Thursday Thought -- August 16, 2012

Good Morning Friends,

“So will it be with the resurrection of the dead.  The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.  If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.  So it is written:  ‘The first man Adam became a living being’; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit.  The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual.  The first man was of the dust of the earth, the second man from heaven.  As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the man from heaven, so also are those who are of heaven.  And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we bear the likeness of the man from heaven.” (1 Corinthians 15:42-49)

I’m 59 years old and already I can feel my body wearing out.  When I paint I can feel it in my back.  When I walk up the stairs I can feel it in my knees.  I just can’t do as much as I could when I was younger without feeling it.  There are aches and pains that I didn’t use to have.  And each passing year will bring more aches and pains as my body continues to wear down until it can’t go on any longer.

Then, how is it possible that I can live forever.  There is no way this body could last forever.  It was designed with obsolescence in mind.  Even in the early days of man, when men lived hundreds of years, still their bodies wore out.  Every body does.

Paul’s point in today’s Bible passage is that we won’t take these earthly bodies into eternity.  A new body awaits and it will be different.  Even as our earthly bodies get their characteristics from our physical ancestors, all the way back to Adam.  So our heavenly bodies will get their characteristics from our spiritual ancestor, Jesus.

How can we know what we will be like for eternity?  We can’t!  Perhaps some glimpses were provided after Jesus came back from the dead, but that was just a brief glimpse and even then He was bound to some earthly characteristics because He was still on earth.  But we can trust God that what we’ll be for eternity will be great:  imperishable, glorious, powerful, and spiritual.

His, by Grace,

Steve