Advent Glimpses of our Future
We believe in the resurrection of the body, not a disembodied eternal spirit state. Our bodies will be redeemed; the world, with all creation, will be redeemed (Romans 8:22-23). We are a unified being, spirit and body. We do not get our new body at the moment of death, though our suffering ceases; we get our new body at the same time every other Christian in history gets theirs, including Peter, Paul, James and John. Our future is a glorified body to inhabit a glorified world. The new will have continuity with the old, just as Jesus did, just as our bodies will, just as new creation will. It will all be new. Changed! Recognizable! Glorious!
“For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive (1 Corinthians 15:15-22 ESV).
