Tag: Glorious

Our Bodies and Heaven

“50I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.” – 1 Corinthians 15:50 (ESV)

“When Paul says that ‘flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God,’ he’s referring to our flesh and blood as they are now: cursed and under sin.” – Randy Alcorn And he is right. Our bodies as we know them are not the bodies that God created. Adam sinned and because of it, we are cursed with this perishable, dishonorable, weak natural body as noted by Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:42-44.

We have to remember that Heaven is the glorious place that it is and as such is not the place for the perishable, dishonorable, and weak. It is a place for the imperishable, glorious, powerful and that is what we get with out transformed/upgraded spiritual body. When we are reunited with our bodies, they are made in the likeness of Christ and back to the form that God created as His pinnacle creation that was “very good”. “With them you’ll be better able to serve and glorify God and enjoy an eternity of wonders He has prepared for you.” – Randy Alcorn

So, what do we do in the meantime. I wrote this back in July of 2024 in a post titled “Our Natural and Spiritual Bodies”, “Before I can look for what I will become, I have to look at what I am and do with it all that I am to do with it. I have to use the body I was given by God in this world to make a difference”. Even with this perishable, dishonorable, and weak natural body, I still have work to do. I have to, as I have written in the margin of my bible, wear out the earthly body for God and be rewarded with a heavenly body I cannot wear out in eternity.

Our earthly natural bodies are temporary, and that is indicated in the word perishable that Paul uses. It is breaking down at this moment as it is not for eternity. And it is not for us to have when we are with Christ in Heaven. We will be reunited with the upgraded version of our bodies for our heavenly existence. We will have the body that will be physical and spiritual in that it will be ours and we will be recognized, but it will also last forever, imperishable, glorious, and powerful. Built to “serve and glorify God”.

How are you looking at your body now? Are you wondering how it will make it? What if you see it as Paul does, perishable, dishonorable, weak and that your spiritual body will be the opposite, imperishable, glorious, and powerful?

Our Glorious Resurrected Body

“49Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.” – 1 Corinthians 15:49 (ESV)

We will be reunited with our bodies when Christ comes again. Our bodies will be recognized. But, we will also take on some of the glory of Christ. We will still be human, but also glorious. We will be back to the design that God created us to be from the beginning.

As Randy Alcorn writes, “the glorified Christ will be by far the most glorious Being in Heaven”. If we are taking on the glory of the LORD, then just what is that. Well, we look to Revelation and John’s account.

“14The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, 15his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. 16In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength.” – Revelation 1:14-16 (ESV)

And the account of Paul on the road to Damascus.

“6As I was on my way and drew near to Damascus, about noon a great light from heaven suddenly shone around me…9Now those who were with me saw the light but did not understand the voice of the one who was speaking to me.” – Acts 22:6&11 (ESV)

Both men saw Christ is His glory, although John’s view was much clearer. They both saw the brightness and standing of Christ. He shone and was brighter than all around. Yet He was still in a physical human form as John describes. And so will we.

We will be brighter than the world, although Christ will certainly be the brightest. We will be glorious and yet will still be human. The difference in our human form is that we will return to the form that God designed and intended for us. Look back at 1 Corinthians 15:49 and see that we will take on the image of man and will also have characteristics of the image of God and His glory.

Again, What is your view of resurrected body? Are you still looking at it from only the physical form? How does your view change knowing that we will take on glory from Christ and just what His glory is?