My mother-in-law often loved to take my young nephew around for a spin. They’d laugh with wild abandon as they sped off down the driveway, doing doughnuts on the concrete—burning rubber. . . in her electric powered wheelchair.
By the time my husband and I were married, multiple sclerosis (MS) had not only left my mother-in-law wheelchair bound, but restricted her upper body movements as well. Though, with the one good hand, she could still control the gear stick of her wheelchair, hold cutlery, turn the pages of her bible and gently tap you on the arm.
About a decade before this, she was able get around on her own two feet with the assistance of a walking stick. But, over the years, she’d face many unpredictable MS attacks, leaving her physically worse off than she was before.
The MS disrupted and confused her immune system, so instead of her body protecting itself, it would mistakenly attack healthy cells. During a MS attack, the disease would damage myelin—the protective layer of fatty material surrounding her nerves.
As a result, sections of nerve fibres—in the areas where the myelin broke down—were left exposed and scarred. It played havoc with her central nervous system, disrupting the messages from her brain to the rest of her body.
Despite her debilitating illness, my mother-in-law remained a trooper. I never heard her whinge about her lot in life. She accepted her situation with grace and dignity. I remember her tranquility, her soft voice, her kind words and quick wit, her patience and her quiet faith.
About a year after I married her son, she went home to be with the Lord. She had been in her husband’s study, busy with cleaning and dusting books on the shelves when she died from a sudden heart attack.
My favourite photo of her is one in which she is riding barefoot on the back of a motorbike with her sister. She’s young and carefree.
When she was ten years old, her town was inundated with water. The floodwaters rose unexpectedly, so she swam to a gum tree and found safety in its high branches. She stayed put for hours until rescuers came for her.
I’m happy that as a girl and as a young woman, she enjoyed the freedom of moving around in a robust and healthy body before the disease took hold.
We know that we are creatures of the fall. Adam and Eve’s rebellion and sin brought curses upon the entire human race that we still grapple with today. Our bodies degrade and are subject to illness and death, but this was not part of God’s original plan.
Our bodies, good or evil?
The Gnostics believed that our bodies are inherently evil. The great philosophical thinker, Plato argued that we could only eradicate sin by getting rid of the body. And when you are suffering from a debilitating disease, you might agree with these ancient thinkers.
Our view of the body is shaped by our view of nature. If we see nature as a gift from God, the Creator, then it makes sense that we will view our bodies as gifts from God as well.
Scripture tells us from the start that the earth, stars and nebulae, flowering and fruit bearing trees, spinifex and mondo grass, quokkas and crocodiles, osprey and barramundi, man and woman, and everything God created is essentially good.
We are the invention of a caring God.
And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day. Gen 1:31
So our bodies aren’t evil. Our bodies are gifts from God that we should treat with care and respect. We were made in God’s image, and part of representing God is to walk around and live in a body of flesh and blood.
The body is as sacred as the soul, since the soul lives within the body as its sanctuary.
When will we be resurrected?
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.
For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. 1 Cor 15:51-53
What is this mystery that Paul writes about? It is a spiritual truth not made fully known in the past, but revealed in the New Testament.
Some Christians will not die, which means neither doctor nor paramedic will ever pronounce them dead. Nor will an undertaker pump embalming fluid through their veins or fit their corpses into a wooden coffin. No. Some of us will skip the process of dying altogether.
Those that are alive when Christ returns will have their living bodies changed into new and glorious resurrection bodies. And the transformation will be instantaneous.
What happens to Christians who have already died?
1 Thessalonians 4:14 tells us that the souls who have died and gone to be with Christ will come back and be reunited with their bodies on that day.
For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.
These believers’ bodies will be raised up or resurrected to meet Christ. Their resurrection will happen prior to the resurrection of living saints.
For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
Then they which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord. 1 Thess 4:16,17. This event is known as the rapture of the saints.
What happens to the unbelieving dead?
The unbelieving dead are to be resurrected on the day of Final Judgement. This is known as the resurrection of damnation as stated in John 5:29.
Revelation 20:11-15 paints a grim picture of the unbelieving who die in their sins. I plan to explore this in more depth in a future blog post.
What will our glorified bodies be like?
Our resurrected bodies will be impervious to illness and disease. They will not age. They will not wear out. They will be healthy and robust for all eternity. How do we know this?
Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 15:42-44
So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption;
It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power:
It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.
I wonder how old we will appear in our resurrected bodies? Will they reflect the age at which we were raptured or the age at which we died? Alternatively, will we all be strutting around as beautiful eighteen year olds?
The mind boggles. Will we all look like we belong on the covers of Vogue or Sports Illustrated? In the verses above, Paul contrasts the words glory and dishonor. This suggests that our resurrected bodies will possess attractiveness since they are raised in glory.
Redemption and a Resurrected earth
Redemption goes beyond our personal liberation from the enslavement to sin. It is not limited to blood bought sinners going to heaven when they die.
At the end of this age, God’s redemption will affect all of his creation in a complete transformation.
Just as our bodies will be resurrected, so too will all of God’s creation. God will restore, renew and re-create our material world. And believers will have the privilege to enjoy the new earth in fully glorified bodies.
Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?
Nevertheless we, according to this promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. 2 Pet 3:11-13
He will make all things new. Hallelujah!
That which is broken, ravaged by sin, death and disease will be restored to beauty and perfection. At the end of time, we will not be disembodied spirits floating around aimlessly, but we will have physical bodies anchored by gravity on a physical earth.
All good and well to look forward to a new heaven and a new earth, but what do we do in the meantime?
We should offer our bodies as a living sacrifice, enjoy our bodies, work through our bodies, serve God with our bodies—be His hands and His feet.
God’s character is reflected in us—in our thoughts and in our actions. We are His image bearers. There is no division between the soul and body. We are embodied creatures.
The body can be used to do wicked things, but it can also be used to do what pleases the Lord. The problem is not the body—the problem is sin.
Every day, we should be yielding our bodies and our souls to God. Changing the way we think to align with His thoughts and His divine will. This is one way to celebrate God.
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God. Rom 12:12
Bibliography
Author unspecified. 2022. ‘What is Multiple Sclerosis?’, MS Australia. Retrieved 26 October from
Alcorn, A. 200. Heaven, Tyndale House Publishers, Illinois.
Grudem G. 2020. Systematic Theology An introduction to Biblical Doctrine-2nd Edition. Inter-varsity Press, England.
Guzik, D. 2018, ‘An Empty Tomb and a Risen Jesus’, Enduring Word Bible Commentary. Retrieved 26 October 2022 from
Pearcy N. 2018. Love thy Body, Baker Books, Michigan.
