Swallowed Up by Life: The Christian’s Hope of Resurrection

“But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” — 1 Corinthians 15:57

In The Pilgrim’s Progress, Christian is asked, “When are you in your most wholesome and vigorous spiritual state?” His answer is simple: “When I think of the place to which I am going.” That line captures a truth many of us feel in our bones: our spiritual strength grows when our hearts are fixed on heaven. As believers, we are not meant to drift aimlessly through this world with our hope tethered to the temporary. Scripture continually calls us to look upward and forward, to the day when what is mortal is swallowed up by life.

Your Ultimate Hope: The Eternal Heaven

Throughout Scripture, we learn that the moment our spirit enters the presence of the Lord is glorious, but it is not yet the end of the story. The “present Heaven” is a place of joy, rest, and worship, but it is not the believer’s final home. God has promised something even greater: an Eternal Heaven on a resurrected, glorified earth, where His people will dwell with Him in resurrected, glorified bodies. This is the hope toward which history moves. This is the future for which creation groans. And this is the inheritance secured for every child of God in Christ.

The Resurrection: God Will Raise Your Body in Glory

1 Corinthians 15 confronts a common misunderstanding, the idea that eternal life is merely spiritual, detached from physical existence. Yet Scripture teaches plainly that God will raise your actual body, made new and fit for the world to come. God does not discard His creation; He redeems it.
He does not replace you; He restores you.

And just as Christ rose physically, so will you.

What Will Your Resurrection Body Be Like?

Paul gives us several breathtaking descriptors:

1. Imperishable

Every trace of weakness, decay, and disease will be gone forever. No aging, no pain, no frailty. Your body will be whole, strong, and eternally healthy.

2. Glorious

You will reflect the beauty and radiance God intended for humanity before sin marred His creation. Scripture even describes the redeemed shining like the sun in their Father’s kingdom.

3. Powerful

The limitations you carry now: physical, emotional, mental—will give way to strength and vitality. You will serve and worship without exhaustion or hindrance.

4. Spiritual

This does not mean “non-physical.” Rather, it means perfectly attuned to the Holy Spirit, free from sin, free from inner conflict, free from every impulse that ever drew your heart away from God. Imagine a body where holiness is natural, joy is constant, and obedience flows unhindered.

5. Patterned After Christ

Your resurrection life will reflect His. As Jesus ate, walked, spoke, and fellowshipped in a glorified body, so will you. As He shone with divine brightness, so will you. “We shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.”

A Hope That Strengthens You Today

Paul ends his teaching with a “therefore” that transforms the way we live: “Therefore… be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord.” (1 Cor. 15:58) Why? Because nothing you do for Christ is wasted. Not one act of obedience, not one sacrifice, not one moment of faithfulness disappears into the grave. The resurrection guarantees that every labor unto the Lord echoes into eternity. If the life to come is real, and it is, then the wisest life is the one lived for the world that lasts.

Take Courage, Beloved

Your aches, your trials, your perseverance, your longing, they are not signs of defeat. They are signs that you were made for another world. And the day is coming when you will be swallowed up by life; true life, eternal life, resurrected life in the presence of your King. Lift your eyes.
Set your hope fully on the grace that is coming.

Live steadfast and immovable, knowing the finish line is in view. Come quickly, Lord Jesus.