05/23/2026
What will we look like in heaven? I have heard that question asked many times, heard it voiced for various reasons, and put in many ways. Young healthy people ask it out of curiosity, and the aged or infirmed ask it in either hope, or with fear and dread. Can we really know what our resurrected bodies will look like? Let’s explore some scripture that might help us determine the answer to this question.
“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 this passage of 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 bear scars, 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 disabilities and limitations? To answer these questions we must look to the nature of He who gave us life, and who will raise us up on resurrection day. We should look 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 and mercy 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
In death, as in life and resurrection, we remain the children of God, and what Father desires his child to bear even the slightest scar if he can remove it? My friends, we will have a glorious spiritual 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 physical 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 in heaven? The answer is that you will basically have the same structure and nature as you do now, but perfect, beautiful, glorious, and 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 God intended us to when He created Adam... we will be 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 don’t fear your pains, wrinkles, and imperfections; don’t 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 remade once again into the image of God as we were intended to be from the moment of 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 and meant to honor and glorify God Himself!
“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, and as you do, then worship, obey, and praise Him 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 in glory to their suffering on earth. Merciful Father, give eternal comfort to those in pain, and beauty to those marred by their earthly lives. Lord, release those trapped in bodies that now imprison them, and give freedom to minds that have been handicapped in any way. Remove all imperfections Holy Father, instill your grace in each of our bodies, and let every soul shine as radiant as the sun. In your image we wish to shine forth, and reveal the magnificence of your glory throughout eternity... made perfect in body and soul. Praised be your name, and Wonderful are your gifts, for Holy, Holy, Holy, are you our creator who is the merciful author of resurrection... and you are He whose image we will soon bear forever. This I pray today in anticipation and knowing this answer to be true…
“But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?””
1 Corinthians 15:35 ESV
“So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is 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. But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual. The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are 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 15:42-49 ESV
Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
Amen! and, Amen!
Rich Forbes