Better Bodies — A LifeWords Devotion

But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior. He will take our weak mortal bodies and change them into glorious bodies like his own, using the same power with which he will bring everything under his control. (NLT)

There are followers of Jesus who focus so much on the life to come that they fail to live fruitfully in the present life. As the saying goes, so heavenly minded that they are of no earthly use. Then again, others forget that we are destined to live forever in the new heavens and new earth. And in fact we are properly citizens of this coming age already.

Our present day journey matters a lot, but is only one chapter of a never ending story. As C. S. Lewis says, “God provides many delightful resting places along the way, but we must never mistake them for our final destination. All the beauties and the wonders of this journey will be intensified come the end of the journey. And all our pains and struggles and setbacks will not even be a memory in the new heavens and the new earth.

Paul says that when our journey ends, our bodies will be transformed so as to resemble Jesus’ risen body. That implies identifying one another, having relationships with one another. And yet without sickness, weakness, frustration or sin. No more journeying. We will have arrived. The joy we struggle to embrace will be ours forever.

We will be our true best selves, the selves God originally created us to be, free of the entrapment of sin. We will be like the art masterpieces in a gallery whose years of tarnish and wear will be wiped away so as to have us revealed as we truly were made to be. We will be home at last.

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Blessings

David