"So
that they will be like" ("so that they will be like His
glorious body") is, in the best Greek texts, simply one word,
the adjective symmorphos. This is compounded of
syn, meaning "with," and morphe, meaning
"form." So the English equivalent is
"conformed to," or "having the same
form." According to Ralph Earle in Word Meanings In
The New Testament, the best translation is: "will
transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like His glorious
body" (NIV):
Romans 8:9-11: "You, however, are
controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the
Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit
of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. But if Christ is in
you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive
because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of Him Who raised
Jesus from the dead is living in you, He Who raised Christ from the
dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit,
Who lives in you."
1 Corinthians 15:42-54: "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 [Christ], a life-giving spirit.
The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that
the spiritual. The first man [Adam] was of the dust of the
earth, the second Man [Christ] from heaven. As was the
earthly man [Adam], so are those who are of the earth; and as is
the Man from heaven [Christ], 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.'"
2 Corinthians 4:16-5:10: "Therefore
we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet
inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and
momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far
outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen,
but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is
unseen is eternal. Now we know that if the earthly tent we
live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house
in heaven, not built by human hands. Meanwhile we groan,
longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, because when we
are clothed, we will not be found naked. For while we are in
this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be
unclothed but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, so that
what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. Now it is God Who
has made us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a
deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. Therefore we are
always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the
body we are away from the Lord. We live by faith, not by
sight. We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away
from the body and at home with the Lord. So we make it our
goal to please Him, whether we are at home in the body or away from
it. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of
Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things
done while in the body, whether good or bad."
Colossians 3:1-4: "Since, then, you
have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above,
where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your
minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died,
and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ,
Who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with Him in
glory."
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18: "Brothers,
we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or
to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. We believe
that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will
bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in Him. According to
the Lord's Own Word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who
are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede
those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will come
down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the
archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ
will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are
left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the
Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.
Therefore encourage each other with these words."
