RESURRECTION OF THE BODY THAT IS LAID DOWN.
When Job said, "Though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God;" 19. 26; it is evident that he believed that though his body should be disorganized, yet, in his own flesh, and not in that of another, he should see God. As if to confirm his assertion, he further adds, "Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another;" verse 27.
A literal resurrection was manifested to Ezekiel in his vision of the resurrection of the house of Israel; 37. 1-14.
When Herod the tetrarch heard of the fame of Jesus, and said, "This is John the Baptist; he is risen from the dead;" Matt. 14. 1, 2; he probably, in common with the Jews, believed in a literal resurrection.
Jesus said to his disciples, "Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have;" Luke 24. 39; John 20. 27; Acts 10. 41. "He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies;" Rom. 8. 11. That is, their bodies that died, and not some other bodies.
The apostle Paul gives us some light on this subject: "But some man will say, How are the dead raised? and with what body do they come? Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die; * * thou sowest not that body that shall be. * * But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body. All flesh is not the same flesh: but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds;" 1 Cor. 15. 35-39.
The apostle evidently considers the old body the germ of a new body, which will be like the old, but a new growth, even as new grain is produced from that which is sown.
It is also evident that the apostle considered it impossible for one kind of flesh to mingle with another in the resurrection, as they widely differ, from different combinations of the elements, in their organization. As well might we expect the different grades of spiritual organizations, to intermingle, as the different kinds of flesh of which their material bodies are composed.
The following is from the Times and Seasons, vol. 5, page 617: "Mothers, you shall have your children, for they shall have eternal life: for their debt is paid, there is no damnation awaits them, for they are in the spirit. As the child dies, so shall it rise from the dead and be forever living in the learning of God; it shall be the child, the same as it was before it died out of your arms. Children dwell and exercise power in the same from as they laid them down."