November 17, 2007
New Bodies
READ: 1 Corinthians 15:42-49
Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross. —Hebrews 12:2
In 1728, a young Ben Franklin composed his own tombstone epitaph:
The body of B. Franklin, printer, like the cover of an old book, its contents worn out, and stript of its lettering and gilding, lies here, food for worms. Yet the work shall not be lost; for it will as he believ’d appear once more, in a new & more beautiful edition, corrected and amended by the Author.
In this epitaph, the wry wit of Franklin, the colonial Renaissance man, rings true to the biblical view of resurrection. The bodies we now possess are prone to aging, physical decline, and ultimately death. But the resurrection of Jesus Christ holds within it the promise of a new supernatural body raised in glory. The apostle Paul tells us, “The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption. It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power” (1 Cor. 15:42-43).
As life takes its course in the aging process, we have the hope of a new body that will far outshine the original. Despite our aches and pains, our destiny belongs safely in the hands of “Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith” (Heb. 12:2).
According to God’s grand design,
Forever with the Lord to reign—
Praise God for the promise divine! —Hess
