What A (Resurrected) Body!
Titus 3:3-5
“At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another.
“But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.”
Romans 12:1-2
“Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God - this is your true and proper worship.
“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is - His good, pleasing and perfect will.”
Today we will be reading from 1 John 3:1-10
This past week I did a search through all of the sermons I have in a folder on my computer and found that the return of Jesus is a recurring topic.
When Jesus was just starting His ministry He read from Isaiah 61 in the synagogue in Nazareth, His home town. The interesting thing is that even though the entire chapter is prophecy about what He would do He only read the first part. Why? Because the part after where He stopped is prophecy that is yet to be fulfilled when He returns!
Jesus Himself spoke of His return multiple times. One of the most prominent ones is where He said …
Matthew 24:42, 44
“Keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.” “So … be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect Him.”
The angels said at Jesus’ ascension into heaven …
Acts 1:11
“Men of Galilee why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen Him go into heaven.”
The writer of Hebrews said …
Hebrews 9:28
“Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and He will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for Him.”
And one of our Scripture memory verses says …
1 Thessalonians 4:16-18
“For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.
“Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we shall ever be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.”
And there are many more. Let’s read one of them found in
1 John 3:1-10
(Prayer for help)
OK. Let’s pick two verses out of this amazing passage.
1 John 3:8b says,
“The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.”
And 1 John 3:2a says,
“But we know that when Christ appears ….”
These verses are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Scriptures about the return of Jesus. And, so, if you believe the Bible is God’s Holy Word then you and I MUST believe that at some point Jesus will return. Right?
OK. Are you ready for this? This week as I was doing some administrative work in the office I was listening to a recording from an old Oak Ridge Boys album. It was from the 1970’s when the Oaks were still a Christian Southern Gospel Group.
In this song, called, “It Won’t Be Long” there is a quotation from 1 John 3:2 KJV where it says, “We shall be like Him.”
I made a video of the song with that memory Scripture on it.
Let’s listen to it now.
The amplified Bible says it like this ….
“Beloved, [even here] we are now God’s children; it is not yet disclosed (or made clear) what we shall be [in the future], but we know that when He comes and is manifested, we [as God’s children] shall resemble and be like Him, for we shall see Him just as He [really] is [in all of His glory].
What does that mean, “we shall be like Him????”
One thing we know that it does NOT mean is that we will become a God. We will not become a part of the Trinity, the Trinitarian Godhead!
Well, what does it mean as far as our old aching bodies are concerned?
1 Corinthians 15:35-44
“But someone will ask, ‘How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come?
“How foolish! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. When you sow, you do not plant the body that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or of something else. But God gives it a body as He has determined, and to each kind of seed He gives its own body.
“So it will 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.”
And then if we jump down to 1 Corinthians 15:50-55
“I declare to you, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.
“Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed - in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. “When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: ‘Death has been swallowed up in victory. Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?’”
So, what do we see in these verses?
The earthly body is: The resurrected body is:
Perishable Imperishable
Dishonorable (decaying) Glorious
Weak Powerful
A natural body A spiritual body
Mortal Immortal
Mastered by death Victorious over death
In Philippians 3:21 it says that Jesus, “…will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like His glorious body.”
Just try to imagine that; no more disease, no more aging, no more weakness, no more morbid anticipation of death. And, all of this will be in the presence of the One Who made our entrance into heaven possible by His death on the cross! Hallelujah!
But, sad to say, it won’t only be Christians who get a resurrected body.
Daniel 12:2 says,
“Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt.”
We are not told directly about the resurrected bodies of those who are destined for eternity in hell so we can only look at Scripture for clues.
A quote from GotQuestions.org says,
“One clue that people in hell have a body of some kind is Jesus’ account of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16:19-31.
The rich man in Hades had the ability to feel “torment” and “agony”, the ability to see and speak, and a “tongue” that he wanted cooled. Since this account is set before the resurrection on the last day, it seems that those now in Hades exist in an “intermediate” state; many theologians believe this to include a “spiritual body” of some type - or perhaps the spirit takes on some of the attributes of the body it inhabited.”
Either way, the rich man was in torment and did not want his brothers to end up in the same place. (Luke 16:19-31)
Revelation 20:14-15 says,
“Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.”
But anyone who is in Christ, anyone who has placed their faith and trust in Jesus has no need to fear this second death.
Revelation 2:11 says,
“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes will not be hurt at all by the second death.”
I was trying to think of a comparison of extremes here on earth that could help us imagine the vast disparity between an eternity in a glorified, resurrected body in the presence of God forever and an undying, resurrected body in hell away from the presence of God forever.
There is no comprehensible comparison.
Living in the most pleasant place on earth in a perfectly healthy, youthful body surrounded by those you love it still would not remotely compare with a resurrected body in the presence of the One who died for you.
On the other hand, living in the most dreadful place on earth in a body riddled by disease and injury surrounded by those who hate you, even this cannot remotely compare to an eternity of eternal death forever regretting your decision that you rejected the salvation offered by the One who died for you.
The amazing thing is that it is your choice.
God’s amazing grace has been extended to you through the Holy Spirit.
Jesus says in Matthew 11:28-30 NLT,
“Come to Me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you. Let Me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”
John 3:16-18
Invitation
Prayer
