05/23/2018
What will we look like in heaven? I have heard that question many times, and heard it put in many different ways. Young healthy people ask it in curiosity, and the aged or infirmed ask it in fear, or dread. Can we really know? Let’s explore some scripture regarding our redemption bodies.
“For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.”
Romans 8:22-23 ESV
We know from scripture that we will be redeemed both spiritually, and bodily, and we read of this with some trepidation. We complain about our bodies all of the time. I am not beautiful, I am scarred, I am not tall enough, I am too tall, my hair is too curly, or I wish I had more hair... we all have likes and dislikes about our bodies. Then there are those born, or struck down, with mental disabilities that cripple us in so many ways. Will we be raised with these same bodies, and physical limitations? To answer this we must look to the nature of He who raised us; to Jesus, and God.
“If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.”
Romans 8:11 ESV
Once we look upon the loving nature of Jesus Christ and the Goodness of God Himself then we can ask our question with the assurance that we can answer it.
“But someone will ask, "How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?"”
1 Corinthians 15:35 ESV
We will be the children of God, and what Father desires his child to bear even the slightest scar if he can remove it? We will have a glorious body because our Heavenly Father wishes for us to be glorified with Him! We will reflect God’s own glory...
“The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.”
Romans 8:16-17 ESV
So we look at ourselves now, and see all of our imperfections, and feel the pains of age and disease, but when we are redeemed and receive our Heavenly body it will be like a flower in its most beautiful state of bloom. Scripture says that we are just a seed now, but that God has determined what our seed will produce. Man, animal, other... each seed producing that thing God has ultimately intended.
“And what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare kernel, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain. But God gives it a body as he has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body.”
1 Corinthians 15:37-38 ESV
You are probably wondering now what kind of flower you will become. What will I ultimately grow into when the seed of who I am now matures into who I will become? The answer is that we will basically have the same structure and nature as we do now, but perfect, beautiful, glorious, healthy in all ways... the lame will walk, the blind will see, those who shake will be steadied, and yet we will look just as we were intended to when God created Adam... in His image, and radiant... for this is Jesus, the man of heaven.
“Just 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
So do not fear your pains, wrinkles, and imperfections; do not think for a moment that God wants to entrap you for eternity in a crippled or even slightly tarnished body! You will be glorified with Him, and made once again in the image of God as we were intended to be from creation. God is good, loving, and wants to give us all good things... to include glorious, and eternal bodies... monuments to Christ’s victory over death!
“For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: "Death is swallowed up in victory."”
1 Corinthians 15:53-54 ESV
Get ready, prepare yourself in faith, worship, obedience, and praise for what is to come. Love God with all your heart and know that He is Good, and that His glory awaits you, just as it awaited our Lord Jesus Christ.
“And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.”
John 17:5 ESV
Prayer:
Father, I thank you for the Goodness, Mercy, and the Grace that is you. I thank you for this earthly seed of the heavenly body that awaits me in your presence. I recall your Word that said that those who were forgiven much, loved much, and I pray that the redemption body of those who have physically suffered much will receive a body in heaven apportioned to their suffering on earth. Merciful Father, give eternal comfort to those in pain, beauty to those marred by life, release to those trapped in bodies that imprison them, and freedom to minds that have been handicapped in any way. Remove all imperfections Holy Father, and instill your grace in every body, and let every soul shine radiant as the sun. In your image we wish to shine forth, and reveal your glory throughout eternity... perfect in body and soul. Praised be your name, and Wonderful are your gifts. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you the creator, and the author of recreation... He whose image we will bear forever.
Rich Forbes