LifeWords22/10/2010

BRAND NEW BODIES



Read 1 Corinthians 15:42-44

42 It is the same way with the resurrection of the dead. Our earthly bodies are planted in the ground when we die, but they will be raised to live forever. 43 Our bodies are buried in brokenness, but they will be raised in glory. They are buried in weakness, but they will be raised in strength. 44 They are buried as natural human bodies, but they will be raised as spiritual bodies. For just as there are natural bodies, there are also spiritual bodies.

When we speak of life after death, we ought not to confuse it with vague concepts such as the immortality of the soul. As if our bodies are discarded and we become wispy spirits floating in some heavenly stratosphere strumming harps into eternity. The Bible is far more earthy than that. We live forever as bodies, not disembodied spirits. Our real selves go on forever, not some ill-defined 'spiritual bit'.

Paul reminds his sceptical readers that resurrection is bodily. But he is careful to point out that we don't go on living forever with our old bodies. Can you conceive of living forever with arthritis or asthma? Our present bodies wear out and eventually give up on us. We can't take them with us into the new heavens and new earth. So God kindly gives us new bodies, fit for the new life.

They allow us to be recognised by others, after all heaven is relational. They have some continuity with our own bodies. It is not as if there is one standard body for all the saints in glory! We remain individuals. Jesus' own resurrection body is perhaps one guide to the nature of our new bodies. The same but different.

God, it seems, is happy to relate to people with bodies. Not surprising really since once upon a time he gave himself one.

Blessings David



http://www.hope1032.com.au

so what is meant by 'spiritual body' as opposed to 'natural body'?

God has created us as tripartite beings, which means that we are spirits, we have souls and we live in a physical body. The physical body is this shell or house we live in, the soul is the seat of our intellects, wills, and emotions and we also have a spirit body.

In Gen.2:7 God formed Adam out of the dust of the ground and breathed into him the breath of life and he became a living soul. That is, Adam lived and became aware of his self . This shows us that our self is our soul, which manifests as our mind, our will and our emotions. Our spirits have a shape or body that corresponds to our physical body. 2Cor.12:2-4; Rev.4:1-2 which shows that a person can be separated from their physical body.

Adam was the only man made in the image of God. He could communicate with God. Adam could interact freely with the spirit world as easily as he could in the physical world through his spiritual body. He communicated and communed with God easily in the Garden of Eden in the cool of the day. He had a conscious awareness of his spiritual body just as he had of his physical body. His soul which was conscious of his intellect and will, controlled both his spiritual and physical bodies. God gave him authority over all other creatures both spiritual and physical to subdue them and have dominion over them except for humans.

The devil did not have a physical body to operate in this three dimensional world and he came to Eve and Adam in the body of a serpent to deceive them. He made them to doubt the Word of God with their minds, to desire the fruit of the tree of knowledge of evil and good with their hearts and to disobey God with their wills, this was the beginning of the philosophies of man’s rebellion against the wisdom of God. As soon as they disobeyed God’s command, spiritual death took place. Adam was no longer consciously aware of his spiritual body. The process of physical death also started and they were destined for eternal death. Essentially death began physically, spiritually and eternally.

You can see the effect of the choice of Adam and Eve to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. As soon as they ate of the fruit they became spiritually dead, that is, they were no longer consciously aware of their spiritual bodies and thus could not commune or communicate with God as they have always done. At this juncture, they sewed fig leaves to cover their unclothed bodies as the glory of God had departed. This was the beginning of religion, trying to cover up our short comings and trying to please God with the works of our hands. Instead of the order of spirit, soul and body it became soul, body and spirit. The spirit had to take a back seat and do as the soul and body commanded. At the fall of man, the mysterious link between the spirit of Adam and of God was destroyed and thus ending Adam’s free communication with God. Heb.4:12 All of mankind inherited this spiritual death as we all have the image of Adam. But thank God for the last Adam who removed the sting of death.