Our Environment Makes All the Difference

 

1 Corinthians 15:50-55 I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51 Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. 53 For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. 54 When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:  “Death is swallowed up in victory.” 55 “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” 

This geranium was received by my wife last year from one of her students. When winter approached she asked if we could keep it alive throughout the winter. Unfortunately, geraniums are annual plants. They can't survive freezing temps. Therefore we had to keep it in an environment that it was created for, so it became a house plant throughout the winter. However, it is now back outside and has already begun to bloom. 

Our bodies are created for the environment of our planet. If we travel to other worlds like Mars, we will have to provide a localized environment in which to live. It only makes sense that if heaven exists, and I believe it does, it will consist of a different environment than that of our present-day earth. Therefore, we will need bodies designed for the environment of heaven. 

By way of the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the apostle Paul confirms this in 1 Corinthians 15. Followers of Christ will have their bodies transformed into ones that will be suitable for our new home and new environment.  

My wife's geranium will live as long as we keep it in the environment it is designed for and we provide the needed necessities like water, sunlight, nourishment, and protection from pests. The Bible promises that we will live forever in an environment designed to last forever and with bodies designed to exist in our new environment. 

The law of conservation of mass states that mass can change forms, but through any of these changes, matter is conserved. The same amount of matter exists before and after the change--none is created or destroyed. Our transformed bodies will take on a new form, but nothing will be lost or added, just reconstituted in a new and better form for our new environment.