Growing Old - Blessing or Curse?
Some reflections on growing older in a 3-part series
PART 2
In Part 1 of this article we looked at 3 aspects of ageing: ageing was not God’s intention, but part of His mercy; ageing is inversely proportional to spiritual health; and no bucket list is needed. Let’s now turn our attention to a crucial passage of Scripture.
4) The ageing body will give way to the resurrection body
In 1 Corinthians 15: 42-44 Paul says,
So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonour, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.
Paul recognises that our physical bodies are perishable, corruptible and weak, whereas the resurrection body that we will get at the return of Jesus will be the exact opposite! So, the weakness and decay that we experience as we age is meant to make us long for the glory of our resurrection bodies. Ageing makes us fix our eyes on the promised body, to look forward to what is coming.
In the present moment, we try to cover over the effects of decay: we buy expensive chemicals for our wrinkling skin; we dye our greying hair; we put foundation on our blotchy skin. But this passage in 1 Corinthians 15 is saying decay is a reality. We cannot put it off.
We would do well to not push this truth away—to not ‘dye’ it away or Botox it away. We can certainly mourn our ageing, but we must acknowledge it. We can keep using those beauty products if we like, but let’s never forget that we are decaying and there is a better body waiting for us in the new creation. And that one will never age.
A personal confession: When I was in my early forties I was playing in a netball competition. It was B grade level, and I was playing with girls as young as 16. My own daughter was one of them. I was quite proud of the fact that I could keep up with the fast-paced game of vigorous 16-year olds, until one Saturday I tripped and sustained a nasty compound fracture of both bones in my arm. I was in hospital for 10 days on an IV drip. I had plenty of time to reflect on my thinking, my motives, my decisions, my behaviour, and I came to the conclusion I was using netball to stave off the inevitable truth that I was getting old. For me it was a turning point. I realised that, rather than fearing the inevitable, I should be trusting my Father to take me through this unsettling chapter of my life.
One of my great heroes of the faith is Joni Earekson. I feel somewhat of a bond with her: we were born 3 weeks apart and we both became Christians around the age of 15. I didn’t know of her then but heard of her a couple of years later when at the age of 17 she dived into a lake, hit the bottom and severed her spinal cord and instantly became a quadriplegic. She was paralysed from the shoulders down, without use of her arms, torso or legs.
That was 1967. She is now 71, so she has been totally immobilised in a wheelchair for 54 years, wholly dependent on an army of helpers for every need.
Listen to what she says. “This wheelchair helps me see that the good things in this life are only omens and foreshadowing of more glorious, grand, great things to burst on the scene when we walk into the other side of eternity [...] 1 Corinthians 15 is a great encouragement to me. I can’t wait for the day when I’m given my brand-new glorified body. I’m going to stand up, stretch, dance, kick, do aerobics, comb my own hair, blow my own nose, but what is so poignant is that I’ll finally be able to wipe away my own tears, but I won’t need to, because the Bible tells us in the book of Revelation that God will personally wipe away every tear. There will be no more need to cry.” [1]
[1] http://www.joniearecksontadastory.com/jonis-story-page-3/
Lesley Ramsay has been in local church ministry with her husband, Jim, for 47 years. After university she trained as a teacher and then raised four children. Over the past 30 years she has worked as a Bible teacher and evangelist across Australia and overseas. She has written and edited several books and training packages that are sold and used internationally. She now works at Moore College in Sydney, in pastoral care to the students. To relax, she enjoys a good coffee and a good book and hanging out with her grandchildren.