In what ways will Christians’ bodies be changed on the Last Day?

When God raises Grandpa Wickert from the dead, will he be able to play catch with me? When I was ten, his shoulder was so worn out that he could only throw underhand. When God raises Grandma Wickert, will she play chess? The last time we spoke, dementia had stolen her intellect. Now both of their bodies lie buried in the ground along with billions of others, waiting for Jesus to come back and raise them.

It’s no wonder bodies wear out and die. It’s because of sin. God’s prophet wrote, “The one who sins is the one who will die” (Ezekiel 18:20), and his apostle said, “The sting of death is sin” (1 Corinthians 15:56). But two thousand years ago, the sin that killed my grandparents and that will kill you and me was dumped into the body of Jesus. “ ‘He himself bore our sins’ in his body on the cross” (1 Peter 2:24). Jesus took deadly sin to the grave and sin stayed there.

But Jesus didn’t. “Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep” (1 Corinthians 15:20). Where there are firstfruits, there will be more fruits. I will see my grandparents again because the God who formed the first man from the dust of the earth, who knit people together out of carbon and nitrogen, will have no trouble reknitting them. Whether you end up as dust, dirt, ash, or even if Jesus comes back before you die, the Almighty will make your body anew. “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” (1 Corinthians 15:51,52).

How will we be changed? We will be like Jesus: imperishable, glorious, and powerful. Still, details of our future remain mysterious to us now.

We will be like Jesus

“Just as we have borne the image of the earthly man, so shall we bear the image of the heavenly man” (1 Corinthians 15:49).

As descendants of Adam and Eve, we have bodies like theirs. When we leave the grave like Jesus, our bodies will be like his. After his resurrection, Jesus was still the man his disciples recognized, and when Jesus raises us from the dead, we will still be us—the Christlike version of us.

Jesus’ post-Easter body walked into locked rooms (John 20:19) and ascended into the sky (Acts 1:9), but we will not possess those abilities. Even before he rose from the dead, Jesus shone like lightning (Matthew 17:2). That’s because Jesus is at the same time true God and true man. We human beings are not true God, so even after we are raised from the dead, we will not share Jesus’ divine attributes.

What does the Bible say about our resurrected bodies?

We will be imperishable

“The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable” (1 Corinthians 15:42).

The avocados on my kitchen counter are perishable. They get squishier and eventually smellier, and if I wait long enough, the only thing to do is compost them. Degeneration affected the bodies of my elderly grandparents; it affects my body, the body of my infant son, and your body. But on the Last Day, Jesus is going to change all that.

When Jesus makes Nate Wordell 2.0, I’ll be like honey. Archaeologists excavating ancient Egyptian tombs have found pots of honey thousands of years old. But the honey was still as good as new because honey is imperishable—just like your heavenly body will be.

“When we’ve been there ten thousand years, bright shining as the sun, we’ve no less days to sing God’s praise than when we’d first begun” (Christian Worship 576:4).

We will be glorious

“[The body] is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory” (1 Corinthians 15:43).

On earth, our bodies let us down, and sometimes we use them to do shameful things that we do not want others to see. But on the Last Day, Jesus is going to change that.

Our post-resurrection bodies will be free from sin, and there will be nothing shameful about them. God will make our bodies glorious. The Bible hints that our glory might be shiny. After Moses saw God, his face shone (Exodus 34:29). When Moses and Elijah appeared with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration, they were splendorous (Luke 9:30). Jesus said that when he declares us righteous on the Last Day, we will “shine like the sun” (Matthew 13:43).

“But, lo, there breaks a yet more glorious day: the saints triumphant rise in bright array; the King of glory passes on his way. Alleluia! Alleluia!” (Christian Worship 880:7).

We will be powerful

“[The body] is sown in weakness, it is raised in power” (1 Corinthians 15:43).

The reason I remember that Grandpa Wickert could only throw underhand lobs is because before that I thought he was invincible. But even the strongest muscles and the sharpest minds weaken after many years or tragic accidents. By the time our bodies return to the ground, we can’t move a muscle. But on the Last Day, Jesus is going to change that.

Martin Luther pictured it this way: “The body, weak and devoid of all strength and power . . . when it lies in the grave, will be so strong that . . . it will be able to . . . play with a mountain as children play with a ball. . . . Nothing that it decides to do will be impossible” (Luther’s Works, Vol. 28, p. 188).

We will be like Jesus: imperishable, glorious, and powerful.

“Oh, what their joy and their glory must be, those endless Sabbaths the blessed ones see! Crowns for the valiant, to weary ones rest; God shall be all, and in all ever blest” (Christian Worship 887:1).

The mystery of what we will be

“‘What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived’—the things God has prepared for those who love him” (1 Corinthians 2:9).

Will my Grandma Wickert’s resurrected body be an imperishable, glorious, powerful 82-year-old because that was her age when she died? Some Lutheran scholars think so, but they don’t know because “no eye has seen.” When your body is in heaven, will it be a glorified version of your youth? Ancient church fathers thought so, but they didn’t hear that from God because “no ear has heard.” What will we eat? How high will we jump? Will we play catch or chess with our grandparents? We don’t know, because “no human mind has conceived” what God has prepared for us.

And maybe a little mystery is just what we need to let our minds wander and wonder about our imperishable, glorious, powerful, and Christlike bodies that are made for eternal living with him.

Here’s what I know for sure: “I know that my redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand on the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; I myself will see him with my own eyes—I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!” (Job 19:25-27).

Author: Nathan Wordell
Volume 112, Number 04
Issue: April 2025