The Body Of Man After Death
I.
INTRODUCTION:
II.
DISCUSSION:
A.
THE BODY WILL BE CHANGED:
1.
Paul said I
Corinthians 15:51-52 = “Behold,
I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we
shall all be changed,
In a moment,
in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for
the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible,
and we shall be changed.”
a.
“We all shall be changed”.
b.
The change will be “in a moment, in the twinkling
of an eye”.
2.
The body change will be from corruption to incorruption.
I
Corinthians 15:42
= “So
also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption:”
1
Peter 1:3-4
= “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten
us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ
from the dead, To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth
not away, reserved in heaven for you,”
3.
The body change will be from dishonor to glory.
1
Corinthians 15:43
= “It
is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is
sown in weakness; it is raised in power:”
Matthew
17:1-2 =
“And after six days Jesus taketh Peter,
James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an
high mountain apart,
And was transfigured before them: and his face did
shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light.”
Philippians
3:20-21 =
“For our conversation is in heaven; from
whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ:
Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned
like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby
he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.”
4.
The body change is from weakness to power.
1
Corinthians 15:43
= “It
is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power:”
Revelation
3:21 =
“To him that overcometh will I grant to
sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am
set down with my Father in his throne.”
5.
The body change is from a natural body to a spiritual
body.
1
Corinthians 15:44
= “It
is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body.
There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.”
Comment:
The
natural body is the body God has provided to sustain man in
his fleshly life
-- While
God will provide the spiritual body to sustain us in the divine
life.
B.
THERE WILL BE CONTINUITY IN LIFE FROM BEFORE DEATH
TO THAT AFTER DEATH.
1.
The same body that dies shall be raised in a changed
form that involves
continuity.
a.
Without continuity the heavenly [spiritual] body would
be a creation and not a resurrection.
b.
A change does not destroy a continuity.
2.
The ugly caterpillar is changed into a beautify
butterfly, but there is continuity.
a.
It entered the cocoon with fourteen legs and comes
out with six.
b.
It entered with a hairy body and comes out with something
like scales.
c.
It entered with 14
segments to its body and comes out with
three.
Comment:
Yet there is continuity with what went into the
cocoon with that which came out of the cocoon.
3.
A seed which is buried decomposes and is transformed,
and yet there is continuity
-- as
that which was buried is embodied in that which is new.
1
Corinthians 15:36-38
= “Thou
fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die:
And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body
that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or
of some other grain:
But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and
to every seed his own body.”
John
12:24 =
“Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except
a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone:
but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.”
4.
The power of the gospel (Romans
1:16), transfigures the dark sinful countenance that
was disfigured with sensuality to a countenance that beams
with the beauty of holiness
-- and
yet there is continuity.
a.
At the transfiguration scene Matthew records:
Matthew
17:2 =
“And was transfigured before them: and his
face did shine as
the sun, and his raiment was white as the light.”
b.
The careworn grief marred face of the Lord “did
shine as the sun” – yet there was continuity.
5.
Therefore at the resurrection of the just, there will
be a change, yet there will be continuity.
a.
The grave shall yield up the body.
John
5:28-29 =
“Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming,
in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice,
And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto
the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto
the resurrection of damnation.”
b.
Our mortal body shall be changed.
Romans
8:11 =
“But if the Spirit of him that raised up
Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ
from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his
Spirit that dwelleth in you.”
III.
CONCLUSION:
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