Transformation
While they were still talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them “Peace be with you.” They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost. Luke 24:37
There is very little preaching about our resurrection body. I know of one church where one person thought the pastor was in error teaching on the subject, because he had never heard a message on the resurrection body – even after half a lifetime in church meetings.
Paul tells us as much about the body we will have after Christ’s return in 1 Corinthians 15 as he does in the rest of the New Testament put together.
Jesus appeared to His disciples. He didn’t come through a door; He just appeared. Because Jesus’ resurrection body is of the same kind as the one we will have, we can assume we will be able to do the same. In the Luke narrative above, Jesus ate some fish (Luke 24:41-43). Presumably we will be able to eat when we have resurrected bodies too.
In His resurrection body Jesus was fully “at home” in this physical world (earth) while being at the same time, the beginning of a transformed physical world which is completely “at home” in God’s sphere (heaven).
God’s ultimate for Christians is not heaven. Heaven will be our temporary home. After Christ’s return ‘we look forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness’ (2 Peter 3:13). We will live out eternity with transformed bodies in a transformed creation.
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