“If people go to heaven when they die, what is the use of the resurrection?” I was asked today.

The answer is simple.

Christians are coming back with Jesus to get their bodies.

Notice the text calls for God to bring with Him those who have died and are in heaven. Then follows an explanation of the resurrection. This great picture of the Rapture is a scene of reunion. Christians are being reunited with their bodies that have been in the graves.

And calling forth bodies from dust will be no problem for the One who formed the first man from the dust of the ground.

But what about those who have not been buried. Their bodies have been burned or lost at sea — perhaps destroyed in explosions. No matter. Our Lord knows where every atom resides. At that day, He will call them together and form again the bodies of those who have died.

And these new bodies will be superior.

No more sickness. No falling hair. No infirmities of any kind. Those who died with bodies afflicted with any of earth’s diseases or deformities will be perfect in the resurrection. There are things we do not know about the resurrection body but we can be confident that it will surpass our expectations. John ended all speculation with these words: “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he, shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is” (I John 3:2).

Great day!