What changes would you like to see in your heavenly body?

Today we're going to answer the question, How does the Bible describe the glorified bodies we will possess in heaven? This intrigued me because the list of things I'd like to change has grown longer as I get older. And I discovered - as usual - that the Bible provides everything we need to know about the bodies we will live in for all eternity. And God's list is much shorter than mine.

Thanks for listening.

Blessings,
Fritz.

"Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path" (Psalm 119:105)

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:11

Good morning everyone, and welcome to Fifteen Minutes with Fritz, where Scripture meets the sidewalk. Last week I spoke about heaven being not just up, it is actually all around us. And the earthly state and the heavenly state are not separated by distance or by a wall but by a veil. I also suggested that sometimes God has allowed a thinning of the veil, giving us a glimpse of heaven. Today this thinning of the veil is going to help us answer today's question. In our study of the one hundred most asked questions about heaven, hell and the afterlife, we've spent considerable time describing the place of heaven, what it will look like, who and what will be there, where it is located. I now want to turn our attention to ourselves, to what our bodies will be like in heaven. Our question is how does the Bible describe the glorified bodies we will possess in heaven? Before we dive into the answer there are a few ground rules we need to consider, which come from the apostle Paul's letter to the Corinthian Church. In chapter fifteen he writes, but someone may ask how are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come? How foolish what you sow does not come to life unless it dies. When you sow you do not plant the body that will be, but just a seed perhaps of wheat or of something else. But God gives it a body as He has determined, and to each kind of seed He gives its own body. Paul is using an agricultural comparison to help us understand the order of events regarding our earthly bodies and our heavenly bodies. Farmers don't plant the end product they want to harvest, they plant seeds, and those seeds essentially die before they grow and become a field of wheat. So it is with our earthly bodies. Paul says they must die before they transition into our heavenly bodies. Okay? We must complete our earthly journey before we can receive our heavenly bodies. Understood. Listen to what else Paul tells us. There are heavenly bodies and there are earthly bodies, but the splendor of the heavenly bodies is one kind and the splendor of the earthly bodies is another. The sun has one kind of splendor, the moon another, and the stars another, and star differs from star in splendor. He now reflects on the splendor of our earthly bodies. The more we learn about them, the more incredible we discover the human body is. I read the following quote this week The human body is a living machine of unparalleled complexity, where billions of parts work in seamless harmony to sustain the miracle of consciousness. The body is a vehicle for moral character, creative expression, and spiritual connection. Now this quote doesn't give any credit to God, but it does describe the wonderful complexity of the human body and the glorious harmony of all the parts working together in perfect unity. We could go on and on about the incredible design of the human body, but for the purposes of today's discussion, let's just agree with Paul. It has a splendor unmatched in all of creation. Paul also reminds us that our heavenly bodies will be just as spectacular as our earthly bodies, but in a different way. Okay, that makes sense. We can't just leave it here though because our human curiosity compels us to want to know what those differences are. We want to discover as many details as we can about this resurrection body that we will be occupying for all eternity. Let's tackle that next. If I took a survey of those listening today and asked you to describe the changes you would like to see when you receive your glorified body, I'm sure you could come up with a long list of suggested improvements. For example, we might want to get rid of the wrinkles or change the color of our hair or our skin. We would probably eliminate the bags under our eyes and we might want more hair to cover up the spin thin spots on top of our heads. We might think we're too tall or too short or too heavy or too skinny, and we probably want to replace our bulges with more muscle tone. I'm sure People Magazine would consider these important improvements, but I hate to disappoint you. None of those are on the list of changes God will make when he hands out our heavenly bodies. No, there is only one thing that influenced God when He designed our glorified bodies. Without this one change there would be no difference between our earthly bodies and our heavenly bodies. What is it? Our glorified bodies will no longer be ravaged by sin. That's it. That's the only thing, the only change. Nothing else will affect what we look like in heaven more than the absence of sin. The effects of sin cannot be overemphasized. One only needs a cursory review of the first few chapters of Genesis to understand how sin changed life on earth and the bodies we live in. For example, after they ate from the forbidden tree and God passed his righteous judgment, Adam and Eve were subject to new experiences. The woman would suffer increased pain during childbirth, and the man would require painful toil to grow food. He will need to work hard, sweating to produce food from the plants of the field. None of these existed prior to the fall. Death occurred for the first time in history when God made garments of skin for Adam and Eve to cover their nakedness, and the first murder took place when their son Cain killed his brother Abel. Things continued to deteriorate until God saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. What a sad commentary on what had been declared very good just a few years earlier. As a result, all creation was destroyed in a worldwide flood, with the exception of Noah, his family, and the inhabitants of the Ark. All this occurred within a few generations of the introduction of sin. With that in mind, let's look at the impact the absence of sin will have on our heavenly bodies. This is where the thinning of the veil will help us. I want to draw your attention to the event known as the Transfiguration. In this truly remarkable event we gain a unique insight into what our heavenly bodies will look like, all because God decided to thin the veil as it were through the gospel writers. Let me first give you a little background. Jesus took three of his disciples to the top of a very high mountain where they joined him in a conversation with Moses and Elijah. These two men, who at this time had been in heaven for many centuries, were described as appearing in glorious splendor, talking with Jesus. Now I don't know exactly what glorious splendor means, but Paul said we're going to bear the likeness of Jesus, so if we can find some details about his appearance, we can apply them to the glorious splendor of Moses and Elijah, and ultimately to us. Fortunately we have three separate viewpoints of the transfiguration, each one providing details we can draw on to paint a more complete picture of how Jesus looked when he was transformed into his heavenly, glorified body. Matthew tells us his face shone like the sun and his clothes became as white as the light. Mark said his clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone could bleach them. And Luke wrote that the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning. So his face changed and shone like the sun, and his clothes changed, becoming dazzling white like a flash of lightning. This is what we can expect to see when we're walking the streets of heaven or looking in the mirror in our heavenly home, all because of the absence of sin. I want to add a few more details to this, to what we know about our heavenly bodies again from the apostle Paul. In the same chapter he reveals 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 dishonor, it 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. Notice all the contrast here. The body I occupy here on earth is perishable, meaning it is in a constant state of decay. It is weak, and it is steeped with shame and disgrace because it reflects the sin that resides in our hearts. But our new bodies will be completely the opposite. Instead of decaying, our heavenly bodies will last forever. Instead of exhibiting weakness, our glorified bodies will be strong and powerful, and instead of shame and disgrace, our new bodies will be absolutely magnificent. And when we look in the mirror we will see a dazzling white reflection, a glorious splendor, all because of the absence of sin. So when you think about your heavenly body, don't be concerned whether your wrinkles will be gone or whether you'll have a full head of hair or whether you'll have six pack abs. Focus on the most important thing the absence of sin and the wonderful positive impact it will have on our appearance. Let's pray. Our Father in heaven, how grateful we are for the thinning of the veil through the pages of Scripture and allowing us a glimpse of our eternal home. And thank you that the main things are the plain things and the plain things are the main things, so that even in our limited understanding of spiritual things we can grasp what is important to you. Thank you for what Jesus did on the cross that makes it all possible for us sinners to look forward to, to hope for eternity with you. In the name of our Savior we pray. Amen. Now to him who is able to keep you from falling, and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy. To the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power, and authority through Jesus Christ our Lord. This is the end of our podcast, but it's not the end of our story. Thank you for listening.