"For we know that if the earthly tent that we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, a home not made with hands, eternal in heaven." II Cor. 5:1, R.S.V.
Yes, we know that God has already prepared for us a heavenly dwelling, a resurrection house or body, to replace our present mortal tent. What is this new tent that God has prepared like? How different will we be? The inspired scriptures give us some clue, and they stimulate our imagination.
1. We will be bloodless - "Now I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot enter the kingdom of God;..." I Cor. 15:50 K.J.V.
2. We will be indestructible - "For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality." I Cor. 15:53, K.J.V.
3. We can communicate - "He asked them 'what are you discussing together as you walk along'?" Luke 24:17, NIV
4. We won't be married - "At the resurrection men and women do not marry, but are like the angels." Matt. 22:30, N.E.B.
5. Our characters will be unchanged - "God has a perfect photograph of every man's character." My Life Today, p 291 (E.G. White).
6. We will look different but be recognizable - "In the glorified body their identity will be perfectly preserved." Desire of Ages, p 804 (E.G. White).
So, our heavenly body will be composed of some wonderful, indestructible material; our circulatory system will be replaced by some other type that employs the transmission of light, for we are told that light shined forth out of His wounds from which blood had flowed previously (Great Controversy, p 674, also Hab. 3:4), perhaps one similar to the fiberoptic technology being used today for wireless computers and telephone cables; being like the angels would suggest that there will be no procreation, no reproductive organs, no umbilical scars, no mammary glands, and the only children will be those that have been resurrected, and they will be borne to the mother's arms by the angels; wings will be used for local travel in the absence of vehicular transport, but it is not clear whether they are retractable or removable.
"The resurrection of Jesus was a type of the final resurrection of all who sleep in Him. The countenance of the risen Saviour, His manner, His speech, were all familiar to His disciples. As Jesus rose from the dead, so also those who sleep in Him are to rise again." Desire Of Ages, p 804. Yes, in heaven there are even now many marvelous dwellings that Jesus has gone to prepare for us.
Among those will be our "heavenly bodies."
