“Open my eyes that I may behold wonderful things from Your Law.” (Ps. 119:18)
“WONDERFUL THING” IN THIS PASSAGE – The bodies we now occupy are wearing out, and one day they will be buried like a seed that is planted in the earth. A small, unimpressive grain of wheat “dies” to its use above ground as it is sown in the soil. But out of that death springs a plant with a hundred times more life than the thing planted. One of the little-understood perks of following Christ is that we will someday be issued brand new resurrection bodies – amazing bodies, which are perfectly suited to an eternity enjoying and exploring the splendors of heaven.
“So it is with the resurrection of the dead: Sown in corruption, raised in incorruption; sown in dishonor, raised in glory; sown in weakness, raised in power; sown a natural body, raised a spiritual body …And just as we have borne the image of the man of dust [Adam], we will also bear the image of the man of heaven [Christ]. What I am saying, brothers and sisters, is this: Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God…We will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we will be changed …This mortal body must be clothed with immortality” (1 Cor.15: 42-44, 49-53)
Here are some thrilling characteristics of the body with which you will soon be clothed: It will be…
Incorruptible – As you make short-term plans in heaven (say, for the following 100 years), you’ll never again say, “I’d better go there or do that now because I may not be up to it later.” You’ll never again worry that you will tire more quickly, injure more easily, or recover more slowly. Your physical capabilities will be much greater than they are now, and they will never deteriorate.
Glorious – Each of our present bodies has done dishonorable things, gone dishonorable places, and spoken dishonorable words. How fantastic it will be to look at the hands of our resurrection bodies 10,000 years from now and know that those hands have never, ever done a single thing that didn’t glorify our Lord.
Powerful – The Greek word used to describe the power of our new bodies is not simply the term for brute strength. It is power associated in the New Testament with the working of miracles: “Stephen, full of grace and power, was performing great wonders and signs among the people.”1
Spiritual, like Jesus’ resurrection body – “He will transform the body of our humble condition into the likeness of his glorious body.”2 We will never be ghosts. We will still have bodies; they just won’t have all these natural limitations. In His resurrected body, Jesus ate but didn’t need to for survival. He walked but didn’t have to in order to get to His destination. He stood at one spot in a room, but he could enter the room without opening the door.
Immortal – There will never come a time when your eternal life will be separated from your immortal body. Imagine having such a body forever.
“WONDERFUL THING” IN MY LIFE – And that, friends, is what we’re each looking forward to in not that many years. Here’s the difference it should make in us today:
“Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the Lord’s work, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.” (1 Cor. 15:58)
1 Acts 6:8. 2 Phil. 3:21.
