I have been dealing with some back pain this week. It’s something I have, actually, been dealing with for some time, but it comes and goes. Getting up and down from my desk at work has been especially tough. It’s during the especially bad spells that I start to wonder what our resurrection body will be like. I wonder what a day of waking up without pain, or sickness, or any other trouble we face, in this life, will be like. To stand in the presence of the One who created it all, oh what a joyous day! Can I get an AMEN?

1 Corinthians 15:35-38 says, “But someone may ask, ‘How will the dead be raised? What kind of bodies will they have?’ What a foolish question! When you put a seed into the ground, it doesn’t grow into a plant unless it dies first. And what you put in the ground is not the plant that will grow, but only a bare seed of wheat or whatever you are planting. Then God gives it the new body he wants it to have. A different plant grows from each kind of seed.” What a beautiful description of not only how fragile our earthly bodies are, but a wonderful picture of the new birth. We die to self, are buried with Christ and raised to walk in the newness of life. Before the day of our salvation, we are dead in sin. We are what Paul refers to as one type of seed. Then, by the Grace and Goodness of our God in Heaven, we are saved. We die to ourselves and become a new creation. 2 Corinthians 5:17, one of my favorite verses, says, “Therefore, in anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” We have now become more than the seed God created, but the new creation, born from the death of the old seed. Paul says that God gives us the new body He wants us to have. Death must come before new life can be found.

Our resurrection bodies will just be an example of our new life in Christ. Only this time it won’t be our attitudes and our desires that are new, but an actual body. I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait for that day. 1 Corinthians 15:42-43 says, “It is the same way with the resurrection of the dead. Our earthly bodies are planted in the ground when we die, but they will be raised to live forever. Our bodies are buried in brokenness, but they will be raised in glory. They are buried in weakness, but they will be raised in strength.” It’s hard to imagine a body that will last forever. We will never have pain, never get tired and never have to sleep. We won’t live with regret, or sadness; there will be no weeping. How wonderful does that sound?

Paul says we are buried in brokenness, but what do you think he means by that? When I read it the first time, I assumed he meant our physical body since that is what the majority of these verses speak of. But putting it in the context of our salvation and our lives after our salvation, I think it could also refer to the position of our heart. Psalm 51:17 says, “My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise.” David understood that is the attitude we need to have in order to be used by God. Will that still be your attitude after a life full of hardships and heartache? Will you still be humble and submitted to God? I pray you will be, and I pray I will be, as well.

Paul goes on to say that in the twinkling of an eye, when the last trumpet blows, we will be transformed. When those who are dead will be raised, and those who are alive will be changed in an instant. We will have to be in our heavenly bodies because our earthly bodies wouldn’t be able to handle the shock. You are sitting at home or at work and instantly you are in the presence of God. Whoa, what a moment! 1 Corinthians 15:56-57 says, “For sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power. But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ.” This is the moment when those who put their trust in Christ will claim the victory they have in Jesus.

All of these things are indeed wonderful. They also describe the future for those who believe in Christ. Acts 4:12 says,” Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.” That is why we are here, to witness to those we know that do not claim their victory in Jesus. Many of us will share with others our favorite restaurant or our favorite vacation spot, yet don’t share Christ. If we believe Him to be our hope and our salvation, shouldn’t we get more excited for Him than we do about anything else? Shouldn’t we share with everyone we meet, what He did for us? How we were once a mere seed and now we are beautiful creation in Christ.

Don’t let Satan fool you into believing that you aren’t a beautiful creation. Stand up for Christ and joyfully serve and proclaim His message. If you don’t know Christ, don’t let Satan fool you into thinking you are better off without Him. That you have everything under control. I have lived on both sides of salvation, and I will proudly proclaim that life without Christ is anything but under control. No matter what view you have on religion or on Christ, you have an eternity waiting for you in Heaven if you believe in Christ Jesus. I don’t say it as a scare tactic, but I believe it to be the truth. If I believe it to be the truth then I believe it is my duty to share it with everyone I know. I pray you will do the same.