Transformed By GodExemplo

DAY 5: Bodily transformation

What do you imagine you will look like in the afterlife? I certainly prefer to think of myself as about two dresses smaller with pre-chemo long blonde hair! However you imagine yourself, I suspect that you have a body and are not just some kind of free-floating ball of energy.

One of the earliest heresies in the Christian church was that Christ could not have had a human body, as all matter was considered corrupt. This Gnosticism was influenced by Greek philosophers who claimed that the body and soul were two separate entities.

One of the aspects that was so revolutionary about Christianity was the claim that, not only was Jesus fully human and divine, but that the human body and soul are integrated eternally. This does not mean we will wander heaven in our old, decrepit bodies, but when the time comes, like Christ, we will actually be transformed bodily. Our whole lives as Christians are a process of gradual sanctification, and God’s greatest transformation of all can only happen at the end of our earthly lives.

The Bible is frustratingly vague about how, exactly, we will be transformed, but we do know the resurrected Christ was a real physical presence, not a phantom. Paul likened this process of transformation to the planting of a seed, which has to give up its current structure before something new and beautiful begins to form (see 1 Cor 15:36–44).

God is concerned, not only with our spiritual being,  but also our bodily being, and not just eternally, but also, here and now. One of the names of God is Jehovah Rapha—the God who heals. There are so many historical and contemporary examples of how he can heal. When I was diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer, I was told that I would not even be given surgery because of how little time I was thought to have left. Yet today I am completely clear of cancer, which is something that even the wonderful medical staff who looked after me cannot completely explain.

I don’t pretend to understand why some people are healed and some are not, but I do know that God is capable of healing and transforming us in more ways than we can imagine. All too often we make our God too small, forgetting that he is the creator of all things in heaven and earth. Sometimes the most transformative thing we can do is to simply embrace this mystery.

Reflection: Ask God to fill you with wonder, and transform you day by day into the likeness of his son, Jesus Christ, that you may walk in light every day of your life until you meet our Saviour face to face.

Kate Nicholas is a Christian author, broadcaster and speaker whose journey of transformation and healing is captured in her best-selling memoir Sea Changed. To find out more Kate’s journey and what it means to live a life transformed by God visit www.katenicholas.co.uk.