June
2 – LD 22, Day 6: Our New Spiritual Bodies
by Prof
Herman Hanko
Read: I Corinthians 15:50-58
Paul, by the inspiration
of the Holy Spirit, tells us a little bit about our resurrection bodies.
He tells us, first of
all, that they will not be flesh and blood such as we have now. He writes: “Now
this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the
Yet, secondly, the apostle
tells us a little bit about that resurrection body by contrasting it with our
present bodies.
“It is sown in
corruption; it is raised in incorruption” (I Cor
15:42b). That is, the body that dies is corrupt. It is corrupt because of sin;
it is corrupt because of death that rots it away and finally pulls it down into
the grave. But the resurrection body is incorruptible.
“It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory” (I Cor
15:43a). No matter how today’s depraved culture worships the human body, our bodies
are dishonourable. We hide our bodies beneath
clothing. There is nothing beautiful about them. But our resurrection bodies
are gloriously beautiful, because they will be without sin and without the
rotting power of death.
“It is sown in weakness;
it is raised in power” (I Cor. 15:43b). We are now so weak that at the time of
our greatest strength, a bacterium, microscopically small, can kill us. Our
life hangs by a thread every day. But in heaven we shall be strong.
“It is sown a natural
body; it is raised a spiritual body” (I Cor 15:44a).
Our natural bodies can only live in this world. They are subject to all the
limitations of our creation. They are bound by the limitations of time and
space. If we want to travel by car to
But our resurrection
bodies will be spiritual. They will be like the angels. They will be so changed
that they can live in a heavenly and spiritual creation. What that
creation will be like, we do not know. Sometimes we can become very eager to
find out, for, above all, we will be without sin. We will see Christ “face to
face” (I Cor 13:12). And we will be able to see God
himself revealed in Christ, in all God’s love for us.
That will be glory
indeed!