So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption. 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. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. (1 Corinthians 15:42-44)

A New Body

It is difficult for mortality to grasp the meaning of immortality. The limits of man’s understanding of the spiritual world beyond the carnal world are clouded by the inability to get a concept foreign to human wisdom. There is no explanation for a life that never ends. Death is so natural in the world that it is all the frail human spirit can see. Understanding resurrection is challenging because it goes against everything a man can abide by. Regardless of the frailty to grasp the whole meaning of eternity, God has written in His word the promise of the resurrection and eternal life.

One of the areas of confusion in understanding what happens in death is how another body can be created. Words fail to describe the meaning of an eternal body fully. The Holy Spirit seeks to fill that gap when Paul explains the nature of the resurrection. There are many different types of bodies. A physical body is easy to understand because it can be examined and studied. The eternal body cannot be found under a microscope. Using the light of God’s word, Paul opens the mind to see the beauty of the new body promised by God to all those who are saved.

The physical body is corruptible. Disease invades the body with sickness, injury, and death. When a body dies, it is put away in a tomb in dishonor because of the corruption that consumes it. The Egyptians mummified their bodies to last thousands of years, but they still bear the mark of death’s dishonor. The physical body is weak as it deteriorates over time. No matter how man tries to retain youth in his body, affliction and old age march on. All that man possesses in this life is a natural body. It is corrupt, diseased, and then it dies.

A new body is promised to the faithful of God. Death is transitioning from the old body of carnality to the new body of eternity. Christians have a different view of life. They do not look at their physical bodies with lasting hope because there is no hope. The natural body dies and disappears, but the inward man of Christ Jesus lives on after death. When saints breathe their last breath, they inhale the eternal spirit of life in Christ. A new body is created for God’s saved. It is a body that is incorruptible. The new body cannot be decayed, destroyed, or diseased. There is no corruption in this new body. God raises the body of the saved in glory and power. The new body has honor and beauty as God removes all sorrow, tears, and death. A spiritual body takes the place of the natural body. This new body will never cease to exist.

Each year, billions of dollars are spent on maintaining and beautifying the carnal body. Death takes all of that money and puts it in the grave. If men spent time seeking the new body in Christ, they would find a body that is indestructible, indescribable, and imperishable. Jesus said few would be saved. Few will receive a new body in death. Obey the word of God and find the hope of the power of a new body – in Christ.