Glorified bodies
My son called me a couple of weeks ago, inviting me to play some disc golf. This past Saturday was the big day. We met at the course at 9 am.
Some background is needed here. I am a former member of the Professional Disc Golf Association (PDGA). It’s not like I was any good or was on tour. My sons-in-law, also PDGA members, and I would play in a tournament about twice a year when one popped up within a hundred miles of home. When my PDGA membership began, I already qualified for the senior bracket. My goal each tournament was not to finish last — a goal I did not consistently achieve. I never won anything. At every tournament, the tournament sponsor, usually a disc manufacturer, would give a free disc to every player, so I accumulated many free discs. I did it mainly for the fun of competition, and since tournaments were only on Saturdays, it ended up being more of a family outing, with a picnic afterwards.
During my son’s phone call, I tried to remember the last time I played. It was probably eight to ten years ago. I am not in the shape I used to be. When the family goes to the zoo, for example, I take a walking stick. Usually, I don’t need one, but when the distances start creeping up around two miles or so, I’m thankful I have it.
We arranged to play at a new course that was built since I stopped playing. Located on a church property, it is essentially flat and features only nine holes. I’ve been thinking of starting to play again for several years now, but you know how the best intentions often go. However, now that my son has called, I don’t have an excuse.
For anyone keeping score, we tied. We both had a wonderful time. It was nice to play, and the conversation was great. After the round, we went to lunch together. It was all over before noon, but it was a blessing of a morning.
Upon arriving home, Julie put muscle cream on my right shoulder and back. My old arm just wasn’t used to all that activity anymore. I was moving slow, every joint in my body hurt. It is a good hurt, I’d do it again in a heartbeat, but my body was saying, “You are going to pay for this.”
It is now 48 hours later, and I still hurt. As time passes, I discover that things are just harder to do than they were years ago, and unfortunately, there are things I no longer attempt to do. As the years continue to slip past, I know that both lists — things that are harder and things I won’t or can’t do anymore — will grow.
But there is a sun on the horizon. Hebrews 4:9-11, “There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his. Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.”
The passage is clear that a future rest is coming to those who believe. The people of God are those with saving faith in Jesus Christ, and “unbelief” is the term used to describe those who miss the opportunity for rest.
Eternity, for the believer, is described as a place of rest. This rest does not mean eternal sleep, for to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord (2 Corinthians 5:8). We will be alive, we will be awake.
This old body of mine God will exchange for a new one. A body that will never wear out. 1 Corinthians 15:52-54, “In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.”
If I die before the rapture (1 Thessalonians 4:16.18), my spirit, like all the spirits of all believers, will go to heaven. At the time of the rapture, those in heaven and those who go up in the rapture will receive a new, glorified, incorruptible, and immortal body.
Today, my joints hurt, but there will come a day when this body of mine will be dust, and I will have my immortal and incorruptible body.
The Bible tells us that our brains cannot comprehend the things God has prepared for us in eternity (1 Corinthians 2:9).
Oh, my body aches today, and there is a fifty-fifty chance this body will be in the ground in ten years. The Lord may be gracious and give me twenty; hey, thirty more years is possible, although it’s doubtful.
However, a hundred years from now, I’ll have a body that will never die, be sick, or in pain.
I may be surprised, but I doubt that disc golf will be in heaven. However, one thing I do know is that whatever physical activity I partake in won’t hurt (Revelation 21:4).
Dear Christian, in the meantime, between now and the day of our rest, “And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not” (Galatians 6:9).
Preacher Johnson is Pastor of Countryside Baptist Church in Parke County Indiana. Website: www.preachers-point.com; Email: [email protected]; Mail: 25 W 1200 N; Kingman IN 47952. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Timothy-Preacher-Johnson-101171088326638. All Scripture KJV.
