The Spiritual Body

Actually, as long as it lasts, the material body is in a state of harmony with the body of spiritual substance by which the spirit relates to the spiritual universe. This means that even while we are living on earth we have both a spiritual body and a physical body.

When we die, we do not find ourselves disembodied. We actually have a body made for our life in the spiritual world. It is not an airy, ghostlike body, just "such stuff as dreams are made of', but a perfectly organized body made of real substance.

Since people didn't realize that the spirit and the spiritual body are made of substance, they began to believe that in a future resurrection the bodiless spirit, something like a ghost, would go back into its physical body.

But a material body would be of no use in the spiritual world. To live there, we need a body made of spiritual substance, just as we need a body made of matter to live on earth. As Paul wrote to the Christians at Corinth, "There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. . . Flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God." (1 Cor. 15:44,50) The spirit is real, and the spiritual world is real a world where we can enjoy a full, rich, human life.

Our life on earth is a temporary but very important stage of our existence. It is the prelude to an endless and uninterrupted life in the spiritual world, which is our real home.