We live in a time of spiritual darkness, where many fear the future. However, for the believer in Christ, we understand that the darker things become, the closer we are to our Savior breaking through the darkness and distress to raise us to be with Him for eternity. The prophet Daniel wrote about the time ahead when he said that the dead would be raised:
1“At that time Michael, the great prince who protects your people, will arise. There will be a time of distress such as has not happened from the beginning of nations until then. But at that time your people—everyone whose name is found written in the book—will be delivered. 2Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt. 3Those 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. 4But you, Daniel, roll up and seal the words of the scroll until the time of the end. Many will go here and there to increase knowledge” (Daniel 12:1-4).
At the resurrection or rapture, God’s people will be clothed with a resurrection body like Christ's. There will be some continuity in that we will be recognizable, but we are referring to an imperishable body—one raised with the glory of God shining from us. Paul writes that we will not all experience death, but all believers in Christ will be changed:
49And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we bear the likeness of the man from heaven. 50I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— 52in 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. 53For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality (1 Corinthians 15:49-53).
What is on the inside, your godly character, will someday be revealed. It won't be the same as our old nature; Paul states that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God (v. 50). Our bodies will no longer be perishable but will be imperishable (v. 53). Not all Christians will sleep, meaning not all will be separated from their bodies. Some will be transformed instantly without going through the death process. When Christ comes, in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, or in the time it takes to blink, we will change from having a perishable body to being clothed with an imperishable body (vv. 51-52). Paul discusses this transformation in his letter to the church at Philippi:
20But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body (Philippians 3:20-21 Emphasis added).
The Greek word that translates to the English word "transform" (v. 21) is Metaschēmatizō. It is derived from two Greek words: "meta," which means a change of place or condition, and "schēma," which implies shape or outward form. In other words, it refers to transforming or changing the outer form or appearance of something, such as refashioning or reshaping.
An imperishable body means we won't age or get sick. Our new bodies will always be glorious. You will possess youthful strength and radiate beauty with God's glory shining through you. Oh, I hope you are with us when that event occurs. This world system offers nothing I want to hold onto, and I hope you feel the same way. Keith Thomas
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