Realizing this about our bodies—that our bodies are to be raised and glorified—it certainly ought to affect the way that we think and act in terms of our bodies. Now, one thing the resurrection conveys is dignity and honour to the most humble Christian soul and body. The Christian body is destined, Daniel 12:3 says,
to shine like the brightness of the sky above.Our bodies are holy to the Lord. Our bodies are united to Christ and his resurrection. And so Paul urges,Therefore let not sin reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions.Never think that what you do with your body is meaningless. That body belongs to the Lord, is joined to the resurrection body of Christ, and is destined to dwell in eternity, in glory.And what a comfort this doctrine is as well—the resurrection of the dead—to those who grieve the loss of loved ones or those who face the ravaging of their bodies as death approaches. Here we find that sin and death will ultimately claim none of all those who have trusted in Christ. Every molecule of the body will be redeemed and brought to glory. Many times I have been with brothers and sisters in Christ at the scene of the death of one they have loved, and I have been at the scene of those I have loved. And I will tell you that one of the things that I like to say in those settings is,
Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting? You, death, will not ultimately gain this body in the end.And so we grieve the loss of a father, and that voice that meant so much to us, that was used all through our lives to tell us how loved we were—and if that father is in Christ, we can know for certain that in the age to come we will hear that voice again, giving praise together with us to the Lord. That hand that is going to deteriorate in the grave, but it was a hand that held us tight and comforted us and lifted us up—we can look and say, that hand will hold mine again. That hand will, together with mine, be lifted up in praise of our Redeemer. Paul puts it this way: “God raised the Lord, [and] he will also raise us up by his power.”1
Richard D. Phillips
15 Voici, en effet, ce que nous vous déclarons d'après la parole du Seigneur: nous les vivants, restés pour l'avènement du Seigneur, nous ne devancerons pas ceux qui sont décédés.