As we have seen there were some in Corinth who objected to the idea of the resurrection of the body.
The Greeks thought that the body was an enemy of the soul.
It caused people to struggle with their emotions, and to be tempted, etc.
It brought physical pain and discomfort at times.
They believed that the body was a prison, and the soul was set free upon death.
That mindset had made its way into the church at Corinth.
With the unbelief in the resurrection of the body, there also came various reasons pre-suppositions of why the resurrection couldn’t be true.
People had objections as they tried to reason how such a thing could take place.
Paul sets out to give them answers concerning the resurrection of the dead.
NOTE- Let’s remember why this study on resurrection is important.
See verses 13-19
If there is no resurrection, then Jesus is dead and unable to help anyone, and Christianity is a sad delusion, and should not be embraced.
35 But someone will say, “How are the dead raised up? And with what body do they come?”
The objections came in the form of two questions.
- How is it possible that dead things are resurrected?
- In what form is the body resurrected?
36Foolish one, what you sow is not made alive unless it dies.
Paul answers the first question in verse 36.
He says that they are foolish.
That seems like a harsh thing to say.
He will show them that this process takes place all around them, all the time.
They have not stopped to consider that dead things are resurrected all around them.
God will teach them a simple lesson from nature, and in a way they can understand.
Paul goes on to speak about plant life.
Unless a seed is planted, and deteriorates, it does not bring forth the life that is contained inside of it.
In speaking of His own death, Jesus used this very example.
John 12:24 Mo st assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain.
This example of life coming forth from death was not something foreign to them.
In fact, it was so common, it wasn’t even questioned.
It was and is the norm for all of us.
Paul corrects them for thinking such a thing could not happen to our physical bodies.
37And what you sow, you do not sow that body that shall be, but mere grain—perhaps wheat or some other grain.
Paul now begins to answer their second question, which was…
“And with what body do they come?”
When a man plants a kernel of wheat, the last thing that emerges from the ground is something that actually resembles that which was planted.
First a shoot of green comes forth, then a stalk forms, then branches, and seed heads, and then lastly the wheat kernel comes forth.
He reminds them that they know this.
That which comes froth, does not exactly resemble that which was put into the ground.
38But God gives it a body as He pleases, and to each seed its own body.
He explains that God has a design.
God gives a body as He pleases.
Why would a man plant a grain of corn, and expect back only a grain of corn?
He wouldn’t. He expects back much more that a single kernel.
A large portion of the new plant does not resemble that which was planted.
Some of it is exactly the same, but much of it is different.
It is both different from the original, and the same as the original.
God gives to each different seed a corresponding body.
From Genesis chapter 1…
11 Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth”; and it was so. 12 And the earth brought forth grass, the herb that yields seed according to its kind, and the tree that yields fruit, whose seed is in itself according to its kind.
A corn kernel produces a corn stalk, complete with kernels.
An acorn produces an oak, which also has acorns.
NOTE- One of their problems was that they had nothing to compare the resurrection body to.
There has been only one resurrection body, and that was Jesus, who ascended to heaven, and wasn’t around for the Corinthians to investigate.
We can’t compare ourselves to the plant kingdom.
There is no resurrection in the animal kingdom. Nothing to compare to.
God gives to each kind, a body after it’s own kind.
If you have never seen a certain type of full-grown plant, you may have the seed in your hand, but it doesn’t give you the complete picture of the full grown plant. That does happen until harvest time.
I can’t tell the difference between many bulbous plants, i.e. daffodils, tulips, etc.
Especially when they are in the bulb stage.
But when they come forth, you can see them in their glory.
You see the uniqueness of each plant after it’s own kind.
Right now, our bodies are the seeds in hand, if you will.
We have nothing visible to compare the finished product with.
We only have a description of Jesus’ resurrection body from the Bible.
We have to wait until harvest time to see the full results of what the bodies will be like.
39All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of animals, another of fish, and another of birds.
Upon the earth, different kinds of flesh, each after it’s own kind.
Genesis 1… 21 So God created great sea creatures and every living thing that moves, with which the waters abounded, according to their kind, and every winged bird according to its kind.
24 Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth the living creature according to its kind: cattle and creeping thing and beast of the earth, each according to its kind”; and it was so. 25 And God made the beast of the earth according to its kind, cattle according to its kind, and everything that creeps on the earth according to its kind.
40There are also celestial bodies and terrestrial bodies; but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another.
Paul says that there are celestial bodies.
He speaks of the planets, the sun, moon, stars.
He speaks of terrestrial bodies, bodies of the earth.
Humans, animals, birds, fishes, reptiles.
Whether celestial or terrestrial, each body has it’s own function, beauty, and uniqueness.
An Olympic gymnast, the Hale-Bopp comet, and black tailed deer, a shark at Stinson Beach!
41There is one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for one star differs from another star in glory.
The sun gives light and life to our planet.
The moon affects the ocean’s tides.
Some stars are brighter than others, and we can navigate by them.
Stars differ in brightness and color.
Paul’s main point is to emphasize the variety and functions of the different bodies.
There are different structures of in the universe, and each is adapted to its own particular environment and needs
So also, our present bodies are adapted for the environments of time and earth; our resurrection bodies will be adapted to the environments of eternity and heaven
He now proceeds to convince of the vast difference between this earthly body that we now have, and the body that Christian will enjoy in heaven.
42So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption.
43It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power.
Corruption- that which is subject to corruption and destruction, what is perishable
Dishonor- dishonour, vile, shame, reproach, ignominy, disgrace
Glory- magnificence, excellence, preeminence, dignity, grace
Weakness- infirmity, weakness, disease, sickness, want of strength, weakness, infirmity of the body, frailty, feebleness of health or sickness
Power- mighty work, strength, might , virtue, mighty, ability,
inherent power, power residing in a thing by virtue of its nature, or which a person or thing exerts and puts forth
2 Cor 5:1-5
1 For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2 For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven, 3 if indeed, having been clothed, we shall not be found naked. 4 For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by life. 5 Now He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who also has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.
Consider both the wonder and the corruption of the human body.
See Fearfully and Wonderfully Made, pages 16-19, 57-59
44It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.
Paul has been describing differences, but this is the greatest contrast.
One body is natural, of the earth.
The other is spiritual, of the heavens.
We are going to bear the image of the heavenly.
1John 3:2 Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we shall be. We know that, when He appears, we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him just as He is.
One day, in the presence of God, we shall be like Him.
Phil. 3:20-21 For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself.
Our heavenly bodies will be conformed to His glory.
Glorified bodies like the Lord Jesus Christ possesses now.
Remember that after Jesus’ resurrection, we saw many things that His body enabled Him to do.
First of all, it was no longer subject to death .
When we are raised up in our glorified bodies, we have put on the imperishable. Death no longer has any hold on us.
Second, it is a physical body.
The best example we have of what a resurrection body will be like is to see what Jesus’ post-resurrection body was like
Jesus was able to touch people, and people could touch Him.
He ate with them, broke bread with them.
He showed that He had flesh and bones.
But it is also a supernatural body.
Jesus appeared and disappeared at will.
It was not bound by the laws of nature ( Luke 24:31 ; 36-37)
Supernatural transportation!
That is the body that we can look forward to, if we’ve been born again as His children into the kingdom of God.
45And so it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.
46However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, and afterward the spiritual.
47The first man was of the earth, made of dust; the second Man is the Lord from heaven.
48As was the man of dust, so also are those who are made of dust; and as is the heavenly Man, so also are those who are heavenly.
49And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man.
This is all summed up by understand that we bear a resemblance to the one from whom we have come forth.
All mankind has come froth from Adam, and so we bear a physical resemblance to his body.
Sickness, fatigue, and ultimately death.
But the Christian has been born again after the image and likeness of Jesus.
And so after our course of life in the likeness of Adam has come to an end, then our eternal body shall be made after the likeness of Jesus Christ.
50Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption.
51Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed—
52in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
So Paul having just told us about glorified, resurrected, changed bodies, reveals a mystery: even though every one of us that are saved will be changed — we will inherit a glorified, eternal body — not all of us are going to have to die to get it.
1Cor. 15:51 … We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed
What is Paul talking about?
How can we get to heaven and have eternal, glorified bodies without first dying?
Paul is revealing a mystery to us: the mystery that we call the rapture of the church. The Rapture.
There are many questions that surround it.
What is the rapture? Where will the rapture happen?
Who will be raptured? When is the rapture? And, why will the rapture happen?