Jump to content
  • Welcome Guest

    For an ad free experience on Online Baptist, Please login or register for free

Types of "bodies"


Recommended Posts

  • Members

A few thoughts came into my mind as I read an article here on OB regarding "types" of bodies mentioned in Scripture. I often heard in bible discussions regarding what could have happened if Adam made the correct choice and did NOT eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Some might say . . . "would Adam be able to procreate with Eve had sin not entered the human race resulting in death? If so, then I see some conflicts. People are born into this world as babies and need to grow in order to reach adulthood through aging".

I do not believe that sin was necessary for procreation. As the article states: God gave Adam and Eve the mandate to "be fruitful and multiply" *before* the fall (Gen.1:28). In reality, there is no problem, not, at least, for those who appreciate the power and wisdom of God. God is certainly capable of granting fertility even to those who are beyond hope in worldly terms (the birth of Isaac to Abraham and Sarah, the birth of Jacob and Esau to Rebekah, the birth of John to Zechariah and Elizabeth), and "also", as these three cases show (Gen. 21:1-22; 25:19-34; Lk. 1:5-25). God is certainly capable of delaying conception in grace until just the right and proper time. Certainly, God could have dealt perfectly with an Eden that way, so He arranged things in the way He arranged them no doubt in part for simplicity's sake -- for our benefit, that is, that these things might be much easier to understand and appreciate.

So there most definitely could have been a huge and perfect human population in the garden -- that was exactly what Satan was probably fearing, reckoning that once the number of the fallen angels was reached by this new creation, mankind, he and his followers would find themselves entirely replaced (and I posit that this replacement was perhaps what the devil had convinced his potential followers before the fact was an impossibility, thus giving a false credence to his claims that rebellion against God was actually "safe" Adam and Eve were in perfect communion with God before the fall). I assume that Adam was immortal before the fall since death had not entered in the human race yet. We look forward to the future where we will have a glorified body which will be able to walk through walls, eat food, fly, and are indestructible and immortal (cf. Lk. 24:39, 40-43; Jn. 20:19; Acts 1:9-12; 1 Cor. 15:53; cf. 2 Cor. 5:1-5). We will be able to "walk" in the city to enjoy its majesty and splendor, and we will be able to fly as well so that we may be able to access parts of the city and beyond that would normally be too far of a distance for anyone without that ability.

And the nations [Grk. 'ethnos', i.e.,"Gentiles, peoples"] of them which are saved shall [walk in the light] of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honor into it. And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there. And they shall bring the glory and honor of the nations into it. And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life. (Revelation 21:24-27)

God Bless!

Edited by (Omega)
Trouble with messaging, punctuation,,,,and grammar. :)
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Have you ever been inside someone's home where there are literally dozens of figurines of angels with halos who appear female in gender? In my view of what scripture is saying, angels are indeed "spirits", but that does not mean that do not have some sort of "restricted being". We might call this thing that is them "a body", except for the fact that people would find that confusing. Angels are clearly restricted to one time and place (cf. Isa. 6:1-7; Ezek. 1:6-9; 3:13; 10:1-22; 41:18-20; Dan. 10:13,20; Rev. 12:7-9; 19:14) even now so that their "spirituality" is clearly limited when compared to God's; also, we human beings are spiritual beings too -- only we have a very tangible and even more restricted (at the moment) physical body. What we have and what the angels have in terms of "bodies" is obviously different (Ezek. 1:5; 1 Cor. 15:40), but they have more in common with us than they do with God in this respect, clearly. I would imagine if it were ever the case that human beings were, even for a moment, disembodied entirely (i.e., 2 Cor. 5:3; no present, no interim, no eternal body), that our spirits would be similar to the angels in some respects. In both groups, it is a case of something limited and discernible.

For the angels, of course, this is their natural and only state, so that I posit on the basis of the descriptions of them in scripture a kind of  "spiritual-corporeality" (note that they always seem to be the same size and of the same general appearance), even though the terms are contradictory. We cannot see angels now, but that is because of our limitations, not because of their essence. We see in the book of Ezekiel that the cherubim/seraphs (faces of a lion, bullock, man, eagle) shift positions *individually*, to carrying the throne of God, and to *carrying* AND *rotating* the throne of God (Is. 6:1-7; Ezek. 1:4-26; Rev. 4:7). The *fallen* angels may not suffer now, but they will in the lake of fire (see Matt. 25:41 -- which, since it was "prepared for the devil and his angels", certainly is designed for their displeasure as well as that of rebellious human beings). Generally speaking, many people take the word "spirit" way beyond what scripture envisions in regard to angels. They are creatures of this present time-space and are fully subject to it. It is only in comparison to us that they can seem to some ethereal in the extreme. But let us not forget that it was precisely the desire to be more corporeal than they are that Satan used to seduce most of his followers (Rev. 12:4). 

God Bless!

Edited by (Omega)
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.



×
×
  • Create New...