Awaiting the New Body

I was talking to a couple of older physician friends late last night following a CMDS welcome BBQ for the (much younger) medical students and residents. Both physicians had been believers for some time. One (now age 70) had just gone through a major illness and survived. But his 97 year old mother was currently gravely ill and would unlikely survive. So our conversation naturally turned to the topic of death and what it would be like after death. What would the new heaven and earth look like? What would our bodies be like?

Well this morning's scripture reading is right on topic! In 2 Corinthians 5:1-10 the title in the NIV translation says "Awaiting the New Body". Now the title is not part of the original scriptural text but has been added on by the translators. I checked the Message (MSG), King James Version (KJV), New Revised Standard Version (NRSV), and the Revised Standard Version (RSV - my first bible when I became a Christian!), and none of them has a title. Another popular translation the New American Standard Bible (NASB) has the title "The Temporal and Eternal" putting more emphasis on being a  comparison of what is now and what will be in the future in relative terms. I think the exact nature of what will be our new body is still not specifically spelt out. But we can safely say this: what will be will be way way better than what it is now!

First I noticed that different metaphors were used for the human body: earthly tent, building from God, eternal house in heaven, and heavenly dwelling (verses 1-2). I take it to mean that we (the embodiment of our person-hood) "live" in this physical, temporary body, much like living in an external physical structure. The word "tent" is derived from the old Hebrew word for "tabernacle". It reminds us of the story of the Israelite traveling through the wilderness before arriving at God's promised land. That tent of wood and canvas were built by human hand and were taken down whenever the Israelite were told to move from one location to another. Paul, being a tent-maker by trade, was using this image to describe the temporal and vulnerable nature of our physical bodies. This, according to Paul, will be torn down and replaced by a new body given to us by God. This new body will be permanent, not subject to deterioration and destruction, for it is built by God and not by human hands. The MSG translation says this nicely:
"..we know that when these bodies of ours are taken down like tents and folded away, they will be replaced by resurrection bodies in heaven—God-made, not handmade—and we’ll never have to relocate our “tents” again. Sometimes we can hardly wait to move—and so we cry out in frustration. Compared to what’s coming, living conditions around here seem like a stopover in an unfurnished shack, and we’re tired of it! We’ve been given a glimpse of the real thing, our true home, our resurrection bodies!"

This perspective is very important. I know that we sometimes "groan" not because we can't wait to get to our final destination, but we are sad to leave. We think our current situation is good enough. We have good jobs and are surrounded by loved ones. We don't really place much trust on this rather uncertain future. We are not like that prodigal son (see the parable in Luke 15:11-32) who found himself in dire situation and longed to return to his father's house. The sad part of this parable to me is that all he was still longing for was what the father had for him - food! But the point of that parable is about his father's love for him. Oh if only he knew how much his father's love was for him!

So it is really not that important to know what the new resurrected body be like. Will I have a triathlete body and be as handsome as a movie star? It is enough to know that our heavenly father loves us. He is building this new body as we speak, a body filled with his glory to last through all eternity. Let's say as Paul said in Philippians 3:8
"What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ."

Let me learn to pray (and mean it): Abba Father, I belong to you!