I am listening to the works of Origen, a second century theologian from Alexandria and he said something very interesting. He believes that when we die, we are given a new body in heaven, not merely a spiffed-up version of our current body. This is a frequently discussed issue among believers. Do we keep our current body, only it is perfected in heaven? Or what do we look like in heaven? Even in the earliest church days, the bible says that, ‘Somebody will ask, “how are the dead raised? And with what sort of body do they come?”‘
Upon reviewing this issue and in my previous post, the Apostle Paul makes it pretty clear with those with eyes to see and ears to hear that we receive a new spiritual body in heaven:
But God gives it (the seed) the body He wants to, and to each kind of seed its own body…just as there are different kinds of flesh, moreover, there are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is one thing while the glory of the earthly is another. So too is it with the resurrection from the dead. The body is sown in a state of corruption; it is raised in a state of incorruption. It is sown in a state of dishonor; it is raised in a state of glory. It is sown in a state of helplessness; it is raised in a state of 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. Just as we bore the image of the earthy man, we shall bear the image of the heavenly Man (Jesus).
Listen, I will tell you a secret: all of us won’t fall asleep, but all of us will be changed in an instant, in the flash of an eye, at the last trumpet. A trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. This corruptible body will put on incorruption, and this mortal shall put on immortality. ~1 Corinthians Chapter 15
As I said in my previous post about Jesus coming back in the clouds to rule and reign, we will have no idea what He will look like, yet everyone will know it is Him. This means that we will not be given this knowledge by sight since we know not what he physically looked like, but by spirit.
This is also an excellent word for those who are born from rape and incest or are considered illegitimate by man. As humans, we tend to think that due to genealogy, some are better than others, and that babies conceived by illegitimate means are justified to be killed or aborted. But nothing could be further from the truth! The scripture above tells us that just by being human and in our ‘natural’ state, we are all corrupted! No one type of conception is better than another. In the book of Job, Job decries his sinful conception. In Psalm 51, David laments the same thing. The Apostle Paul tells Titus in his letter: “Avoid foolish questions, and genealogies, and contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and vain.” (Titus 3:9). Furthermore, I have written about Jesus Himself being a ‘mamzer’ or of illegitimate birth, probably conceived of the union between Mary and a Roman soldier, as recorded in Jewish midrash. Again, in God’s economy, the last is first, and the first, last.
Paul uses the word glory in the passages about our resurrection several times. Glory here is the Greek word doxa which is Strong’s entry 1391 and it is feminine and means: Dignity, Dignities: primarily denotes “an opinion, estimation, repute;” in the NT, always “good opinion, praise, honor, glory, an appearance commanding respect, magnificence, excellence, manifestation of glory;” hence, of angelic powers, in respect of their state as commanding recognition.
This gives me a Holy Spirit vibe. Maybe when we transcend into heaven we will be so surrounded by the Holy Spirit as to be luminous with it, allowing us to be near God. Maybe the envelopment with the Holy Spirit is what makes our bodies incorruptible in heaven.
So when believers die and go to heaven, we will take on the true image of God which He intended for each of us even as He made us a seed in a natural, corruptible body. We will become spirit and glorified in heaven, just as He is glorified. It probably won’t look much like our earthly bodies because the glory is different. What man thinks is glorious is not what God thinks is glorious: “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not see as man does. For man sees the outward appearance, but the LORD sees the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7). This passage underscores the divine perspective that values inner righteousness over external attributes. Our heavenly bodies will shine with those attributes about us that God thinks are beautiful, and others will view us as God views us, in unconditional love.
In Heaven, our spiritual seed, or soul, will finally become liberated and we will become who we were truly meant to be from the beginning of time.
~Song of Mary~ 