Friday, August 15, 2008

Spiritual Bodies Free from Sin

[42] So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. [43] It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. [44] It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. [45] Thus it is written, "The first man Adam became a living being"; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. [46] But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual. [47] The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. [48] As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. [49] Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven. 1 Cor. 15:42-49 (ESV)

Paul expands on the thought. Here we have a perishable body, bearing the image of the man of dust. In heaven we will no longer bear the image of Adam, for we belong to Christ, who is a life giving spirit. He will give us a spiritual body, a perfect imperishable body, and we will bear the image of the man of heaven. We will bear the image of Christ. A spiritual body is still a body. We tend to drive a dichotomy between spirit and material. We think of the two as being opposites. Angels we know do not have bodies. But people are created as spirits inhabiting material bodies. We do not live without a body. Our body now is a natural body, racked with sin. Our bodies in heaven will be spiritual bodies free from sin.

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