Whereas our current bodies are flawed, weak, natural, sinful, and perishable, our new bodies will be like His – complete, invulnerable, spiritual, holy, and immortal. With the same power He used to raise himself from the dead, He will raise you, Christian. He’s not going to enter your grave and perform CPR to reanimate your old body. He’s going to transform your current one, whether it is alive or dead when He returns, into a glorified one.

In 2000, our son Matt was born with post axial hypoplasia in his left leg. This condition can have a variety of bone abnormalities. In his case, his left femur, tibia, and fibula were not the same length as those on his right and would likely never “catch up” during his growth to maturity. In addition, of the twenty-six bones that most people have in their left foot, Matt had just two. The doctor was unable to determine if those two were phalanges or metatarsals as there were no other bones whatsoever inside the flesh that bore a vague resemblance to a typical human foot.

The painful solution to this condition was amputation of that foot when he was just seven months old to create a heel pad on the distal end of his limb. That surgery allowed him to be fitted for a prosthetic left leg which could address both disabilities created by the condition. First, it provided a substitute foot so that he would be able to walk. Second, the knee down nature of the device created a way to artificially lengthen the left leg as he grew so that it could always be the same length as the right leg.

Now, as his parents, my wife and I have obviously done all we can to help Matt with his disability. That’s what you do when you face something wrong in life, particularly with those people you love most. You do your best to make it right. Further, we have celebrated the advancements of technology that have helped him. Isn’t it amazing that he was the first of our four children to walk? I’ll never forget when he stood up and ambled across our kitchen floor at just 11 months old. Such a precious memory. Matt even played baseball in high school. We rejoice in all that he has been able to do physically as well as in all that people have done to help him overcome the challenges presented by his body.

The World Is Not Right

Yet, we also clearly understand what cannot be done for him. We cannot give him a new left leg and foot with all the bones and proper development. Oh, how we wish we could! We would give up our own bones in a heartbeat so that he could have them. But, alas, we can’t make the situation right in that way.

You see, none of the good that has been done removes the sense of loss we feel for him regarding what cannot be done. In other words, we have hopes for his earthly life that can and are being realized, and for that we are very grateful.

[Editor’s note: This article is incomplete. The link (URL) to the original article is unavailable and has been removed.]