heaven. NIV (Emphasis mine)

What will this new body be like God has promised? Paul says first it is not like Adam’s natural earthly body. It is not “of the dust of the earth” like Adam’s body. We now bear the image of the first man God created. His genetic makeup has passed through the generations to us today. This body we receive is patterned after the image of the Lord of heaven. This does not refer to Jesus earthly fleshly body that as well came from “the dust of the earth.” The Scripture tell us God the Son “from heaven” came to the world in the form of our flesh we have today.

John 1:14

14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. NIV (Emphasis mine)

Our new body probably does not refer to his resurrection body from the grave after his death on the cross. Many make the mistake of believing this promised body is like Jesus fleshly resurrection body seen by over five hundred witnesses. Authors^[2],[3] take Scriptures that detail the events after Jesus resurrection to describe new powers and attributes.

This new body will be like the body of His glory of eternity past before He came “from heaven.”

Philippians 3:21

21 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. NIV (Emphasis mine)

Jesus as God the Son in eternity past existed in a bodily form. He in this glorified body created the kingdom of heaven in all its glory. He came as Immanuel, God with us to bring our redemption. Scripture reveals an account in the gospels where Jesus showed them the form and nature of His glorified body on what we today call the Mount of Transfiguration. Consider Luke’s account.

Luke 9:28-32

28 About eight days after Jesus said this, he took Peter, John and James with him and went up onto a mountain to pray. 29 As he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning. 30 Two men, Moses and Elijah, 31 appeared in glorious splendor, talking with Jesus. They spoke about his departure, which he was about to bring to fulfillment at Jerusalem. 32 Peter and his companions were very sleepy, but when they became fully awake, they saw his glory and the two men standing with him. NIV (Emphasis mine)

Students of the Apostle Paul note he often when writing about his Savior called him Christ Jesus rather than the more common Jesus Christ. Some think this is because Paul first saw Jesus as Christ in His glorified state before accepting the fleshly form of Jesus as Christ. Note the account of Paul’s salvation and his view.

Acts 9:3-5

As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. 4 He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?" 5 "Who are you, Lord?" Saul asked. "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting," he replied. NIV (Emphasis mine)

No one knew the fleshly body of Jesus more than John, perhaps closest to Jesus. On one occasion He laid upon His breast. After being with Jesus fleshly body for more than three years and personally seeing Jesus resurrection body He still did not fully understand the exact makeup of our glorified body.

1 John 3:2

2 Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. NIV (Emphasis mine)

 

The Flesh and Blood Obsolete

1 Corinthians 15:50

50 I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. NIV

Lest anyone misunderstand Paul drives the point clearly home. This fragile temporary shell of flesh will not enter the kingdom of God. This body we abide within is easily damaged, distorted, and diseased. It consumes oxygen and bond energy of carbon chains for power. This body fails if these temporary fuels are removed. Built from a decaying creation separated from the life energy of God the Father our fleshly bodies get worse with each year. Each succeeding generation experiences more failure and disease than the past. Medical science merely patches temporarily with small improvements of quality living.

Not long ago at age 63 Jim Dobson of Focus on the Family experienced a stroke that took away his speech. His doctors elected to try the clot buster drug TPA. As he and his wife waited the long anxious hours through the night by morning his speech and weakness were restored. As he was recovering he went next door to his neighbors house for a friendly chat. Dr. Dobson says his neighbor looked at him and said, “Jim, after sixty it’s just patch, patch, patch.”

Like it or not God never designed this body to live eternally. It was made from a decaying creation separated from God. Each cell is genetically programmed to die after so many doubling times. Scientists today spend millions in research dollars to find the aging gene in hopes if keeping this flesh functional just a little longer. One of the reasons some fight for partial birth abortion is to preserve the tissues of young babies before birth to use those organs and tissues to replace the worn out body parts of those living. Stem cell research and genetic cloning now heralds replacements for damaged worn-out diseased cells that no longer function correctly.

We are obsessed with trying to keep this flesh youthful. We color the gray, fill in the wrinkles, eat the right foods, take the right supplements, and avoid unhealthy life styles. The top selling books for Christian markets often deal with some aspect of extending or improving quality of life. Most of the subjects of our prayers in church are the same. We fight so hard to keep this body going no wonder we are so depressed and anxious when inevitable problems develop.

One consolation Paul gives is this flesh and blood we occupy now will not enter God’s kingdom. Solomon knew this.

Ecclesiastes 12:7

7 and the dust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God who gave it. NIV

The dust refers to the elements and molecules. What happens to this flesh when God calls the spirit of life home? Our body decomposes to the base elements and gets reutilized in the earth. We become grass, trees, insects, animals, and other forms of life. While we may not like to think about it these atoms and elements become part of new people living upon the earth. We may have shared the parts of those of the past and perhaps our neighbors today. 

While living our body is very fluid. We do not have the same body we had last year on a molecular level. Massive substitution and exchange has occurred in many tissues. We constantly build, breakdown, and rebuild ourselves a little worse each time. This “dust of the ground” as God called it only temporarily serves as vessels of eternal spirits of life from God. Understanding its temporary use, God really does not have any functional use for it when it returns to the dust it came. The fact of the matter is along with all other parts of this world every molecule and atom of this fleshly body will be shaken down to it smallest components at the end of this age. See Chapter 20 – Final Judgment.

The Form Changed to An Immortal Body

                        1 Corinthians 15:51-53

51 Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed- 52 in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53 For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. NIV

God has promised to change[4] us to something much different. Consider a  summary teaching some of the changes mentioned in the Scriptures.

• New bodies are imperishable and immortal unable to decay or die.

1 Corinthians 15:53

53 For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. NIV

Luke 20:36

36 and they can no longer die; for they are like the angels. They are God's children, since they are children of the resurrection. NIV

 

Daniel 12:2

2 Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt. NIV

 

Revelation 21:4-5

4 He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." 5 He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!" Then he said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true." NIV

• New bodies freely receive every need to exist from God.

Revelation 21:6

6 He said to me: "It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life. NIV

 

Revelation 22:1-2

1 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. NIV

 

Revelation 7:15b-16

15b and he who sits on the throne will spread his tent over them. 16 Never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst. The sun will not beat upon them, nor any scorching heat. NIV

• New bodies live in new types of relationships without marriage.

Luke 20:34-35

34 Jesus replied, "The people of this age marry and are given in marriage. 35 But those who are considered worthy of taking part in that age and in the resurrection from the dead will neither marry nor be given in marriage, NIV

• New bodies are like the angels and are children of God.

Luke 20:36

36 and they can no longer die; for they are like the angels. They are God's children, since they are children of the resurrection. NIV

• New life will have no memory of sorrows, no memory of joys, and no ownership of anything.

1 Corinthians 7:30

30 those who mourn, as if they did not; those who are happy, as if they were not; those who buy something, as if it were not theirs to keep; NIV

 

Revelation 7:17

17 For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; he will lead them to springs of living water. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes." NIV

 

Isaiah 65:17

17 "Behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind. NIV

            How many people spend all day long thinking about first grade? Why not? The reason is it is no longer important to dominate our focus. We have graduated to other more important business. In eternity it is not that we cannot look back to our relationships, accomplishments or details of life – we will not want to look back. Of course these are important now.

Every good part of our lives is a special gift from God. We are to enjoy the present. But the experience of heaven will be so wonderfully captivating of our thoughts who will want to look back?

• New life has a different focus than our present world.

1 Corinthians 7:31

31 those who use the things of the world, as if not engrossed in them. For this world in its present form is passing away. NIV

Our present lives must have a degree of temporal focus. We pray “give us this day our daily bread” as we seek God’s blessings. We must work by the sweat of our brow to sustain life. We must think on things like appearance, preventative health, medical intervention, money, food, shelter, education and clothing. In the new form our focus in only heavenly. Such affairs of this present life aforementioned pass away as no longer necessary to dominate our attention.

• New life will dwell in righteousness and purity serving before God’s throne without the curse of sin.

Revelation 7:15a

15 Therefore, "they are before the throne of God and serve him day and night in his temple;    NIV

 

2 Peter 3:13

13 But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness. NIV

 

Revelation 21:26-27

26 The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it. 27 Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life. NIV

 

Revelation 22:3

3 No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. NIV

We will receive a personalized special name from our Lord that only we know.

Revelation 2:17

To him who overcomes, to him I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and a new name written on the stone which no one knows but he who receives it.'  NASB

With all this change will we still know each other? This question is a common one asked  many times in classes and discussions about heaven. The Scriptures teach we will know those we now know on earth when raised in the day of the Lord. Knowing others when we are gathered together is part of the comfort we are to share with one another over those now “asleep” in heaven. We will see them again. It would not be comfort if we did not know them when we get there.

^[5] 1 Thessalonians  4:13-18

13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve, as do the rest who have no hope. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. 15 For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, and remain until the coming of the Lord, shall not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and thus we shall always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore comfort one another with these words. NASB (Emphasis mine)

We appear differently from our present form, interact in a different type of relationship, receive a new name as our identity in the Lord. live in new surroundings and work in varied responsibilities. Yet in all of this Scripture shows we are to be comforted in the fact that those we know now who have accepted Jesus will be with us on this new journey into eternity. While it will be comforting to see others we knew on earth we also must realize those relationships will be much different than our past experience of spouse, child, boss, coworker, mother, father, brother, friend or other.

From Scripture we find our eternal life with the Father will be much different than that of our current life in this world. In eternity will be no fast food places, no bathrooms, no worn out pavement, no skin or organs of fleshly bodies, no sense to heat or cold, no weight of gravity, and more. All we know here is obsolete in the kingdom of heaven. No kitchens, garbage bags, dusting, vacuuming, cleaning. No hair coloring, doctor's visits, chest pain, accidents, falls or irritants. As I drive long distances to work some emergency rooms I often meditate on how different our eternal experience will be.

Patterned after the Lord's glorified body we will not be bound by gravity. At a thought we will travel at God's light speed to a destination. While streets of gold, walls the color of jewels, and gates of pearl may serve as borders we travel unhindered three dimensionally up, down, forward, backward, left or right at will. There are no elevators or stairs in the New Jerusalem that is a 1500 mile cube.

So heaven will be unlike anything we have ever imagined and dreamed. In the new order God prepares are no bathrooms, no meal fixing, no nerves to fray, no grass to mow, no toxic waste, no guilt of the past, no aging, no illness, no manicures or haircuts, no sweating, no…many things of this world order one wishes to list.

                        1 Corinthians 2:9-10

9 However, as it is written: "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him"- 10 but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. NIV (Emphasis mine)

As a physician I was taught the function of every part of our bodies. For example the liver has intricate cells called hepatocytes. They in complex chemical reactions function to breakdown other chemicals, drugs, poisons, toxins, and bodily waste. The kidneys by use of nephrons filter the blood, regulate blood volume, and help manage blood production and blood pressure. The nerves with a massive web connect every organ and tissue for communication. Blood vessels circulate immune cells, nutrients, and fuel for energy. Lungs expel toxic gasses of waste and load new oxygen for fuel. This list could go on for pages. The human body is vastly complex. From the time I returned to school to study medicine, it took eleven years before I was free to practice. The knowledge to acquire is tremendous. Even then when compared to the actual complexity of the body medical knowledge would figuratively fill a thimble.

The amazing thing is our new glorified body will need none of these intricately designed organs or tissues when finally existing in God the Father’s presence. Our energy will one day come from the Glorious Light of God the Father and the Son from His throne so there will be no need for blood to circulate oxygen and carbon chains. There is no waste so we do not need the kidneys or bladder. No pain or damage so no need for nerves to communicate overuse or disease.  No foreign viruses or bacteria so no need of an immune system. No great temperature changes so no need for sweat glands. Most of the functions of this fleshly body we have today are designed to exist apart from the fellowship of God the Father. They are obsolete in heaven.

This body is really just a temporary vessel designed to survive apart from the Light energy of God the Father. It is an independent unit so designed to live distant from the Father. It survives with limited endurance and function. Those God heals and restores to a level of desirable health with miracles - still died one day. The flesh returns to dust and the spirit returns to God. That is the rule.

Attempting to help others protect health and quality of life is overwhelming and frustrating. There are so many ways it all just can fall apart. Beyond accidents and self-abuse God often allows “thorns in the flesh”[6] to demonstrate His grace.

The Apostle Paul shared this truth with the Corinthians from personal experience.

2 Corinthians 5:4

4 For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. NIV (Emphasis mine)

 

 2 Corinthians 12:7-10

7 To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me . 9 But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. NIV (Emphasis mine)

Paul understood illness of this weak fleshly dwelling motivates us to look forward to our heavenly body. His groans and burdens brought special desires for the eternal more than the temporal. These torments of the flesh enabled Paul to live by the power of grace rather than the flesh.

When Paul had this fleshly thorn he prayed three times for removal and God told him no - that His grace was sufficient to make him strong.  Luke the physician, Paul’s companion, could not fix the illnesses that plagued Paul, only console him with understanding and keep him comfortable as possible. It is this frustration of constantly patching this decaying flesh that leads me often to tell others in heaven I will be without a job – Praise God! Sometimes I find myself wondering about their true feelings when they agree with me.

The Fleshly Death is a Victory to Imperishable Immortality

1 Corinthians 15:54-57

54 When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: "Death has been swallowed up in victory."  55 "Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?"  56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. NIV

             As our flesh worsens each day each of us eventually faces death. God shows us that death is not failure, defeat or loss. Death does not have to be a painful experience for the believer. It is a natural process of promotion in God’s promise. This victorious hope of heaven has strengthened many believers in this world. They knew in faith that whatever happened to this fleshly body God would raise them up again in immortal glorified bodies like unto Jesus Christ His Son. This understanding of the ultimate victory a believer has in near death encouraged many a saint to glory in trials and tribulations even in the face of severe persecution and martyrdom. May the same spiritual understanding of our new life motivate each of us. Oh what a wonderful body that will be!

End Notes

[1] Hanegraaff, Hank. Resurrection. (Thomas Nelson, 2000), p. 91 as quoted from C.S. Lewis in The Great Divorce.

[2] Jeffery, Grant R. Heaven – The Last Frontier. “Chapter 4. The Resurrected Body” (Frontier Research Publications, Toronto Ontario, 1990), p. 43ff

[3] Alcorn, Randy. In Light of Eternity. (Waterbrook Press, 1999), p. 47

[4]‘changed’ NT:236 allasso (al-las'-so); from NT:243; to make different: KJV - change. Biblesoft's New Exhaustive Strong's Numbers and Concordance with Expanded Greek-Hebrew Dictionary, 1994, Biblesoft and International Bible Translators, Inc.

[5] Lorenzo Scott (b. 1922), Reunion in Heaven (of the "House of Prayer" Children),2001-2002, Oil on canvas in artist decorated frame 55.5 x 66.5" Collection of Jim Farmer and Scott Fields. On display in Art Museum of the University of Memphis in exhibit entitled "Coming Home! Self Taught Artists, the Bible and the American South." Viewed at http://www.people.memphis.edu/~artmuseum/ComingHome.html

[6]‘thorn’ NT:4647 skolops (skol'-ops); perhaps from the base of NT:4628 and NT:3700; withered at the front, i.e. a point or prickle (figuratively, a bodily annoyance or disability): KJV - thorn. Biblesoft's New Exhaustive Strong's Numbers and Concordance with Expanded Greek-Hebrew Dictionary, 1994, Biblesoft and International Bible Translators, Inc.

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