A human being is essentially two things - a body and a soul. There is a most intimate connection between the two. Whilst the soul can "survive" after the death of the body, disembodiment in the hadean states is not the soul's ideal condition, but merely a transitional state awaiting the resurrection when the soul is brought out of hades and the natural body that was destroyed is raised as an immortal body and reunited with the soul. In this lesson, we notice some aspects of the body and soul’s relationship.

The Soul Should Honour Its Body

Our fleshly bodies are not to be despised, but honoured. They are...

• Connected to the earth (Gen 2:7, 3:19).
• A gift from God, of his creation (Jas 1:17).
• To be nourished and cherished (Eph 5:29).
• A temple of the Holy Spirit (1Co 6:19-20).
• A living sacrifice to God (Rom 12:1).
• Like the body which clothed the Christ (Jhn 1:14 Heb 10:5).

Our Earthly Bodies Are Temporary Tents for the Soul

1Co 15:50

Against all the good things we have seen concerning the fleshly body, Paul makes one thing clear: Flesh is not a permanent clothing for the soul.

Even if we are fortunate enough to have strong, healthy, and handsome physical bodies, we know that "flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God" (1Co 15:50). Our present bodies --even the best specimens-- are mortal and perishable. We cannot live in them forever.

So there is a tension between the first two points of this lesson. On one hand the souls honours its fleshly body. On the other hand the soul regards its fleshly body as only a temporary tabernacle.

The Soul is Naked Without a Body

2Co 5:1-5

Whilst we realise that our fleshly bodies are not the ideal clothing for our souls --and indeed sometimes we feel burdened by our bodies because they grow old and weak and eventually die-- we also realise that a disembodied state is not ideal either.

Paul does not consider the disembodied state desirable. Paul talks about us "longing to be clothed" with a body, so that we should "not be found naked". He says, "We do not want to be unclothed, but clothed" (2Co 5:4).

When our bodies die, we become as it were naked, and that not in any pleasant sense of freedom, but rather in a sense of wanting to be clothed. Many New Age people teach that a disembodied state is the ultimate freedom, but this teaching is a deception by Satan, and does not come from God. Whilst the disembodied state is a step toward heaven, it is not heaven. Just as our dwelling in this earthly tent is temporary and not the ultimate state, so will our unclothed state be temporary and will not be the ultimate state. Therefore the soul longs for an immortal and eternal body (2Co 5:2).

The Soul Awaits an Eternal Body

2Co 5:1-5 continued

Paul understood the ultimate and permanent state of the soul is to be clothed with a glorious and eternal body that is heavenly and not of this earthly creation.

"We know," says Paul, "that if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." (2Co 5:1).

Paul is here using the analogy of the tabernacle of Israel. The tabernacle (or later the temple) of worship under the Old Testament was a tent (or later a building) made by human hands. This was only a shadow or copy of the true tabernacle which is "not of this creation", not earthly, but eternal and heaveny (Heb 9:11).

Just as Israel's earthly tabernacle or temple was destroyed, so our earthly bodies will be destroyed. And just as Christ entered the true tabernacle of worship, the heavenly and eternal one "not made with hands", so our souls will one day dwell in their true bodies which will be not of this creation, but immortal and spiritual. If we wish to live in a heavenly world, then we need a body that is heavenly and immortal. This God will provide at the resurrection. To possess an immportal body will be the ultimate and perfect state of the soul.

The Soul’s Earthly Body is a Seed of the Spiritual Body

1Co 15:35-38,42-44, 50-55

Turning back to 1Corinthians 15 for a closer look, we find Paul giving us a way to understand the transition from an earthly body to an immortal one. He uses an excellent analogy. He explains how a seed has to be buried and destroyed before a plant will grow from it.

The seed is analogous to our fleshly bodies, whilst the plant that arises out of the seed's death is analogous to the spiritual and immortal bodies we shall have one day. First there is the seed, and after that comes the plant. Likewise, first there is the natural body, and after that comes the spiritual body at the resurrection.

Let our souls honour their present earthly bodies, whilst taking joy in the expectation of being clothed in far better bodies one glorious day.

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