What Will the Believer’s Glorified Body Be Like?

Since spiritually-regenerated believers are “co-heirs in Christ” (Romans 8:17) — that is, joint participants — we are going to receive the same kind of resurrection body he did. This is why John said, “we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him” (1 John 3:2). And Paul stressed that our current lowly bodies will be transformed “so that they will be like his glorious body” (Philippians 3:21). This is one of the many reasons the gospel of Christ is such good news!

With this understanding, how exactly does the Bible describe this resurrection body? See for yourself:

So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; ⁴³it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; ⁴⁴it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.

If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.

1 Corinthians 15:42-44

As you can see, the resurrection body that believers will have for eternity is described as imperishable, glorified, powerful and spiritual in nature. Let’s briefly consider what each of these mean:

Imperishable indicates that our resurrection bodies will not be able to perish. In short, we’ll be immortal, which is one of the benefits of the message of Christ (2 Timothy 1:10). You can read more here.
Glorified: The Greek word for “glory” here is doxa, which means “honor, renown; glory, an especially divine quality, the unspoken manifestation of God, splendor.” In short, there will be nothing dishonorable about our resurrection bodies; they will reflect God’s splendor in every way. After all, are we not children of God, born of Christ’s seed? (John 1:12-13 & 1 John 3:9).
Powerful: This word in the Greek is dunamis (DOO-nah-miss), which is where we get the English dynamite. It means power, might, strength, force, energy. With our new resurrected bodies we can say goodbye to the maladies that commonly mar our current bodies, like fatigue, disease and injury. We’ll be invulnerable like Superman.
Spiritual: This word in the Greek is pneumatikos (nyoo-mat-ik-OSS), which comes from the term for spirit, wind, breath (pneuma). This indicates that our resurrection bodies will not have a sinful nature and thus the proclivity to sin will be absent. You see, the flesh — that is, the sinful nature — cannot inhabit the redeemed universe-to-come (2 Peter 3:13) and so it must be purged from the resurrection body of the redeemed.

We’ll also be able to “fly” by floating in the air or ‘riding the wind.’ Christ was able to walk on water by faith while in his mortal body (Matthew 14:22-33), how much more will we be able to do such things with glorified bodies?

Lastly, the resurrected Messiah was able to appear seemingly from nowhere and disappear just as easily (Luke 24:31,36-37). How was he able to do this? Since his glorified body had a spiritual component, he likely entered into the spiritual dimension, which then gave him access to anywhere in the physical realm.

Speaking of which, although we cannot fully grasp now how wondrous life will be in these new resurrection bodies in the eternal age-to-come, we can get an idea simply by observing what the Bible says about Christ after his resurrection since we’re going to receive the same type of glorified body he did. In light of this, we’ll be able to walk through solid objects (John 20:26), instantly appear out of nowhere and disappear (Luke 24:31,36-37); in short, we’ll be able to teleport at will. With this understanding, we’ll no doubt be able to take “quantum leaps” to anywhere on the New Earth, Moon, Mars or Universe — distances and space will no longer limit us. For details on the nature of eternal life see this article.

Eternal Life (“Heaven”) — What will it be Like?

Is Christ’s Body after Resurrection Physical or Spiritual (or Both)?

How Big will the New Jerusalem be on the New Earth?

RESURRECTIONS: Firstfruits, Harvest & Gleanings

IMMORTALITY — Only Available Through the Gospel

The Believer’s “Intermediate State” (between Physical Death and Bodily resurrection)