OUR RESURRECTED BODIES

Recently, someone pointed out a unusual passage of Scripture; it is unique and appears only once in the entire Bible.  It is closely related to a similar phrase that appears five times, all in the New Testament.  They are:

*     Matthew 16:17 - "And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven."  [Note:  God, the Father, possesses neither flesh nor blood!  John 4:24 confirms this:  "God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth."]

*     1 Corinthians 15:50 - "Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption."  [Note:  Because "flesh and blood" cannot enter heaven, our bodies need to be changed, and they will be - See 1 Cor. 15:35-52.]

*     Galatians 1:16 - "To reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the heathen; immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood."  [Note:  The context (v. 16-18) is that following the Apostle Paul's conversion, he did not get his theological understanding from man, but from God. - See Acts 9:15-16 and 26:16.]

*     Ephesians 6:12 - "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places."  [ Note:  This verse refers to Satan and his "fallen angels."  Angelic beings are spiritual beings according to Ps. 104:4 and Heb. 1:14, although they can take on human form, or even that of an animal.  See Mt. 12:43-45; Mk. 5:2-13; Heb. 13:2.]

*     Hebrews 2:14 - "Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, He also Himself likewise took part of the same; that through death He might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil."  [Jesus became a human being, having both flesh and blood, so that He could die for the sins of mankind, and to be raised again according to prophetic Scriptures (1 Cor. 15:1, 3-4).  This verse appears to describe Satan, a spirit being, and the "angel of death."]

All of the verses above refer to humans as being "flesh and blood."  According to 1 Corinthians 15:35-52, "flesh and blood" cannot enter heaven.  So, when our bodies are resurrected, or when we are "changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye" (1 Cor. 15:52-54), what will our new bodies be like?  The answer is found in at least two places: 

1)     Luke 24:39 - Our resurrected Lord Jesus Christ said,  "Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself: handle Me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see Me have."  [Note:  When Jesus died, His blood was poured out in the garden (Lk. 22:44), when He was tortured (Jn. 19:1; Mt. 27:29), when He was nailed through His hands and feet (Ps. 22:16; Jn. 20:24-27), and when a spear was thrust into His dead body (Jn. 19:34)!  That is why Jesus did not say He was "flesh and blood," but that He was "flesh and bone." 

2)     1 John 3:2 - "Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when He shall appear, WE SHALL BE LIKE HIM; for we shall see Him as He is."