Brothers and sisters in Christ,
I pray you and yours are well. Many of us have questions about Heaven. When do I go to Heaven? Will I still be married? Is there nothing but our souls in Heaven? Will my pet come to Heaven?
Transfiguration Sunday reminds us that we will bodily be in Heaven because, in fact, there are already people who are bodily in Heaven—Jesus, Moses, and Elijah. We know from Scripture that Enoch also is already in Heaven bodily (Genesis 5:24). Elijah’s departure from earth up to Heaven is given a more full accounting, and you can read it in 2 Kings 2:1–11. Moses’ route to Heaven is actually recorded for us in the New Testament and is very interesting (Jude 1:9). The Archangel Michael was sent by God to get Moses’ body, but Satan argues with Michael, something Satan does against Michael (Daniel chapter 10 and Revelation chapter 12).
It is interesting to remember that when Jesus returns, all of the dead are raised in bodily form: “For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first” (1 Thessalonians 4:16). Michael is the only archangel specifically designated with the title of “archangel” in Scripture. We know that God will use an archangel to announce Christ’s return and the bodily resurrection of all people, which Jude 1:9 foreshadows.
But what were Michael and Satan arguing about? Satan was thrown out of Heaven because he tried to take God’s glory for himself (Isaiah 14:12-14). Why was Moses not allowed into the Promised Land? Because he took God’s glory for himself (Deuteronomy 31:51). I think Satan was mad because Moses was being allowed into Heaven even though Moses had sinned in a very similar way.
As humans made in God’s image, we are very fortunate because God, in His grace, sent His Son Jesus to redeem man and restore us into a right relationship with Him—a relationship that we will experience bodily. Our bodies are not our own. We were purchased at a price, so let us glorify God with our bodies.
V/r,
Pastor Jim