On His resurrection day, many graves were opened and bodies came out of the graves Matthew 27:52-53. Were these raised bodies like Lazarus
(John 11:14-44) only to die later? (Lazarus did not come out of the grave with a glorified body). Or did these perhaps follow the Lord Jesus into heaven after His ascension? The scripture is silent on this.
So, the souls/spirits in Paradise had a form (body) that was recognizable to them and to anyone else who might have seen them. But what about today, since the Lord ascended into Heaven? One dies, the body is buried, cremated or otherwise disposed of, prayerfully in a proper way. Soul/Spirit go to be with the Lord (Paul words absent from the body present with the Lord,
2 Corinthians 5:6-8). Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord: (For we walk by faith, not by sight) We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.). We know that the departed do not receive a glorified (Flesh and Bone) body, that is not given until the rapture (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18). Paul expounds on this glorified body (1 Cor 15:35-58).
But what about now? Those Souls/Spirits that are in Heaven right now. It is apparent from the brief study above, they have a form (body) that is identifiable to all and they are in perfect peace and happiness. But we who alive look for that blessed hope (Titus 2:13 Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;) and our glorified bodies.
1 Corinthians 15:51-52 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
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