July 21, 2024
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Last week we discussed Jesus’ promise from John 14 that He has gone to prepare a place for us in His Father’s house, and He will come again and receive us into that place at the Rapture. We also reviewed 1st Corinthians 15, which discussed how our now perishable body will become imperishable on that great day. Here are Paul’s words to us in 1st Corinthians 15:
1st Corinthians 15:
54 But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, “DEATH IS SWALLOWED UP in victory.
55 “O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR VICTORY? O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR STING?”
56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law;
57 but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
58 ¶ Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not [in] vain in the Lord.
When you think of eternal life, what do you think of? Do you think you will just be spirit, or soul, which is the mind, will, and emotions? Paul is telling us that we will have mortal bodies that will transform into immortal bodies. We are soon to transition from the perishable bodies that we have now, to imperishable bodies, and therefore, death will no longer have a hold on us. Death has no sting for the redeemed. Thanks be to God for our victory through Jesus.
So, what is this imperishable body that Paul describes? Some teachers say we will have a “re-constituted” body, and I have always wondered what that will be like. How will God pull that off? Is this something that is really going to happen, or are we Christians making that up to cope with death? What will our reconstituted body be like?
A re-constituted body is not really a far-fetched concept. God has already established how that might take place when we study what happens to the body of a caterpillar as it morphs into a butterfly. In his book, “The Great Disappearance,” Dr. David Jeremiah reports that many scientists do not fully understand how the caterpillar wraps itself in a cocoon, rests for days and even weeks, and then re-emerges as a butterfly. When scientists cut open the cocoon in the middle of that metamorphosis, they find a “sticky, slimy goo” containing its DNA. Dr Jeremiah references the hypothesis of biologist Bernd Heinrich, who postulates that the caterpillar and butterfly are actually two separate organisms. The caterpillar is born, lives its life, enters the cocoon as its grave, and dies. Its body decomposes, most of its cells die, and then comes a genesis of new life, with new cells, and new organs that begin to function as a new organism from the grave.[1]
It is interesting to me that Paul addresses our curiosity over the question, “How does God re-constitute us at the resurrection of the dead?”
1st Corinthians 15:
35 ¶ But someone will say, “How are the dead raised? And with what kind of body do they come?”
36 You fool! That which you sow does not come to life unless it dies;
37 and that which you sow, you do not sow the body which is to be, but a bare grain, perhaps of wheat or of something else.
38 But God gives it a body just as He wished, and to each of the seeds a body of its own.
So, Paul is saying that we, like the caterpillar must first die before we come to life and receive the body that God gives us, our re-constituted, eternal body, a body built to last eternity. Our bodies are sown as seeds, and verse 38 assures us that God gives each seed a body just as He wished.
I told you last week about my heart valve, which is now leaking and may need to be replaced unless I get a miracle. This would be my second aortic value replacement if it comes to pass. I had my original heart valve replaced nine years ago, and I am disappointed the replacement valve did not last longer. But I take solace in what Paul is saying in 1st Corinthians 15. The body I have now is perishable but one day I will receive the re-constituted body that will not wear out, that is, my imperishable body with an imperishable heart valve, that God will give me to last all of eternity. I am feeling pretty good about that.
Paul continues in this passage to discuss the sowing and reaping nature of our bodies, and he continues to distinguish between the perishable and imperishable bodies. This is awesome.
1st Corinthians 15:
42 So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown a perishable [body], it is raised an imperishable [body];
43 it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power;
44 it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual [body.]
45 So also it is written, “The first MAN, Adam, BECAME A LIVING SOUL.” The last Adam [became] a life-giving spirit.
46 However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural; then the spiritual.
47 The first man is from the earth, earthy; the second man is from heaven.
48 As is the earthy, so also are those who are earthy; and as is the heavenly, so also are those who are heavenly.
49 And just as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.
50 Now I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.
That is pretty good stuff. Sown one way, raised another way, like the caterpillar / butterfly phenomenon. Sown in dishonor because of Adam, raised in glory because of the Second Adam, who is Jesus. Our original bodies are sown in weakness, as a natural body, earthy, and fleshly. But they will be raised in power, as a spiritual body, bearing the image of a heavenly body. We were sown perishable and will be raised imperishable.
Now it feels like Paul is talking only about those who die, i.e., the resurrection of the dead. But He goes on to explain this imperishable nature is also available to those of us who are living at the Rapture. We get changed to imperishable as well, in an instant.
1st Corinthians 15:
51 ¶ Behold, I tell you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.
53 For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality.
(NASB)
Verses 51-53 teach us that we, the saved, will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. The dead will be raised imperishable, and we who are living will also be changed. When the trumpet sounds, our mortal bodies will become immortal, ready to last an eternity. Almighty God will re-constitute us as He does the butterfly.
Closing
In closing, let me emphasize the promise of a re-constituted body is not a fairy tale. It is not made up by Christians to feel better about the coming end of the age. This promise is scriptural. It is written in the inerrant, infallible word of God. Like all scripture, the words that Paul penned on this topic were inspired by the Spirit of God. They are God-breathed words.
How will the dead be raised, and with what kind of body will they come forth? We all will come forth with an imperishable body, with glory and power and endowed with the Spirit of God, equipped to live eternally with our Lord and Savior Jesus!
Allow Paul in this familiar passage from 1st Thessalonians 4 to again reassure us that we will all be together with Jesus and the resurrected dead on that great day. Know that on that day, your body will become imperishable in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye.
1st Thessalonians 4:
13 ¶ But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve, as do the rest who have no hope.
14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus.
15 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, shall not precede those who have fallen asleep.
16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of [the] archangel, and with the trumpet of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first.
17 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.
18 Therefore comfort one another with these words.
When we became born again, we became eligible for the Rapture. We became eligible for a re-constituted body built to last an eternity. As His Church, we will return to rule and reign with Him in righteousness. We will see the new Jerusalem and the new earth, and we will spend eternity there with Him. The word of God promises our bodies will be imperishable.
Let us pray.
Father God, thank You for sending Jesus to swallow up death and take away its sting. Help us to be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord. We praise You that our bodies are sown perishable but raised imperishable; sown in dishonor, but raised in glory; and sown in weakness, but raised in power. We look forward to being caught up together in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, so we will always be with the Lord. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
[1] Dr. David Jeremiah, “The Great Disappearance, 31 Ways to Be Rapture Ready,” (Nashville, TN: W Publishing, an imprint of Thomas Nelson, 2023), pp. 47-48.
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