Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered outside the gate. Therefore, let us go forth to him outside the camp, bearing his reproach. For we have no continuing city here, but we seek one to come.
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Glorified bodies will never die, never grow old, never feel pain, never be diseased, never feel tired, never hunger or thirst, or suffer from heat or cold. One who attains to the salvation of God and receives a glorified body will always be strong and healthy and full of life. Who in his right mind would not want such a wondrous gift from God? Yet billions of people today are living as though this offer from God in Christ Jesus does not matter to them at all.
Glorified bodies are the "mansions" that Jesus said are in his Father's house (Jn. 14: 2). These mansions that Jesus has prepared for us are not fancy dwellings of brick or stone. They are our eternal, bright bodies, made of a spiritual substance not known to man. Paul called those glorified bodies "houses not made with hands", adding that they are in heaven waiting for those to whom they are promised (2Cor. 5:1-4).
Our natural bodies are locked into their shape and size. Jesus said that no man has in himself the power to change his height or to change one of the hairs of his head from black to white. Neither can any man, under his own power, vanish and re-appear in another place. These mortal bodies are bound by time and space. Apparently, however, such is not the case with spiritual bodies. Angels, for example, have the power to appear to men and then disappear as they go about their appointed duties of ministering to the saints on earth.
A glorified body, however, is more than merely a spiritual body, such as the angels have. A glorified body is the kind of body Jesus has now. It is the kind of body that is promised to the children of God who are faithful to Him until the end of the way (Phip. 3:21). A glorified body is the kind of spiritual body that is given to those who once had a corruptible, physical body. Glorification of the body is a changing of the natural body into a spiritual body by covering it with the glory of God. Angels have never had but one kind of body; therefore, we cannot call their bodies "glorified". Their bodies have never been elevated from a lower level to where they are now. But Jesus spent time in a natural, fleshly body. After his death and burial, he was raised up by the power of God from the grave, taken into heaven, and his resurrected, fleshly body was "glorified". His body of flesh was elevated by the power of God to an eternal, glorious, heavenly level of existence.
From the information given in the Bible, it appears that Jesus' glorified body isn't bound to a certain shape and size as earthly, natural bodies are. Jesus appeared to Paul on the road to Damascus in such a bright form that Paul could not even look up at him (Acts 26:13-14). Jesus appeared before the throne of God the Father in the form of a lamb that had been slaughtered (Rev. 5:6). When he returns to earth, Jesus will show himself to the people alive at that time in the human form that he took while here on earth, complete with nail-scarred hands (Rev. 1:7; Zech. 13:6). And the glorified Jesus showed himself to John in his glorified form, radiant in glory and covered with beauty and grace (Rev. 1:13-16). John described the sight:
"And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and with a golden sash across his chest. And his head and his hairs were like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were as a flame of fire. And his feet were like unto burnished bronze, as if burned in a furnace, and his voice as the sound of many waters. And he held in his right hand seven stars, and out of his mouth went a sharp, two-edged sword. And his face was as the sun shining in his strength."
Paul said that we have known Christ after the flesh (2Cor. 5:16); that is, men knew Jesus when he had natural body. Men once knew him as a Jew, as one born under the Law, as one born in Bethlehem and reared in Nazareth. He could be seen and touched, spoken to and heard from, fed and helped, or abused and killed. Paul then went on to say that those who know Jesus now must know him as he is, not as he was. We no longer can know Jesus "after the flesh", but only in spirit. He can no longer be helped or hurt. He can no longer be confined. He is the Lord of heaven and earth, whose eyes behold every good and evil thing. He is sitting at the right hand of the Father, and he is near the bedside of a suffering child. He is the king of angels who keeps the universe intact by his will and power. Rulers and nations of earth are raised up and cast down by his power. "All power in heaven and earth", Jesus said, "is given unto me."
If we hope to reign with Jesus in a glorified body like the one he has, then we must live as he lived while in the flesh. He showed us the way, and, through him, we know the wonderful results of obedience. Multitudes claim to want to live forever, but if our heart's desire truly is to live forever with Jesus the Lord, then we will live righteously while we live here on earth. There is no other road that will take us into the presence of God, and every sincere heart understands that. If we really desire glorified bodies that can never know pain or disappointment, our works demonstrate it.
We ask God for a glorified body by living a clean and holy life, as Jesus did. We seek for an eternal home by keeping God's commandments. We knock on the door that leads to eternal peace with God with our deeds. Paul wrote that it is "by patient continuance in well doing" that we "seek for glory, and honor, and immortality" (Rom. 2:7), and it is in this vein that Jesus warned us that "In your patience possess ye your souls."
Patiently continue to do good, and one day we will meet in a land of no sorrow, in ageless bodies that never will know sorrow.