the body

"but the splendor of the heavenly bodies is one kind, and the splendor or the earthly bodies is another." (from 1 Corinthians 15:40)

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I was watching a miniseries recently about WWII from the German perspective. It was the story of five young people and their experiences in the war. One of them was a nurse and the program showed many scenes of the battle hospital where she worked. You couldn't help but be impressed with the desperate efforts being made by surgeons and nurses to save the lives of the wounded. On reflection I thought about how easy it is to tear apart the human body...but how complex and amazing is the design and function of that body. Our body is a masterpiece of Creation and serves us so well in this life. But we learn from 1 Corinthians, chapter 15, that there is another body that God has fashioned for our life in heaven! We cannot experience this body now and we cannot relate to this body from our experience here. The heavenly body is designed for a different environment and we must shed this body to receive that one. This body has a limited run but that body will go on forever. Just as this has been an amazing body, so will that be an amazing body. Believers...those who have transferred their trust from themselves to the Lord Jesus...will all receive this 'forever body' and we will receive it at the same time when "the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed." (vs. 52) The chapter says that this is how God will show that "Death has been swallowed up in victory." (vs. 57)

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Well this good news is meant to motivate us. The last verse of this chapter says: "Therefore...always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain."

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blessings to all who wear this body and bear His body here that we might share His body and wear that eternal body forever there!

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Rob Smith