Tag: Cryogenically frozen bodies

Pondering the Properties of Our Resurrected Body

The blog discusses the complexities of eternal life, particularly the distinctions between various theological concepts such as Heaven, the New Earth, and the nature of resurrected bodies. Highlighting 1 Corinthians 15, the author contrasts current bodies with future resurrected ones, emphasizing themes of imperishability, glory, power, and the spiritual essence of these bodies in eternal existence.

One of the reasons that I have written this blog since 2016 is because the topic of eternal life is a little confusing. It is confusing enough that good theologians have merged some things that I believe should not be merged. For example, they merge Heaven with the New Earth or Sheol with the Lake of Fire/Gehenna/Hell. These mergers are easily shown to be mistaken. Another merger is the Heavenly body of a person, which 2 Corinthians 5 speaks of metaphorically, with the resurrected body which gets a lot of press.

How can we have an “eternal home” in Heaven (speaking of a body not a house) and a resurrected body on Earth. This isn’t a contradiction. As usual, it is describing a complex and new thing to us.

Today I would like to ponder the main text describing the resurrected body, 1 Corinthians 15:42-54. Let’s start with v.42-44:

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.

1 Corinthians 15:42-44 (ESV)

Here are some interesting comparisons between the bodies we currently have and our resurrected bodies. The first is pretty easy to understand: perishable now and imperishable then. My body has built into it the process of aging, vulnerabilities to outside agents, defects from the start, and the inescapability of death. Freezing it and waiting for future technology is foolish. I consider the idea of digitizing our soul to be even more ignorant. I am going with God’s promise of an indestructible body.

“Indestructible” does seem to come with a few caveats. The unrighteous arise with a resurrected body as well, but after their Judgment Day rebuke their bodies are turned to ash (Malachi 4:1-3). Their spirit is cast into Hell. Perhaps there is a form of indestructible body for Hell, but you don’t want it.

Indestructible also raises the question of how reckless you can be on the New Earth. You might be able to damage the resurrected body, but the Tree of Life (Rev. 22) seems to be the only repair kit that you need.

Does the resurrected body age? This depends on how we are understand Isaiah 65 https://afterdeathsite.com/2022/05/24/wrestling-with-isaiah-65/ . It may speak of a lifecycle of the resurrected body or perhaps it is just making the point that we don’t have to worry about pillaging or death in any form. We know the resurrected body is eternal for the righteous from other sources.

Then there is the contrast between our current “dishonor” and future “glory”. Dishonor would be the presence of our sinful nature and all the products thereof. Glory would be at least the absence of these. Is it more? Will we be like a walking night light in some environments? It used to work at a nuclear power plant and people asked me if I glow at night. Will we have a visible aura? Maybe. Will we be beautiful? Beauty is a relative standard, but I have no doubt that we will look at each other and see unique beauty. Here we may be attractive for a while, but it definitely degrades until the best we can hope for is that we look good “for our age”.

Then there is the conversion of weakness to power. There was a time I was helping a man to whom I donated a sofa-sleeper. That is some heavy furniture, and, of course, he lived on the third floor. I am decently strong, but we got to the top floor and my muscles just said, “we’re done”. Weakness. Someday I may not be able to stand up on my own. So how powerful is powerful for the resurrected body. I expect much stronger, faster, agile. Also, I expect keener if not additional senses. And maybe new abilities. Will there be limits? I expect so. Just much higher limits.

Then the real mysterious trait: spiritual. Paul goes on to speak of this trait:

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 Corinthians 15:45-49 (ESV)

This paragraph doesn’t get into specifics but rather just says that we will be like Jesus’ resurrected body in many ways. 1 John 3:2b echos this fact. But how? This may be the way that our Heavenly body and resurrected Earthly body are integrated. We would possess the ability to be present in the space-time of a new universe and be present in the space-time of Heaven. With so much freedom it is easy to imagine why we won’t get bored with eternal life.

Paul continues:

50 I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51 Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. 53 For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. 54 When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written.

“Death is swallowed up in victory.”

1 Corinthians 15:50-54 (ESV)

I main point here is that everybody, including those still alive when Jesus returns, needs to go through this transition. It is not just God’s requirement; it is because of the laws of the physics of what He has created. Another point made here is that until this happens, we are still partially under the consequence of sin–which is death. Moving to Heaven at our death is a big step, but our bodies are a part of us, and they need to be elevated are reintegrated. Then we are complete.

It is a lot to ponder but encouraging to do so. Thanks be to Jesus.

Is Physical Eternal Life Possible?

Everybody knows that we are going to die. It often doesn’t bother a person until death gets near. That makes it seem real. Once death gets real, some resort to extreme means in hope of sustaining their physical life. This is nothing new.

Myths like the “Fountain of Youth” were the vain quests of early explorers. The preservation of life through magical means or within some captive confines are found in various movies and literature. More seriously, some people have had their bodies cryogenically frozen in hopes of being thawed, fixed, and re-animated.

Jesus and the prophet Elijah raised people from the dead. While the stories of Lazarus and others were not continued. It can be assumed that they died again later.

Scientific research is being dedicated to identifying factors that limit physical life to the observed 120 years. This includes genetic manipulation among other things.

The expectation and hope of physical eternal life is a well established thing. Is it possible? Within our current genetic structure the answer would seem to be “No”.

The Bible speaks of a resurrected body and eternal physical life. This is different from other world religions which hang their hope on leaving the body and gaining a form of spiritual, conscious, eternal life. The Bible doesn’t discount that life removed from our current bodies is a part of the plan. In fact, the Bible hints at there being a “heavenly” version of our bodies.https://wordpress.com/block-editor/post/afterdeathsite.com/862

Though we may greatly desire for eternal physical life to be true, it is common to dismiss physical eternal life as wishful thinking. The people of Corinth clearly did this and Paul addresses this in 1 Corinthians 15:12-14. Our physical bodies are currently fraught with flaws, we are altered by sin, and programmed to die. It would not be desirable to continue even to our current limit of 120 years with this body, in my opinion. But this doesn’t mean that God can’t create something different, enduring, good and uniquely ours. Consider our own capabilities of genetic manipulation and cloning, this should not be too great of a leap of faith. Maybe we can’t do it, but the original designer certainly can.

The raw materials for such a resurrection, may or may not, be the remains of our physical bodies. Paul uses the analogy of a seed. Our remains are the seed, but it is not clear what exactly about our remains are seed-like. The Bible does not seem to demand that our dead bodies be disposed of in a particular way. God is able to raise anyone. I expect it is some element of our design that is the seminal beginning of our resurrected bodies, and that is probably not in the DNA we are using now.

For that reason, I do not expect to raised where I was planted. I will be raised on the New Earth right where God wants me. Cemetery location and who I am buried with is more for the benefit of those who continue to live after us.

Plodding on, at great expense, with the damaged version of our bodies that we have now is not the way to go. There is no “Fountain of Youth” or science that can beat death. There is the power of our original designer and the promise of eternal life through Jesus Christ. That is a hope that has already been demonstrated with the resurrection of Jesus, and it is offered to those who will trust in Him.