Changed

1 Corinthians 15:52 (NASB)

And we will be changed.

The Greek word for "changed" in this verse is "allasso," which is rooted in "allos," meaning a transformation that retains the original identity. Combine that with the words "soma psychikon" (old body or the natural body which is driven by flesh, blood, oxygen and a cardiovascular system) being changed into "soma pneumatikon" (the spiritual body which is powered entirely by the Holy Spirit and nilot flesh and blood), we begin to get an idea of how radically the power of God Almighty will change us on resurrection morning.

There is a strange heresy in the Church perpetuated by the mainstream Church going all the way back to the founders of the Catholic and Evangelical Churches which teaches that since the Lord Jesus had flesh, blood and bones in the resurrected body, that is how He is now in heaven. But that heretical teaching ignores the fact that the glorified Lord Jesus Christ, who appeared to the Apostle John, did not look like a flesh-and-blood human, but was completely spiritual. It was still the same Lord Jesus Christ ("Behold, I was dead, but I am alive, forevermore) Who possessed His memories and personality. But His body was completely changed and transfigured. There were no scars, bruises, and wounds on the glorified Christ that John could see, as the Apostle Thomas could on the resurrected body. The Catholics and others teach that Jesus still has scars on His glorified body in heaven because a slain lamb was presented in Revelation. But that imagery does not show Jesus Himself with scars and wounds in heaven, as He showed on His resurrected but still natural body. This tells us that the resurrected body of Christ was still completely natural or human (it had flesh and blood, bones, could eat and drink), but the glorified body of Christ was completely spiritual.

The early Church founders like Ireneus and others were combating the Gnostics and Non-Trinitarians who deny the humanity and divinity of Christ and had to emphasize the flesh and blood of Jesus. But in doing so, they started another heresy that our glorified bodies will also have flesh, blood, and bones in heaven. When our brother, the Apostle Paul, says "flesh and blood will not inherit the kingdom of God," they take it out of context and couple it with the verse in Galatians about sin to mean that those who commit acts of flesh and blood will not inherit God's kingdom. But the verse regarding flesh and blood not inheriting God's kingdom is not about acts of the flesh but resurrection and the type of resurrected bodies and their glorified state.

This natural, corporeal, flesh, bones, and blood body will not inherit the kingdom of God. The Lord will retain our identity (memories, experiences, personality, and so on) but couple that with a spiritual body ("soma pneumatikon") so that we can dwell in His Holy and awesome Presence. These natural bodies will not be permitted to live in the Presence of a Holy God. These bodies will be changed into totally spiritual bodies, completely different from natural flesh-and-bones bodies, and powered entirely by the Holy Spirit. That is something to look forward to. Amen