Do you actually believe that after death we will return to our earthly bodies for good?

Landon Caeli said:

There are a lot of interpretations about the afterlife, and so I was curious what Christians of all varieties think about this.

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We will have our bodies back, but they will be changed.

https://www.openbible.info/topics/resurrection_bodies

Yes and no. We will...but they will be glorified bodies, as Christs was upon his Resurrection.

Landon Caeli said:

I've also heard before that we will be able to ascent and descend to and from heaven, as heaven and earth will be sort of 'connected in a way.

Is that true?

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Unknown.

Landon Caeli said:

I've also heard before that we will be able to ascent and descend to and from heaven, as heaven and earth will be sort of 'connected in a way.

Is that true?

Click to expand...

The issue of Jesus floating up to the clouds has led to that idea
that our bodies will have similar properties.
Jesus was unique so that's not a given.

I voted 'no' because you specifically said 'earthly' bodies. But I do agree with what others have said, that our bodies will be changed.

and this--

Philippians 3:21

who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body. (NIV)

Christ Jesus, a host of angels, departed saints of old... They all look forward to the great marriage supper of the lamb! Where we will drink of the good things of God in our glorified bodies and get a glimpse of the eternal abode. As we visit that event all memories of planet Earth will vanish away (Isaiah 65:17)!

Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God. - Revelation 19:7-9

Verily I say unto you, I will drink no more of the fruit of the vine, until that day that I drink it new in the kingdom of God. - Mark 14:25



If E = mc2 then we can divide and conclude that...

Mass (m) = Energy (E/c2)

And there are three varieties...

Natural E/c2 - All mass is basically cooled plasma
Mental E/c2 - Mentally, A mathematical formula, but this has chemical and spiritual properties as well.
Spiritual E/c2 - E (motivation, warmth, love) / c2 (faith, hope, charity, joy)

Matter can be changed to energy... m (matter) = E/c2 (energy)
Energy can be changed to matter... E/c2 (energy)= m (matter)

E/c2 is eternal stuff, and to her properties what we call 15 trillion years is a mere blink of the eye. Who knows how many times the plasma has been turned to mass and the mass to plasma? It is not a hard thing for God to dis-associate the mass of the universe into energy and light and then re-associate the energy and light back into matter. As a 'matter' of fact...

But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. - 2 Peter 3:10

God is going to change all mass back into the plasma energy from whence it was forged... And he will do something else with it!

For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind. - Isaiah 65:17

The plasma awaits its disassociation! It will soon become something else! Our lifetimes are mere blinks of the eye in contrast to eternity! Don't waste it on earthly things! You had earthly parents who would not let you eat 'foolishness' as it would spoil your dinner. Don't spoil your eternal soul on earthly things! It is not worth it!

There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. - 1 Corinthians 14:20

And... We will experience all that in a new glorified, celestial body.

Landon Caeli said:

I've also heard before that we will be able to ascent and descend to and from heaven, as heaven and earth will be sort of 'connected in a way.

Is that true?

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I believe so. New Jerusalem descends out of Heaven, to Earth. It seems to be a portal between the two realms, and while Earth will be our home, we will have access to Heaven. It's funny, the common cultural idiom is about us getting to heaven, but the main thrust of the Bible message is about Heaven first getting into us, and then descending to Earth!

Landon Caeli said:

There are a lot of interpretations about the afterlife, and so I was curious what Christians of all varieties think about this.

Click to expand...

Different type of body , without blood which can appear and disappear just like Jesus did , never hungry but can still eat , never thirsty but can drink wine for pleasure , this body can't have sex , can't lust , has no sinful nature because it's born of God .

We will all be changed, wont be the same earthly body of flesh and blood. The life of the flesh is in the blood.
Jesus described His glorified body as flesh and bone when He appeared to his disciples after His resurrection.
Luke 24:39 Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.”

And we will have a body like His.
And that body is able to materialize and dematerialize. So perhaps a type of flesh is the glorified body, it will be substantial, not a ghost, Paul says similar in 1 corinthians 15 about the glorified BODY.

35 But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come?” 36 How foolish! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. 37 When you sow, you do not plant the body that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or of something else. 38 But God gives it a body as he has determined, and to each kind of seed he gives its own body. 39 Not all flesh is the same: People have one kind of flesh, animals have another, birds another and fish another. 40 There are also heavenly bodies and there are earthly bodies; but the splendor of the heavenly bodies is one kind, and the splendor of the earthly bodies is another. 41 The sun has one kind of splendor, the moon another and the stars another; and star differs from star in splendor.

42 So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; 43 it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; 44 it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.

If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. 45 So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being”[f]; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. 46 The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. 47 The first man was of the dust of the earth; the second man is of heaven. 48 As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the heavenly man, so also are those who are of heaven. 49 And just as we have borne the image of the earthly man, so shall we[g] bear the image of the heavenly man.

50 I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51 Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— 52 in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53 For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. 54 When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”[h]

55 “Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?”

56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

58 Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

People in this day and time are hot and wild after the things of the old wine. They think that if they do not receive their pleasures in this life they will die in eternal agony. How do we get people to desire the new wine of spiritual living and the glorious afterlife? As they see these things not they do not desire or seek them.

And no man putteth new wine into old bottles; else the new wine will burst the bottles, and be spilled, and the bottles shall perish. But new wine must be put into new bottles; and both are preserved. No man also having drunk old wine straightway desireth new: for he saith, The old is better. - Luke 5:37-39

18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
19 For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.
20 For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,
21 Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
22 For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.
23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.
24 For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?
25 But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it. - Romans 8:18-25

I know that my redeemer liveth! And that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth! And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God! - Job 19:25-26

Landon Caeli said:

You got me wondering about what glorified bodies will be like. The following article seemed really good at explaining that.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.gotquestions.org/amp/glorified-bodies.html

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Question: "How will our resurrection body be different from our current body?"

Answer: In his first letter to the church in Corinth, Paul discusses the great differences between our earthly bodies and our resurrected bodies (see 1 Corinthians 15:35-54). Contrasting our earthly bodies with the splendor of our heavenly (resurrected) bodies, Paul says, “The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body” (vv. 42-44, emphasis added). In short, our resurrected bodies are spiritual, imperishable, and raised in glory and power.

Through the first Adam, we received our natural bodies, perfectly suited to an earthly environment. However, they became perishable as a consequence of the Fall. Due to disobedience, mankind became mortal. Aging, deterioration, and eventual death now affect all of us. From dust we came, and to dust shall we return (Genesis 3:19; Ecclesiastes 3:20). Our resurrection bodies, on the other hand, will be “raised imperishable.” They will never experience sickness, decay, deterioration, or death. And “when the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable… then the saying that is written will come true: ‘Death has been swallowed up in victory’” (1 Corinthians 15:54).

As a result of the Fall, we are “sown in dishonor.” We were originally made perfect and in the image of God (Genesis 1:27), but sin has brought dishonor. Yet believers have the promise that our imperfect and dishonored bodies will one day be raised in glory. Freed from the restrictions imposed by sin, our resurrected bodies will be honorable and perfectly suited for pleasing and praising our Creator throughout eternity.

Our current bodies are also characterized by weakness and debility. Our earthly “temples” are undeniably fragile and susceptible to the plethora of diseases that ravage mankind. We are also weakened by sin and temptation. One day, though, our bodies will be raised in power and glory, and we will no longer be subject to the flaws and fragility that pervade life today.

Last, the resurrected body will be a spiritual one. Our natural bodies are suited for living in this world, but this is the only realm in which we can live. “Flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God” (1 Corinthians 15:50). After the resurrection we will have a “spiritual body,” perfectly suited for living in heaven. This does not mean that we will be only spirits—spirits do not have bodies—but that our resurrected bodies will not need physical sustenance or depend on natural means of supporting life.

We get a glimpse of what our resurrection bodies will be like when we recall Jesus’ post-resurrection appearances. He still had visible wounds, and His disciples could physically touch Him, yet He was able to travel effortlessly and appear and disappear at will. He could go through walls and doors yet could also eat and drink and sit and talk. Scripture informs us that our “lowly bodies” will be just “like His glorious body” (Philippians 3:21). Indeed, the physical limitations imposed by sin that hinder our ability to fully serve Him on earth will be forever gone, freeing us to praise and serve and glorify Him for eternity.

www.gotquestions.org/resurrection-body.html

We will get spiritual bodies in order to reside in heaven. No more natural ones.

Landon Caeli said:

There are a lot of interpretations about the afterlife, and so I was curious what Christians of all varieties think about this.

Click to expand...

The spirit will be reunited with the body, but the body will be made new - no longer able to die, and changed in other ways as well. Some of this we know something about (Christ could suddenly appear, could be touched, could eat, had flesh/bone) but much we do not know. We know that when it happens, we will be like Him.

Landon Caeli said:

I've also heard before that we will be able to ascent and descend to and from heaven, as heaven and earth will be sort of 'connected in a way.

Is that true?

Click to expand...

Scriptures seem to say that heaven and earth will be connected in a way. It depends on what you mean - particularly by "heaven". The place of God will be among men. Can we fly into the sky? No one knows.