"Unrecognizable"

 "For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward: for the memory of them is forgotten." (Ecclesiastes 9:5 KJV)

  "Before the way of faith in Christ was available to us, we were placed under guard by the law. We were kept in protective custody, so to speak, until the way of faith was revealed. Let me put it another way. The law was our guardian until Christ came. It protected us until we could be made right with God through faith. And now that the way of faith has come, we no longer need the law as our guardian. For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus." (Galatians 3:23-26 NLT)

 Before you start wondering what this title, 'unrecognizable', might be getting at or where it might be going, let me tell you that nobody that is alive can tell you that they have recognized death. I know that there are some who say they have died and came back, having experienced bright lights or dark holes; whatever it is that they went through, they didn't experience death. 

 Jewish custom says that a person isn't really dead till after three days, as they believe the soul of a person that is dead will hang around the body, hoping to be restored. But then, after that, on the fourth day they give up and end up in hell, or wherever they the soul is destined to go.

 Jesus waiting to go to Lazaras was probably based upon this Jewish tradition, as He arrived to call him out of the tomb on the fourth day after he had died. We can see this mentioned by Martha, after Jesus told them to roll away the stone: "Lord, he has been dead for four days. The smell will be terrible." (John 11:39) 

 What I believe we can see from Solomon's illustration, is that the only thing we can take for certain is death will come, in one form or another, everyone living body will die. Yes, every living body, even those who will never die, still don't go into glory with this temporary body. That dead body will be no more, it is basically part of this earth and will remain part of this earth.   

 The point about having no more reward, basically means that it will decompose, no more care or sustenance needed; nothing but decay and rot to look forward too. There have been so many different ways people have tried to preserve the body; but that dead body isn't coming back...

"For our dying bodies must be transformed into bodies that will never die; our mortal bodies must be transformed into immortal bodies. Then, when our dying bodies have been transformed into bodies that will never die, this Scripture will be fulfilled: "Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?" For sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power. But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ." (1 Corinthians 15:53-57 NLT)