The Apostles' Creed - Pt. 28

 

I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 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. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” (1 Corinthians 15:50-55 ESV).

 

While we are alive, our spirits are united with our bodies. When we die, our spirits depart, and our lifeless bodies return to the earth. Is that the final destiny for our bodies? Some religions welcome death as a release from the “prison” of the body. But, according to the Bible, God made us to have both souls and bodies; moreover, he made our bodies good (cf. Psalm 139:14). So when the two are separated by death, we cease to be as God made us. For that reason, we say, with the Apostles’ Creed, “I believe in the resurrection of the body.”

 

This has caused some question in many circles of believers. Our bodies are vulnerable and frail. They break down and eventually just give out. As we age that becomes all too apparent. Yet our bodies remain integral to who we are as God has made us. Without our bodies, we are no longer fully ourselves. For all of us who believe in Christ, we can take great comfort that when we die, our souls will immediately be with Jesus. And when Jesus returns, our bodies and souls will be reunited. Then we will again be fully ourselves. Our reading today could not be clearer. On that day, though, our bodies will no longer be frail and mortal. Death will be conquered, and we will have “glorified” bodies, just like Jesus’ body at his resurrection.

 

Some have insisted that this is a clear command against the cremation of the body. Nothing could be further from the truth. Cremation was practiced in biblical times, but it was not commonly practiced by the Israelites or by New Testament believers. In the cultures of Bible times, burial in a tomb, cave, or in the ground was the common way to dispose of a human body (cf. Genesis 23:19; 35:19; 2 Chronicles 16:14; Matthew 27:60-66). The truth that is emphasized is that regardless of what happens to our earthly flesh, we will be resurrected and reunited with our spirit in an immortal, imperishable form as God intended from the beginning.