Philippians 3:20-21. 20But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.
The Bible teaches us that we are made up of both an inside part and an outside part.
Your soul is the inside part of you.
Your body is the outside part of you.
Our bodies are an amazing gift from God. They are just as important for understanding who we are as our souls are. If your body feels sick, you say “I feel sick.” You don’t say, “my body feel sick.” Of if someone hurts your body, you say, “They hurt me.” You don’t say, “they hurt my body.”
When Jesus was alive on Earth, people thought that our bodies were bad. Jewish people believed the body was impure and dirty. When the priests went into the Temple they had to wash themselves over and over before they could go in. Obviously the body must be too gross for God.
The Gentile people (Greeks and Romans) in Jesus’ day also thought that the body was bad. It was easily fooled and kept us from being as wise as we should be. Some smart Greek guys taught that the body was a prison for the soul. They thought that when we die the soul is finally set free from the body – but that’s not true at all.
What do you think about your body? Do you think it is good or bad?
We know that God loves our physical bodies because of Jesus. Jesus? Yes, Jesus is god who took on a human body when he became a little baby. Then Jesus died for our sins in that same body. Jesus also was raised from the dead in his body. Finally, Jesus ascended to Heaven in that same body.
Today’s scripture says that Jesus’ body today is a glorious body. And guess what? We will also have a glorious body one day. Our lowly body that can get sick and will die one day, will be transformed into a glorious body like Jesus’.
Still today, many people believe that we go to Heaven to escape our bodies. But that is not what the Bible teaches. The resurrection power of Jesus doesn’t get rid of our bodies, it transforms our bodies into a glorious body. But what exactly does that mean? What will our glorified body be like. To answer this, we look at Jesus:
Our glorified bodies will still be us – just as Jesus is still Jesus, we won’t stop being ourselves.
Our glorified bodies will be physical – like Jesus, will eat together, drink together, hug each other.
Our glorified bodies will be immortal – like Jesus, we will never die again.
Our glorified bodies will be spiritual – like Jesus, we will have a body that is energized with the power of the Holy Spirit, able to work, serve, and love without ever getting tired.
Our glorified bodies will be sinless – like Jesus, we will never want to sin.
Our hope as Christians is a physical, bodily, human hope. It is the hope of being what people were created to be, the image and likeness of God. It is the hope of finally being like Jesus.
You: Do you think of your body as a gift from God? If not, why not?
You with Jesus: What are you looking forward to doing with Jesus in Heaven in your glorified body?
Prayer: Father, thank you for the gift of my body, and thank you for the future gift of my glorified body. I want to start being like Jesus now just as I will be fully one day. Amen.
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