Your Ultimate Body

“Death is swallowed up in victory!” (1 Cor. 15:54) This cry of exultation will accompany the return of Jesus Christ, which will result in major changes for those who have already died and for those who are alive at his second coming. Paul describes this event and its mysterious corollaries:

I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. (1 Cor. 15:50-53)

For those who have died as Christ-followers, who exist as disembodied beings in heaven with the Lord (2 Cor. 5:1-9), the return of Christ will result in the resurrection of their bodies. They will be re-embodied with glorious, new bodies.

For those who are still alive at the second advent, who are embodied Christ-followers on earth at that time, the return of Christ will result in their bodies being instantaneously changed into glorified bodies. In both cases, these resurrected and glorified bodies will be imperishable, glorious, powerful, and dominated by the Spirit (1 Cor. 15:42-44; Phil. 3:20-21; Rom. 8:11). It is important to recognize that for the dead in Christ, his return is the point at which their future embodiment commences (and continues for all eternity).

What Happens Following Christ’s Return

Depending on one’s eschatology (Rev. 20:1-6), the return of Christ and the resurrection of Christians will be followed either:

1. By the immediate renewal of the entire creation, issuing in the new heavens and new earth (the amillennial and post-millennial positions), or
2. By a thousand year earthly reign of Christ in the millennial kingdom that, at its conclusion, will give way to the renewal of the entire creation, issuing in the new heavens and new earth (the historic premillennial and dispensational premillennial positions).

In either case, embodiment is the future hope and blessing for human beings.

Jesus Saves More Than Just Your Soul

Thus, as fallen and sinful, human beings are called to salvation through Christ, and they are not just “souls to be saved;” the human body is included in this divine work. Thankfully, “the Lord is for the body” (1 Cor. 6:13) in that his completed work of salvation will include bodily resurrection. Indeed, against the prevailing view held by many Christians, death resulting in disembodied existence in the presence of the Lord is not their ultimate hope. Rather, the resurrection and glorification of the body at his second advent, leading to embodied existence in (the millennial kingdom and) the new heavens and the new earth, is their ultimate hope (Rom. 8:18-25; 2 Pet. 3:8-13; Rev. 21-22).

Embodiment is the future hope and blessing for human beings.

The Theology of the Body

As divine image-bearers created for embodied existence both now and in eternity, we do well to live our human embodiment cognizant of the rich instruction given in Scripture and here developed in a series of blog posts. Whether we are confronting questions from people experiencing physical problems, addressing the uniqueness of human genderedness and sexuality, struggling personally with gluttony or sloth, selecting clothes to wear, expressing our worship through physical acts, praying for the sick, or pondering the mystery of the life to come, Scripture provides abundant teaching that corrects wrongful attitudes toward the body and underscores the wonderful reality of human embodiment. 

You can go back and read the whole Theology of the Body series from the beginning. Do you think about your body any differently now? Let us know on Facebook.