What Will Our Heavenly Bodies Be Like?

The resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead provides the proof and the pattern for what’s ahead for all God’s children. In Philippians 3:21, we’re told that Christ “will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body.” John wrote in 1 John 3:2, “It has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.”

Let’s look together at what the Bible teaches about our heavenly bodies. What will they be like? And what can we look forward to?

Our Bodies Will Be Incarnate

On one occasion when Jesus appeared to His disciples after His resurrection, He told them, “Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself. Handle Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have” (Luke 24:39).

This tells us we aren’t going to be some kind of ghostlike phantom that floats around forever. We’re going to have our same literal, physical bodies, but they will be risen, resurrected, and glorified—equipped for eternity. Just as Jesus took on flesh at the incarnation, so our heavenly bodies will be incarnate.

Our New Bodies Will Be Identifiable

Next, our bodies will be identifiable. You will still be you in heaven, and everyone will recognize you. You’ll instantly know your loved ones.

I realize that on two occasions after His resurrection, people were confused about our Lord’s identity. The first was at the tomb, when Mary Magdalene thought Jesus was the gardener. But her eyes were filled with tears. She quickly recognized Him (John 20:16). The other was on the Emmaus Road, when the two travelers thought He was a stranger. But that’s because “their eyes were restrained, so that they did not know Him” (Luke 24:16).

On every other occasion, people identified Jesus and called Him by name. They will call you by name, too, as soon as they see you. The apostle Paul said of that day, “Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known” (1 Corinthians 13:12)

Our New Bodies Will Be Incredible

Here’s another truth about our resurrected bodies: They will be incredible. As Paul declared in 1 Corinthians 15:43, “It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power.”

For most of my life, I’ve made it a point to visit the gym regularly. As the decades have passed, I’ve switched the types of exercises I perform during a given week to accommodate the physical changes of age. Yet no matter how hard I work at maintaining my physical health, I can’t deny that my body today is weaker than when I was in my twenties and thirties. I’m older and more fragile. A little worn down.

Do you know what comes to mind when I ponder the reality of my resurrection body? Thank God I won’t have to drag my current frame into eternity! I’m ready for something new. Something powerful. Something incredible.

Our resurrection bodies will be astonishing, full of energy, bursting with enthusiastic power, and perhaps capable of extraordinary functions. If the glorified body of Christ could pass through walls and travel by impulses of thought, perhaps the same will be true for us. Without being dogmatic on the specifics, I’m convinced our glorified bodies will not have the same limitations we have today. We will certainly be mobile and able to move, which means we can travel from place to place. So, at the very least, how wonderful to contemplate traveling around the new earth without the fatigue or stress of airport security and seats made for tiny people!

Our resurrection bodies will be astonishing, full of energy, bursting with enthusiastic power, and perhaps capable of extraordinary functions.

In conclusion, I’m going to ask the apostle Paul to sum it all up. He had a truly inspired way of putting things:

And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you. Romans 8:11 NIV

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For more on this topic, see chapter 5 from Dr. Jeremiah’s book, The Promise of Heaven: 31 Reasons to Get Excited About Your Eternal Home