Resurrection, part 3: What kind of bodies will we have?
by Pastor Stephen Abraham
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So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonour, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power (1 Corinthians 15:42,43).
If you know my story from Messages of Hope on YouTube or the radio, you know I received a spinal injury in my early 30s that left me permanently disabled with severe chronic pain. It didn’t heal through science. It didn’t heal through prayer. It didn’t heal through faith healers. It just stayed broken, and I’ve had to learn to live with it as best as I can. My ‘broken heart’ has been healed through God’s mercy and grace and in using what’s left of my life to help and inspire others and it – such as it is – to the full. But, man, I’d love to have a day without severe chronic pain! What I’d give to have a body that worked properly and wasn’t slowly decaying.
Perishable versus imperishable, weakness versus power, dishonour versus glory, natural versus spiritual (in the sense of transformed/glorified, not incorporeal). How Paul describes this metamorphosis is profound. Compared to our present mortal state, this change into our resurrected form seems simply and utterly amazing. Bring it on! If that is eternal life, I want it!
Remember that Paul has personally seen a resurrected body – in the person of the Lord Jesus himself (1 Corinthians 15:8 and Acts 9). This is why he knows what he’s talking about and goes to great pains to share what was revealed to him in the person of the risen Lord Jesus he saw on the road to Damascus.
Theologians and scholars have tried distilling what we know from Scripture about our resurrected bodies. We definitely know that they will be:
- death-proof (eternal/immortal) (1 Corinthians 15:42,53; Romans 6:8–11)
- suffering-proof (no more pain or tears) (Revelation 21:4)
- physical and recognisable as who we have been (Luke 24:36–43)
- transformed like Jesus’ resurrected body (and possibly ‘glowy’!) (Philippians 3:21, 1 Corinthians 15:40,41,43,49; Acts 9:3).
Lutherans talk a lot in our theology of the ‘how’ and ‘why’: how God comes to us in word and sacrament, how law and gospel function, why we cannot earn salvation, how we are saved by grace through faith etc. We don’t talk a lot about the ‘what’ – especially what comes next. What happens after our ultimate salvation, what happens when we die, what is heaven like, and what will our gloried bodies be like? We are big on the meat and veg – the main course, not so much on the dessert! First Corinthians 15 is all dessert! Our heavenly reward – our ‘just desserts’, as it were, but in a positive sense. ‘Just’ because of Jesus! And it’s going to be sweet – oh so sweet!
Father of Lights, we thank you for what awaits us through the salvation of your dear Son. As our bodies ache and groan, remind us that this suffering is temporary compared to the glory that awaits us. Come, Lord Jesus, come. Holy Spirit, sustain us until our time comes and our eternity with you begins. Amen.
Stephen Abraham is a retired Lutheran pastor and musician who served as a school pastor and church planter in Mawson Lakes, South Australia. Stephen retired early due to a spinal injury, leaving him largely housebound with chronic pain (documented by Lutheran Media on its Messages of Hope YouTube channel and radio program). As his condition allows, Stephen still preaches, takes chapel and serves his local church and school. He also writes and records personal songs, worship songs and Christian meditations, which he shares on his YouTube channel (youtube.com/StephenAbrahamMusic).
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