What will our Bodies be like in Heaven?
Will we have physical bodies in Heaven?
Will our heavenly bodies look like our current earthly bodies?
Will our heavenly bodies be recognizable to our family and friends that are in heaven?
Will we have similar characteristics, mannerisms and habits that define who we are now in Heaven?
Resurrection in the Old Testament
Will we have physical bodies in Heaven?
There are many verses in the scriptures that point to a resurrected body. Consider
Daniel 12:2-3, “Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt. Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever.”
Job 19:25-27, “I know that my redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand on the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; I myself will see him with my own eyes—I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!”
We see from the verses above that their is a day when our bodies will rise. Even Job through the eyes of faith knew what was to come, but in degrees. He saw himself seeing His redeemer with his own resurrected body and not another body that was foreign to him.
These bodies will be our current bodies but changed, made new. God will recreate our current bodies and those bodies will fully meets all our needs in Heaven.
The bodies we have now are wasting away but there is great hope in knowing that God will make right what is wrong with our earthly bodies in the future.
The New Testament and the Resurrection
We find the same message in the New Testament regarding our bodies. We can see how God has laid out his plan from the beginning. Consider
2 Corinthians 5:1, “For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down (that is, when we die and leave this earthly body), we will have a house in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God himself and not by human hands.
1 Corinthians 15:42-43, “So also is the resurrection of the dead. What was sown in corruption; will be raised in corruptible: What was sown in dishonor; will be raised with glory; what was sown in weakness; will be raise with power.
From these New testament verses we can see the continuity between the Old and New Testament. The same theme runs like a thread from the beginning of the bible till the end.
As we suffer in our bodies we can have great hope that one day our bodies will be made new.
As we get older, see ourselves getting weaker and as we begin to get weaker we begins to give up the things we enjoy; like walking, running, hiking, and host of other physical things. We can be glad because all these things that we may lose now we will gain in the future. We are just shelving our limitations for a time.
Jesus Christ and His Resurrection
To get a better idea of what our bodies will look like and we need only to look at the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Consider the continuity between his earthly body and his resurrection body. Consider
Luke 24:39, 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.”
John 20:26-27, A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”
1 Corinthians 15:20, But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.”
So we can see what a resurrected body will look like as we look at Jesus resurrected body. Will we be able to do everything he did, like walk through doors, etc. He is different then us because He is fully God and Man and we will be only men and women.
Christ Resurrected Body and Ours
1 Corinthians 15:48-49, “As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the heavenly man, so also are those who are of heaven. And just as we have borne the image of the earthly man, so shall we bear the image of the heavenly man.”
1 Corinthians 14:42-44, “So will it 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.”
Our New Bodies
As we get older our bodies are being pulled down to the earth. We are not as strong, agile and sharp as we once were.
Ecclesiastes 12:1-7, “Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come and the years approach when you will say, “I find no pleasure in them” 2 before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars grow dark, and the clouds return after the rain;3 when the keepers of the house tremble, and the strong men stoop, when the doors to the street are closed and the sound of grinding fades; when people rise up at the sound of birds, but all their songs grow faint; when people are afraid of heights and of dangers in the streets; when the almond tree blossoms and the grasshopper drags itself along and desire no longer is stirred.
If Adam and Eve saw us they would be shocked at how far humanity fell Emotionally, physically and spiritually. If we saw them, we would be in awe at what God intended for us.
The last hike… I did my last hike up Mount Tom due to my physical issues, but I am really shelving my physical limitations and waiting for the resurrection to regain what I have lost.
We will have new heavenly bodies, eternal bodies, bodies made for a new world and perfectly suited for our eternal dwelling. Our bodies will never be pulled down by sin and the result of the fall.
We are human here, fallen but human. In heaven we will be human but different in a sense, we will be completely what God intended for us to be. We may even be more then what we would have been in the garden.
We will be male and female. We will not be clones, but individuals and different from each other. We will be different than other people.
Heaven will have a diverse culture. There will be people from various times, various nations and from every tribe, language, people and culture.