THE NEW JERUSALEM #27 | OUR GLORIFIED BODY ( PART 11 )

Pastor Christopher Choo

Lesson 3282

THE NEW JERUSALEM #27

OUR GLORIFIED BODY ( PART 11 )

Will death eradicate personal identity?

Some believe that after death a soul merges with an impersonal God.

However, there will be personal identity in heaven. There always will be a distinct difference between human beings and God.

1. Jesus, in His resurrected body, ascended physically in heaven witnessed by His disciples on the Mount of Olives. And according to two angels who appeared before them, He will return in the same recognizable manner ( Acts 1:9-11; Titus 2:13 ). In the words of one of the angels:

"This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.” ( Acts 1:11 ).

2. Believers too will receive resurrection bodies that will be completely transformed from what they were physically in this life ( 1 Cor.15: 12-57 ). But this does not mean their personal identity is gone and that they will be beyond recognition.

3. When a believer dies, he or she is consciously and immediately in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ, our Saviour in heaven ( Luke 23:43; 2 Cor. 5:8 ).

Abba Father, although our bodies remain in the grave, our souls are immediately in Your presence, where we are conscious and awaiting our resurrected bodies which we will attain when Christ returns ( 1 Thess.4:15-17; 1 John 3:2 ). In short, death does not do away with our personal identity.