Resurrection Body, Part 2

Resurrection Body Introduction What will our resurrection body look like? How does it happen? Today, we will look at the scriptures and see if there is any indication, any significant description of how our bodies will mirror the resurrection body of Jesus. A Curiosity The first idea that I would like for us to understand is the transformation that happened in the body of Jesus, after his resurrection. We talked about some of these oddities a couple of weeks ago, but I jumped over one, specifically so we could look at it with some depth today. Before, we looked at the ability of Jesus to walk through walls and to disguise himself from those who knew him well, until they were ready to receive him. Additionally, I mentioned that Jesus was not simply a spirit being, but had actual flesh and substance that could be both seen and touched. Let's read one of these passages again and delve into this next curiosity. Luke 24:37-39 They were startled and frightened (when Jesus appeared), thinking they saw a ghost. He said to them, "Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds? Look at my hands and my feet. It is I, myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have. Now, we have read this passage before. This passage demonstrates that Jesus was not a spirit being, but was touchable, approachable, and physical. But there is something else here, that if we are not careful, we will simply jump over. Jesus says, "I have flesh and bones." Throughout scripture, we read a simple fact, and science has documented it over and over again, "the life of the flesh is in the blood," (Leviticus 17:11). Blood tells a story. Doctors, today, want to know something about the state of your health and well being, the very first thing they do is to analyze blood samples. There are thousands of things we can find out about a person, simply based, or perhaps not so simply based, on their blood. But after his resurrection, Jesus states that he has a body of flesh, and it is supported by the structure of bones, the skeleton. But he does not refer to his blood. Anyone have a guess why? The blood of Jesus was poured out as a sacrifice and an offering for sin. If we read the rest of the verse in Lev. 17:11, I think we will understand. "For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement by the life." Jesus gave his blood as the atonement. His blood was poured out. His life was drained from him. In fact the scripture uses the terms interchangeably: Life = Blood; Blood = Life. Scripture says that at the time of crucifixion, when he was pierced by the sword to ensure that was really dead, it brought "a sudden flow of blood and water." Most experts believe that Jesus had already lost most of his blood in the flogging and the piercing of his head with a crown of thorns. More would have poured out as he was nailed to the cross. But the last bit, all of it, game gushing forth when he was pierced. Ray Boltz used to sing, "One drop of blood, fell to the scale, covered my transgression, all the times I failed. The enemy was mighty, he came in like a flood, but he was defeated by one drop of blood." But in reality, it was not a single drop of blood that was shed for our atonement. No, it was every drop of blood. Jesus had a different kind of body after resurrection. It was no longer sustained by a beating heart, by oxygen being carried to the various organs and tissues through his blood vessels and blood veins. Jesus did not need blood to carry toxins to the liver and convert them to waste. He was different. He was changed. Listen, then, to what Paul says about our mortal existence, our earthly bodies, our flesh and blood: 1 Corinthians 15:50-53 "I declare to you brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable (Our bodies are perishable. Our bodies are beset with weakness. Our bodies wear out.) Listen, I tell you a mystery. We will not all sleep (die), 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." Jesus was raised with a body that is immortal, imperishable. And if we will be like him, and scripture says that we will, we, too, will have a different kind of body. The mortal will be put off and the immortal will be put on, or simply changed and transformed in the twinkling of an eye. If you want to know how that works or how that happens, I can tell you that mankind has been looking for the fountain of youth for many millennium and we have never found it. It does not exist in this world. It does not exist in this universe. It is hidden from us, but it will be revealed at the right time. It is the purview of God and not the realm of man. Finally, Jesus did not need blood to keep him alive, that must mean that he had a different life source. And if we are going to be like him, we will not need blood to keep us alive. Near the end of the revelation of Jesus that the Apostle John saw while in exile on the Isle of Patmos, he saw the transformation in full swing. He was given a glimpse into the future. Perhaps we don't need blood because we have something greater: "The dwelling of God is with men, (exactly what God did in the tabernacle/temple, exactly what God did through Jesus), and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God," (Revelation 21:3). The power and presence of God will be our life source and there will no longer be any death or dying because he will never leave us nor forsake us. "In him is the life," and where there is life, there cannot be any death. We will have a new kind of life, a new source of life, one which is self sustaining, or sustained by the power and personal presence of God, almighty. I believe that the only blood that will be part of heaven is the memory of the atonement through the shed blood of Jesus. 3