1 Corinthians 15:50-58
50 I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51 Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed—52 in 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. 53 For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. 54 When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”[h]
55 “Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?”[i]
56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
58 Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.
In 1995 Elizabeth Moltman-Wendell wrote the book, I am my body. The book explored the relationship between us and our bodies. Are we spiritual beings who have a physical experience or are we purely physical beings. This is an argument that lots of atheists pick up on, that we are no more than our bodies. No spirit or soul.
You are no more or less than a group of cells, working together. If you have an accident or operation, then you are diminished and no longer yourself any more. You are your looks, you are your diagnosis, you are your body.
However, Paul’s argument is that your body is temporary and that it will be replaced with an eternal body. This means that there is a part of you that is beyond your physical experience. Beyond addiction. Beyond disappointment. Beyond cells and bacteria.
This is not to say that our bodies are not important. God has given us amazing bodies are we should look after them. However, this life is short but one day Jesus will fulfil his promise and God will bring every one of us back from the dead. And you will live again in a resurrected body, on a resurrected earth that will never fade. And you will still be you. You will never stop being you.
