Years ago I had someone invite me to her Sunday School class to speak on the Christian Doctrine of Immortality. I told her that it would be a rather short class, since no such doctrine exists.
She was shocked. “What do mean? Don’t Christians believe in an immortal soul?”
“No,” I replied. “We believe in the resurrection.”
What’s the difference between the two? Plenty. In fact, they are almost polar opposites. Being immortal implies that we are death-proof—or at least, our souls are. To believe in the immortality of the soul is to believe that, while our bodies may lie moldering in the dirt, our souls go marching bravely on toward heaven because—well, because that’s just what souls do. They don’t die, because they can’t die.
The Bible teaches us otherwise. The scriptural view is that our body and soul are inextricably bound to one another. Put another way, we don’t just have a body, we are somebody. Thus, when we kick the bucket, we tend to kick it a hundred percent—body and soul. There is no part of us that automatically lives on. If that were the case, then there would be no need for a resurrection at all. What Christians believe is that when we die, that’s it … we’re dead! Then, by God’s mighty power and merciful grace, we are given our lives back again—just as we were given those lives by God the first time around.
Of course, our heavenly life will be quite a bit different than the one we currently enjoy. However, it won’t be some disembodied remnant, or distant echo, of what we are here on earth. On the contrary, the same unique qualities and characteristics that make us some body, and not just any body, will remain intact. This is precisely what we are affirming when we speak of “the resurrection of the body.” We’re not referring to our physical bodies (frankly, I’m looking forward to trading this one in for a sleeker model). What we mean is that our personality—or better yet, our personhood—continues to live on.
When a child dies, for instance, we ought not to think of them as forever remaining a child in heaven. It’s their personhood—their individuality, if you like—that is resurrected. It’s all of those wonderful gifts and abilities that were already present in the child, only we never had a chance to see them fully developed. But one day we will, because one day we shall all be reunited in a kingdom whose love knows no bounds and whose life has no end.
Does this imply that we will be able to recognize one another in heaven? I believe so. We won’t look the same, of course. But then again, we won’t see the same either. We will be given the ability to recognize in each other the very things that prejudice, hatred, and jealousy so often prevent us from seeing now.
What the Apostle Paul suggests is that we will be given heavenly bodies. Whether this will entail another kind of anatomy, or simply an improved one—with special eyes, better hearing, upgraded hearts, and the like—is anyone’s guess. Paul doesn’t speculate on the particulars. The bottom line is that we will all be revised and amended as the Author of our stories sees fit.This much seems certain, however. In the life to come, we will be able to listen to God more closely, know God more deeply, love God more fully, and serve God most faithfully.