Our New Spiritual Bodies

If your goal is to be happy in life I have found that the best way to achieve this goal is first to be prepared for death. It is only when you are first prepared for death that you will be able to relax and enjoy life. How can you expect to enjoy life when you constantly have the fear of death hanging over your head? It’s always wise in life to hope for the best and prepare for the worst and the worst part of life has to be in knowing that someday you are going to die. It doesn’t make any sense to live your life running away from this problem especially when we don’t have any guarantees that we will even be alive by the end of today.

If you are contemplating death with fear and anxiety and you are wondering what’s going to happen to you when you die. If you haven’t done so already at some point you are going to have to answer the question about God. Does He exist or doesn’t He exist.  Until you answer this question you will continue running from your problems and never get the chance to experience true happiness. Most people go through life avoiding any questions concerning God and that is why most people go through life scared and uptight.  Most people have preconceived ideas about what it means to believe in God. They believe they will have to join a church and donate all their money to the church, do things they don’t want to do, loose all their friends, start hating different lifestyle groups and start looking down on all the people who haven’t joined their church.

I have good news for you. None of this is true. Just because you claim to be a person of God that doesn’t mean you are. Jesus said you will know them by their fruit. That simply means to judge them by what they do and not by what they say. Jesus also had trouble with the religious leaders of his day. Jesus said when you pray go in your room and shut the door. Don’t be turned off to God because of what people do or say. Don’t let people rip you off of eternal life. Eternal life is too precious to lose.

I am writing you today to help you see that with the proper knowledge you need not fear death anymore. You can make out a will and have all your earthly possessions taken care of,  but that does very little to relieve you of the fear and anxiety that most people experience concerning death. The best way to prepare for the journey that lies ahead of you is to know exactly where you are going and what you can look forward to when you get there. You can take the journey without preparing for the journey and be afraid of the unknown or you can first research the journey and look forward to an exciting future. Either way we all have to take that same journey. If you believe in God I will show you what the Bible says you can look forward to. If you don’t believe in God then this book won’t pertain to you unless you have a change of heart.

In 1995 my Dad died of colon cancer, in 2003 my Mother died of cancer. I was at both of their death beds. I never got to say to them what I am going to say to you. I wish I would have known then what I know now about what happens to a person after they die. I am going to show you according to the Bible what you can expect when you leave your body that you are currently residing in and you move into your new spiritual body and what your new bodies will be capable of doing.  

I don’t know if you have seen any of the TV shows concerning people who have died and then claimed to see a bright light at the end of a tunnel.  I believe that this is true and I also believe that seeing a light at the end of a tunnel is Biblical. Jesus says in his kingdom there will be no need of the sun and the moon because Jesus and His saints will be the light.

Revelation 21:23
the city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light.

Matthew 13:43
Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!

I believe that the physical aspect of death itself is quick and painless. However getting to the point of death can be very painful. When I was at my Dads death bed his pain was controlled with a morphine drip attached to his IV. When I was just a kid I was hit by a car while I was riding my bike. I was thrown off my bike and crashed into the cars’ windshield, smashed the hood of the car and was thrown to the pavement.  When I woke up in the hospital I didn’t feel any pain however I sure felt the pain the next day. I believe that death could be compared to standing in a dark room and flipping on the light switch.

Hebrews 2:15
and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.
I am not making light of death. Nobody will be happier than me when death is finally done away with. Nothing hurts more than a loved one dying. When my dad was in his fifties he was so petrified with the fear of death that he had trouble functioning normally. Fear can destroy your health and happiness. One of my dad’s favorite sayings was “if you really take good care of yourself, you watch what you eat, you exercise every day, you don’t smoke, you don’t use drugs, and you don’t use alcohol and you live for a very long time then you will have the honor of watching all your family and friends die before you.

The fear that was tormenting my dad actually caused him to pick up his Bible and start studying. On my dad’s death bed he said that there were two angels at the foot of his bed waiting to escort him to heaven. I believe once you see all that God has for you, you will look upon death with eager anticipation. The apostle Paul knew all that was waiting for him in God’s kingdom and was looking forward to being with Christ. I believe all of us can have that same kind of joyful anticipation once we know what our final destination is and what our purpose will be once we arrive. The Bible states that the truth will make us free. There is tremendous freedom in my life knowing where I am going and what I will be doing once I arrive there.

Philippians 1:23 
For I am hard-pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better.

I do believe that after you die you will see the light or what is referred to as the light at the end of the tunnel, at that time I believe you will receive your new spiritual body or if it’s not your time yet you will be sent back as a testimony to the afterlife.
The transfiguration of Jesus witnessed by the apostles James and John proves to me that the people currently living in heaven have already received their new bodies.

Matthew 17:2
and He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light.

Luke 9:30
And behold, two men talked with Him, who were Moses and Elijah

There are a lot of people today that are confused about our new spiritual bodies that we will be receiving after we die.  I believe if people knew exactly what some of the exciting things God has in store for them, it would make all people draw closer to Christ. I also believe if nonbelievers were to be taught these scriptures there would be a lot less nonbelievers. In the following pages I am going to take you through many verses of the Bible and hopefully reveal some of the hidden truths of the Bible. We are also going to be compiling a list of all the functions of our new spiritual bodies.

The Bible tells us that living the Christian life is compared to running a race and that we are to race for the prize.

Hebrews 12:1
Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,

1 Corinthians 9:24
Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize?  Run in such a way that you may obtain it.

I ran track in school and I know that if we were running for a trophy we would certainly train harder than if we were running just for fun. That is why it is so important to spell out exactly what the prize is. How can we keep our eye on the prize if we don’t know what the prize is? Most people are running this race and they are not aware of the extremely valuable prize they are running for. If they knew they wouldn’t be so quick to give up the race or not even enter the race at all.  It’s amazing how cheap people sell out for. God has stated that we human beings can’t even imagine the good things that God has for us.

1 Corinthians 2:9
But as it is written: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”

Luke 12:32
“Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom
I believe that God wants us to know some of the things He has waiting for us. He wants you to be excited like a little boy in a candy factory. I know that we as human beings will never be able to fully comprehend all the exciting things that God has waiting for us. I do believe that God wants us to study the scriptures to find out as much as we can and to draw as close to God as humanly possible.

It’s our Father’s good pleasure to give us the kingdom! Just what does that mean? I’ve heard a lot of Bible commentaries on that verse but I have never heard the commentator really do an in depth study of just what “give us the kingdom” entails. That is exactly the subject we are going to be looking at in this book.

The Bible has a lot to say about our new spiritual bodies yet so very few Christians and nonbelievers have any idea what our new bodies will be able to do. This is due to the fact that the Bible doesn’t come right out and say “these are the functions of your new spiritual bodies”. We have to know where to look.   

I have heard that we’re going to be a spirit much like a puff of smoke or I’ve heard that we will have a body that isn’t going to look like us at all and will no longer eat or drink. I know we have an idea what a body is and we have a general idea what a spirit is but when it comes down to knowing what a spiritual body consists of we find that there isn’t a whole lot of information on that subject unless you know what clues to look for.

So let’s take a look at God’s word and let’s take apart some of the verses and let’s see exactly what these new bodies will be capable of doing. The apostle Paul compares our current body as a tent and compares our eternal bodies as a mansion.

2 Corinthians 5:1
For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, (our bodies) is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.

John 14:2
In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.

This is one of the most misinterpreted verses in the Bible. I hear many people who say that God has a mansion waiting for them in Hawaii or some other location. What some people don’t realize is our new spiritual bodies will not have the same requirements as our current bodies. The place that Jesus’ is preparing for us is our new spiritual bodies and I believe that the above verses are saying that when we die we are going to move out of this tent that we currently reside in and move into our new spiritual body referred to as a mansion.
The next verses are the key verses that tell us exactly where to find the evidence of the functions of our new spiritual bodies.
 

1 John 3:2

Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He (Jesus) is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.

Romans 6:5
 For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection,

1 Corinthians 15:48-49
As was the man of dust (Adam), so also are those who are made of dust; and as is the heavenly Man (Jesus), so also are those who are heavenly.  And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man.

So if we want to know what the functions of our new bodies are we will need to look at what occurred in Jesus’ life after his resurrection.  The next verses I would like to explain a little about what was happening at that time so you will be able to understand the mood more completely.  
Jesus had been crucified three days ago. Judas had already committed suicide and the disciples were hiding from the Roman soldiers in a locked room fearing that they would be arrested next. Meanwhile Jesus had been resurrected with his new glorified spiritual body and I believe that Jesus could hardly wait to show his friends exactly what His new spiritual resurrected body was capable of doing. I believe that is exactly what Jesus is doing in this next verse.

Luke 24:36-43
Now as they said these things, Jesus Himself stood in the midst of them, and said to them, “Peace to you.”  But they were terrified and frightened, and supposed they had seen a spirit. And He said to them, “Why are you troubled? And why do doubts arise in your hearts? Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself.Handle Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have.”When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His feet.  But while they still did not believe for joy, and marveled, He said to them, “Have you any food here?”  So they gave Him a piece of a broiled fish and some honeycomb. And He took it and ate in their presence.

These verses gave us several clues as to some of the functions our new spiritual bodies. I have highlighted all the attributes so we can clearly see some of the functions of our new spiritual bodies.

·        We will be able to manifest ourselves anywhere we choose.
·        People will be able to touch us.
·        Our new spiritual bodies will have flesh and bones with different properties than we have                currently.
·        We will still eat and drink.

I don’t know where all the talk about us not eating or drinking in heaven started. I know we are still going to be eating and drinking but I believe it will possibly be for different reasons. The reason I believe it will be for different reasons is because the Bible says that we neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels of God in heaven. It appears our plumbing will be different to what extent I am not sure. If we still need food to survive that would mean that we wouldn’t be eternal beings and would still be dependent on food for survival. I did find several verses saying that we will still be eating and drinking in heaven.

Luke 22:16
New King James Version 
^{for I say to you, I will no longer eat of it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God}

Matthew 26:29
But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.”
I have had a few Mormon friends over the years and as a matter of fact that’s where I learned “by the word of two or three witnesses let every word be established.” That’s why I believe in finding at least two verses to support each statement. I know that Mormons believe that they can get married in the Mormon temple for eternity. The verses I found in the Bible all say that there is no marriage in Heaven.

Matthew 22:30
For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels of God in heaven.

Mark 12:25
For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.

Luke 20:35
But those who are counted worthy to attain that age, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage;

I know a lot of my Mormon friends will be disappointed to hear this and I know of one Mormon friend who will be greatly relieved. So by the above three verses I believe we can safely add no marriage to our list of functions.

·        No marriage in Heaven.

Not only is there no marriage in heaven the Bible also says that there won’t be any males or females, Jews or Greeks, no Italians, no Chinese, no different races of any kind. No slaves and no free men. We will all be the same and that is “all one in Christ”.

Galatians 3:28
There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
We can then conclude from the above verse that in heaven there will be only one nationality, (all one in Christ). No more male and female and no more different classes of people.
·        Only one nationality (all one in Christ)
·        No males and no females
·        No more different classes of people
Next we are going to see Jesus appearing and disappearing in front of eye witnesses.

Mark 16:14
^{Later He appeared to the eleven as they sat at the table; and He rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who had seen Him after He had risen.}

Luke 24:31
New King James Version (NKJV)
^{Then their eyes were opened and they knew Him; and He vanished from their sight.
 
Jesus is showing that with his new resurrected body he has the ability to appear and disappear at will. We can then add those functions to our list.
 
·        The ability to appear and disappear at will
 
At this point I was saying to myself, Jesus is doing all this. What makes me think that my new  spiritual body will be able to do the same things? Then I came across the next verses.}
 
Matthew 17:2
and He was transfigured before them.His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light.
 
Daniel 12:3
Those who are wise shall shine Like the brightness of the firmament, And those who turn many to righteousness Like the stars forever and ever.

Philippians 3:21
who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself.

By reading the verse in Matthew it is clear that Jesus’ spiritual body “shone like the sun” and the verse in Daniel says our new spiritual bodies will “shine like the brightness of the firmament.” So by comparing both verses we can see that our spiritual bodies and Jesus’ spiritual body will have the same properties. The verse in Philippians is saying that our human bodies will be conformed to Jesus’ glorious body.

I do believe however that Jesus’ brilliance will be far brighter than ours. I did find more verses that back up that theory.  

1 Corinthians 15:41
There is one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for one star differs from another star in glory.

2 Timothy 2:20
But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for honor and some for dishonor.

^{By reading the above verses we can clearly see that our new spiritual bodies will indeed shine just like Jesus’ spiritual body.  It also appears that we will all not shine with the same brilliance and that the brightness of the brilliance will be determined by how many people we lead to the kingdom of heaven. It also appears that the earth will have no sun and no moon and that Jesus and our new spiritual bodies will be the light of the world. The scriptures refer to us as sons of light.}
 
1 Thessalonians 5:5
You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness.
 
John 12:36
While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.” These things Jesus spoke, and departed, and was hidden from them.
 
^{We can now add more items to our list of spiritual body functions.
·        Our new spiritual bodies will shine brightly.
·        Our clothing will shine “white as light.”
 
The next verses show Jesus ascending to the Father after his resurrection and after the 40 days that he was on the earth preaching.}
 
Acts 1:11
who also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.
 
1 Timothy 3:16
And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in the flesh, Justified in the Spirit, Seen by angels, Preached among the Gentiles, Believed on in the world, Received up in glory.
 
So you say okay what’s the big deal, He ascended up to heaven. If you stop and think about just what’s involved in just ascending to heaven it really is a big deal.  When you get high enough in the earth’s atmosphere you will experience temperatures of -50 below zero, in space you will be experiencing temperatures of -300 below zero. You will also experience the lack of oxygen and then extreme heat upon re-entry of earth’s atmosphere.  NASA still has problems dealing with these problems when they design the space shuttles. You can’t just ascend to heaven unless you don’t need oxygen to breathe, you would also have to be invincible to extreme heat and extreme cold. With these three functions we will now be able to explore the universe without earth’s gravity or atmosphere to hinder us. So the four attributes we can add to our list of spiritual body functions are:
 
·        Invincible to extreme cold
·        Invincible to extreme heat
·        No longer require oxygen to breathe
·        Gravity can’t hold us down
 
The next functions we are going to discuss are the ones that are presently closest to my heart. When I was young I hardly ever thought about growing old and dying. Now that I am approaching my sixtieth birthday I think about dying more often. Especially when I consider that my mom and dad both died in their mid-sixties. I am sure that is another reason I am writing this book. The next attributes of our new spiritual bodies that we are going to talk about are eternal life and never growing old.

Luke 20:36
nor can they die anymore, for they are equal to the angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection.

John 5:29
and come forth—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.

1 Corinthians 15:42
So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption.
 
^{The word incorruption means no more decay or never growing old. On our list of spiritual body functions we are going to add:
·        Eternal life.
·        Never growing old.
 
The next functions of our new spiritual bodies I would like to talk about is the function of our new minds. I know that everybody knows that we as human beings only use a small portion of our brains and I am sure we all know people who use considerably less. I believe that Jesus gave us a few clues in the Scriptures to give us a general idea of what we can expect from our new minds.}
 
Matthew 17:20
So Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.
 
Matthew 21:21
So Jesus answered and said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but also if you say to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ it will be done.
 
Luke 17:6
So the Lord said, “If you have faith as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.
 
I haven’t heard of any human beings in our history that has ever had this kind of power. It scares me to think what would happen today if some human being had this kind of power. We are so selfish and immature as a race of people are concerned that I am very thankful to God that we don’t have this kind of power. I do believe that this kind of power that Jesus’ is referring to is in our future. I believe after we die and are living with the Lord the lack of faith will become a thing of the past.

I believe that the growing up process will be instantaneous when we are resurrected into our new spiritual bodies. I believe that our eyes will be opened and for the first time in our history we will use 100 percent of our brains capacity. Since a lot of what I am saying is speculation the only functions that I am willing to add to our spiritual body function list is:
 
·        Faith that can move mountains.
·        Nothing will be impossible for us.
 
When Jesus sent his disciples out to spread the good news throughout the Jewish countryside He bestowed upon them powers that they would need to do the job effectively. I believe when we as kings and priests responsible for the welfare of the human race will also be given such powers as needed. The powers that are given to us will fall under the heading “nothing will be impossible for us.”

Matthew 10:1
And when He had called His twelve disciples to Him, He gave them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease.

Matthew 10:8
Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.
 
That concludes our partial list of spiritual body functions. I’m sure we might have missed other functions but I believe that this list is an excellent foundation of functions of our new spiritual bodies. I believe once you see some of the capabilities of our new bodies it will indeed motivate you to draw closer to God. God says “draw close to me and I will draw close to you.”When people believe that they originated from animals they tend to act as animals. When people see and believe the truth that they originated from God that truth will have a dramatic effect on their behavior.

Let’s now gather all the functions and put it in one list and let’s see what the Sons of Light will be capable of doing. I am going to attempt to put these functions in an order that hopefully flows smoothly.
 
·        Eternal Life.
·        Never grow old.
·        Faith that can move mountains.
·        Nothing will be impossible for us.
·        The ability to manifest ourselves anywhere we choose.
·        The ability to appear and disappear at will.
·        No longer require oxygen to breathe.
·        Invincible to extreme cold.
·        Invincible to extreme heat.
·        Gravity can’t hold us down.
·        We will have a spiritual body of flesh and bones.
·        People will be able to touch us.
·        We will still eat and drink.
·        No marriage, no procreation.
·        Only one nationality (all one in Christ)
·        No males and no females
·        No more different classes of people
·        Our bodies and clothing will shine brightly.
 
I believe that this list we compiled would make Stan Lee of Marvel Comics envious and this list is just a general idea of what information we can pull out from the Scriptures. I am sure that there is so much more that we don’t know. As you read this list I believe you can see what God is offering you is far more valuable than any amount of money or anything this world can currently offer you.  As Clarence the Angel said in “It’s a wonderful life” “don’t you see what a mistake it would be to throw it all away?”

After looking over the spiritual body function list it brings to my mind a few more verses.

Psalm 82:6
I said, “You are gods, And all of you are children of the Most High.

John 10:34
Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your law, ‘I said, “You are gods”
Please keep in mind that in the above verses God is spelled with a small “g” and I believe the reason for this is found in the following verses.

John 13:16
Most assuredly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master; nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him.

John 15:20
Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also.
Is this line of thinking consistent with what the New Testament teaches?  I believe it does if we take a closer look at a few verses. When Jesus sent out his disciples to heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead and cast out demons He was giving his disciples the authority and the power to act on His behalf. I believe the same will be true during the millennium.  Jesus will also give us a portion of that power and the portion of power that we are to receive will be dependent on how well we served God in this present life. The brighter you are the more responsibility you will have and more power you will receive to complete the tasks that Jesus has assigned to you. The Bible teaches us that Christ is the first resurrected being and the believers in Christ will be next to follow.

1 Corinthians 15:20
But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
1 Corinthians 15:23
But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ’s at His coming.
 
This next verse ties everything together. This was the last prayer that Jesus prayed before He was taken away to be crucified.
John 17:20-23
Jesus Prays for All Believers
^{“I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word;  that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.  And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one:  I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.}

As you can see Jesus is going to give us the same glory as the Father gave to Him that we may be one with the Father and the Son that “we may be made perfect in one.”

I hope this study on our new spiritual bodies has been as much a blessing to you as it has been to me. I was really surprised as I put this study together as to some of the unexpected functions that I came across. This study has really made me stop to think about some of the exciting things that God has waiting for us and how fortunate we are to have such a loving and caring God.
Any questions or comments can be emailed to "timpfay@gmail.com"