1 Peter 1:8 NAS, “And though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory.”
Many, if not all of us, have not seen the physical body of the Lord Jesus Christ. Even though we have not seen him, we love him and believe in him. From the verse above, where does greatly rejoicing and joy inexpressible and full of glory come from? It comes from loving and believing in the unseen Jesus Christ our Lord. We walk by faith and not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7). This statement is taken from the context of a future hope of our bodily resurrection. Again, I doubt if any of us have seen a physical body in resurrection, yet we anticipate that we all will be raised to life and have a body like the glorious body of Jesus (Philippians 3:21). Thomas was the one who demanded to touch the Lord Jesus before he would believe. Even though we do not have this same opportunity, we’ll look into this record to see how Jesus himself spoke of us, those who would believe on him at a future time.
John 20:24-29 NAS, “But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples were saying to him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see in His hands the imprint of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.” After eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors having been shut, and stood in their midst and said, “Peace be with you.” Then He said to Thomas, “Reach here with your finger, and see My hands; and reach here your hand and put it into My side; and do not be unbelieving, but believing.” Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed.”
We often see the manifestation of holy spirit in healing, prayers answered and other tangible evidence that establishes our faith. All who believe and love the Lord Jesus have the hope of a bodily resurrection. We trust that this hope is affirmative because of the testimony of the Scripture and the work of God already in our lives. We believe that God is faithful. To refresh your memory on the teaching of the bodily resurrection you can read 1 Corinthians 15. Since we trust God with our whole lives and eternal future, let us trust Him now. If we believe and love the Lord Jesus Christ and his coming (2 Timothy 4:8), then let us believe his words today and love him by keeping his Word faithfully.