~One of the crucial distinctive Christian beliefs is in the resurrection of the dead.~This means that every person who has ever lived will be brought back to life for the final judgment of God and then their eternal destiny.
~The precursor to this, of course, was the resurrection of Jesus after the Crucifixion, which we celebrate at Easter. An additional precursor to this was the resurrection (temporarily, anyhow) of a number of other deceased believers at the time of Jesus’s own death.
~The basic idea is simple. First, you will be returned to your body in such a way that you will be recognizable and that you will know it is your body.
~Second, that body will be tremendously improved over this one insofar as it will be perfect physically since liberated from the natural effects of a sinful world and (if Jesus’s own resurrected body is any indicator) will be capable of some amazing things (walking through doors, changing or hiding appearance, perhaps flight).
~One thing we do not know for certain is all the details of how that body will match our current one such as apparent age, deformities, weight, etc. We know that Jesus’s own body retained His Crucifixion scars, but beyond this we can’t say for sure.
~The reason this doctrine is so vital is because we believe our bodies are integral parts of who we are. A person’s soul without his body is not a complete human any more than a person’s body without his soul is a complete human.
~So the “real you” is you in your body. That’s why, for instance, many other philosophies that say the body is a prison or a limit or a problem are really heresies denying that God made us embodied as the pinnacle of His creation.
~It’s also why reincarnation is an idea Christians must reject. Coming back in a different body would mean coming back as an entirely different person.
~Also, remember that Jesus is embodied and retains His body, therefore having a body is a permanent and wonderful reality for humans.
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