The NIV 365 Day Devotional

Heavenly Body

God must transform the perishable, mortal bodies of dead and living believers into imperishable, immortal bodies to triumphantly defeat death. Similar to how the unrighteous are not fit to inherit the kingdom of God (1 Cor. 6:9–10), our earthly bodies are not fit to inherit the kingdom of God. So God will transform the earthly bodies of believers into heavenly ones.Paul announces a mystery—something God had hidden but now has revealed. The mystery is that God will suddenly transform the earthly body of every believer— dead and alive—into a heavenly body when Christ returns. He will do that in a snap, in the twinkling of an eye. The trumpet will signal that the end has come (Mt 24:31; 1Th 4:16). Then God will resurrect dead believers and transform their earthly bodies into heavenly bodies, as well as transform the earthly bodies of believers who have not died. Our perishable, mortal bodies must take on the characteristics of Christ’s resurrected body.

Christ decisively defeated death at the cross (Heb 2:14), and after God transforms the bodies of believers, Christ will finally, completely, and permanently defeat death. That will climactically fulfill Isaiah 25:8 and Hosea 13:14. Death will die because Christ died and rose again.

By permanently defeating death, Christ also permanently defeats sin. The law energized sin by giving it death-dealing power (Ge 3:1–6). By permanently defeating sin, Christ permanently ensures that God’s law is only life-giving for his people and not sin-empowering (cf. Ro 3:20; 4:15; 5:13,20).

Christians should stand firm, or persevere, because they know that in the Lord their work is valuable (1Co 15:2,10,14,17). What we believe about the future affects what we do now.

Christ’s resurrection and the transformed heavenly body he will give us encourage us that what we do in our earthly body has meaning (cf. Gal 6:9).

It is wonderful news for believers that God will transform our natural, earthly bodies into supernatural, heavenly ones. It is also wonderful news for family and friends of a dead believer. It helps believers not to grieve as others do who have no hope (1Th 4:13), and it enables believers to be sorrowful, yet always rejoicing (2Co 6:10).

Christ’s resurrection guarantees that death will die.

Taken from the NIV Grace & Truth Study Bible.