What bodies will we have in heaven physical or spiritual?
The Bible teaches we will have physical bodies:
Luke 24:39
“Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself. Handle Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have.”
Jesus was seen in His glorified body and people could touch Him. He was the first-fruits of those who have died or the first example of a man with a glorified body:
1 Corinthians 15:20-23
The Last Enemy Destroyed
“But now Christ is risen from the dead and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterwards those who are Christ’s at His coming.”
1 Corinthians 15:50-54
Our Final Victory
Now, this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed— in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”
The physical body we have now is not worthy to enter into heaven. Our sinful bodies are not holy enough therefore have to be changed at the last trumpet to an immortal body. We are seeped in corruption to be made incorruptible, we are mortal to be fashioned immortal. When Jesus returns He will be King over the whole earth. Before this His chosen will be caught up with Him:
1 Thessalonians 4:15-17
“For this, we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain (until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep). For the Lord, Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.”
Let’s unpack 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17. Believers alive will not proceed the Lord and those who are asleep. Jesus will come (first) as first-fruits at the last trumpet. The dead who are asleep will be raised (first) then those believers alive will be (caught up) with Him in the air to receive our new heavenly spiritual bodies:
1 Corinthians 15:40
“There are also celestial bodies and terrestrial bodies, but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another.”
The terrestrial body is corrupted with sin, open to pain, disease, and suffering and governed by time till we die. As a spirit housed in a fleshly body we are designed to project God’s glory and worship Him made in His image and likeness. When we shed the corruptible tent our spirit will be housed in an incorruptible spiritual form raised in power and glory:
1 Corinthians 15:42-44
“So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption. It is sown in dishonour, 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. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.”
When Jesus came to the earth He came in an earthly body which was sown in weakness, yet he was sinless and free from corruption. His glory and spiritual body He left behind. His power came from the Holy Spirit when He was baptised by John and started His ministry. When Jesus was crucified in His mortal weakened form, He suffered the first death as we will, and then received His immortal spiritual body.
Jesus is our resemblance in the material world. We should be and do as He did, taking up the symbolic cross crucifying our flesh and calling God our Father in heaven. Disciple citizenship is in heaven not on earth. This is just a test to see if we are worthy to inherit what we lost. Angels have heavenly spiritual bodies. In the resurrection, we will be like Christ, yet Paul said we will be like the angels?
Will there be no marriage, sexual intercourse or procreation in the age to come?
The people of this age marry and are given into marriage but Luke teaches:
Luke 20:35-36
“But those who are counted worthy to attain that age, and the resurrection from the dead, (neither) marry nor are given in marriage nor can they (die) anymore, for they are (equal) to the angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection.”
Will we have a glorified singing voice?
Well, the answer to this is yes and a pure language that we lost. We will remember our life and relationships on earth when we are with the Lord within our spirit minds.
Are our deceased loved ones in heaven now or asleep waiting to be judged?
If they are in heaven do they have knowledge of things happening on earth now and do they have knowledge of their former human self?
Will those who look old remain old or become young?
Will caught up pregnant women give birth in heaven?
We may have many questions now on what we will do when we are with the Father. I think that the air of heaven will be much purer than the air of the earth. To look upon the face of Jesus Christ who bled to save us will be humbling, and walk with him for eternity. Won’t it be interesting that every prayer we prayed in desperation and the songs we sang will be worth it in the end?
We will stand beside the heavenly angels, martyrs and the heroes of faith. As far as what we think we want and desire in heaven, we will be what He requires us to be, and what we were fashioned for to be a conduit for His glory.
What were some of the things Jesus was able to do with a heavenly body?
The physical body will be able to interact with the spiritual realm which we can’t do properly now. The physical and the spiritual merged could mean that we can appear and disappear just like Christ did in houses where the doors were shut. In other translations, it teaches (locked).
John 20:19
The Apostles Commissioned Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were (shut) where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, “Peace be with you.”
John 20:26
“And after eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors being (shut), and stood in the midst, and said, “Peace to you!”
We will be eating in glorified bodies and will taste from the tree of life. Physical limitations will be gone and dimensional travel will be possible. If we can exist in multiple realms at the same time it will be very interesting. Physical and spiritual in one harmony and limited by nothing. The film the Matrix gives us a clue to how the physical and the spiritual may operate together:
1 Corinthians 15:6
“After that, He was seen by over five hundred brethren (at once), of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep.”
At the same time to 500 people in different locations wow!
This teaches we will not be limited by physical space or by time. Does this mean we can go ahead of time or back in time?
Or will time stop as eternity is forever with the Father?
We will have no pain, and no addictions as our bodies will be perfect. With glorified bodies, our senses will be heightened sight, smell, hearing, taste, touch etc will all be enhanced to what they should be. Many people are colour blind, can’t hear, can’t see, have sensory touch issues, and have smell difficulties.
A clue to a glorified or enhanced body is if you lose a sense others are enhanced to compensate. Just imagine all the senses enhanced and working vividly and in harmony. If we marvel at the animal kingdom a dog has 300 million olfactory receptors in its noses, compared to about six million in us.
And the part of a dog’s brain that is devoted to analyzing smells is about 40 times greater than ours. How many colours exist on earth that none of us is able to see yet?
Our bodies now are not evolving they are de-evolving from what we were, affected by the fall, mutations and the generational curse. Imagine knowing a person more intimately than you did in this life as nothing will be ever again hidden or a secret!
We will have physical bodies in the kingdom of heaven. A kingdom is vast and the kingdom will reign here on earth. When we die our physical body that we have used in this life returns to the dust where it came from, while the spirit leaves the body. There are I’ll be a new heaven and a new earth. The physical Jerusalem that God’s people built is only a foreshadowing of what is to come. It would be quite possible that the garden of Eden will be created again for us while we are in paradise here on earth.
When Jesus appeared to many after His resurrection He still bore the marks of the crucifixion ie the holes in His wrists and feet. This will likely be an eternal mark of the sacrifice He endured on our behalf, while we will be made whole or wholesome in Him.
We will meet people like Billy Graham and be able to thank him personally for his ministry that has had a profound effect on millions of lives. Our lives will be physically tangible, redeemed, revised and corrected. Forget temporary makeup we will forgo the ultimate makeover. Our new bodies will be identifiable in brilliance maybe with a little glow to them.
The image of the old Adam will be replaced with the image of the New Adam. Our new bodies will not be governed by the appetites of the flesh but by the Holy Spirit. The natural body is soul controlled but the spiritual body is spirit controlled.
2 Comments
Really good thank you Jesus!
Excellent! Wish you had more to say. Good Stuff!