Winter is a great time of the year to sit down by a crackling fire with a cup of hot coffee and read a good book. But thankfully, winter’s blast eventually turns into the warm breezes of spring when the flowers begin to bloom. We go from the barreness of wintertime that symbolizes death, to springtime when life wondrously springs forth, a fitting illustration of the resurrection.
After the Apostle Paul addressed our heavenly citizenship in Philippians, and how we are to be looking for the Lord’s return, he made an interesting statement: “Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body, according to the working whereby He is able even to subdue all things unto Himself” (Phil. 3:21). Paul believed in the resurrection!
Notice when the Lord comes, He is going to transform this body of humiliation that is prone to suffering and corruption, and conform it to His glorious body. Therefore, our resurrected body is going to be like His resurrected body, with the exception of His being God. If we understand the nature of our Lord’s resurrection, it will give us a better understanding of our future body. For example:
- The Lord appeared in a visible form (Luke 24:36,37).
- He had a body comprised of flesh and bones(Luke 24:39;John 20:24-28).
- The molecular structure of His body was such that He could pass through solid objects, such as a door that was closed (John 20:19,26).
- His identity was preserved in the resurrection. The disciples recognized Him (Luke 24:31; John 20:20).
- He had the ability to speak and reason with them (Luke 24:25-27).
- The Lord had a memory of past events (Luke 24:44).
- He ate with the disciples on more than one occasion (Luke 24:41-43;John 21:12-15).
- He retained His knowledge of the Scriptures (Luke 24:46,47).
- The Lord had the ability to appear in another form (Mark 16:12).
- He could instantly vanish out of sight (Luke 24:31).
Our resurrected body is going to be very adaptable to its surroundings. While these natural bodies are given to weakness and fatigue, our new ones will be raised in power. Since it is controlled by the Spirit, we will have an endless source of energy to serve the Lord throughout eternity.