WHAT WILL OUR HEAVENLY BODY BE LIKE? - PART TWO

This is a really hard topic to just jump into;  there's so much background teaching that lays a foundation for exploring this topic.

For instance, do you realize that to some extent, we are already in heaven?  The Bible teaches that the 'ultimate heaven' will be a renewed earth!  That's right!  This earth will be purged by fire and the 'present heaven' will come down and all people of all time will TOGETHER enter the 'ultimate heaven' AT THE SAME TIME!

It may surprise you then, that this ultimate heaven will be a real, physical place where we will live forever in God's presence in our heavenly bodies.  That's likely different from what you've been taught and believed.  

So, simply acknowledge that a WHOLE LOT of teaching needs to be digested before you are likely to believe what I'm about to share.

But, here goes anyway.

A full understanding of what our heavenly body will be like is largely based on the following verses: 

Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known.  But we know that when He [Jesus' second coming] appears, we shall be like Him..."             [I John 3:2]

The Lord Jesus Christ...will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.  [Philippians 3:20-21]

I said in the first article that we are given lots of hints in the Bible about heaven.  I also quoted scripture that seems to encourage us to use our imagination and creativity to speculate about heaven.

This being the case, then, what do we know about Jesus' post-resurrection [heavenly] body?  

Fortunately for us, particularly John's and Luke's gospels give us a good amount of information to go on.  

So, what do we know about His resurrected body?

> In Luke 24:39 (NLT), Jesus said to His disciples, “I am not a ghost”.

> Jesus walked and talked and ate on Earth after His resurrection.  (Luke 24:13-35, 41) 

> He was capable of teaching and guiding His disciples after His resurrection.  (Luke 24:13-35)

> His voice and form was the same as it had been before He was crucified.  His body even bore the scars from His wounds!  (John 21:4-19)

> He apparently caught fish and cooked a meal in His resurrected body.  (John 21:4-19)

> He invited others to eat with Him.  (John 21:12)

> He breathed.  (John 20:22)

> His body could be touched.  (John 20:27)

> He had relationships:

            o  with His disciples (Acts 1:4-8)
            o  with Mary Magdalene (John 20:10-18)
            o  with Thomas (John 20:24-29)
            o  with Peter (John 21:15-22)

> He seemed to be able to just appear at certain times.  (John 20:19)      [It could be that some aspects of His resurrection body are unique because of His divine nature;  however, we’ll no doubt have some welcome surprises when we receive our new bodies!]

If you're thinking right now that I'm some kind of heretic teaching unfounded things, consider the major creeds of Christendom:

}   The Larger Westminster Catechism (1647) states:  “The self-same bodies of the dead which were laid in the grave, being then again united to their souls forever, shall be raised up by the power of Christ.”

}    The Westminster Confession, one of the great creeds of the Christian faith, says, “All the dead shall be raised up, with the self-same bodies, and none other.” 

Think about funerals you may have attended where the family and friends accompanied their loved one to the burial site for the 'Committal Service'.  The pastor, at some point, reads:

Inasmuch as Almighty God, in His wise providence, has taken out of the world our deceased brother (sister, or child), we therefore commit this mortal body to the ground, looking for the general resurrection in the last day and the life of the world to come, through our Lord Jesus Christ, at whose second coming in glorious majesty to judge the world, the earth and the sea shall give up their dead;  and the corruptible bodies of those who sleep in Him shall be changed, and made like unto His own glorious body, according to the mighty working whereby He is able to subdue all things unto Himself.   

You see, we believe that at the appointed time, our loved one’s body will come together again, be resurrected, and be glorified for an eternal life in the 'ultimate Heaven'!

The implications of all this are fantastic:

• we'll have real, physical bodies that are recognizable.
• we'll enjoy relationships with others who believed and were saved to eternal life.
• we'll eat and enjoy fellowship - even preparing meals (if we like).
• for those interested, you’ll be able to go fishing.
• we'll be able to touch and be touched.

AND SO MUCH MORE...