6. IMMORTALITY OF THE BODY

By Pastor Peter Tan


Heb. 6:5 and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come. There are powers of the age to come in reference to the heavenly realm. We realize that here on this earth we do partake of some powers of the heavenly realm. The power of knowledge, the power of life and all these realms are there permanently in heaven. But thank God while here on earth we have the divine privilege of partaking of the heavenly realm. This morning we are going to touch on the last one that we will consider, and that is in reference to our physical body. We know that this physical body is functioning at the level, which it was not really designed to do. In the Garden of Eden it was designed never to die. And this physical body was not designed to just exist on mere physical food and oxygen. It was supposed to live on God’s life. We will not be able to see the fullness of the immortality that God has for this physical body until Jesus comes. However we do have a foretaste of what God has for the physical body here on this earth. And from time to time God does allow us to experience some of the “immortality of the physical body.” And we are going to touch on that realm on the immortality of the physical body that we have a foretaste of. Some people like Enoch walked straight into immortality without seeing death, while others partake of a glimpse of what that body can be like.

Lets look at I Cor. 15: 45 the whole chapter 15 is on the resurrection of the physical body. Verse 45 Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.” From there we see that Jesus didn’t just restore us back to Adam’s state. He restored us even greater than Adam’s state. Adam was not seated at the right hand of God. But the second Adam brought us into a position to sit at the right hand of God in Jesus Christ. Jesus brought us to share all the privileges and blessings of the Second Person of the Godhead Jesus Christ. There is a difference between the last Adam Jesus Christ and the first Adam. The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. The first one was only a living being. But the second had abundant life, a life that is God like with the ability to create and to impart.

Verse 46-47 But it is not the spiritual which is first but the physical, and then the spiritual. The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. Notice his analogy here first Adam, then last Adam. First man second man. Why does he use these phrases? If we look at it in the natural we could look airplanes and we could say this is the first model of the plane. Then I could say this is the last model of the plane. What do I imply? This is the last of that type. Now if I say this is the first of its kind. This is the second type of plane. What does it imply? By using the word second it implies that this is totally different. Like the Boeing 737 is different from the Boeing 747. It’s a different type of plane altogether although they are developments from the early stages of the plane. So in the same way Jesus was the last Adam. The last of that kind, the last of that type of the fallen man or the nature that was there that Jesus became part of when He took upon Himself the form of sinful flesh. But Jesus is bringing forth a new kind of man. In II Cor. 5:17 it says it’s a new species. The word new creation in II Cor. 5:17 in the Greek it is a new species. It means a new type of man. Some thing more powerful than what Adam could have imagined. So it’s the second type or kind of man.

Verse 48 As was the man of dust, so are those who are of the dust; and as a man of, so are those who are of heaven. Now doesn’t that imply that some of the heavenly attributes of the body through the Lord Jesus Christ can be tasted, can be experienced on this earth. What a blessed promise. We are more than what Adam was.

Verse 49 Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven. This is a different type of physical body. Let me give some examples, which you will be familiar with. Adam had a perfect physical body. If he had lived 1000 years he would have looked the same as the day that he was born. He wouldn’t have aged he wouldn’t have grown old so with Eve. But that physical body of Adam cannot go through walls. It was in a different dimension from the physical body that Jesus had when He was raised from the dead. There was a limitation to that physical body that he had. He had all the attributes of eternal life but he did not have the attributes of the heavenly life that was extra special.

When Jesus was raised from the dead there was a new type of man or species that He came to bring forth. And Jesus’ physical body was flesh and bone. He told His disciples when He appeared to them in His resurrection and He says I am not just a spirit. I am also a physical body. He says for a spirit does not have flesh and bones. And they felt and touched that physical body of Jesus that was resurrected. And that physical body could eat. And we know He ate fish. When the doors were locked and Jesus suddenly appeared with the physical body, He says peace be to you. Then He sat down and He ate with them a meal of fish. And after that He went right through the wall. We could understand how the physical body in a way we could visualize it goes through the wall. But He ate physical fish. We understand His physical body going through the wall but can you imagine fish going through the wall also. He was not eating heavenly food. He was eating physical food that has weight. But when that physical food enters that special body of His, it took on that special quality of going through walls.

There is no record that Adam and Eve were able to float around. Adam and Eve walked on this earth. But the body that we have from the Lord Jesus Christ when He comes again is a body that could float around. That physical body that we will have in heaven, we won’t need wings to fly. We would be able for example to think about going up to the mountain and you got a choice of walking up or floating up. I bring that point to show forth that the second type of man and the second kind of body that God gives is different. It is far superior to Adam’s body. It’s a new species and we are able to partake of that.

I only share 3 points and conclude with the principles behind those 3 points. Three observations of people breaking those laws on the natural body when their physical body to a certain extend began to take on immortality. Every healing is a type of miraculous working on the physical body. I am sure you remember Dr. Sally’s testimony of her visitation to heaven. She also went to the same room that Robert Liardon went to where the bodily parts are kept. In heaven there are bodily parts waiting to be sent to this earth. Just over the last week G.B. Paul was in the hospital for heart condition. His wife came for prayer. I asked for a handkerchief and we prayed over the handkerchief. As I prayed the presence of God came down. And the Lord told me that He would visit him. She took that handkerchief and brought it to the hospital. That night while he was laying in the hospital bed an angel came and looked at his body. And this is what they told me: the angel pulled the zip on his body. Then the angel took out some thing and put it in the rubbish bag. Then the angel took some bodily parts and put it in. Then he zipped him up again. There are a lot of bodily parts that are in heaven that are uncollected. We need faith for us to tap on them.

Revival has actually begun. I think I shared a few weeks back about the angel waking me up and told about bringing the prayer meeting from that place into the main auditorium. And the angel said I would visit again. This is the year of visitation. And that angel was sent to bring forth a visitation. And he will visit again. There are a lot of angelic activities going on in the spirit realm and creative miracles are going to flow. Things work differently in heaven. There are laws that are beyond this natural world. And from time to time God does allow our physical bodies to partake of immortality. And if we are to walk close with God this whole body may be transformed and caught with Him. We taste of the powers of the age to come.

There are 3 things I want to share of people who go into that realm beyond the limitations of the physical body. First I call it the energy and life force in the body. When a little baby is born the energy that is physically there in that body is tremendous. The cells multiply tremendously. Metabolism rate is very high. In the natural realm as a person grows the metabolism rate decreases. That is why infants put on weight easier unless of course the power of God continues on their life. There are even instances of little babies who have lost a finger and grew a new finger. For adults we know this is impossible, but it’s easier for babies than for adults. And that energy force that is there can continue to be replenished from the spirit realm because in the heavenly realm the energy force never decreases.

We have Rom. 4:18-20 talking about Abraham who contrary to hope. Rom. 4:18-20 In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations; as he had been told, “So shall your descendants be.” He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead because he was about a hundred years old, or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb. No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God. We know what happened to Abraham’s body. Possibly he received new parts from heaven. We know what happened to Sarah’s body. She probably received new parts from heaven. And their youth were renewed like the eagle. Even though their bodies aged yet they gained strength. So much so that Sarah once again looks beautiful. Then one day Abraham took her to king Abimelech’s place. Abimelech took one look at her and whistled. Imagine any person doing it to a 90 year-old woman. Surely she must have looked very young. The energy force of God came into her and her physical body regained strength. The bodily parts were renewed. Instead of drying up, the bodily parts became strengthened like it was new.

In the book of Deuteronomy chapter 34 verse 7 Moses was a hundred and twenty years old when he died; his eye was not dim. I mean he had super eyes. He didn’t need to wear glasses. What the world is telling you by the age of 40 the lubrication in your eyes start drying up. And you need to lubricate it a little bit more. And you find it a bit harder to see. And according to your faith be it unto you. You believe it; you accept it and then it became. And you say now I am old. Maybe your grandma told you that; your grandpa told you that, and you began to expect that would happen to you when you are old. Kenneth E. Hagin speaks about a time he was reading an article in Reader’s Digest. And it was talking about how by certain age, certain cells stop to function, and you will begin to lose part of your memory etc. And he said after he read it sub-consciously he accepted it and he started losing his memory. Until something took a hold of him and he asked, “Who said that? Almighty God didn’t say that. Who says you must lose your memory when you are old? God didn’t say that. His word didn’t say that. But rather its man’s word based on natural observation.”

Deut. 34:7 Nor his natural force abated. Some times I grow concerned when I see men of God, as they grow in God they started using glasses and all that. I am not against glasses. I mean use them as you require them. But as a minister I rather live a high standard. The reason being is how can I as a minister tell a blind person to tap on healing when I can’t get healing for my own eyes. I mean shortsightedness compared to blindness, what is that? So here it says his eyes were not dim and his natural force did not abate. He was strong; he was still climbing mountains when he was old. These are all foretaste of immortality. And if we begin to move further and further into that realm the physical body can be so transformed that it may reach a point like Enoch’s body reached it and he completely stopped aging. It’s time immortal. For those who could walk in faith higher in God, there is a realm you walk where mortality is changed to immortality. Many people are waiting for that to take place at Jesus’ second coming. But now for those who desire God’s presence and walk deeper with God, that presence can transform you. It can transform your physical being into the fullness of what immortality is like.

Turn to Genesis and we look at Enoch’s life. Gen. 5:23-24 Thus all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years. Enoch walked wit God; and he was not, for God took him. Now it didn’t just say that God took him. If it just said that God took him it may imply that his body was growing in the normal process. It could mean that as he grew old because of God’s blessings on his life God took him like the way he took Elijah. But it says he walked with God and was not for God took him. The word was not implies a transition from mortality into immortality. As he walked with God the body that was became was not. The body that was subjected to the laws on this natural plane suddenly was no more subject to it. It was transformed. And people who walk close with God seem to have a certain degree of that. They are preserved from the law of corruption and decay. Do you know that Jesus Christ on this earth walked so close with God, even though He bore all the sicknesses and diseases for us on the cross, it was more in a legal form and not in the physical form. I mean Jesus couldn’t physically in one body take all the sicknesses and diseases of the world. He would have looked like a bloated, putrefying pumpkin. It could not be in the physical sense. Although you could see your sickness on Him by faith, but it was a legal transaction. For all sicknesses came because of a broken law. And Jesus took that legal implication in judgment for the broken law.

The bible tells us in the book of Acts 2:27 For thou wilt not abandon my soul to Hades, nor let thy Holy One see corruption. The moment a physical body dies that physical body began to decay because there are germs and virus that began to attack that body. In fact while you are alive your body is being attacked all the time. Except that because of the energy and life force in your body, your body cells kill all the germs and viruses that constantly invade your body. The moment life goes out from your body the body cease to defend itself and it just decay. Some times you throw your rubbish in a rubbish bin and it was some meat or chicken or something. But you leave that piece of chicken to decay maggots begin to appear. You ask your self the question where do the maggots come from?

I want you to know that Jesus Christ body never decay. God did not allow His flesh to see corruption. For 3 days and 3 nights that physical body that was kept in a tomb was preserved not by any spices or natural ointments like the Egyptian mummies. But it was preserved by a life force that still remains on that physical body. How then did He take our sicknesses and diseases? It was by legal transactions. When Adam fell into sin all sicknesses and diseases have a right to enter the human race. So when Jesus took death He cancelled that right. And any one who believes in Him, that right of sickness and disease to enter into your body is cancelled. And based on that right believers can be healed by His stripes. Although Jesus’ body was wounded because of the stripes that were inflicted on His back but no diseases, germs, viruses could exist on that body because of the glory of God.

I don’t know what it was like with Moses’ body. Although we read in chapter 34 there must be a tremendous energy that was on his body. And yet when he died we are told in the book of Jude that Satan wanted that body and God wanted that body. So there was a war over a dead body. Moses’ spirit and soul was already with God. In the book of Jude verse 9 But when the archangel Michael, contending with the devil, disputed about the body of Moses, he did not presume to pronounce a reviling judgment upon him, but said, “The Lord rebuke you.” Satan and Michael the archangel were wrestling over Moses’ body. Why? Let me give the understanding here. That physical body has seen the back part of God’s glory, which no man has ever seen. Up to Moses’ time all men has only seen a glimpse of His glory. Not even a shadow of His glory but Moses has seen the back part of His glory. We know what happened to Moses on that day. The very skin cells of his face was so affected it became luminous and shone brightly like a light bulb. Surely there are some special effects that is taking place on that physical body.

What about the law of science? God created all the laws of science. Science cannot create new laws. They can only discover laws established by God. Just like scientists can tell you that all the compounds in the body, water has an interesting property. When water temperature drops it begins to contract. Then up to a certain point when it turns to ice it begin to expand. That is why ice can float on water because when it expands ice becomes lighter than water. Other compounds or elements become solidified and heavier when they are chilled. Scientist can only discover that God made it that way so that when winter comes the fish in the lakes and in the sea can still exist underneath. If God didn’t make it that way and winter comes the whole lake would have been frozen and every fish would have died. So God is above all those natural laws.
Some thing happened to Moses’ physical body. The bible specially mentioned the skin on his face. Exod. 34: 29 Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone. Something happened to the skin. Something happened I believe to the whole body too. See in God death doesn’t exist. In God life only exists and there is no death. And a part of that immortality came on his body.
In the book of Numbers there was a time in regard to the challenge of Aaron’s leadership in chapter 17 verse 2 Speak to the people of Israel, and get from them rods, one for each fathers’ house, from all their leaders according to their fathers’ houses, twelve rods. Write each man’s name upon his rod and write Aaron’s name upon the rod of Levi. Verse 5 And the rod of the man whom I choose shall sprout. We know what a rod is. It is just a walking stick. A walking stick even in the natural if you had planted it into the ground it will not produce a tree. These are not fresh rod. These are the rods that they constantly used for tens of years. Imagine planting a walking stick in the ground and it grows. But not only that in one day it grew. That’s immortality. Plants blossom in God’s presence. What God was bringing forth was only a shadow of what was already there when He created the earth. If you look at Genesis 1 carefully the plants were created before the sun was created. And we know in the natural according to biology or botany the plants need sunlight to live in our realm today. But plants originally receive life from the glory of God. When that rod was placed in the presence of God the immortality of God brought back life into that physical rod. We have a foretaste of immortality of the life of God that was possible.

In verse 8 And on the morrow Moses went into the tent of the testimony; and behold, the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi had spouted and put forth buds, and produced blossoms, and it bore ripe almonds. How could that be? This is immortality. If God’s presence is there it will just ripen. That is why in heaven every fruit tree is constantly producing fruit. Every flowering plant is always flowering because of God’s presence. And that immortal life can flow into our physical body. That’s rule No. 1. Then immortality can come in your organs so that no matter how old you grow your physical heart will still be young. Your physical body can still be young. You can grow in age but your body do not need to age. And your eyes don’t need to grow dim. You don’t need to lose any one of your teeth. You could have perfection of body depending on how much you tap into No. 1 immortality of the body. We see what I call a glimpse, a taste of the power to come.

Secondly, when immortality and if it’s under the power of God comes on this physical body, gravitation laws won’t limit it. When Jesus walked on the water in Matt. 14 He was walking on a different law. The laws of gravity limit this physical body of ours. For a moment under the power of God Jesus’ body was freed from the gravitational pull and He walked on water in Matt. 14. He must have been in God’s presence so much that when God said to go across the lake, Jesus did not hesitate. Jesus must have known something about it because He told His disciples, “You go first, I’ll join you later.” But no one knew how He would join them. While the disciples were there rowing hard away because of the contrary wind Jesus just walk across the water. That’s a tremendous power that was on His body. Some will say Jesus did that because He was Son of God just to show us what He can do. Well Peter did it too. For a moment of time his body too was on that same power. When he says, “Lord if that’s You, call me come onto the water.” And Jesus says, “Come,” now its up to him. And he walked on water. He was a mortal man tasting a bit of immortality.

In heaven there is a lake and there are rivers. You could choose either to walk on the top of the river or you could go swimming in the river. You have to have a certain realm of God’s presence before that takes place. People who walk with God seem to transcend that gravitation law. Long ago there was a story about a flying monk. And this monk was in a Christian monastery. This monk was in a particular church. He was a very devout man. He spent many hours praying. And sometimes when he was in deep prayer his body starts to float. And it happened to Amie McPherson too. She was at a platform preaching. And as she was walking up and down, sometimes she walked right up to the edge of the platform. Every one thought she was going to fall down. And she would quickly walked back. But there was a time under eyewitnesses’ account that she walked right on the end near the platform and walked back. Everyone was amazed. For as moment of time she was under that anointing. These are all little glimpses of the physical body taking on the power of the immortal body.

Lets look at II Kings chapter two verse 16. And the said to him, “Behold now, there are with your servants fifty strong men; pray, let them go, and seek your master; it may be that the Spirit of the Lord has caught him up and cast him upon some mountain or into some valley.” It seems that this phenomena constantly occur to Elijah. He could be walking in some places and straightaway he is taken, translated in the physical body. Physically transported from one mountain to another. This is why when Elijah told to one of the generals of Ahab, “Tell Ahab I am here,” he said, “When I go you will disappear.” People who are familiar with Elijah know that he is no ordinary man. This is a man who walked so close with God that he is like an angel. You could see him and then don’t see him.

We know it happened in the New Testament in Acts chapter 8 to Philip the evangelist. That after he baptized the Ethiopian eunuch Philip was taken off. That’s a foretaste of what the body can do. This body is so limited so that when you travel from one country to another you got to get your visas right, you got to get on the plane etc. One of these days as we get so deep into God’s presence you’re just going to go there in an instance. What I want to bring you to and show you is that it’s possible to happen right now and we have glimpses of it. If you walk deep enough it can be a permanent effect and then you get into glory. It happened to David du Plessis. He shared that in his book “The Spirit Made Me Go” that they were late for some appointment and he was running with another pastor for a meeting. The pastor ran ahead of him. And he said that as he ran, suddenly he took 2 steps and he was there. This is real he shared it in the book “The Spirit Made Me Go”. That’s the immortality of our physical body how our body began to break the bonds of this physical life.

Elijah also had it happening in his life in the book of I Kings 19 we are told that after the confrontation and the fire that came down from heaven, Elijah told Ahab to go first because there is a sound of rain. The bible tells us that Elijah ran faster than a horse. If some of these athletes in the Olympics Games read this account in their bibles they would be adding Elijah’s secret into their training program. So what was Elijah’s secret? “I stand always in the presence of God.”

We saw Samson how he could lift the gates of the city. These are all feats that belong to the other realm. But we need to understand and we need to know. That’s why we are teaching this that a glimpse and a touch of that are possible here. If we are opened to it then it may happen. If we are closed to it, it may never happen.

The third attribute of that body immortality is that the body suddenly takes on a new character and it doesn’t need to eat and drink. We see a glimpse of that when Moses was with God without food and water for 40 days twice and a third time when he was interceding. We are told that we can’t live more than 3 days without water. That is why the rescuers gave up hope in the Highland Tower tragedy (where a block of condominiums collapsed after some soil erosion) after some time when they realize any survivors would have died of starvation. Those who have never fasted for a standard period in fasting don’t know what it is like to break free from the laws of this life. But it is possible as we live in God so close that the presence of God so fills you that you go without food. The bible tells us in the book of I Corinthians that food for the bodies and bodies for food and God will destroy both of them. In heaven our internal organs are all different. There is still food in heaven but the food is not for survival. It’s for pleasure and for impartation. You don’t have to eat in heaven to live. You live by God’s life. How lovely when a glimpse of that comes on this earth.

In the book of I Kings 18:46 we are told of a time when Elijah ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel. Now in I King 19:5-8 And he lay down and slept under a broom tree; and behold, an angel touched him, and said to him, “Arise and eat.” And he looked, and behold, there was at his head a cake baked on hot stones and a jar of water. And he ate and drank, and lay down again. And the angel of the Lord came again a second time, and touched him and said, “Arise and eat, else the journey will be too great for you.” And he arose, and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mount of God. His physical body took on immorality. It existed on heavenly life for 40 days and 40 nights. Some people think fasting is difficult. It depends on the level of the presence of God. When you break into a certain realm of God’s presence, it seems like your whole body goes into a state of suspended animation. The physical functions all cease and the spiritual functions takes over.

It happened to Kenneth Hagin one time when God was dealing with his wife because he was constantly traveling. And his wife didn’t want him to travel but it was God’s will for him to travel. So in the end the Lord dealt with the wife and say look if you are not going to let him travel I am going to take him home. And in one of his sharing as he was praying his heart stopped beating. A pastor was there; he took the pastor’s hand and say, “Feel that my heart for it has stopped beating.” But he was still moving around and he still could talk. Because the physical body was in a suspended state of animation and the spirit man just came through. I mean a body that live without the heart beating. We are talking about a different realm. This physical body is just a shell. There is some thing more powerful than that. When the divine life and immortality start coming to this physical body something takes place beyond our natural.
Jesus lived 40 days and 40 nights without food and water. And He was under that special anointing. And you notice that only after that He was hungry. Before that He was not hungry because the physical body for a moment of time took on the immortality. Everything in the natural seems to have a suspended state of animation. This is one of the things that in Noah’s time when he took all the animals into the ark and there was more animals than we know today. Some are extinct and many others that we never knew of or heard of. How did he feed all those animals? He doesn’t have to because God’s presence was there. We know that God’s power surpasses our physical life. The physical body can be immortal.

Now the key behind it all in Heb. 11:5 By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death; and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was attested as having pleased God. He was seeking the pleasure of God all the time. He was always in the realm in the presence of God. Heb. 11:6 continue to say that without faith it was impossible to please God. Rom. 4 talks about Abraham and Sarah and they tapped on that renewing power in the physical body through their faith.

So No. 1 by increasing in faith. I was asked a question a few days ago, how do you develop this great tenacity of faith? The answer is this. I have made it a point that either the Word of God works or I die. When you reach that kind of commitment either the Word is true (and you are relying your whole life on the Word) or you die. You rather die if it’s not true than to live. And you could live when it’s found to be true. When you begin to trust God with that kind of tenacity and you go into the ministry and you say, “If I die of starvation its because I died trusting You. And it’s Your duty to continue to supply. If I die I die, if I trust I trust.” When you begin to walk with God with that attitude you say, “Either this Word is true or you are serving a dead religion.” Either what we are talking about is reality or just some religion that anybody could have. And if its reality I would rather see the Word works in my life and I live. If this Word doesn’t work I rather not live. Thank God the Word is true for whosoever has an absolute trust in the word. Faith that’s No. 1.

No. 2 Rom. 8:2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set me free from the law of sin and death. Sin and death are all those things that operate on the mortal body. If the law of sin and death is broken then your body is no more subject to mortality. What makes some thing mortal? It is the law of sin and death. And if that same law is cancelled immortality comes. And it’s by the law of the Spirit of life. That’s the second key. Part of the operation is through prayer as you see in verses 21 and 26. It’s the same law operating and working in God’s presence.
No. 3 verse 11 If the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through His Spirit who dwells in you. Turn over to the earlier portion of the book of Rom. 6:4 We were buried therefore with Him by baptism into death, so that Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

No. 1 faith, No. 2 the law of the Spirit of life. No. 3 the glory of the Father. And there are different degrees. Jesus was full of grace and glory. Which is why the glory of God is important. As you tap in that glory, immortality comes into your body. Moses had one glimpse and his body was transformed. The rod of Aaron was in the glory and it blossomed and bore fruit. The glory of God is what we seek after. That will cause immortality to come on this physical body.

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