<i>male announcer: For millennia,</i> <i>humans have looked up
into the sky and wondered</i> <i>what lies ahead of them
in the afterlife.</i> <i>Our souls innately desire
an answer</i> <i>to what is perhaps
life's greatest mystery,</i> <i>that which awaits us
when we walk through the door</i> <i>into the world beyond.</i> <i>But God doesn't conceal</i> <i>the details about
your eternal resting place.</i> <i>Look in God's Word</i> <i>and you'll find a glimpse
into heaven:</i> <i>streets brighter than gold,
God's radiant throne,</i> <i>and the eternal home
of Jesus Christ.</i> <i>All the magnificent details</i> <i>are written in the pages
of Scripture:</i> <i>what heaven will look like,
how your soul will get there,</i> <i>if you'll be reunited
with loved ones once you arrive,</i> <i>and how your body
will appear for eternity.</i> <i>That is but just a sliver</i> <i>of what we can know
about eternity,</i> <i>which promises to be a place
beyond your wildest dreams.</i> <i>All you have to do
is open the Bible,</i> <i>and you'll find that, inside,</i> <i>God is revealing
the mysteries of heaven.</i> <i>Now here is your host
and Bible teacher,</i> <i>Dr. David Jeremiah.</i> Dr. David Jeremiah:
History, or at least legend, tells us that, when a Spanish
explorer named Ponce de Leon explored what is now Florida
in 1513, he was searching for
the fountain of youth. Well, we know he didn't find it
because so many people are still looking for it today. There's certainly nothing wrong
with trying to stay vibrant and healthy, but eventually,
time takes its toll except in one location. Heaven will be a place
where our body never wears out, where there is no sickness,
no injury, and no aging. Today, another mystery of heaven
is revealed as we discuss, "The Ultimate Extreme Makeover." If you'd like to experience
a complete physical makeover, then you'll want to hear how you
can have it on today's edition of "Turning Point." ♪♪♪ <i>announcer: We all have
questions about heaven,</i> <i>and many of us assume that
we can't know the answers,</i> <i>but nothing could be further
from the truth.</i> <i>God's Word is full of detailed
information about heaven</i> <i>if we only know where to look.</i> <i>Inside Dr. Jeremiah's book,</i> <i>"Revealing the Mysteries
of Heaven,"</i> <i>Dr. David Jeremiah will
lead you through God's Word,</i> <i>uncovering the answers
to your pressing questions</i> <i>about the world beyond,
including,</i> <i>"If you've lost a child,
will you be reunited in heaven?"</i> <i>"How are our souls
transported to heaven?"</i> <i>and "Where exactly is it
located?"</i> <i>As you read, you'll discover
that the more you know</i> <i>about heaven, the more
you'll live in the reality</i> <i>that awaits you every day.</i> <i>This inspiring book is only
available from Turning Point,</i> <i>and it's yours as a thank you
when you give a gift</i> <i>of any amount.</i> <i>And if you give $60 or more,
we'll send you the "Heaven set,"</i> <i>which includes Dr. Jeremiah's
book, study guide,</i> <i>his current teaching series on
your choice of CD or DVD album,</i> <i>and the "Is There a Heaven?"
brochure.</i> <i>If your gift exceeds $100,
Dr. Jeremiah will also send you</i> <i>the popular "Answers to
Questions About Heaven" book.</i> <i>Don't miss out on the scriptural
look at your future home,</i> <i>only from Turning Point.</i> <i>Contact us today.</i> <i>female announcer:
Thank you for watching</i> <i>"Revealing the Mysteries
of Heaven,"</i> <i>here on "Turning Point,"</i> <i>timeless teaching from
Dr. David Jeremiah.</i> <i>We appreciate your viewership
as Turning Point delivers</i> <i>the unchanging Word of God
to an ever-changing world.</i> <i>And now here is Dr. Jeremiah
with his message</i> <i>The Ultimate
Extreme Make-Over."</i> Dr. Jeremiah: Benjamin Franklin,
in his epitaph wrote of this present body,
which he said, "lies in the grave like
the cover of an old book with its contents torn out,
stripped of its lettering, but which will appear,
once again, in a new and more eloquent
edition, revised, and corrected by the author." What a great way to describe what is gonna happen
to us someday when our bodies receive "The Ultimate
Extreme Make-Over." In 1 Corinthians chapter 15,
in verse 35, Paul puts before us a question which is really the question
for today's message. Here's the question: "But someone will say,
'How are the dead raised up? And with what body
do they come?'" "How are the dead raised up, and with what body
do they come?" And in the next several verses,
Paul gives us some contrasts between our current bodies
and the body that we're going to have
someday, and in doing so,
he literally outlines for us all of the various aspects of the ultimate
extreme makeover. Now, you have your Bibles open,
and I want you to notice that, first of all, the requirement
for a resurrected body, the requirement for being
resurrected from the dead is you have to be dead, right? The requirement for resurrection
is the death of the body. There's no resurrection
if there's no death. In fact, Paul, I think, is havin' a little fun
with the Corinthians when he writes, in verse 36, "Foolish one," he says,
"Foolish one, what you sow is not made alive
unless it dies." I think Paul's kind of
chiding them a little bit and saying, "You know,
don't be silly. You can't have a resurrection
if you don't die." The first observation
is so obvious that he makes a little rebuke for his readers
for not understanding it. In essence, he's saying, "Don't be ignorant
or foolish about this. There isn't really anything that
you can do about resurrection until, first of all, you die." John 12:24, says this:
"Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls
into the ground and dies, it remains alone, but if it dies,
it produces much grain." Paul's just laying
the foundation here for all of us who have such a hard time
even talking about death. I mean, it's
such a terrible word, we call it the D-word. He says you shouldn't be
afraid of death, you should embrace it because if you
don't have death, you can't have
a resurrected body. If it were somehow possible
for anyone in this room to live forever without dying, they would have to live forever
in the body they now possess. What a horrible thought
that would be. A man that I have
greatly appreciated for his writings
on the spiritual disciplines is a guy named Dallas Willard. He tells the story of a woman who refused to talk
about life beyond death. She absolutely refused
to talk about it because she said she didn't want her children
to be disappointed if it turned out
there was no afterlife. Now, as Willard points out,
"If there is no afterlife, no one will have
any consciousness with which to feel
disappointment." Think about that for a moment. "On the other hand,"
he said, "if there is an afterlife, whoever enters
that next life unprepared may experience far more
than mere disappointment." So as much as we don't like
to talk about death, Paul helps us
to get a little bit of a positive attitude about it
right up front, and he says,
"Look, I wanna tell you about this new body
that God's gonna give you, but you have to understand,
the way to get that new body is you have to walk through
the doorway of death to get it unless you happen to be alive
when Jesus returns." And we'll talk about that
a little bit later. So much as we dislike
talking about death, Paul reminds us that,
without it, there is no resurrection. Now, the second thing he's gonna teach us
in this passage is that the result
of resurrection is a different kind of body. Notice in verses 37 and 38, as you look down
at your Bibles here in 1 Corinthians 15. He says, "What you sow, you do not sow
that body that shall be, but mere grain-- perhaps wheat
or some other grain. But God gives it a body
as he pleases, to each seed its own body." Now, he is saying that the body
that comes out of the grave is different from the body
that would enter the grave. He's saying,
using this illustration, if you put a kernel of corn
into the ground in order for it to grow, what comes out of the ground
is not the kernel. It's a green stalk
that looks very different. It's a part of the kernel. It represents the kernel,
but it's not the same. And Paul is saying to us,
men and women, that, when we die
and our bodies are buried, and they go into the ground,
on the day of resurrection, they're gonna come
out of the ground different than when they went in. We're not gonna have the same kind of body
that was buried. That's the whole purpose
of his discussion here with the Corinthians. The body that emerges
from the seed that dies is different from the body
that was planted. Now, we're all
pretty well acquainted with the kind of bodies
that we now occupy. One of the most depressing
thoughts that's communicated
to me routinely when I go to work out
every day is the constant reminder
from everybody there that, the older you get,
you have to work twice as hard to maintain the same level
of fitness as you used to get
earlier in life. Does that depress
anybody else but me? I mean, here it is,
when your life is so busy and you need more
and more time, you gotta take more
and more of that time just to stay even,
just so you don't fall behind. And, you know, we're all
into that to some degree, and relatively we should be because this is the temple
which God has given us, and we're supposed
to take care of it, but how many will agree
that taking care of this temple is gettin' to be
a full-time job? Can I get a witness? Well, the apostle is gonna give
us some encouragement here in a broad outline
in 1 Corinthians that answers the very question
that he poses: What kind of body
shall we have? He describes
four different qualities of our resurrection body, and he contrasts it
with the body we currently have. So notice letter A: our new bodies
will be indestructible. Our new bodies
will be indestructible. Verse 42, says it this way: "So is the resurrection
of the dead. The body is sown--" and when you see the word
"sown" here, it means buried. "The body is buried
in corruption, it is raised in incorruption." "The body is buried
in corruption, it is raised in incorruption." Now, friends,
there's only been one body in the history
of the universe, in the history of time
as we know it-- there's only been one body that has not been subject
to corruption, and that was the body
of the Lord Jesus. The Psalmist,
in Psalm 16:10, said, "You will not leave
my soul in Sheol, nor will you allow
your Holy One to see corruption." There's only been one body
that did not see corruption. Jesus was buried,
but on the third day, he came out of the grave. His body had not seen
corruption. The first thing
that Paul teaches us about our new bodies--
and this ought to really encouraged us all. The first thing he teaches us is that it is not like
our old body. Our present bodies wear out. The body we get, when we get
our extreme makeover, is indestructible. Can I get a witness?
Amen. I notice the older voices
are louder than the younger ones. Okay, number two, verse 43, our new bodies
will be identifiable. Now watch this,
a careful argument here. Paul says in verse 43,
"Our present bodies will be sown or buried
in dishonor, but our new bodies
will be raised in glory." Paul says that our new bodies
will be raised in glory. The word, really,
is the word "brilliance." Some people even think
our new bodies may have a little glow to them. I don't know if that's true
or not, but that's maybe from this word. It is a glorious body
like the glorious body of the risen Savior. Now, I want you to notice
the key passage in what our bodies
are going to be like in all of the New Testament. It's Philippians chapter 3. I want us to read this
out loud together. Maybe we'll just read it
from the screen so we'll all be in the same translation,
all right? Here we go. "For our citizenship
is in heaven, from which we also
eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform
our lowly body that it may be conformed
to his glorious body, according to the working
by which he is able even to subdue
all things to himself." Now, what does that verse
say to us about the kind of body
that we're gonna have? Our body
is going to be transformed so that it is like the glorious body
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, go back to
1 Corinthians 15, and notice it says,
"Our body is sown in dishonor, but it is raised in,"
what, class? "It's raised in glory." The glory that the Lord Jesus
had in his glorious body is the glory we're going to have
in our bodies when we are resurrected
from the grave. Now, when the apostle tells us
that we are raised in glory, we don't have to doubt
what he means. "Glory" is the description
of the body of Jesus. Our new bodies
will be just like, just like the resurrected body
of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is what John
is talking about when he writes to us
in his first epistle. He says, "Beloved, now are we
the children of God, and it is not yet revealed
what we shall be, but we know that when he
is revealed," what does it say? "We shall be like him,
for we shall see him as he is." And Paul comes back
to this powerful thought at the end of his teaching
in 1 Corinthians. Notice verse 49
of 1 Corinthians 15, "As we have borne the image
of the man of dust," that's our current body, "we shall also bear the image
of the heavenly Man." That's Jesus. Just like we now bear the image of our current body,
the old Adam, one day, we're gonna bear
the image of Jesus. We're gonna have
a body like Jesus. I almost call this message
"Body by Jesus." I see all these books out there,
"Body by," this person. One day, we're gonna have
"Bodies by Jesus." I'll tell you, whatever program
you're on, you can just give it up
'cause that's the one. That's the one. Now, you say,
"Well, Pastor Jeremiah, that's a great
theological thought, but what is 'body by Jesus'? What is the body by Jesus?" Well, let me tell ya
how you find that out. The only time that we
can observe, as humans, the body by Jesus
is during the 40-day period between
the Resurrection of Jesus and when he went back to heaven. And do you remember,
toward the end of the Gospels, we have a number of situations where Jesus expressed himself
in his resurrection body after he was resurrected
before he went back to heaven? And so, when we look
at those passages, we can learn some things
about Jesus's body, and if our body is gonna be
like his body, then we'll know what
our body's gonna be like. Are you with me? So let me just give you
three or four things that I've observed
about the body of Jesus during the 40 days between his Resurrection
and his ascension. Number one, Jesus said
that his body was real. He had a real body.
This is really important. Jesus said he had a real body. In Luke 24:39,
we read these words: "Behold my hands and my feet,
that it is I myself. Handle me and see, for a spirit does not have
flesh and bones as you see I have." What I want you
to know right now is you're not gonna have
some spirit body that floats around forever. Jesus said you're gonna have
a real body. Did you hear what he said? He said, "Handle me. My body is real." And a "spirit body"
is an oxymoron. There isn't such a thing. If you have a body,
you don't--it's not spirit. And if you're in the spirit,
you're not in the body. Jesus's body was real,
and when we get to heaven, we're gonna have real bodies,
real transformed bodies like the body of the Lord Jesus when he was resurrected
from the grave. Jesus said his body was real. Notice, number two; this will greatly encourage
many of you; Jesus ate on two occasions. I don't know if any questions
have been asked me more is "Are we gonna eat in heaven?" And so the thought,
when you get to heaven, "Well, we won't eat." Eating is not just
to keep your body alive, but it's
a pleasurable experience. Can I get a witness? And some of you are already-- your mouths
are starting to salivate, thinkin' about what
you're gonna have for dinner. I mean, I know. But I want you to notice
some things. Here again, this is Jesus
in his resurrection body. Luke chapter 24,
verses 42 and 43, "So they gave Jesus
a piece of broiled fish and some honeycomb. And he took it and he
ate it in their presence." John 21:12 and 13, "Jesus said to them,
'Come and eat breakfast.' Yet none of the disciples
dared ask him, 'Who are you?' knowing that it was the Lord. Jesus then came and took
the bread and gave it to them, and likewise the fish,"
and the assumption is that he ate breakfast
with his disciples. All right, so we're gonna have
a real body. We're gonna be able to eat. Notice the third thing: Jesus told Thomas
to touch his body. Notice verse 27 of John 20:
"Then he said to Thomas, 'Reach your finger here,
and look at my hands, and reach your hand here,
and put it in my side. Do not be unbelieving,
but believing.'" Once again, I wanna remind you
that our bodies, after the extreme makeover,
are going to be real bodies like our current bodies,
only totally renovated, resurrected, made over. We'll be able to eat. We will have the sense of touch. We know that
from this experience. Jesus told Mary
not to hold on to him. Do you remember
that experience? That happened
in that period of time, John 20, verse 17. Jesus said to her,
"Do not cling to me for I have not yet ascended
to my Father." You can't cling to something
that's not touchable. Jesus told Mary,
"Don't hold on to my body 'cause I haven't yet ascended
to the Father." So people are always asking me,
"In my new body, will people know me,
and will I know others?" Jesus, in his resurrection body,
was real. His disciples knew who he was. Listen to this:
they knew that this Jesus, who was with them after his death
and Resurrection, was the very same Jesus they
had known before his death. They knew this
so deeply in their hearts that they all went
to their death proclaiming the reality
of his Resurrection and that he came out
of the grave the same Jesus who had gone
into the grave, but in his Resurrection body. He was the real Jesus,
the same Jesus who they knew before
and they knew now, and that's the way
it'll be for you. When you get to heaven,
you're gonna know all the people that you
met down here, and they're going to know you. It is unthinkable, to me, that in heaven we will know less
than we do here. 1 Corinthians 13:12, says this: "For now we see in a mirror,
dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I
shall know even as I am known." We will have a greater sense
of recognition in heaven than we've ever had
here on this earth. Well, our new bodies
will be indestructible. Our new bodies
will be identifiable. Our new bodies,
thirdly, will be incredible; and I mean that, incredible. Verse 43b, says,
"We will be sown in weakness, we will be raised in power." We will be buried in weakness,
isn't that true? When a body is buried, it's without any strength,
without any power, but when we come
out of the grave, it will be in power. In our current bodies,
we are limited in our ability to sustain effort for very long. Isn't that true? It gets harder and harder
as we get older and older. We work hard for a few hours
and we're exhausted. But in our new bodies, we will have capacities
and abilities without any limitation. Nothing will be outside the scope
of the possibility for us in our new body. On one occasion--
listen to this: On one occasion,
Jesus actually entered a room without going through the door. He just appeared
in the midst of his disciples. John 20, verse 19, says,
"The same day at evening, being the first day of the week,
when the doors were shut where the disciples
were assembled, for fear of the Jews,
Jesus came stood in their midst, and said to them,
'Peace be with you.'" In Jesus's resurrection body, he surmounted
the limitations of this life. Earth had no power to stop him, and our bodies
are going to be the same. Finally, our bodies
will not only be indestructible and identifiable
and incredible, but notice the fourth thing
Paul says in verse 44. Our new bodies will be infinite. "It is buried a natural body,
it is raised a spiritual body." There is a natural body,
and there is a spiritual body. Paul goes to great effort
to describe the difference between our earthly body
and our heavenly body. He points to Adam as the image bearer
for this body. He points to Christ
as the image bearer for our new body. He says that we are going
to have a spiritual body. Now, let me just talk with you
a moment about that because this is a matter
of great confusion for a lot of God's people. What is a spiritual body? He's not talking about
an immaterial body. We already know
that Jesus was touched. He was handled.
Jesus ate. Jesus did not have a, quote, unquote,
"spirit body." He had a material body, and we're gonna have
bodies just like him. So we're not gonna have
spirit bodies in the sense that we're gonna be
kind of spooky, if you know what I mean. We're gonna have real bodies. Paul is talking here
about a real body that is no longer controlled
by the physical appetites, but a real body that is now controlled
by the Spirit. Our new bodies will exist
on a higher plane, and our new bodies, instead of being governed
by our appetites, will be governed
by the Holy Spirit. That's what a spiritual body is. The basic difference between a natural body
and a spiritual body is that the former body is suited for life
on this earth, and our spiritual bodies
will be suited for life in heaven
for eternity with God. The natural body
is soul-controlled. The spiritual body
will be spirit-controlled. And Paul tells us
that, in our current bodies, we could not live in heaven. Verse 50 of chapter 15,
says, "This I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit
the kingdom of God, nor does corruption
inherit incorruption." He is saying that, as we are now
in our current bodies, we couldn't function
in the realm of heaven, but God is gonna give us new,
real bodies like the ones we have, only completely made over,
transformed, and no longer governed
by our appetites of the flesh, but governed now
by the appetites of the Spirit. Do you understand
why I'm so passionate about trying to take people
to heaven with me? You know what,
I don't want anyone to miss what God has planned
for his children. So I'm gonna ask you today,
is there any reason you can think of why
you wouldn't wanna put your trust in Jesus Christ? Ask him to forgive your sin
and make a reservation in heaven that is absolutely as certain
as it can be. <i>male announcer: Dr. Jeremiah
will return in a moment</i> <i>to close today's program
right after this.</i> <i>announcer: There are a lot
of myths, rumors,</i> <i>and conjecture about heaven,
but what can you believe?</i> <i>What is fact,
and what is fiction?</i> <i>Now there's a biblically based
book you can trust.</i> <i>A look inside
Dr. David Jeremiah's book,</i> <i>"Revealing the Mysteries
of Heaven,"</i> <i>gives you a glimpse into
eternity as Dr. Jeremiah</i> <i>answers your most pressing
questions about the afterlife,</i> <i>questions like,
"How do we get to heaven?"</i> <i>"Who will be there?"
and "Where exactly is it?"</i> <i>Dive into this study
with Dr. Jeremiah,</i> <i>and discover
how our understanding of heaven</i> <i>matters today and can focus
every other part</i> <i>of our Christian life.</i> <i>This inspiring ten-chapter book
is only available exclusively</i> <i>through Turning Point, and it's
yours in appreciation</i> <i>for your support of the ministry
with a gift of any amount.</i> <i>And if you give $60 or more,
we'll send you the "Heaven set,"</i> <i>which includes Dr. Jeremiah's
book, study guide, his current</i> <i>teaching series on your choice
of CD or DVD album,</i> <i>and the "Is There a Heaven?"
brochure.</i> <i>If your gift exceeds $100,
Dr. Jeremiah will also send you</i> <i>the popular "Answers to
Questions About Heaven" book.</i> <i>Don't miss out on the scriptural
look at your future home,</i> <i>only from Turning Point.</i> <i>Contact us today.</i> <i>announcer: And now with one
last word for today's program,</i> <i>here is Dr. Jeremiah.</i> Dr. Jeremiah: Years
of playing basketball as a younger man took
its toll on my knees. I don't know if we'll play
basketball in heaven or not, but if we do, I'll be ready
with brand-new knees. I hope you're living with
the expectation of receiving a perfect body
in heaven as well. The only way to get to heaven
and experience our ultimate makeover is
to trust in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of our sins. If you'll allow me, I'd like
to send you two resources that explain more about how to know
Christ now and for eternity. One is a booklet, called
"Your Greatest Turning Point," and the other is our monthly
devotional magazine called, "Turning Points." Both of these can be yours free
of charge if you will contact us here at Turning Point today. <i>announcer: In addition to
these free study resources,</i> <i>nothing is as profound
as the Word of God.</i> <i>And now Dr. Jeremiah has a Bible
for every member of the family.</i> <i>There are numerous versions
of the Jeremiah Study Bible,</i> <i>perfect for adults and teens.</i> <i>And the Airship Genesis Kids
Study Bible will bring the truth</i> <i>of God's Word to the young ones
in your life.</i> <i>Contact Turning Point for more
information or to order today.</i> <i>announcer: Next time on,
"Turning Point."</i> Dr. Jeremiah: For we are
his workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works,
that we should walk in them. No, we're not saved
by good works. We're saved for the purpose
of doing good works so that, after we become Christians,
we're to let our light so shine that men will see our good works
and glorify our Father who is in heaven. ♪♪♪ <i>announcer: Thank you
for being with us today.</i> <i>Join us next time for
Dr. Jeremiah's message,</i> <i>"Heaven's Oscars,"
here on "Turning Point."</i> ♪♪♪
