The glorious body which the Christian will put on is decribed as being incorruptible:

"Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality" (1 Cor.15:51-53).

Here are Peter's words were he is describing the same thing:

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you" (1 Pet.1:3-4).

Peter is referring to the "incorruptile" body that the Christian will put on at the rapture. He says that it will not fade away. And in the following verse he makes it plain that the Christian will receive this incorruptible body when the Lord Jesus appears:

"And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away" (1 Pet.5:4).

This "crown of glory" refers the "glorious" body which the Christian will put on at the rapture, a body just like the Lord Jesus' "glorious" body:

"For our citizenship is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall change our lowly body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself" (Phil.3:20-21).

The Apostle Paul tells Christians that the appearance of the Lord can happen at any moment:

"For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body...The Lord is at hand " (Phil.3:20-21; 4:5).

The words "at hand" are translated from the Greek verb, eggus, and that word means "Of time; concerning things that are imminent and soon to come to pass " (Thayer's Greek English Lexicon).

James uses the words "draweth nigh" to describe the return of the Lord Jesus:

"Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord...for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh " (Jms. 5:7-8).

The words "draweth nigh" are translated from the Greek word eggizo, and the root of that word is eggus, which means imminent.

If the teaching contained in the epistle of James has its primary application during the tribulation then James would not be telling these believers that the coming of the Lord Jesus could happen at any moment, and that is because the Lord Jesus taught that before He would return to sit upon David's throne there would first be signs seen in the sky:

"Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light...and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory" (Mt.24:29; Lk.21:25-27).

Those who received the Jewish epistles were waiting for the glorious appearing of the Lord Jesus, and they, just like the Gentile believers, expected that His appearance could happen at any moment.

The saints living in the first century were expectant that the Lord Jesus could appear at any moment, and they believed that when he did appear they would be "made like Him":

"Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed" (1 Cor.15:51-52).

The Apostle John tells the Jewish Christians that at that time they did not know what they shall be but when the Lord Jesus appears then they will "be like Him":

"Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is" (1 Jn.3:2).

As mentioned before, the Jewish Christians were taught that the Lord Jesus could appear at any moment. And these Christians were also taught that when He appears that those still living "shall be like Him," meaning that they would also have glorious bodies like His glorious body. The Scriptures will be searched in vain for any teaching that the saints who remain alive at the Lord Jesus' coming to set up His kingdom will be changed at His return.

Those who received John's epistles had never seen the Lord in His glorious body ("it doth not yet appear what He shall be") but they were taught that when He appears that they "will see Him as He is" and that they "shall be like Him." And in the following verse Peter used the term "crown of glory" to describe the glorious body which the Christian will put on at the rapture:

"And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away" (1 Pet.5:4).

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you" (1 Pet.1:3-4).

Pastor Sadler offers the following commentary on 1 Peter 1:4:

"While the promise of the kingdom was paramount in the mind of most Jews, Peter seems to lay special emphasis on the greater promises of the resurrection and eternal life, all of which were being 'reserved' for them in heaven" (Sadler, "The Life and Letters of the Apostle Peter; Part III," The Berean Searchlight, April, 2000, p.12).

According to him the things "reserved in heaven" for the Jewish believers were "the resurrection" and "eternal life." In the following verses Paul refers to the resurrected body which is reserved in heaven for all those in the Body of Christ:

"So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption... It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body... as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly" (1 Cor.15:42,44,49).

The Christian will "bear the image of the heavenly" when he puts on his new, glorious heavernly body at the rapture. This is the same body which Paul compares to a "house," and he speaks of that house as being from heaven (2 Cor.5:2).

Pastor Sadler also says that "eternal life" is one of the things which is reserved in heaven for the Jewish believers who received the Jewish epistles. However, the Apostle John tells these same believers that they already possess eternal life:

"And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son" (1 Jn.5:11).