What Will Our Resurrected Bodies Be Like in Heaven?

In this sermon, Pastor Jeffrey Johnson explores the promise and mystery of the glorified bodies believers will receive at the resurrection, as described in 1 Corinthians 15. He likens this transformation to a journey filled with anticipation, comparing it to his past experiences of preparing for trips to Europe. Similarly, Christians can eagerly look forward to their ultimate destination in eternity, with a future that far exceeds human imagination.

Drawing from the Apostle Paul’s teachings, Pastor Johnson addresses common questions: How are the dead raised, and what kind of bodies will they have? Using examples from nature, such as seeds dying to bring forth new life and caterpillars transforming into butterflies, he illustrates how our earthly bodies, sown in weakness and dishonor, will be raised in glory and power. These new bodies will be imperishable, spiritual, and modeled after the resurrected body of Christ.

Key attributes of these glorified bodies include their uniqueness, glory, and immortality. Pastor Johnson emphasizes that while we cannot fully comprehend their nature, they will be perfectly suited for eternal life in God’s presence. Drawing on examples from Scripture, he shares how these bodies will be sinless, powerful, and possibly capable of abilities like Christ’s post-resurrection appearances, such as traveling instantly or even flying.

The sermon concludes with a call to action: since this glorious future is guaranteed, believers should live steadfastly, investing in eternal treasures and abounding in the work of the Lord. Pastor Johnson reminds listeners that their labor is not in vain, as the rewards of resurrection will surpass all earthly sacrifices and expectations.

This sermon is an inspiring reminder of the hope and joy Christians have in the promise of eternal life and glorification with Christ.

Transcript

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If you have your Bibles turned to 1 Corinthians 15, several years ago, but I don't spend about 10 years ago or longer. I used to travel to Europe every year. And then I couldn't afford to do it. So I figured a way to finance my desire to see the world. So the way I finance my journeys is I would plan a trip and I would bring people along with me and they would pay me a surplus, a little fee. And in that fee would cover my ticket price. Then my wife and I would travel essentially free to Europe every year. It was great until we had kids. But one of the things I would do with the group that was taking to Europe with me, I would plan it and I would build the slideshow PowerPoint with all the places we would see and all the things we would do and build up excitement and anticipation. This would be like six months out and we would gather together. I'd tell everybody how to pack and what to do, what to experience and the hotels we'd stay in and all these fun and wonderful things and everybody would have questions and they would want to know about this or that. And you could see the excitement and you can hear the excitement and the questions and the anticipations and it was a fun thing to do. Those presentations were great because we all longed to do that. We had something to look forward to and often in this life, we forget that we have something to look forward to. In my sermon today, I'm going to give you a presentation of what you get to look forward to. And the thing that I'm going to get to tell you about today should excite us about heaven. And particularly, I'm going to narrow down our presentation of the future for all of us who know the Lord. I'm going to look at what our bodies may be like, our glorified bodies. And so what kind of bodies are we going to receive? What can we anticipate and look forward to? I'm hoping, and this is the truth, I hope we're able to fly. I hear some amen and I want to fly when I get my new body. I dream of flying. Sometimes when I sleep at night, I have this dream that I can run and jump and then just take off and soar and look at the countryside by just floating over everything and soaring and flying. And I was like, what a wonderful thing that would be to not need an airplane or some type of machine to do that, but just fly through the air. I wonder if we're going to be able to fly in our new bodies. Wouldn't that be wonderful that God says you get this new body and here's one of the characteristics of that body. It's able to fly. But regardless if we're going to fly or not, maybe we will. I'm not for sure of that. What kind of bodies are we going to receive? Is it going to be flesh and blood? When we get our new bodies, if you prick us, are we going to bleed? Is there actually going to be flesh and meat like we have today? Is it going to have blood cells? Are we going to be made out of the 27 elements? You know, there's 118 elements in this universe that we know of. The body is made up of 26 of them. They're all found within the earth. God made us out of the dust and he took the elements and formed man out of the basic elements of the ground. We're made up 90 percent of us are made up out of oxygen, carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen. I mean, that's what we're made out of. Are those going to be the same elements of the new body? You thought about that? Or is it going to be a totally different type of body? Well, in our text in 1 Corinthians 15 starting in verse 35 and 49, this is the main question that Paul asks and seeks to answer. What type of body are we going to receive at the resurrection? Starting at verse 35 it says, but someone will ask, how are the dead raised and what kind of body do they come? You foolish person, what you sow does not come to life unless it dies and what you have sowed is not the body that it will be, but a bare kernel and perhaps a wheat or some other grain. But God gives it a body as he has chosen and to each kind has seed its own body for not all flesh is the same, but there's one kind for humans and another for animals, another for birds, another for fish. There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is of one kind and the glory of the earthly is another. There is one glory of the sun and another glory of the moon, another glory of the stars, for stars differ from star in glory. So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable, but what is raised is imperishable. It is sown in dishonor and 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's a natural body, there's also a spiritual body. Thus it is written, the first man Adam became a living being. The last Adam became a living, giving spirit, a life-giving spirit. 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 and as was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust and as it is from the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. Just as we have borne the image of man of dust, that's our bodies today. We shall also bear the image of the man of heaven. So in this text, Paul begins with two questions. He's anticipating doubt within the Corinthians. This resurrection seems crazy. How can this be? How can the dead be resurrected? And if they are resurrected, what will they look like? What kind of bodies will they have? We see that in verse 35. But some will ask, number one, how are the dead raised? And number two, what kind of body do they come? So the first question is, how is this even possible? Think about that. It's almost unbelievable. Now, it's one thing to think of the Lord Jesus who died and was put in the grave and his body didn't see corruption. His body did not decay. The Bible, the Psalms tells us his body will not see corruption. It was sinless. And it didn't perish at all while it was in the tomb. It didn't stink. It didn't have any decomposition within his body. And to think that the soul would re-enter into that body and that same body that was laid there would be come up out of the grave. That's a miracle indeed. But what about bodies who've been dead in the grave for thousands of years? Think of the saints of Moses and Elijah. Where their bones, even their bones have decayed. Or think about those saints who have been lost at sea. Or even the worms have eaten up all that is left of them. Think of those who have been cremated and the ashes spread across the globe. And think of the ashes everywhere and maybe even dissolved. Completely vanished, if you would. And dust we have come and dust we shall return. How are those particles? Are there even particles left to be resurrected? How can this be? That's a marvel to think about. And so some would question the resurrection because of the seemingly impossibility of it. But it's not an impossibility. In fact, we see in verse 36 that how does resurrection happen? There's two things that has to happen. One, you have to die. Resurrection comes through death. Look at verse 36."You foolish person, what you sow does not come to life unless it dies." To help explain this miracle of the resurrection. The Apostle Paul takes something that happens every day of our life. It's a miracle we see every day we see it, especially in the springtime. We see this thing called germination. And I don't know how it works. I did a little bit of research trying to see if I could be some type scientific and explain this, but I couldn't get any answers from Google. They told me the process. Scientists will tell you what happens, but not how it happens. How does a seed, if you take an acorn or kernel or some type of wheat seed or a little apple seed, take that. How does that produce an apple tree? And one of the process of that happening is the seed still has some moisture in it. There's still a bit of life in that seed. But that seed doesn't stay moist. It has to die. Whatever life remains in the seed has to vanish. So how does death take place in the seed and how does that produce germination? How does life come out of the dead seed? Explain that. Not just explain the process and what takes place, but explain how that happens. That's a miracle. It's a miracle that happens every day. It's amazing thing to think about that the oak trees that we have today that you have in your backyard have come from thousands of seeds that go back to the Garden of Eden. Most every tree and ever plant survived the flood. Maybe because Moses took seeds with them. But it survived the flood and those seeds could go back to the Garden. Everything but corn and broccoli. Yeah, everything that's good goes back and coconut probably wasn't in the Garden either. But what amazing miracle that something has to decompose before life sprouts from it. This is what it says, "What you sow does not come to life unless it dies." This principle of life from death is just the basic principle of Christianity. Christ had to die to produce life. Death comes from life. John 12, 24, Jesus says, "Truly, truly I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone. But if it dies, it bears much fruit." Whoever loves his life loses it and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. So if you're going to be a Christian, you got to die. This is in regeneration. The old man has to pass away. You have to be born again and out of the old man, that soul that is enslaved to sin has to die. The old way of life has to die before the new man is resurrected spiritually within you. You've already received the first resurrection through the Holy Spirit's work in your soul. But in death comes life. Paul said in Galatians 2, 20, "I have been crucified with Christ. I have died with Christ. Nevertheless, I live. I live. But the life that I now live, I live by the faith of the Son of God who died for me." So in regeneration, we have to die to be born again. But also in sanctification, the whole process of sanctification is living the Christian life by dying, dying to the world, dying to the flesh, dying to self, picking up our cross and following the Lord. And we have to die to this world if we want to live forever. If you want this world and live for this world, you're going to die eternally. But if you want to live eternally, you must die now. You must experience death to live. And this is the process of sanctification, of picking up our cross daily, dying daily. Paul put it this way, "I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish in order that I might know Him and the power of His resurrection and may share in His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death, that by any means possible I may obtain the resurrection from the dead." So we're aiming, we're aiming, folks, is not to live for this world. We're not aiming to live for this life. We're not aiming for retirement. We're not aiming just to get a little bit more goods laying up our treasures on earth. This is not the goal of the Christian life. We got this great vacation coming. This great reality that is approaching. And we're here to look at this morning at what that's going to look like, particularly what our bodies are going to look like. And thus glorification for us to receive that new body. This body needs to die. So rather than death and decomposition being a hindrance, it's actually part of the process. But we see in verse 37, the second aspect of how this is possible is not just through death, but it's through some form of metamorphosis, some form of transformation. Two or three years ago, I studied calipillars and butterflies. And I watched every YouTube video that was on the web at the time on these, the capturing the transformation of caterpillars. I don't understand it, but if you cut a carcass in two after a calipular puts himself in his cocoon and you cut it in at the middle of the process, it's nothing but goo. It's just goo. There's no here's the brain, here's the feet. It's just all blended together. How does that how does that take place? What was a calipular that looked in one form, had one type of body, goes through this process of transformation that turns into a totally more glorious thing, a butterfly. Look at verse 37. And what you sow is not the body that it will be, but a bare kernel, perhaps of wheat or some other grain. So he says, okay, this body is like the acorn. Our body is just a piece of it's like it's like a seed. It's like a kernel. It's it has one shape one form made up of physical substance. The elements of the world 26 particular elements is what we're made out of. That's what we're we look we have a particular shape and form. Humanity has the same top of body. We all look a little different. We we all look very similar. That's the body that is sewn into the ground and out of the ground comes something more glorious. Something greater. You see the resurrection is not a disregarding of the body. First of all, the resurrection is the acorn the oak tree comes from the acorn. You don't put the acorn over here and the oak tree comes out somewhere else. We're actually in reality the acorn had nothing to do with it. It's called resurrection because this body comes out of the grave. This body is the seed in which the new body springs out of it's not just here's a new creation and you got it gave you a body and that body dies. So he gives you a totally different body created out of nothing if you would and here's a new body that he gives you gives your soul to inhabit and to dwell in. No, he takes your old body. This is why it's called a resurrection. He takes the old body that decomposes and dies and in some cases is nowhere to be seen and brings that body the very elements of that body and brings life back into it. There are some that deny that this physical body will be resurrected. There are some who say the resurrection is already taking place and the resurrection is simply altogether spiritual. But the Bible makes it clear. It's called a resurrection. Roman 6 5 says if we have been united with him in his death, we should certainly be united with him and a resurrection like his. We know the resurrection hadn't taken place because we can dig up graves and find bones. We can find human remains. As long as you can find the acorn, you don't have an oak tree. As long as you can find human remains, you don't have a resurrection. You see the body is a seed that is sown into the ground. And verse 37 says what you sow is not the body that it will be. You see this resurrection is not. A revivification is not just it's not just. Refurbishing the old body. It's not resuscitation. I know someone who was declared clinically dead for six minutes. And they did CPR on them and they got the heart to beat again and breath was brought into the body and now he's live and well. So this resurrection is not just this same body coming up in the same way it was. But it's the physical body that comes up Romans 8 11 the spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you and he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies. Job 19 26. For I know that my Redeemer lives and at least he will stand upon the earth on the last day and after my skin this skin has been thus destroyed. Yet in my flesh I shall see God. That's the resurrection. This mortal body this flesh this skin coming back to life. Isaiah 26 19 your dead shall live and their body shall rise their bodies has to come up out of the grave. You who dwell in the dust awake and sing for joy you who dwell for your do is a do of light and the earth will give birth to the dead. Daniel 12 12 and many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake. John 5 28 do not marvel at this for hours coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out those who have done good to the resurrection of life and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment. So this body actually is the body that comes out of the grave. And so that's there's a connection with this body with the body to come. But the body to come is not exactly like the body that is sown. Our physical bodies will rise but not in the same physical form as a current bodies and that brings me to the main question of the text. What will they look like? What kind of bodies are we going to receive? Well in this rest of this text Paul gives us five characteristics of the new body. So if you're taking notes this is the main thesis the characteristics of the new body the five characteristics or attributes of the new body. First of all our new bodies will be different from our present bodies. We see this in verses 38 through 42. Our bodies will be different. Look at verse 37 and what you sow is not the body that it is to be. It's not going to be just like this body. In some ways there are many different bodies in the universe. Look at verse 38 through 40. But God gives it a body as he has chosen and to each kind of seed its own body for not all flesh is the same. But there is one kind for humans another for animals another for birds another for fish. There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies but the glory of the heavenly one is one kind the glory of the earthly is another kind. So basically Paul is saying look at all the bodies that we can see we can see humanity. They have bodies we can see animals they have bodies incense have bodies but not only the the animal kingdom has bodies but look at the stars. Look at the moon. Look at look at the earth itself. Look at all the bodies and what bodies I think he's talking about here are spatial identifying limitations that can they can we can say that's the sun. Where is the sun? It's there where is Jeff Johnson in eternity future. Well here's Jeff Johnson. He has a new body and this body is his shape and it's that which limits where he's location. It places him in a location. It puts a shape around him and is something that the rest of us can identify. Now God doesn't have a body. He's a spirit. He doesn't have a physical form. He doesn't have a limitation because he's omnipresent. But angels have bodies. They may not be made out of the chemical structures of the earth. They may not have the basic elements that were made out of but they have a limitation to them. They're not omnipresent. They have to travel and go from one place to another but there is a body of angels. They have bodies angels have bodies though. We may not know what they look like. They definitely have them in some way. So there's various types of bodies. And so what this saying about the new body is going to be different from this present body and our new bodies are going to be slightly different from one another. That makes us recognizable because it goes on to say in verse 41. There is one glory of the sun another glory of the moon and another glory of the stars for stars different from. Star and glory. So it is with the resurrection of the dead. So basically stars look different than the moon. The stars look different from the earth. The stars have its own glory. But even the stars according to the apostle have their own unique glory among themselves. They look the same but some are larger. Some are more bright. Some are different. And I think that's implying that when we get to heaven we're still going to be uniquely different. But the same whatever our bodies look like it's going to be way more glorious than this present body. But we're not all going to look like the same robot. We're not going to all have identical features. We're going to be recognizable in heaven. What a wonderful thing. So we're not going to be disembodied spirits or just eternal consciousnesses right now. The Bible says that those who are departed from this world they're present with the Lord to depart from the body to be present with the Lord. But they're like they're longing for their bodies. They're not complete. Second Corinthians 5 tells us in verse 1. For we know that if our earthly house that's this tent this body is destroyed we have a building from God a house not made with hands eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan earnestly desiring to be clothed with the habitation which is from heaven. If indeed having been clothed we shall not be found naked for we who are in this tent groan being burdened not because we want to be unclothed but further clothed that mortality may be swallowed up by life. Now he who has prepared us for this very thing is God. We also have been given the spirit as a guarantee. So here Paul tells us in Corinthians 5 that we long especially the saints in heaven they're disembodied spirits that know the Lord in the presence of the Lord. They're having communion with the Lord their conscience but they feel naked because they're not complete without their bodies. God didn't make us to be disembodied spirits. And so God's going to give us a new body for our spirits to inhabit forever. So first point about the new body is going to be different from this present body. Some of you are happy about that. In fact we all should be happy about that. I think we look like worms compared to the body that we shall receive. In fact verse 43 says the second attribute or characteristics of the new body is that compared to this present one is going to be glorious. It says it is sown in dishonor. The new body is raised in glory. Think of the difference between an acorn and oak tree which one's more glorious the seed or the tree. And if this body is just the seed of what's to come how glorious will that body be when we enter into it. Our present bodies. In comparison is dishonorable in comparison and also it is sown in dishonor. The way of resurrection is through death. And. I was with. I'm privileged. In my life of my work ministry. I've been at the deathbed of many many saints. And though it's glorious to see them in their spirits triumph and faith. You look at their earthly shell their bodies. It's never a glorious picture. Imagine all the in your head. Imagine the last funeral you attended and you looked into the casket. Especially if it's an older saint. You see a frail almost broken this lifeless body. I mean we we treasure youth all the commercials want to have young vibrant. Healthy. Attractive individuals full of life. And as we grow older the aging process is not pleasant even on the appearance. And so this this and then it just gets worse and worse into the grave. We start to decompose and let's not go through all that process but it's not honorable. But is through this process that something glorious way more glorious will come out of it. And though we look at our earthly bodies and if you're over 30 or 40 you know that is breaking down. Some of you live with present constant pains that will never go away. They always have some type of eight that you have to work through and it's almost get adjusted to it. It's so bad. Well, I'm we're promised something way more glorious than what we have. Flippance 3 20 tells us for our citizenship is in heaven from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior the Lord Jesus Christ who will transform our lowly body. So whatever body you have now it's comparison to what you're going to get is lowly. Your lowly body that might be conformed to his glorious body. According to the working by which he is able even to do all things to himself. Isaiah 25 8 he will swallow up death forever and the Lord God will wipe away tears from our faces and the reproaches of his people he will take away from the earth. Romans 8 18 I consider that our present sufferings are not to be compared to the glory that will be revealed in us. So it's going to be glorious. Secondly, thirdly, the third characteristics of the new body is going to be immortal. Look at verse 3 43 the second part it is sown in weakness. It is raised in power. First Corinthians 6 14 and God raised the Lord and will also raise us up by his power. That is it's planted in weakness. It's the it's the life departing from us. It's death just taking over us. It doesn't. It's not hard to die. No effort is needed to die. It's giving up the ghost is giving up on life and death overtakes us all. That's the easy part. But to be resurrected takes power divine power. And we're going to come out not just with power but we're going to come out in mortal. The King James says the body is sown in corruption. It is raised in in corruption. First Peter 1 tells us verse 3 blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ who according to his abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and does not fade away reserved in heaven for you who are kept by the power of God through faith for the salvation to be revealed at the last time. We've already read this passage but Paul says in first second in his five. Well we know if our early house this tent is destroyed we have a building from God a house not made with hands eternal in the heavens for we grown earnestly desiring to be clothed with a habitation which is from heaven if indeed having been clothed we shall be not found naked for we are in this tent grown being burdened not because we want to be unclothed but further close that mortality might be swallowed up by life. And at the end of this text in first Corinthians 15 verse 50 I tell you this brothers flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable behold I tell you a mystery we shall not all sleep but we shall all be changed in a moment in the twinkling of eye and the last trumpet for the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised in perishable and we shall be changed for this perishable body must put on the imperishable and this moral body must be changed. And this moral body must be put on immortality one thing about your new body it cannot die it will not ever get sick it will never decay it will never grow old will be ageless in heaven. You're going to receive a body and it's going to be the perfect body and it has the same vitality the same life the same indestructibility as day one forever and ever and ever it cannot perish. This is what we're living for for the hope the blessed hope of Christ's return when we're taken out of this evil age and we inherit our eternal reward not only will it be in mortal but it'll be spiritual. And in the early 46 it is sown a natural body is raised a spiritual body if there is a natural body there's also a spiritual body. We can't currently have a natural body. We currently have a natural body that we have inherited from the first man Adam. Where did you get your body. You got it from Adam. You got your body from your parents. Often you can tell all your your Don Johnson son you look just like your father. My father kind of looks like his father and either you look like your father your mother or a combination or your father and mother you can see family resemblance and that all goes all the way back to Adam. Because God made Adam out of the dust of the ground. He took dust from the ground and says I'm going to use this dust this earth these elements that are in the ground and I'm going to use and reconstruct these elements informed body and then I'm going to breathe in him a living soul. So the body comes from the ground. It came from Adam. It goes on to say in verse 45. Thus it is written the first man Adam became a living being verse in the last Adam became a life giving spirit verse 46 but is not the spiritual that is first but not but it's not the spiritual that is first but the natural and then the spiritual. That is you have the acre in first before you have the oak tree. You have this natural body that we received from the first Adam before we received the spiritual body that comes from the second Adam. So what is a spiritual body looks like. Well the spiritual body is not made out of the same. I don't believe is made out of the same elements of our physical body. It's not made out of the dust of the ground. It's not earthly. It's heavenly. In fact that's my fifth attribute. Our new bodies will be heavenly. We see this in verse 47 through 49 verse 47 says the first man was from the earth a man of dust. The second man is from heaven. So whatever the new body is going to be it's not going to be made from the dust of the ground from that body that was made from the dust of the ground is planted back into the ground. And from that comes a heavenly body. Again there's a hundred and eighty elements in this world this universe. Ninety elements are in our earth. And God took twenty six of those informed man. But our new bodies will be composed of something eternal heavenly. Something more spiritual. Look at verse 48. As was the man of dust so also those who are of the dust and as the man of heaven so also those who are of heaven. Just as we born the image of the man of dust we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven. What is that going to be like. Well first Corinthians 15 50 says I tell you this brother's flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. That is this new body is not going to have flesh and blood. Flesh and blood doesn't inherit the kingdom of God. We'll talk about this more next week but the kingdom of God is not the slow merger of this kingdom of this age until this age becomes more and more Christian. That's not the kingdom of God. You cannot see the kingdom of God unless you're born again. So your soul enters into it by faith through the new birth. But your body remains stuck on this earth. So we have the first fruits of the kingdom to come within us. And this body we're still here on this earth because this body cannot inherit the kingdom of God. It can enter into that kingdom. That kingdom is eternal. It's something so glorious this physical body can't endure there. It cannot live there. It's not suitable for the age to come. Now I do believe in a new earth. I believe this earth will be destroyed and out of this earth. This earth is kind of like an acorn that produces a new earth and a new heaven where only righteousness dwells and eternal life abides in this new earth. But this new earth is not going to look just like this earth anymore than this body is going to look like the new body. It's going to be a heavenly earth. It's going to be a physical place and physical bodies if you would. If we can use the word physical it's going to be literal bodies. Maybe that's the better word. Literal earth, a literal heaven, we're going to have real bodies. But it's going to be it's going to transcend. The age that comes going to transcend all these 118 elements that we currently see. It's going to be glorious in comparison. I believe our new bodies are going to look similar to the resurrection of Jesus. Romans 6 5 for we've been united with him in death like his we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. Philippians 3 21 but our citizenship is in heaven and we eagerly await a saver from there the Lord Jesus Christ who by the power that enables him to subject all things to himself will transform our lowly bodies to be like his glorious body. So Jesus Christ after the resurrection in his incarnation he took a body like Adam's flesh and blood. We know that because he bled blood. When he died it was a perishable body that could be put to death. When he rose again you could not have killed the resurrected Christ. What did that body look like? Well it looked similar to the old body but it was more glorious. You go and read the accounts of the resurrection there is something that was different about his body. One, the disciples didn't recognize him. How could they have not known Jesus? Remember Mary at the Garden's like thought Jesus was the gardener. Was it just out of confusion? It is like well that was just she was just shocked. She just wasn't expecting Jesus so she couldn't believe it could have been Jesus. Well what about all the other times he appeared? He is almost like his body was different. His appearance was different and it is almost like he had to speak to them before they recognized that yes this is him. Something was changed because before the resurrection he lived with the disciples. Where they slept he slept. Where he went they were together. After the resurrection he appeared to them five times but did not stay and live with them. It was something uniquely different about his body. In fact he was able to in that body just enter into rooms, locked rooms and just enter in and leave instantaneously. He never did that before the resurrection. So maybe he is able to fly and maybe if we are going to have a body like his just maybe. Fingers crossing. I think we might be able to fly because the Bible says it is going to be way greater than we can even think and imagine. To be able just to spontaneously go from one place to another place without any hindrance. Wouldn't that be amazing? It seems like that is the way Christ did after his resurrection. Maybe we will be like the angels in some ways. I don't know altogether. In this text does it seek to fully give us all the details? I think one of the reasons is because I don't think we have the categories of thought to capture it. I think we are limited. I can promise you whatever that body is going to be like it is going to be greater than this sermon. Whatever expectations that we can place upon it is going to far a seed our father's imagination. It is going to be spectacular. Daniel 12 talks about it in verse 2."And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake and some to everlasting life and some to shame and everlasting contempt. And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above." Well shine like the stars."Eye has not seen or ear has heard what God has prepared for us." Think of this. In John 17 he says, "I go away from you to prepare a place for you." He is talking about your bodies. He says, "Father, I want those who have given me to be with me where I am that they may see the glory you gave me because you loved me before the foundation of the world." We are going to have the proper bodies to be able to dwell in glory. Colossians 3-4, "When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory." We are obviously going to be sinless. We are going to be perfected, what we call glorified, our bodies and soul, perfectly glorified. I like what John says in 1 John 3-2, "Beloved, we are now children of God and what we will be has not yet been revealed." We don't really know. I told my parents when I was going to Switzerland, "If you haven't been to Switzerland, you need to go." Right, Pat? I went there when I was 26 years old and it was almost like, "Can this be?" I was coming down on the Golden Pass from Lezern into Interlaken, taking that rail, and I was coming down the mountains. All of a sudden, this vista of mountains opened up and I saw these two brilliant blue lakes. I said to myself, "Is this even real? Can this be?" Nothing in my life I've ever seen that amazing. I remember on one of these sales pitches, I was telling my parents about Interlaken and about Switzerland. I was hyping it up and helping them daydream about what they're going to experience and what they're going to see. I built it up and you could see the excitement in their faces. I remember when we were in the train going into Interlaken, I was like, "Baby, I oversold it and they're going to be disappointed." I started thinking that it might not be what I remembered. Your imagination built things up. The fish was this big, now it's that big. I thought I maybe oversold it to them. As we were going down, I was thinking to myself, "No, this is better than I remember." I looked at my mom and said, "Is this what you expected?" She said, "You didn't even tell us half of it." I'll tell you about glories to come, particularly your bodies that you're going to receive. We can barely explain it. It's going to be glorious. If this is going to be the case, if this is your future reality for all of us, if this is what we're going to receive, if this is what God has in store for us, how then should we live? The last verse of this text, and we'll get to it next week, brings the application out. It says, "Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain." We are above men not to be pitied. If there was no resurrection, pity us. But because there is a resurrection and the new bodies is more glorious than we can even imagine, then all that we do is not in vain. Therefore, let all that we do in this life be done for the age to come. Let us not lay up our treasures on earth. Let's not live for this mortal body. This is not our home. As Galatians 1 tells us, we have been redeemed out of this world. We've been redeemed out of this present evil age. Now our citizenship is in heaven. That is the age that we look for. That's what we live for. That's what we invest in. Not in this life, but in the life to come. And it's going to fore-exceed all of our expectations. And this is why Jesus says, when you give and when you help people, help those who can't help you back, because you will be rewarded on the day of the resurrection. Amen.[BLANK_AUDIO]