The Transfiguration and the Resurrection of Our Physical Body

YouTube: https://youtu.be/E5NOrooZFRo

Links to download MP3:

Links to download MP4 (video):

Links to download PDF:

We’ve learned that when Christ returns to take the Church from the world, Christians who died will be resurrected. Christians who are still alive will have their bodies transformed. Both will have new physical bodies, similar to Christ’s. They are referred to as meta-physical bodies, because these bodies can exist in both the physical and spiritual worlds.

“Behold, I show 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 trumpet. For the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” (I Corinthians 15:51-52).

“For the Lord Himself shall descend from Heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first; then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so shall we ever be with the Lord.” (I Thessalonians 4:16-17).

Let us further explain the transfiguration and resurrection of the physical body in this article. The transfiguration of the physical body means that the body will not die; in other words, it will not be separated from the spirit and soul, but is momentarily transformed into a meta-physical body. The resurrection of the physical body refers to resurrection after bodily death. Even if the body was dissolved in chemicals or vaporized with a bomb, it is momentarily resurrected into a meta-physical body. In other words, both cases involve God’s almighty power transforming the natural physical body into a meta-physical body. The following is how the Bible explains this transformation:

“For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”” (I Corinthians 15:53-54).

We need to keep in mind that the word “death” in the Bible means a separation. When God said to Adam, “Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it. For in the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die” (Genesis 2:16-17); the verb “to die” means:

For the physical part, Adam’s physical body would be separated from his spiritual body, which is the spirit, and from the self, which is the soul. That is called physical death. When the death of the physical body occurs, the physical body gradually disintegrates, returning to the dust of the earth; that is, the chemical elements that were used to create it. The spiritual body is the spirit that returns to God, who gave it to the human body (Ecclesiastes 12:7). The self, which is the soul, is imprisoned in hell, waiting for the day to be reunited with the resurrected physical body (Luke 16:19-31).
For the spiritual part, the spiritual body, which is Adam’s spirit, and the self, which is his soul, are separated from God. When a person is separated from God, he loses his God-given privileges and is punished for breaking God’s commandments. This punishment involves suffering in life. If he does not repent for his sins and accept God’s salvation before his physical body dies, he will suffer in the afterlife indefinitely.

The spiritual and physical death is referred to as the first death. After passing through the first death, a person of God, that is a person who repents of his sins and believes in God’s salvation, will have his physical body resurrected at the time God has appointed. The person’s spirit and soul are then reunited with the resurrected meta-physical body. These people then live happily in God’s Kingdom.

The physical body of a person who is not of God, that is, one who chooses to live in sin and does not believe in God’s salvation, will be resurrected too. After experiencing his first death, his physical body will be resurrected at the end of the Millennium Kingdom period. The soul is then reunited with the meta-physical resurrected body to be judged for all of the actions that person made while alive. Then both his soul and meta-physical body will suffer an eternal death in the lake of fire. That is called the second death. The condemned person will not be given a spirit. The spirit enables a person to have fellowship with God. A person who is eternally separated from God has no fellowship with Him and has no need for a spirit.

The resurrected body or the transformed body is referred to as the meta-physical body because it is still composed of matter, but is no longer bound by the laws of the physical world. It is also never separated from the spirit or the soul again. It can function in both the physical and spiritual worlds. Meta-physical bodies can consume physical foods and beverages, as well as interact with the physical world. It can travel from the physical world to the spiritual world at the speed of thought, and vice versa. The speed of thought means that if you want to go somewhere, you are there as soon as you think of it. For example, if you are on Earth and want to go to heaven, you will be there right away.

After Christ’s resurrection, He appeared twice to Mary Magdalene on the morning of the First Day of the week. The two appearances were probably less than an hour apart. He did not allow her to touch Him the first time He appeared to her. Then He ascended into heaven, met with the Father, returned to earth, and appeared to her a second time. She was then able to touch Him this time. (Matthew 28:9; John 20:17).

According to scientific theory, the universe was formed approximately 13.8 to 15 billion years ago. However, when we look towards the universe in all directions, the most distant objects that we can see are 46.1 billion light-years away. This is due to the expansion of the universe [1]. Remember, these are just the farthest objects we can see in the universe; they are not the universe’s boundaries. The current measured speed of light is around 300,000 kilometers per second. That is, it takes us 46.1 billion years to travel from the earth to the farthest point in the universe of the second heaven that humans can see and travel at the speed of light. The most recent spacecraft journey from Earth to Mars took about seven months for a distance of about 480 million kilometers [2]. However, Christ’s resurrected body traveled from Earth to Heaven and back in less than an hour. This demonstrates that the meta-physical body operates in both the material and spiritual worlds and is not bound by the laws of the material world.

According to today’s scientific measurements and calculations, the physical world’s heaven and earth formed approximately 13.8 to 15 billion years ago; the earth alone formed approximately 4.54 billion years ago [3]. Based on the Bible, Heaven, Earth, and all that is in them were created in 6 days, approximately 6,000 years ago. Although current scientific measurements and calculations are accurate, the constants being used in the measurements and calculations are not necessarily of the same value as they were at the beginning of creation or before the Great Flood. Nobody knows what the speed of light was at the dawn of time. Nobody knows how quickly radioactivity decayed before the Great Flood. As a result, it is currently impossible to calculate the age of the universe and the earth using the speed of light and the decay rate of radioactivity.

If modern scientists had examined Adam at the time of his creation, they would have found him to be around 30 years old. However, he had only existed for a fraction of a second after God’s breath blew into a dusty human form. Remember how, at a wedding feast in Cana, Jesus turned the feet washing water in six stone basins into good wine? If our modern scientists had been present at the time and examined the wine, they would have discovered that it could have been produced and stored for hundreds of years. However, the wine is actually water that was transformed into wine the moment the host tasted it.

Science cannot verify God’s miracles. Please refer to the website answersingenesis.org [4], [5].

The Bible informs us about two areas of the spiritual world:

Heaven. The abode of God, with the Holy City of Jerusalem in it.
Hell. The place of weeping and gnashing of teeth. Since the resurrection of Christ, it has included the holding area for the souls of those who don’t belong to God; the bottomless pit, which is the prison for the angels that sinned in Noah’s day. They are referred to in Genesis chapter 6 as the “sons of God”, also known as evil spirits. Hell also includes the lake of fire, which is the place of eternal punishment for those who disobey God, both humans and angels.

Genesis chapter 6 records the fact that sinful angels entered the wicked men of that time in order to produce a more wicked generation. Because those angels’ voluntary entry into human bodies was against God’s will, they were imprisoned in the bottomless abyss. Angels who commit other sins still accompany Satan around the earth to tempt mankind. From the time of Jesus until now, sinful angels, also known as unclean spirits or evil spirits, have entered human bodies on their own accord. Some of these spirits pleaded with Jesus not to throw them into the bottomless pit, a punishment for evil spirits who consciously entered humans (Luke 8:30-31). People who willingly worship demons, idols, practice superstitions, or have sex with people possessed by evil spirits allow the evil spirits to enter them and willingly become their slaves.

Only some of God’s children experience physical body transfiguration. The resurrection of the physical body occurs for both God’s children and those who are not.

The Transfiguration of the Physical Body

According to the Bible, Christians alive on the day Christ returns for His Church will have their physical bodies transformed. However, exceptional cases occurred to two people who belonged to God, and to two people who do not belong to God.

The first case is Enoch. The Enoch referred to here is the seventh Enoch from Adam, in the line of Seth. Not the third Enoch descended from Adam in the line of Cain.

“And Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him.” (Genesis 5:24).

“By faith Enoch was translated, that he should not see death, “and was not found because God had translated him.” For before his translation he had this testimony: that he pleased God.” (Hebrews 11:5).

Thus, before God used the Great Flood to punish the entire world, God had transfigured Enoch’s physical body and took him from the world. That occurrence foreshadows the fact that when Christ returns, the living congregation of the Church will have their physical bodies transfigured and taken from the world by Christ. This will happen before God punishes the world during the seven years of great tribulation, as described in the Book of Revelation. Christ’s promise to the Church is:

“Because thou hast kept the word of My patience, I will also keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world to try them that dwell upon the earth.” (Revelation 3:10).

On the other hand, God’s preservation of Noah’s family during the Great Flood foreshadows God’s preservation of believers during the Apocalypse, except for those who will perish for their faith at the hands of the Antichrist and his followers. They will then be resurrected and rule alongside Christ in the Millennial Kingdom.

The second case is the Prophet Elijah. The Prophet Elijah was still alive when he was taken up to heaven.

“And it came to pass, when the LORD would take up Elijah into heaven by a whirlwind, that Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal.” (II Kings 2:11).

Although the Bible does not specifically mention Elijah’s physical body being transfigured, we can interpret it in that way. The physical body must first become meta-physical before it can enter the spiritual world. We also know that, while God transformed and removed Enoch and Elijah’s physical bodies from Earth, they did not live in Heaven. For it is only after Christ has completed his atoning death that He will bring the saints into Heaven. Before that, the saints were in a section of hell, named Paradise (Luke 16:19-31), that was a waiting area for the souls of the saints. So Enoch and Elijah were in Paradise. After his death, Moses also entered Paradise. Later, on the Mount of Transfiguration, Elijah appeared alongside Moses to speak with Christ (Matthew 17:3; Mark 9:4; Luke 9:30).

The Prophet Elijah’s transfiguration and removal from Earth may represent 144,000 Israelites who will be set apart by God during the Apocalypse and taken from the world after completing their mission. The Bible says nothing about the mission of the 144,000 chosen from among the 12 tribes of Israel, nor does it mention that their physical bodies would be transfigured and taken from the world. This is just our guess.

The third and fourth cases are the Antichrist and the False Prophet. Both men are still mortally alive by the end of the Apocalypse, when Christ casts them into the lake of fire.

“And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet who wrought miracles in his presence, by which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshiped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire, burning with brimstone.” (Revelation 19:20).

Our world is the physical world, while the lake of fire is the spiritual world. The Antichrist and the False Prophet are cast into the lake of fire while still mortal, which means that their physical bodies are transformed into a meta-physical body in order to enter the spiritual world. About a thousand years later, Satan is also cast into the lake of fire, which already holds the Antichrist and the False Prophet.

“And the devil who had deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are; and they shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.” (Revelation 20:10).

Finally, those Godless who are resurrected into meta-physical bodies have their souls and physical bodies cast into the lake of fire.

“And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them; and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.” (Revelation 20:13-15).

Except for the Antichrist and the False Prophet, no one is mentioned in the Bible as being cast alive into the lake of fire.

The Resurrection of the Physical Body

The physical body resurrection that we are discussing here is not the same as people who have died but are resurrected for a short time, as stated many times in the Bible. As with the widow’s son, who was raised to life by the Prophet Elijah (I Kings 17:22). As with Lazarus, whom Jesus raised from the dead (John 11:43-44). As with Tabitha, who was raised from the dead by the Apostle Peter (Acts 9:40). But we learn about the resurrection of the dead body into a meta-physical body that no longer dies physically, never again to be separated from the soul. The physical body is resurrected into a meta-physical body that can function in both the physical world and the spiritual world.

For those who belong to God, that meta-physical body will live forever in glory and happiness with God. For those who are not of God, that meta-physical body will suffer eternally in the lake of fire alongside Satan, the sinful angels, the Antichrist, and the False Prophet.

The Resurrection of God’s People

The resurrection of the physical body into the meta-physical body for the Lord’s people will take place in three phases. We know all three phases as the first resurrection, which occurred before the establishment of the Millennium Kingdom.

The first phase is for God’s people, who belong to the Church. The Church is a group of people specially chosen by God, from before the world began:

“He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love…” (Ephesians 1:4).

“…who hath saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but in accordance with His own purpose and grace, which was given to us in Christ Jesus before the world began…” (II Timothy 1:9).

Only Church members will be miraculously united with Christ at the marriage of the Lamb in Heaven (Revelation 19:7-9). They will reign alongside Christ in the Kingdom of Heaven. Christ established the Church on Pentecost Day in the year 27. He will take her from the world before the end of times.

All of God’s people who died throughout the history of the Church, from nearly 2,000 years ago with Deacon Stephen to whoever dies just a moment before Christ’s return, will have their physical bodies resurrected. It will happen as soon as the trumpet for Christ’s return is blown. Whether their physical bodies are still fresh, decayed, or even turned to ash, the physical elements that were their physical bodies will be transformed into a meta-physical body by the power of God. That meta-physical body will be like Christ’s resurrected physical body. These people will ascend into the clouds to meet Christ, along with the living people of God, whose bodies have also been transfigured.

Christ will appear in the clouds of the sky, bringing rewards with Him to award each person based on their actions since they have belonged to Him. Each person’s reward will be the ministry and authority given to him in the Kingdom of God.

The second phase is for God’s people who are not members of the Church and lived in three distinct periods. The period preceding the Old Testament, from Adam to Jacob, the period of the Old Testament, from Moses to the thief crucified alongside Christ, and the seven-year period of the Apocalypse. The resurrection of God’s mortals outside the Church into meta-physical bodies will take place immediately after Christ destroys the Antichrist and those who bear the Antichrist’s seal, just before He establishes the Millennial Kingdom.

The Apocalypse will occur after Christ removes the Church from the world. Many people will believe the Gospel during that time, thanks to the preaching of 144,000 Israelites, the testimony of two witnesses, and the preaching of an angel. The Antichrist and his minions will slaughter many of them. God’s people who died for their faith during the Apocalypse will be raised to rule alongside Christ in the Millennium Kingdom.

“And I saw thrones and they that sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them. And I saw the souls of them that had been beheaded for the witness of Jesus and for the Word of God, and who had not worshiped the beast, nor his image, nor had received his mark upon their foreheads or on their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.” (Revelation 20:4).

Some Old Testament saints will also rule alongside Christ in the Millennium Kingdom. King David is an example.

“And David My servant shall be King over them, and they all shall have one Shepherd. They shall also walk in My judgments, and observe My statutes, and do them. And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob My servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt; and they shall dwell therein, even they and their children and their children’s children for ever. And My servant David shall be their Prince for ever.” (Ezekiel 37:24-25).

The third phase is for the two witnesses of the Lord, who are killed amid the Apocalypse. During the first three and a half years of the Apocalypse, the Lord will send two witnesses to appear in Jerusalem to testify for Him. They will bear witness to His law and the world’s transgression. They will then be killed, and three and a half days later, they will be resurrected and taken to heaven.

Revelation 11:3-12

3 “And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.”

4 These are the two olive trees and the two candlesticks, standing before the God of the earth.

5 And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth and devoureth their enemies; and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed.

6 These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy, and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will.

7 And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them and kill them.

8 And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.

9 And they of the people and kindreds, and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and a half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves.

10 And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another, because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth.

11 But after three days and a half, the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fellupon them that saw them.

12 And they heard a great voice from Heaven, saying unto them, “Come up hither!” And they ascended up to Heaven in a cloud, and their enemies beheld them.

We do not know who these two witnesses are. Commentators have proposed two theories about the identities of the two witnesses:

1. It’s possible they are Moses and Elijah. On the Mount of Transfiguration, both Moses and Elijah appeared to Jesus and told Him about His suffering and death (Matthew 17:1-13). As a result, Moses and Elijah played a unique role in the final days of humanity. Furthermore, Moses represents the law, and Elijah represents the prophets. The miracles performed by the two witnesses on earth will be similar to those performed by Moses and Elijah. This is the most widely accepted hypothesis.

2. It’s possible they are Enoch and Elijah. Only Enoch and Elijah have never died in human history, although the Bible says, “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the Judgment…” (Hebrews 9:27). As a result, they must go through death.

However, many people in the Church will not die, but have their living bodies transfigured and taken up into the air, as Enoch and Elijah did. The truth of Hebrews 9:27 applies only to unbelievers. For those who believe, John 11:25-26 applies to them: “Jesus said unto her, “I am the resurrection and the Life. He that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live; and whosoever liveth and believeth in Me shall never die. Believest thou this?”” The following two passages confirm the exception: there are many members of the Church who will not die:

So, although the Lord may use Enoch and Elijah as witnesses during the Tribulation, it is not because they had not yet experienced death. We have no other Biblical evidence to confirm the identities of the two witnesses mentioned in Revelation 11.

The Resurrection of Those Who Are Not God’s People

It will be a one-time resurrection after the Millennial Kingdom and the current Heaven and Earth have passed away. It is the final resurrection of humanity.

Revelation 20:11-15

11 And I saw a great white throne and Him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away, and there was found no place for them.

12 And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and the books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.

13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them; and they were judged every man according to their works.

14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.

15 And whosoever was not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.

According to our understanding, physical bodies of people who do not belong to God will be resurrected into meta-physical bodies in the following ways:

All who are not of God, from Cain to Satan’s followers who rebelled against God and were consumed by fire from Heaven at the end of the Millennium Kingdom, will be resurrected by God’s command.
Each person will be given a meta-physical body, and their souls, which come from hell, will be reunited with their physical forms.
Heaven and Earth, as we know them, will no longer exist.
These people will come face to face with God in the spiritual realm. Perhaps on the sea of glass before God’s Throne in heaven.

“…and before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal. And in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four living beings full of eyes in front and behind.” (Revelation 4:6).

They will see the glory and beauty of Heaven and God, who created them, loved them, and provided them with the opportunity to be saved. They will also see the glory and beauty of God’s angels and people, particularly the Church, who takes part in their judgment.

Their physical bodies will most likely be resurrected into meta-physical bodies that are as glorious and beautiful as God intended them to be.
After each of their sins is judged and condemned, their meta-physical bodies have their glory and beauty stripped from them.
In the end, they will be cast into the lake of fire, where they will suffer forever alongside Satan, the sinful angels, the Antichrist, and the False Prophet.
Death, or separation from God, and Hell, the place where sinful human souls and sinful angels are kept, will be thrown into the lake of fire. It means that being separated from God and imprisoned exists only in the lake of fire. Beyond the lake of fire is the eternal kingdom of God’s love, holiness, and righteousness.

Conclusion

Contrary to popular belief, there are no evil spirits tormenting the lost in hell or in the lake of fire, but both the evil spirits and the lost suffer together for their transgressions.

Thank God! The day when the physical bodies of God’s people in the Church are transformed or resurrected into meta-physical bodies is not far away. That day could come at any time. Even if it takes longer, it may not be more than five years from this Passover of 2022 [6].

May the Word of God sanctify and strengthen us. May we all maintain our faith and remain faithful to the Lord until the return of Christ. May the love, grace, and fellowship of the Godhead, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, be with us. Amen!

Timothy Christian Huynh
Priscilla Christian Huynh
01/29/2022

Notes

PDF Download:

https://www.mediafire.com/file/3rf8dna53jlhoeb/TheTransfigurationAndTheResurrectionOfOurPhysicalBodies.pdf/file

https://od.lk/d/MV8yNzk4ODEwNTRf/TheTransfigurationAndTheResurrectionOfOurPhysicalBodies.pdf

[1] https://www.forbes.com/sites/startswithabang/2020/01/21/how-far-is-it-to-the-edge-of-the-universe/?sh=4bbf558b55a3

[2] https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/timeline/cruise/

[3] https://www.space.com/24854-how-old-is-earth.html

[4] https://answersingenesis.org/creation/

[5] https://answersingenesis.org/search/?q=young%20earth

[6] https://preachingfromthebible.net/065-hosea-61-2-and-the-end-of-the-world-part-2/