S48P2 – The promises to come: a new body

1 Cor. 15:35-40

But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?” You foolish person! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. And what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare kernel, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain. 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, and 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 of another.

As a young girl, she was a star athlete.  She ran and played a variety of sports.  Even as an adult, she always prided herself on her ability to keep up with the fittest of the fit.  As she grew older, however, her body seemed to let her down time and time again.  She had to give up running because of issues with arthritis in her joints.  Even more mild forms of exercise like walking became a problem, and eventually it was time for surgery.  Later in life, navigating the stairs on her own was an impossibility.  She sat and wondered how a body that once was so able could then betray her so quickly, but she knew the answer full well.  She understood that the bodies we live in today are only a shadow of the glory to come.  All she could do was hope to walk in that glory one day.

When Jesus returns, He will make all things new.  When we are resurrected, we will be physically new.  We will be new just as Christ was new when He was resurrected.  Today’s scripture tells us that the physical bodies we inhabit today are a mere shadow, only a taste of the glorified bodies we will inhabit then.  Some might think that this is not the most special promise, but we must remember what a glorified body means.  That body will be perfect.  The aches and pains and degradation that we experience now will be no more.  We will feel nothing but complete health and satisfaction in the bodies that we will inhabit then.  They will not betray us.  They will not hold us back.  In fact, those bodies will be a liberation for us.  Where our earthly bodies can confine us, our glorified bodies will bring us freedom.

Sometimes we resent our earthly bodies because they do not function the way we would like.  Perhaps we must endure with a disability of some type that goes on without healing.  Maybe our greatest issue is just the way our bodies look, and we cannot seem to find a way to not be consumed by that.  When we live in these imperfect vessels, we honestly can expect nothing more.  We are shadows waiting to take form.  On that day, we will literally step into who God designed us to be for eternity.  Today’s aches and pains and disabilities are only here for a short time.  Like a vapor, one day they will disappear forever, and we will be clothed in perfection.  Father, thank You that You have saved for us glorified bodies that will honor You perfectly and bring us liberty from these imperfect vessels.