But someone will ask, “How are the
dead raised? With what kind of body will they come?” So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body
that is sown is perishable, it is raised 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. So it is written: “The first man Adam became a
living being”; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. The spiritual did not come
first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. The first man was of the
dust of the earth; the second man is of heaven. As was the earthly man, so are
those who are of the earth; and as is the heavenly man, so also are those who
are of heaven. And just as we have borne the image of the earthly man, so shall
we bear the image of the heavenly man. I declare to you, brothers and sisters,
that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable
inherit the imperishable. Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep,
but we will all be changed— 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. For the perishable must clothe itself with the
imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. I Corinthians 15:35, 42-53
Since we were born, we have only
known this fallen world where pain, death and decay have the upper hand. For
those who are of heaven, this is not the world in which we will experience
eternal life.
Our bodies will die, but we will
be raised into new life in the eternal kingdom of our God. When we are
resurrected, we will have an opposite life experience. Life, health and beauty
will reign.
In this mortal life, most of our
attention and energies are expended tending to the care of our natural bodies.
Unfortunately, it often seems a hopeless cause as we all eventually face
diminishing health and death.
How glorious it will be in the
day of our resurrection when we will receive our imperishable bodies! Our
attention and energies can then focus on the spiritual. It is exciting to think
that the spiritual life we have now is but the tip of the iceberg compared to
what lies ahead of us. Who knows what God has in store for one who is of heaven?
For starters, I think I’ll spend
a few decades hearing first-hand testimonies about all God has done in the
world over the millennia. Then I want to learn every language so I can praise
the Lord in any tongue. Then I think I’ll spend a few years writing songs and
books of worship and reflection about the goodness of God. Finally, I want to
meet all the animals on the new earth, hold them and tell them how beautiful
God made them.
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