Our Spiritual Body!

For many of us, we had such carefree days in our youth. But imagine having a body that was like that eternally. That’s what the Bible promises with the believer’s resurrected body in the future.

I once received a letter from someone asking, “Why does God want to resurrect our body if we will have a new body anyway?” This person believed that when you die, you get a new body. So why would God want to resurrect our current body? The short answer: the resurrection is what completes our salvation. God is interested in saving not just your soul, but also redeeming your body. It’s a complete process.

When Adam and Eve sinned in the garden, they died spiritually—they were separated from God. But they also began to deteriorate, and eventually they died physically. And so has every generation since. So, to counteract the death principle that was instilled into God’s creation at the fall, a resurrection is absolutely necessary.

“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” (1 Corinthians 15:21-22).

So what kind of body will we have in the resurrection? Philippians 3:21 says that Jesus “will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body.” Since Jesus is the firstfruits of the resurrection, our body is going to be very much like His: an earthly body glorified and limitless. I believe it will have advanced properties, just like Christ’s when He was able to appear and vanish, transport to the shores of Galilee, and ascend into heaven. But I don’t want to speculate too much because only certain things have been revealed to us.

In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul likened death and resurrection to sowing a seed: “It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body” (v. 44). What comes up is vastly different and more beautiful. Now, the term “spiritual body” does not mean that our resurrected body will be nonmaterial or noncorporeal. It’s going to be a real, physical body, but without any limitations.

God is going to give you a body that is suited for the environment of heaven because you’ll need a glorified body to enjoy a glorified state. It will be a physical body; you’re just getting a makeover.

So what will it look like? Well, God created Adam as a fully functioning adult with adult capabilities. Since peak human development is somewhere between ages twenty and thirty, I believe your resurrected body will have you looking in your twenties. Again, just my speculation.

Back to 1 Corinthians 15: “As we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man” (v. 49). Adam is our prototype in this life; his sin resulted in corruption, degradation, and decay. But Jesus is the prototype for our future resurrected body, bringing us full restoration. And what could be better than that?

Skip Heitzig  | Connect with Skip Heitzig