is
the animal soul, _cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither can
corruption_, that which decays and passes away, _inherit
incorruption_, that state where there is no decay nor passing away.
So, then, a change must take place at the resurrection: a change which
shall pass also on those who are alive and remain at the Lord's
coming. The bodies of the risen saints, and of those who are to join
them in being for ever with the Lord, will be spiritual bodies: bodies
tenanted and informed in chief by that highest part of man, which
during this present life is so much dwarfed down and crushed by the
usurpations of the animal soul; viz., his spirit.

Now, it would be idle to conceal the fact, that we cannot form any
distinct conception what this spiritual body may be. No such thing has
ever come within the range of our experience. But some particulars we
do know about it, because God has revealed them. And of those, the
principal are specified in this very passage: "_It is sown in
corruption: it is raised in incorruption_." It cannot decay. Eternal
ages will pass over it, and it will remain the same. Again, "_it is
sown in dishonour: it is raised in glory_." There will be no shame
about it, as there will be no sin. Thus much from these words is
undoubted. What else they may imply we cannot say for certain;
probably, unimagined degrees of beauty and radiancy, for so the word
glory as applied to anything material seems to imply. Further: "_it is
sown in weakness: it is raised in power_." That is, I suppose, with
all its faculties wonderfully intensified, and possibly with fresh
faculties granted, which here it never possessed, and the mind of man
could not even imagine. This last also seems to be implied by its
being called a spiritual body. As here it was an animal body, subject
to the mere animal life or soul, hemmed in by the conditions of that
animal life, so there it will be under the dominion of, and suited to
the wants of, man's spirit, the lofty and heavenly part of him.

And if we want to know what this implies, our best guide will be to
contemplate the risen body of our Lord, as we have it presented to us
in the gospel narrative. As He is, so are we in this world in our
essence even now--and as He is so shall we be entirely there. He is
the first-fruits, we follow after as the harvest. What, then, was His
resurrection body? While it was a real body and admitted of being
touched and seen, and had the organs of voice