Heavenly Bodies | 1 Corinthians 15:43–44

“Our bodies are buried in brokenness, but they will be raised in glory. They are buried in weakness, but they will be raised in strength. They are buried as natural human bodies, but they will be raised as spiritual bodies. For just as there are natural bodies, there are also spiritual bodies.” (1 Corinthians 15:43–44 NLT)

 

When you get to Heaven, God will give you a brand-new body. But the blueprint for your glorified body is in the body you now possess. In other words, there will be a connection between the you of earth and the you of Heaven.

The apostle Paul wrote, “Our bodies are buried in brokenness, but they will be raised in glory. They are buried in weakness, but they will be raised in strength. They are buried as natural human bodies, but they will be raised as spiritual bodies. For just as there are natural bodies, there are also spiritual bodies” (1 Corinthians 15:43–44 NLT). That means our new bodies will, in some ways, be the same as our old bodies, but at the same time, they will be different. Without question, they will be radically improved. No more physical disabilities. No signs of age. No sinful tendencies.

Joni Eareckson Tada, who was left a quadriplegic after a diving accident, wrote a book called Heaven: Your Real Home. In it, she talked about the new bodies we will receive. “No more bulging middles or balding tops. No varicose veins or crow’s feet. No more cellulite or support hose. Forget the thunder thighs and the highway hips. Just a quick leapfrog over the tombstone and it is a body you have always dreamed of. Fit and trim. Smooth and sleek.”

Our new resurrection bodies will resemble the resurrection body of Jesus Christ. Jesus appeared to His disciples in the flesh after He rose from the dead. He ate. He invited Thomas to touch the wounds from His crucifixion. Yet He could appear in a room without using the door. And He ascended to glory.

The Bible doesn’t tell us whether we’ll be able to do the same things. But it does say, “Dear friends, we are already God’s children, but he has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is” (1 John 3:2 NLT). That’s an exciting prospect.

And Paul wrote, “For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down (that is, when we die and leave this earthly body), we will have a house in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God himself and not by human hands. We grow weary in our present bodies, and we long to put on our heavenly bodies like new clothing. For we will put on heavenly bodies; we will not be spirits without bodies. While we live in these earthly bodies, we groan and sigh, but it’s not that we want to die and get rid of these bodies that clothe us. Rather, we want to put on our new bodies so that these dying bodies will be swallowed up by life” (2 Corinthians 5:1–4 NLT).

In other words, our heavenly body will be familiar, yet amazingly different from our current body.

 

Reflection question: What do you look forward to most about your heavenly body? Discuss Today's Devo in Harvest Discipleship!

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