The Bible seems to indicate that we will. In
Luke 16, when Lazarus died and was carried by angels to Abraham's bosom, the
rich man looked across a great gulf and saw Lazarus in Abraham's bosom. And the
conversation with Abraham he asked that Lazarus dip his finger in water. That
implies that Lazarus had a body.
In 2nd Corinthians 5:1 Paul says, "For we know that if our earthly
house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an
house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." He goes on to say that in
this tabernacle we groan, desiring to be clothed upon with our body or
tabernacle which is Heaven.
The Bible does indicate that there will be a body between death and
resurrection. It is a body that will be occupied until Jesus comes and this body
is raised.
Friends, the Bible teaches that Jesus is coming. When He comes, the
bodies of Christians will be raised from the dead. First Thessalonians 4:16 say,
"The Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the
archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first."
Christians are going to come out of the graves.
The Bible says in Acts 24:15, "...there shall be a resurrection of
the dead, both of the just and unjust."
In John 5:28-29 Jesus said, "Marvel not at this: for the hour is
coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, And shall
come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they
that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation."
In Job 19:25-27, " For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he
shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: And though after my skin worms
destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: Whom I shall see for myself,
and mine eyes shall behold, and not another..."
The Bible teaches that when a man dies, his soul and spirit leave
the body and go immediately to be with Christ. And based on 2nd Corinthians 5,
that soul and spirit occupy a temporary body between death and resurrection
while awaiting the resurrection of this body. So I suppose the body of 2nd
Corinthians 5 is a temporary body that the believer occupies between death and
resurrection; but when Jesus comes, the Bible says, the dead in Christ shall be
raised first. And when this body is raised, the Bible teaches that it will be a
body exactly like Jesus'.
First 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."
Philippians 3:20-21: For our conversation [citizenship] is in
heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: Who
shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious
body..."
Now here is the picture : the Christian dies; his soul and spirit
leave his body and go immediately to be with Christ. His body is buried. The
body goes back to dust. It may be a hundred years before Jesus comes. It may be
a thousand years. On the other hand, it may be only a year or maybe a day.
Nobody knows when.
But when Jesus come, the Bible says He will come with a shout, with
the voice of the archangel and with the trump of God and the dead in Christ
shall be raised first. The body of that Christian will be raised from the dead.
The soul and spirit that have been with Christ since death will be brought back.
"But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them
which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.
For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep
in Jesus will God bring with him." 1st Thessalonians 4:13,14.
When Jesus comes the saint who have died will come back with Him.
The body will be raised and the soul and spirit will be reunited with the
resurrection body and in eternity the person will be with Christ.
First Thessalonians 4:17 says, "...and so shall we ever be with the
Lord."
End of Chapter Five
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