David Jeremiah - A Body for Heaven
There aren’t many normal days on the site of Camp 3 near the summit of Mount Everest. The camp is usually set up at an elevation of around 24,500 feet, which is within the death zone caused by frigid temperatures and significantly reduced oxygen. So every person there is literally taking their life in their hands. On a particular day, back in 2007, everyone stood in slack-jawed amazement as a singular climber entered the camp. That climber’s name was Wim Hof, and in many ways, he was similar to the other adventure seekers looking to summit the world’s highest mountain, bold, courageous, open to the risks others preferred to avoid.
But there was one key difference about Wim: his clothing. While every other climber and every other member of the sports staff was decked out in the latest cold weather gear, including performance jackets, gloves, and latest boots, and many other layers, Mr. Hof wore a pair of shorts, open-toed sandals, had no shirt, no hat, no socks, nothing to stand between his body and the merciless cold. Known throughout the world as The Iceman, Hof has become a legend for his ability to thrive in severe cold. Scientists are baffled by his ability to endure extremes that would mean certain death for any other person.
The Iceman attributes his extraordinary feats to what he calls the Wim Hof method, which seems to be a combination of breathing techniques, exposure, meditation, and chutzpah. I have no idea whether Mr. Hof is a once-in-a-lifetime physical specimen. He may be just a motivational genius, a charlatan, or something completely different. But I do know that his ideas remind me of a truth I have been pondering for a long time. Human beings are destined for more than we currently experience. The limitations on our body are temporary limitations if we’re Christians. I’m talking about the physical transformation of all followers of Jesus, and we’re going to experience that moment at the resurrection, at the time of the Rapture.
The resurrection is more than resuscitation, friends. It’s transformation. We’re gonna be changed. Three people rose from the dead in the Old Testament, and Jesus raised three people from death during his ministry: a boy in the town of Nain, a girl in Capernaum, and his friend Lazarus. Both Peter and Paul brought back some people from death, but each of those examples were temporary resurrections. And I always felt bad for Lazarus. He had to die twice. They became sick or suffered, had an accident, once again they passed away. Christ arose in a different way. The essence of his physical body was changed. It was glorified. It was rendered everlasting, imperishable, and improved with various skills and abilities to enjoy forever. After his transformational resurrection, he would not and could not ever die again.
The resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead provides the proof and the pattern for what’s ahead for all of his children. In Philippians 3:21, we’re told that Christ «will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be conformed to His glorious body». In 1 John 3:2, we read: «It has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is». Now, let’s explore what that means. People want to know, what is my new body going to be like? And there’s no passage in the scripture that says, here’s what the new body of a Christian will look like. But we have almost the same thing, because if we’re going to have bodies like the Lord Jesus, if we study the Lord Jesus after his resurrection, we’ll discover what kind of bodies we’re gonna have because we’re gonna have bodies just like him.
First of all, our new bodies will be incarnate, and the word «incarnate» means in the flesh, a real physical bodily existence. We’re not gonna have spirit bodies as some people teach. I don’t even know if there is such a thing. I think that’s an oxymoron, isn’t it, a spirit body? That’s why we say our new bodies will be incarnate. We won’t be floating spirits. We’ll have real physical bodies just like the resurrected Lord. And if we’re gonna have a glorious body, like the body of the resurrected Lord, then what does that mean? Well, we can’t know all that it means. We can get some ideas by watching the Lord as he walked on earth in his resurrection body.
He was on earth in his resurrection body for 40 days. And in those 40 days, he showed us some examples of how our resurrection bodies will function in heaven. First of all, Jesus said his body was real: «Behold My hands and My feet,» Luke 24:39, «that it is I Myself. Handle Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have». Jesus, he hit that one right in the head, didn’t he? He says, «You know, spirits don’t have flesh and bones like I have. I’m not a spirit body. I’m a real body». Jesus wanted his disciples to know that this wasn’t a dream or a vision. He had really and physically risen from the dead, and his resurrection wasn’t just spiritual, it was flesh and bones real.
Here’s something that’ll make all of you really happy and some of you happier than others. Jesus ate on at least two occasions after he came back from the dead. Luke 24 says: «They gave Jesus a piece of broiled fish and some honeycomb. And He took it and ate it in their presence». John 21 says: «Jesus said to them, 'Come and eat breakfast.' And none of the disciples dared ask Him, 'Who are You? ' knowing that it was the Lord. And Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and likewise the fish».
More than a few people have suggested that in heaven we will be able to eat without any of the negative effects. Can I get a witness? We will eat without gaining weight. We will eat and taste food like never before. Chocolate will have no greater effect on your waistline than vegetables. How about that? So Jesus said his body was real on two occasions. He ate, so in our resurrection bodies, we can assume that we’ll be able to do that as well. And then he also told Thomas to touch his body. Remember that? «He said to Thomas, 'Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it in My side. Don’t be unbelieving, but believing.'»
Jesus had real scars on a real body. His body was glorified, but it was still recognizable and touchable. He retained the scars in his resurrection body to prove his identity and to remind all of us throughout eternity of the cost of our salvation. Did you know that Jesus is gonna be in heaven in his body? He didn’t go back to a spirit being after his incarnation. He went back to heaven in his body, and we’re going to see him in his body with the wounds in his hands, in his side, and in his feet throughout all eternity. And every time we see that, we’re gonna be reminded that’s how we got there. That’s why we’re there. It is possible that Jesus might be the only one whose scars remain because they tell a story that no one else can tell.
And then one other thought about his resurrection body. Do you remember when Jesus told Mary not to hold on to him? John 20:17: «Jesus said to her, 'Do not cling to Me, for I have not ascended to My Father.'» This shows us that Jesus had a real body you could touch, he was getting ready to go back to heaven, and one day we’ll have new bodies like his, and we won’t need to cling to him because we’ll be with him forever and ever. And he won’t leave us. So the first thing about our new bodies is they will be incarnate, flesh and bones bodies, and they will also be identifiable. A lot of people worry about that. You will still be you, and everyone will recognize you. You’ll instantly know your loved ones.
On two occasions after his resurrection, people were confused about the Lord’s identity. The first was at the tomb when Mary Magdalene thought Jesus was the gardener. Remember that? But her eyes were filled with tears and she quickly recognized him. The other was on the Emmaus Road when two travelers thought he was a stranger, but that’s because the Bible says their eyes were restrained so that they would not know him. On every other occasion, people identified Jesus and called him by name. And they will call you by name, too.
The apostle Paul said of that day, «Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known». In describing the moment of our resurrection in 1 Thessalonians 4, Paul told the people not to grieve beyond measure over those who had passed away. He said, «For we will see them again and be caught up into the heavens with them,» 1 Thessalonians 4:17, «And thus we shall always be with the Lord». Three men in Jesus’s story about the afterlife, Abraham, the beggar Lazarus, and the rich man in Hades, all recognized each other. At the transfiguration of Christ in Matthew 17, Peter, James, and John recognized Elijah, Moses, and the brilliantly illuminated Jesus.
Here we have three men whose earthly lives were separated by 1400 years, and yet they all knew each other. They were standing there physically, fellowshipping with and talking together. Can you imagine having a discussion with Abraham or Isaac or Daniel? And it’s like yesterday talking to your friend downtown. Moses and Elijah were known by their same names, but they were glorified. They were energized. They were wrapped in light. Perhaps the best answer is the one I heard years ago. An old lady approached her pastor and said, «Dr. Jones, will I know my daughter when I get to heaven? She’s there waiting on me». Dr. Jones said, «My dear, did you recognize her on earth»? Yes. «Well, we aren’t gonna be less aware in heaven than we are on earth, are we? We’ll actually be smarter and our memories will be keener. Yes, you will instantly recognize your sweet daughter».
Our new bodies will be incarnate in the flesh. You’ll be able to identify them, and they will be, here you go, indestructible. 1 Corinthians, Paul wrote: «The body is sown in corruption, but it is raised in incorruption». The word «sown» refers to the argument Paul made earlier in the chapter about being afraid of death, and he said, «Foolish one, what you sow is not made alive unless it dies». And the picture is of a seed being planted in the soil, then germinating and then sprouting into something new, and the same path we follow when we die. We are sown in corruption, and then we are raised in incorruption.
What is corruption? It is what happens to our old bodies that suffer strokes, heart attacks, cancer, diabetes, arthritis, asthma, migraines, and all of the rest. And the Bible says: «Our outward man is perishing». Anybody here doubt that? Well, just wait a couple years and you’ll get there. From the instant of our resurrection, our new bodies will never wear out or never grow old. They will be totally resistant to deterioration or decay. Your new body will be designed for eternity. It will not be subject to accidents, diseases, aging, or death. It will be pain-free and disease-free. It will never wear out. It will never die.
And the exclamation point to this truth is found in Romans 6:8-9, which describes the resurrection body of Jesus: «Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him,» and that will be true of all of us too. Death has no mastery over us in our resurrection bodies. These words about our Savior, «He cannot die again». His glorified body is imperishable, it’s indestructible, and this is the model for the bodies we’re going to have when we go to heaven. So our bodies will be incarnate in the flesh. They will be identifiable, we’ll know each other. They’ll be indestructible, nothing could ever happen to them.
Here’s one that I was surprised to find out when I studied this. Our new bodies will be illuminated. You know, everybody wants to have that glow about them. You’re gonna get that glow one of these days. 1 Corinthians 15:43 says our body «is sown in dishonor, and it is raised in glory». And the word «glory» here is a word which means brilliance. And it’s not really surprising if you go back and study the Bible because, remember, something unusual happened to Moses when he spent time with the Lord. Remember that? His face was radiant and began to shine.
Same thing happened to Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration. And in Revelation 21, we’re told the entire city of New Jerusalem will be luminescent, illumined by the light that radiates from the resurrected Christ. There won’t be sun or moon or anything. All the light will come from Christ. And we’re gonna be reflectors of that light. We’re gonna have a little shine around us as we move about. Our bodies will shine with light like Moses’s face did after being with God and like Jesus did on the mountain.
Psalm 34, verse 5 says: «They looked at Him and they were radiant». By the way, shouldn’t our faces exhibit a foretaste of that now? I mean, shouldn’t we have a little bit of that glow even now? The scripture says: «And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit». Now, I don’t know if that gets through to you, but what that says is we have a little bit of that glory now, but when we go to heaven, we’re gonna go from glory to glory. And I want to tell you, some of us are gonna have farther to go than others.
I know Christian people, some older Christian people, who just always seem to have a special, I don’t know if it was a glow, just a sense about them that was different. So, your face will reflect your anticipation for heaven. Did you know that? When people look at you, do they see the glow of God’s goodness and mercy and love? Somebody said, «How are you doing»? «I’m doing fine». «You need to tell your face,» because your face is your identification, amen? So our resurrection bodies will be indestructible, identifiable, incarnate, illuminated, but they will also be incredible.
What do I mean by that? Well, listen to Paul’s words once again from 1 Corinthians 15. He says our human body «is sown in weakness, but it is raised in power». Most of my life, I’ve made it a point to try to get to the gym. I’ve got a couple of machines in my garage, and I’ve switched the types of exercises I do in a given week. But you know what? No matter how hard I try at maintaining my physical health, I can’t deny that my body today is weaker than when I was in my 20s and 30s. I’m older, I’m more fragile, I’m a little worn down.
Do you know what comes to mind when I ponder the reality of my resurrection body? Thank God I won’t have to drag this current frame into eternity. I’m ready for something new, something powerful, something incredible, something that doesn’t fall down indiscriminately when you least expect it to. Our resurrection bodies will be astonishing. They’ll be full of energy, bursting with enthusiastic power, and perhaps capable of extraordinary functions. If the glorified body of Christ could pass through walls and travel by impulses of thought, maybe we’ll be able to do the same thing.
Finally, our new bodies will be infinite. The Bible says: «It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there’s a spiritual body. And so it is written, 'The first man Adam became a living being.' The last Adam became a life-giving spirit». And, you know, you have to ask this question. What did Paul mean by a spiritual body? That almost sounds like a contradiction. We’ve already said our bodies aren’t immaterial, but the word «spiritual» implies that our bodies will be existing on a higher plane.
The basic difference between a natural body and a spiritual body is that the formal body is suited for life on our current earth, but our spiritual bodies will be suited for life in heaven for eternity with God. Including the new heavens and the new earth in our current bodies, we could never function in the new heaven and the new earth. We couldn’t function in a multi-leveled heaven called the city of Jerusalem. But God’s gonna give us new bodies that will be like the ones we have now but completely made over, transformed, and capable of living in both the seen and the unseen realms. Wherever you are on the body cycle, just remember, God’s got something special waiting for all of us when we go to heaven.
So, what have we learned today? We’ve seen that the resurrection body of Jesus is the pattern for our bodies. It was physical and real. He could be touched. He ate with his disciples. He spoke to them. But his body was also glorified, no longer subject to pain, weakness, or death. He could appear in distant places and pass through locked doors. His body was transformed, and one day ours will be too. But perhaps the most remarkable truth is this. Jesus was recognized not only by his face, but he was also recognized by his personality. And men and women, that will be true for us. We won’t lose our identity. We’ll finally be fully ourselves as God designed us to be. And that brings us to an important reality.
The Bible teaches that all will be raised, believers to eternal life, unbelievers to judgment. Just as heaven is real and physical, so is hell. That’s why the gospel is so important. The question is not whether you will live forever, because everybody in this room is gonna live forever. The real question is, where are you gonna live forever? Not whether you’ll have a body after death, but where that body will dwell.
Will you be with Christ in joy or apart from him in judgment? Heaven is about putting your trust in Jesus Christ and in him alone. When you do that, you don’t have to guess about heaven anymore. When you put your trust in Jesus Christ, you can know right now that you’re gonna spend eternity in heaven with him. I told everybody when I started to do this study on heaven, «It’s not my goal to make everybody smarter about heaven. It’s my goal to take as many people to heaven as I can».
I want you to know how wonderful heaven is because I want you to be there and enjoy the blessings that God has prepared for those who love him. And you know what the Bible says? The Bible says: «Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, the things which God has prepared». So I’ve just touched the hem of the garment here, just a little bit of some of the cool things about going to heaven in your super-body. It’s gonna be way better than that, way better than I can describe, and I don’t even know the nuances to go there except to tell you this is what God’s Word says. And I’m excited one day I’m going to get a new body.