What our resurrection bodies might be like

June 3, 2026

Maria 1 Corinthians 15, Imperishable body, Transformation , , , Leave a comment

Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,  in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. 1 Corinthians 15: 51—53 ESV

Everywhere in Italy on this trip, we have walked or driven past crumbled ruins of once vibrant homes nestled among beautiful, well-maintained stucco and tiled residences. When we visited Mike’s maternal grandmother’s birthplace in the village of Fara Filliiorum Petri in Chieti, Abruzzo, we encountered this reality.  The town’s archivist provided us with the address of the house where she was born and grew up.  But it was in ruins. 

When we moved on to a second Airbnb along the Adriatic Sea, we witnessed in greater detail this pattern. The hosts, Laura and Luigi, were just finishing up the reconstruction and restoration of the second in a row of attached houses.  All five structures had belonged to one family, that of Laura’s grandparents. Over recent years, she had bought out her siblings’ shares of the inheritance. 

Yesterday, as we drove away from Vasto, Italy, the first guests were due to arrive and enjoy two months in the finished home. Over the five days, we observed our Italian hosts hustling to finish setting out plants bordering the back patio and to sweep away dust from the newly constructed  outdoor brick fireplace.

As we chatted with Laura and Luigi each day, we learned more about this recent project–how they first had to tear down the ancient structure that multiple generations had lived in. From the cleared rubble, they reclaimed what stones and timber were useful.  They then spent the next six months painstakingly building a new house.

Both of them labored evenings and weekends, polishing stone, shopping for antique furniture, and restoring some of the grandparents’ furniture.  Contracting out a new kitchen, the electrical and other specialized skills, this rebuilt house is now a “new creation.”

Learning about the love and attention to detail they invested to make this future AirBnB a welcoming vacation spot, I thought of the new heavenly bodies we are promised—more than a factory reset to one’s possible prime.

Just as this renovation-restoration project brings with it a high-tech kitchen that Laura’s great grandparents never could have imagined, with running hot and cold water, a fancy washing machine, climate control, and a well-equipped bathroom, so too our new bodies will come with both enhanced spiritual and physical features that will thrill us.

The promise of beauty deceived me

April 12, 2020

Maria Decay, Resurrection, Revelation 21, Uncategorized , , , , , , 3 Comments

 

Decrepit tulips

The tulips never even opened.  Instead, they started to decay from the moment I placed them in water. The promise of their beauty on display at Target deceived me

I keep flowers all around the house.  This vase is sitting on my bathroom sink. Nearby on Mike’s sink, in contrast, sit some lovely Alstroemeria boasting in their fairness. But somehow the ugliness of the tulips speaks a louder message of truth and I am loathe to toss them.

I sense that I need to embrace the reality that these flowers represent.  This world, this Earth 1.0, IS decrepit, a crumbling place.  No amount of make-up or human enhancements can change this reality.  There IS a curse.

It’s always winter in Narnia – the power of the White Witch reigns. A fact, akin to my decaying tulips.

But just as C.S. Lewis penned, there IS a stronger Truth, an ultimate Power that is at work.  Aslan is coming and a warming, colorful spring heralds this Hope.

Resurrection Sunday, Easter, signals the same for us. A forever summer is drawing nearer. It’s different from summers we have known. Given our few senses, is it even a wonder that we CAN’T imagine a SUPERIOR-summer?

John, guided by the Spirit of God wrote in Revelation 21: 1-4: 

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.  And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.  And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

This renovated, remodeled, new and best of all possible Earths will be Beauty par excellence because the King of Beauty, the LORD Himself will be present with us forever to enjoy.

Since mid-February I have begun to daydream more about this promised future.  I’m beginning to look forward to it.

In the meantime, I thank God for glimpses of beauty, for tastes of goodness here on Earth 1.0. They DO cheer me and lift my spirits. No denying that.  Still, I am sobered by dying reality. A reality that hints at an everlasting Beauty but a reality that cannot hide decay.  Like make-up on a cadaver being prepared for a funeral home viewing.  I’m not fooled. No one is, if they are honest with themselves.

So, this past week, I have learned much from my aborted tulips.  By grace, because of the gift of God’s Word, I know Truth. Jesus.  Though appearing ‘ugly as sin’ because He was MADE to be sin, He was and is and will always Beautiful.

And we believers who, along with my tulips, are decaying, will one day change out our outer layer for new bodies, a final and permanent version 2.0, supernaturally perfect and perpetual.

Aren’t you glad that the best is yet to be?