Going back to the passage in question,
1Jn 3:2 Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.
it seems obvious to me that John is expecting some sort of transformation into a type of existence that allows for appearing and disappearing (unlike one that is defined by the reassembly of dirt into our old flesh bodies). How that transformed type of body works as a matter of physics is beyond me. Keep in mind that this was written in the scientific terms of the day. For us, their assumptions about physics is irrelevant since we have proven that they were wrong. If the New Testament writers were doing so today I'm sure they'd be talking in string theory, etc. (but then 1,000 years from now I'm sure that those scientists would laugh at their conclusions). So, my point is that the writers of the New Testament were attempting to describe what was going on from a very limited scientific frame of reference that we now know is false. Since they were groping for ways to explain what had been revealed to them using the limited scientific vocabulary available to them at the time, I don't think it will get us anywhere to try to categorically explain how the physics of such things (heaven, resurrection, etc.) will actually work. In other words, it's a mystery and will remain so.
Doug
The flesh is weak
Re: The flesh is weak
Okay. Thanks, Doug, for your explanation.