The Redemption of the Body
By E. Hilliard
MANY believe that the saints of God will have no material bodies in the future world. But why not? Was not Adam, before he sinned, in possession of a corporeal body? Is not redemption full restoration to the Edenic condition? Under the decree of the Creator, “Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return,” the body returns to its original element. Notwithstanding it crumbles to dust, the Scriptures teach that the saints will come forth from the tomb bodily. Job says, “After my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God.” Job 19: 26. The prophet Isaiah plainly declares that “thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise.” Isa. 26: 19. Is not the resurrected body of Christ proof that all the redeemed saints will have bodies fashioned like His glorious body? Christ, after His resurrection, proved to His disciples His identity by revealing Himself bodily. He said: “Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I, Myself: handle Me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see Me have.” And “we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him.” Luke 24: 39; 1 John 3: 2. Now Christ arose bodily from the tomb, in bodily form ascended, in the presence of men, and will return in like manner. Acts 1: 9-11. In speaking of redemption, the apostle Paul says, “We ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.” Rom. 8: 23. Father Adam will be resurrected soul and body, and placed again in Eden, to dress and keep the garden. This is redemption — full restoration; and it is not for Adam only, but for all who are loyal to the mandates of heaven. Let us thank the Lord that in the resurrection morning, our loved ones will have hands for us to grasp. We will talk face to face with them and with our glorified Redeemer.