This past Sunday was Easter, the day we celebrate the Resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. As we celebrate Easter, we are also praising Christ for the results we receive from His resurrection. There are countless benefits for us as a result of the Father bringing His Son to life; but one of those is that all those who accept Christ will be resurrected unto life as well. Probably the most frequently asked question when thinking about our resurrection is, "What will our heavenly body be like?" It is a great question, but we are not given all the answers we would like. Here are a few things that I think Scripture reveals to us as to what we will be like as we live on the new earth.
1. Our bodies will be like Christ's body
We are told in Phil. 3:21 that our bodies will be like Christ's glorious body. Whatever our bodies will be they will be like Christ's body was after His resurrection.
2. Our bodies will be a real, physical body
Christ did not simply rise from the dead spiritually. It was a real, physical resurrection, and so will our resurrection be. We will have a real, physical human body. In fact, you will be more human than you have ever been. We will not be spiritual ghosts floating around. No, we will have physical, tangible bodies.
Jesus appeared to Thomas after the resurrection and told Thomas to touch His hands and feet and place his hand in His side to see prove that he was in fact alive. You can't touch a ghost!!! But you could touch Jesus. So it will be with our bodies as well.
3. Our bodies will not deteriorate
Even though our bodies will be a real physical body, because the curse of sin has been removed there will be no deterioration of it. No more sickness, fatigue, or pain; these are results of the fall and once we are resurrected the curse is lifted and our real, physical bodies will be perfect.
4. Our real, physical bodies will be recognizable
We will recognize saints for who they are. Our bodies, while drastically different will still be recognizable as us. As to how this is possible or how old we will be, we do not know, but we will be recognizable nonetheless. When Jesus appeared to the disciples they knew it was
Him. They recognized Him as the one they walked with and talked with. He, while looking glorious, still looked like the Jesus they had always known.
5. Our bodies will do what they have always done
Our bodies were designed with certain things that will not be done away with upon the resurrection. Our senses for instance will be with us forever. We will see, hear, smell, touch, and taste. In other words we will do some ordinary activities in extraordinary ways. The post-resurrected Jesus walked, talked, touched, ate, and even cooked. We are told that we will feast upon the return of Christ. I just would like to add that all of this will be enhanced infinitely due to the radiation of Christ's glory bathing it all.
6. Our bodies, while physical, will be able to do some extraordinary things
At this point I just want to say that this is more conjector on my part than Scriptural fact. One thing that we see the resurrected Christ doing that we will possibly be able to do as well is to pass through walls or teleport. On the road to Emmaus Jesus seems to appear and vanish by thought. While the disiples are in the upper room, Jesus just appears in their midst, seemingly passing or walking right through the wall.
Now, I do not know if we will have this same power or if it is just reserved for Christ. But it is certainly interesting to think about and would be really cool if we could.
There are other points that I could have discussed and I could have elaborated further on these six points, but my main objective was to try to help us see that because of Christ's resurrection we too will be resurrected bodily, and that we will not be ghosts, angels, or just some bodiless spiritual beings. As Jesus said to the disciples in Luke 24:38-39, "Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a ghost (spirit) does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have."
N.T.S.
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