This question has be stumped.

[Camp Cook]

I have a co-worker who asks me biblical questions fairly regularly….since he saw the passion last summer & He & his wife started attending church. Some of his questions I have had to research as quite often they are things I have just never thought about or just accepted by faith.

I have to admit his latest really stumped me cause I have just never thought about it. So ….I am appealing to those wiser then me. :) It has several parts……

When we die, our souls go to heaven. When Christ returns, the dead in Christ will be taken first, i.e. our bodies will be taken from the graves. Scripture teaches that we will know & be known.

Therefore:

Will we need our bodies to be known or will others recognize us by our souls alone? If that is the case, why even take our bodies out of the ground, what do we need them for? Moses was recognized when Jesus was taken up into heaven so was that his body or his soul that the apostles saw?

He told me that when he raised these questions at his Bible study, it sparked a lively discussion but with no answers….his pastor didn’t really chime in at all.

What say all of you? Feel free to mull it over. I sure have been :sbrug: :confused: :eek:

[BLACK WOLF]

CC,

I believe your answer lies within these verses.

1 Chor 15: 35-54 "But someone may ask, "How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come?" How foolish! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. When you sow, you do not plant the body that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or of something else. But God gives it a body as he has determined, and to each kind of seed he gives its own body. All flesh is not the same: Men have one kind of flesh, animals have another, birds another and fish another. There are also heavenly bodies and there are earthly bodies; but the splendor of the heavenly bodies is one kind, and the splendor of the earthly bodies is another. The sun has one kind of splendor, the moon another and the stars another; and star differs from star in splendor.

So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.

If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. So it is written: "The first man Adam became a living being"; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. The first man was of the dust of the earth, the second man from heaven. As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the man from heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we bear the likeness of the man from heaven.

I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: "Death has been swallowed up in victory."

Maybe you already have read this. If you need it explained in a way you have yet to understand, I'll try later. Got to head back into work for one more client.

Ray ;)

[BLACK WOLF]

CC,

You asked - "Will we need our bodies to be known or will others recognize us by our souls alone?"

The mention of the word "body" indicates a physical shape or form, which suggests that we will indeed have a body in heaven uniquely similar and yet different to one another just as we have now.

I believe our bodies will be simular to the ones we have now, yet slightly different.

When Jesus rose from the dead, I don't think He was recognized right away by everyone, who knew Him, if I remember correctly.

I believe we are all made up of a mind, body and soul and each one is a representation of ourselves. It takes all 3 to complete us, but we can be recognized by just knowing one at a time.

Ray ;)

[WildmanSC]

"I believe we are all made up of a mind, body and soul and each one is a representation of ourselves. It takes all 3 to complete us, but we can be recognized by just knowing one at a time."

Ray,

Actually, or precisely, we all are, and will be, made up of spirit, soul and body, if we are born again. And to be raised from the grave or to be taken up while still living at the Rapture, we MUST be born again.

Bill

[BLACK WOLF]

Hi Bill,

I'm not sure if you are disagreeing or what? ;)

If you are not born again...do you still have a spirit, soul and body like you like to refer to us as human beings?

Ray ;)

[BLACK WOLF]

Hey Bill...OK...I think I see what you are disagreeing with...it's the mind/spirit thing...isn't it?

I agree...the more accurate representation is the spirit, soul and body as you have mentioned.

The reason why I didn't notice it at first was because I feel the 2 are pretty much interchangeable.

I believe how a person thinks is based on his spirit. If a person is filled with the Holy Spirit they are going to think about what the Holy Spirit wants them to do, but we also have our sinful nature/spirit that can often cause us to think about disobedience.

Sorry...if I made it sound confusing. I often use mind instead of spirit to make it easier for people to understand...at least I think it might be easier for them to understand...hmmmm...what do you think?

Ray ;)

[WildmanSC]

Ray,

Your last post hit the nail on the head. Before we are saved, before we are born again, we have a spirit, it is just a dead spirit. As a result, as the Bible says "...we are dead in trespasses and sin." When we are saved or born again, it is our spirit that is born again by the Holy Spirit giving it life! Hallaleuah!! :amen:

Here's where it gets tricky. If we are living in the Spirit, under the control and power of the Holy Spirit, then our minds will be more like Christ's and we will have the proper Christian order of our triune existence, spirit, soul and body. However, if we backslide and are living in the flesh, then the order of things will become out of sorts, body, soul and spirit. We will follow after earthly, fleshly things rather than spiritual like we should as born again believers.

Bill

[Cueball]

I am enjoying reading the answers on this thread. Hope you guys and gals don't mind if I just listen and try to learn.

...............................................Rob y..............................................

[BLACK WOLF]

Hey Wildman ;)

I agree with most of everything you have said, if not all, but wanted to pick your brain a little more to find out for sure ;)

You believe in a past, present and future...correct?

At this present time does Satan exist?

If you believe he exists than you would believe he is in a sense presently alive...correct?

If Satan is presently alive, does his evil spirit exist?

If you are following where this is leading the next question is...if we all have a spirit can the spirit of a non believer be alive in the present moment?

I understand what the Bible says about how we are dead in spirit, but I believe that is a knowledge based on an understanding of time and knowing the specific person in question.

I believe the spirit of a person, who hasn't been saved, has a living spirit, but that spirit dies when that person dies because that spirit isn't of God. Therefore it can be said that their present living spirit will be dead or is dead within the future, whereas a born again person also started with a living spirit that was bound for death, but because of Jesus' sacrifice and the choice God gave us to make, that spirit can be born again into life and conquer death....or do you disagree?

...by the way how did you get your name...Wildman?

Ray ;)

[George Tsoukalas]

I've found Luke 16:9 comforting over the years. We will be welcomed in our eternal abodes by those we loved. They will know us. Nice. To answer the question though, perhaps the final chapter goes back to the first. Adam and Eve were created for eternal life, they strayed and so we will be united with our bodies which is something the Lord has always intended and will come to fruition when He returns to gather us in his arms. 1 Thess 4;14 hints at that, " For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again (in the body, of course, and in the same body in which He was crucified). So when we to are resurrected God's will for us will ultimately be realized. Eternal life. Been away a few weeks. Nice to be back. Jawge