The Glorified Body
1 Corinthians 15:35-50
This lesson deals with the subject of the glorified body. What is the Glorified Body? It is the new Body that saved people from the Church Age receive at the Rapture of the Church.
In 1 Corinthians 15:35-50 Paul is talking about the resurrection body. There is not a whole lot in the word of God specifically about the Glorified Body, but will can learn a few things from this passage and others dealing with the resurrected body of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Some things that we see concerning the resurrected body from our passage:
1) It will be different from the body that we have now (Verse 37)
- The illustration give by the word of God in this passages shows that a seed get a different body when it comes up than when it was buried. The body we have now goes back to dust when we die. Therefore, the new body we get in the resurrection will be different from the one we have now.
2) The body comes from God (Verse 38)
- God gives the body as it pleases him.
3) It is Incorruptible, Glorious, Powerful, and Spiritual (Verses 42-44)
- These are all wonderful things concerning the new body. Now even though the passage says that it is a spiritual body that does not mean it is a spirit. It is a flesh and bone body, as we will see later in this lesson, when we are study the resurrected body of the Lord Jesus Christ.
4) It will be in the image of the Heavenly (Verse 49)
- This brings us to some important verses concerning the Glorified Body being like Jesus Christ. Let us look at these verses. (Romans 8:29 ; Philippians 3:20,21 ; 1 John 3:1-3)
- In Romans 8:29 we see that people from the Church Age are predestined to be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. Now this is not teaching predestination regarding Salvation, but is referring to being conformed to his image.
- In Philippians 3:20,21 the word of God says that the Lord Jesus Christ will one day change our vile body into a glorious body and that it will be fashioned like unto his glorious body. In 1 John 3:2 the word of God says that “we shall be like him”.
We may not have every detail about the glorified body but one of the main things we know is that it will be like the Lord Jesus Christ. So, if our Glorified Body is going to be like the body that Jesus Christ had after his resurrection, then we can see some characteristics of the Glorified Body by looking at the body Jesus had after his resurrection from the dead.
Some characteristics of Jesus’ resurrected body:
To see these characteristics, we will look at the passages in the gospels where Jesus appeared to his disciples after his resurrection (Luke 24:13-45 ; John 20:19-23)
1) They knew Jesus when he revealed himself to them (Luke 24:31).
- Jesus was able to hide himself from the disciples if he wished but when he chose to reveal himself, they knew it was him.
2) Jesus was not a spirit, he had flesh and bones (Luke 24: 36-39)
- We will not be like disembodied spirits as many believe, but we will have a body that is flesh and bone. It is important to remember that the body will not be like the flesh we have now.
- It is interesting that he said flesh and bone. Instead of flesh and blood. Remember that according to I Corinthians 15:50 flesh and blood cannot enter the kingdom of God. This matches what Adam said in Genesis 2:23. He said that Eve was bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh.
3) Jesus’ body could be touched (Luke 24:39)
- Jesus told them to touch the prints in his hand to prove it was him. Our Glorified Body will be able to be handled as well.
4) Jesus could eat so our Glorified Body is capable of eating (Luke 24:42-43)
- Jesus ate broiled fish and a piece of honeycomb. You will not have to eat because this body is incorruptible, and lives forever, but you can eat if you want to. That will be wonderful to be able to eat whatever you want without getting sick or getting fat.
5) Jesus’ body was unlimited in what it could do (John 20:19)
- Notice that Jesus entered the room without going through the door. He also vanished out of sight after making himself known to the disciples on the road to Emmaus. The Glorified body will be a powerful body unlike the one we have right now. It will be able to do things that only science fiction can think of right now.
The Glorified Body : Handout
1 Corinthians 15:35-50
1) List some of the things we see in the above passage concerning the resurrection body.
2) Give Scriptures for our resurrection body being like Jesus Christ.
3) What are some of the Characteristics of the resurrected body of the Lord Jesus Christ.