Forever Human

I know it's crazy to think Jesus is still limited to a human body. That's not the picture I've ever had of him. But it's starting to make more sense of the New Testament writings. 

Doesn't that mean Jesus is not omnipresent, and therefore, how can he live in us?

One way I make sense of this: Paul said things like, "If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you." (Rom. 8:11).

Jesus said it was better for him to go away to the Father so that he could send his Spirit to us. (John 14-15). Hmm. So he really is here, now, by his Spirit . . . 

Another way I make sense of his presence though we don't see him: one day, he said, he'd come back--which is known as the "apocalypse." I know we think of destruction and catastrophe, as in "Apocalypse Now", but that's not really what it means. :-) "Apocalypse" means literally, "unveiling" or "revealing." It's like Jesus has been here all along, for the last 2000 years, but hiding behind a curtain. He's "in heaven"--which is right here, but unseen to us.

That day, the curtain will be lifted, which Paul calls "the day of his appearing." I always pictured that as a descent from far away and high above, like he ascended up into the sky. But Tom Wright says the word "ascended" in the Greek has more of a connotation of "going through" than "going up." When Jesus "ascended," he went through the curtain, into the invisible realm of heaven.

But he's still a fully human being, still flesh and blood, albeit resurrected flesh (not like flesh that we have any experience with). 

That gives me a whole new respect for being human (because in a very real sense, God is). It also gives me a whole new hope of how good being human can be!