What Are Our Bodies Like in Heaven?
Glorified Bodies?
The question is often asked concerning just what is the nature of the body Christians will receive at the resurrection. There are several Scriptures that present insight into the answer to the question of the nature of the resurrected body:
Now, this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I shew you a mystery; he shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality (I Corinthians 15:50-53).
This passage of Scripture is actually a statement of a principle, that being the fact that a change is mandatory if the believer is to realize the promised blessings awaiting him in Heaven and the resurrection (LIBERTY BIBLE COMMENTARY, Vol. II, p. 464).
The apostle Paul gives detail as to what is involved in this change. As he wrote in Philippians 3:21, “Who shall change our vile body that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.” This change was also mentioned by the apostle John in I John 3:2, “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; we shall see him as he is.”
These verses tell us that those who die, having trusted Christ as personal Savior, will be given bodies like that of the Lord Jesus Christ. It will be a body that is not subject to disease and death any longer. It will be in all points perfect, as the Lord Jesus Christ’s body is also perfect.
Jesus Has a Glorified Body
Jesus wasn’t a spirit walking around after his resurrection. He had a body, much like what we will have.
A passage that gives a clear description of Christ’s resurrected body is found in Luke 24:39, as He appeared unto the disciples: “Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.” In this passage, Jesus draws attention to His completely physical and yet glorified body. With clear words Jesus instructed His disciples to view His hands and His feet, and even to touch Him, and to see that He had a real physical body and not a spiritual body that could not be touched.
With these words, given in the context by Christ Himself, He rids the world of the false view of the nature of Christ’s resurrected body as being some mystical “spiritual resurrection.” Yet there are those false cults and “isms” that maintain the heresy of a “spiritual resurrection” of Christ.
It should be noted, the fact that Jesus said flesh and bones rather than “flesh and blood” does not necessarily indicate that his body had no blood. One cannot say, but flesh and bones usually do operate with blood. However, the life principle in a resurrected body may not be in its blood, but in the spirit of God. (For further proof of the fact of Christ’s material bodily resurrection, Jesus gave public demonstration by eating some broiled fish and part of a honeycomb, as seen in Luke 24:42.) (LIBERTY BIBLE COMMENTARY, Vol. II, p. 209).
It should be noted that the Christian will not receive his glorified body until the time of the rapture and resurrection. Those Christians who die before the rapture must wait until the Lord comes in the clouds to call His church. At that point, those who have died in Christ will have their bodies resurrected, and they will be changed and united with their souls once again. It is at this point that we will receive our glorified bodies.
A Body Made in Glory
In Philippians 3:21 we read: “[Jesus] shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.” Additionally, in I John 3:2 we read: “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.”
These verses tell us that those of us who die, having trusted Christ as our personal Savior, will be given bodies like that of the Lord Jesus Christ. It will be a body that is not subject to disease and death any longer. It will be in all points perfect as the Lord Jesus Christ’s body is also perfect. We further know from II Corinthians 5:8 that a Christian, immediately upon his death, goes into the presence of the Lord.
Received At the End Times
It should be noted that the Christian will not receive this body until the time of the rapture. Those Christians who die before the rapture must wait until the Lord comes in the clouds to call His church. At that point, those who have died in Christ will have their bodies resurrected and they will be changed and united with their souls once again. It is at this point that we will receive our glorified bodies.
