The Twinkling of an Eye: Understanding the Resurrection and Our Future Glorious Bodies

We live in a time of spiritual darkness, where many fear the future. However, for the believer in Christ, we understand that the darker things become, the closer we are to our Savior breaking through the darkness and distress to raise us to be with Him for eternity. The prophet Daniel wrote about the time ahead when he said that the dead would be raised.

¹“At that time Michael, the great prince who protects your people, will arise. There will be a time of distress such as has not happened from the beginning of nations until then. But at that time your people—everyone whose name is found written in the book—will be delivered. ²Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt. ³Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever. ⁴But you, Daniel, roll up and seal the words of the scroll until the time of the end. Many will go here and there to increase knowledge” (Daniel 12:1-4).

At the specified time, often called the resurrection or the rapture (a term not found in Scripture), God’s people will receive a resurrection body like Christ's. There will be some continuity since we will be recognizable, but we are talking about an imperishable body—one raised with the glory of God shining through us. Paul writes that not all will experience death, but all believers in Christ will be transformed.

⁴⁹And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we bear the likeness of the man from heaven. ⁵⁰I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. ⁵¹Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— ⁵²in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. ⁵³For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality (1 Corinthians 15:49-53, emphasis added).

When the appointed time arrives, the spiritual person you are inside—your godly character—will be revealed. It won't be the same as our old nature; Paul states that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God (v. 50). Our bodies will no longer be perishable but will become imperishable (v. 53). Not all Christians will sleep, meaning not everyone will be separated from their bodies. Some will be transformed instantly without experiencing death. When Christ comes, in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, or in the time it takes to blink, we will change from having a perishable body to being clothed with an imperishable one (vv. 51-52). Paul discusses this transformation in his letter to the church at Philippi:

²⁰But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, ²¹who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body (Philippians 3:20-21; emphasis added).

The Greek word that translates to the English word "transform" (v. 21) is Metaschēmatizō. It comes from two Greek words: "meta," meaning a change of place or condition, and "schēma," meaning shape or outward form. In simpler terms, it means transforming the outer form or appearance of something, such as refashioning or reshaping. When that day comes, what you are on the inside will be visible on the outside. Then you will realize that all your life experiences have been shaping your inner person, your spirit, to be the glorious person you will be in eternity.

An imperishable body means we won't age or get sick. Our new bodies will always be glorious. You will have youthful strength and radiate beauty as God's glory shines through you. Oh, I hope you are with us when that event happens. This world system offers nothing I want to cling to, and I hope you feel the same way. Keith Thomas

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