In 1 Corinthians 15 Paul even tells us what our resurrection bodies are going to be like. And let's just say it is absolutely glorious and should leave us hope filled. But before we get to the description of the resurrection body, let's get some context.
Context
The people within Corinth were denying a physical resurrection
body. They were saying that Christ had been raised from the dead, but that we
will not be raised from the dead. This is why Paul says, “Now if Christ is proclaimed
as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection
of the dead” (1 Cor. 15:12)? Those in Corinth could not wrap their minds around
the fact that we are going to have a physical resurrection body because the belief of their day was that the flesh was evil, and that the spirit was good. Therefore, they believed that death was the moment their
spirit was liberated from this evil flesh so that it could then go into heaven
to be with Jesus forever.
Throughout 1 Corinthians 15, Paul is destroying their
unbiblical thinking! He begins by saying that the most important aspect of his teaching
was that Christ died for our sins, was buried, and then resurrected bodily (1
Cor. 15:3). Then he shows the Corinthians that many people witnessed Christ’s
resurrection body (1 Cor. 15:5-9). He moves from there to explain to them that
if there is no resurrection of the dead then not even Christ has been raised from
the dead, and that if Christ is not raised from the dead then everything we do
is in vain (1 Cor. 15:12-19). That would be absolutely dreadful!
Praise God that this is not the case though. Christ most
certainly rose from the dead and because of that we too will rise from the
dead. He is the first-fruits of the resurrection. So, Christ first and then we
who are in Christ later on (1 Cor. 15:20-23). Then Paul pretty much says, “Since
my resurrection is absolutely tied to the resurrection of Christ, I risk my
life every single day for Christ’s sake, and so should you, so, wake up
Corinthians” (1 Cor. 15:30-34)!
After this, Paul is supposing that there is going to be some
wise guy among the Corinthians that will ask a question at this point saying, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come? How
in the world does a rotten and decayed corpse resurrect? That would be a bit ridiculous
and horrifying!” (1 Cor. 15:35). Paul responds, “You foolish person! This is
not far-fetched so quit talking like it would be! This kind of thing happens
all the time. What you sow does not come to life unless it dies” (1 Cor.
15:36).
Then Paul
gives the Corinthians a lesson in agriculture. He basically tells them to go
to the farmer and watch him sow seed. That seed he sows goes into the ground
where it then dies and begins to decay, and from that decay comes a beautiful
harvest! So, that stock of wheat that sprouts from the ground comes from the
seed you sowed. Therefore, there is continuity between the seed and the stock
of wheat. However, there is difference as well. That wheat sure looks different
than the seed. And this is how the resurrection works. Our current body is the
seed, and the resurrection body is what this body will be. There will be
continuity. I will be Philip! It will be this body that I am in as I am typing
this blog. However, there will be a difference. The body that is to be will be
way better than this current body!
1 Cor. 15:42 “What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable.”
Now many of us do not think about this body that we
currently have as being perishable, but I am telling you, your body is
perishable. The older you get the more this verse will resonate with you. You
might begin having a receding hair line, your teeth will begin to decay, and your
bones will begin to ache. Some of you, undoubtedly, will be diagnosed with a
terminal disease that makes your body wither like a fall leaf as it approaches
winter. And those of you who are most healthy, and remain relatively healthy,
will ultimately breathe your last breath and be lowered six feet beneath the
surface of the earth with the rest of the dead. And even after that, your body
will continue to perish as worms and maggots feast on your flesh until nothing
but bone is left. This is how God has made this earthly body that we have. He
has sown a body that is perishable.
However, this perishable body that we have will be
resurrected as an imperishable body. It will be a body that will never notice
the beginning of a receding hair line and never feel the effects of a rotting
tooth. This resurrection body will have ears that never lose their capacity to hear. You will never have to hear a doctor as he gives a
diagnosis for a terminal disease. This imperishable body will never see a
coffin again, nor will it ever have to frequent a cemetery. It will never have to mourn
at the loss of a loved one. No, God is going to give us a body that will be
imperishable. And after 10,000 years of enjoying perfect fellowship with Jesus
and other believers on the New Earth in this imperishable body, we will look as
we first did when we rose up out of the grave. As Spurgeon puts it, “In
heaven every nerve of the new body shall cry, ‘Immortality.’”
1 Corinthians 15:43 “It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory.”
So this body is dishonorable. It has lost its state of honor
and dignity. This has come about because of Adam’s sin in the beginning. And to
get an idea of just how dishonorable this body is, think about this: God gave
us this body to honor him, but we have used it to perpetually sin against him. In
perpetually sinning against him, we waged war against Him with the very body he
gave us. Then, while we were at enmity with him, God, in His great
love for us, reconciled us to Himself through the life, death, and resurrection
of Christ. And even after He justified us, adopted us, and placed His Holy
Spirit in us, we still sinned against him. Then, after years and years of
walking with Christ and progressively being made holy by the Spirit, we will continue
to commit sins against our heavenly Father. Sadly, even up to the moment of
death, we are going to be dishonoring God with some type of sin. This body is sown
in dishonor.
However, this dishonorable body is going to be raised a
glorious body that does not even conceive of sinning against our Heavenly Father or our blessed Savior. Rather, we are going radiate with the glory of God. We are going shine like
the brightness of the sky above, like the stars in the heavens (Dn. 12:3). And
like Christ said, “The righteous will shine like the sun in the
kingdom of their father” (Mt. 13:43). This dishonorable body that will return
to dust, will rise forth like the morning sun radiating the glory of God
forever more. As John Newton says in his hymn:
When we’ve been there ten thousand years
Bright shining as the sun.
We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise
Then when we’ve first begun
1 Corinthians 15:43 “It is sown in
weakness; it is raised in power.”
This body that God has sown is also weak. We get wearied and
tired easily. We run a mile and are worn out. We put in a day’s worth of work and
need to go to bed. We study for a test and we get mentally exhausted. Another
aspect of this is that we seek to work hard, our bodies get tired, and we end up
injuring something. We play baseball, get hit by a pitch, and end up
bruising. And when we are near the end of this life, we are so weak that we
cannot take care of our self. Other people have to tend to us. And the ultimate
weakness of this body is most evident when we die, for we cannot even bury
ourselves, our family and friends must do it for us!
But this weak body that God has sown is going to be raised
up a powerful body. You will be able to run miles upon miles without growing weary.
You will be able to work for years upon years without growing faint. In all
your endeavors, you will neither wear out nor give out. Your body will be able
to do anything that your mind conceives of. If your mind looks at the highest
mountain and desires to climb it, your body will prove to be powerful enough to
do it. If your mind looks down into a deep valley and desires to scale it, your
body will prove powerful enough to do it. And after you do all that your mind
conceives of, your body will be ready to go again. Exhaustion and fatigue will be
a foreign concept to one who’s body has been raised in power!
1 Corinthians 15:44 “It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.”
Now the meaning of this is best revealed in the next few
verses, but for the sake of time I just want to sum up what is being said here.
The body that we have now is a natural body. It is like Adam’s body in every
way. What that means is that this natural body is made for this earth. So, we
can put it like this, the natural body is made for the natural realm. Though
this body works for us here, it will not work for us in the life that is to come when we
are on the New Earth.
So this is the resurrection body that God has
promised to his people. Therefore, if you are a child of God, this is the
resurrection body that you are guaranteed by a loving God who cannot lie! With that in mind, think about this quote from Thomas Watson, “The body shall rise again; we are
not so sure to rise out of our beds—as we are to rise out of our graves.”
Application
There are many ways to apply this. Paul
applies this passage beautifully in verse 58 when he says, “Therefore, my
beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the
Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.” So, in other words,
if this is the truth about the resurrection of the dead, you should always be overflowing
in good works that bring glory to God and honor to Christ.
But I want to apply this with a story
from church history that I think is incredibly powerful. Martin Luther, the
German reformer, had a little 14-year-old daughter named Magdalena that he
loved dearly. As a plague was making its way through Germany, Magdalena was
stricken with it. This was one of the lowest points in Luther’s life. Watching
his little 14-year-old daughter suffer from this deadly plague was hard for
him. He was constantly petitioning God to take away her pain. And then, one
day, the Lord did just that by way of death. His little girl breathed her last
breath, and Magdalena went home to her Heavenly Father while her earthly father
wept by her bedside. Luther was absolutely devastated, but he still had an incredible
hope. And that hope was in the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead. For,
when the carpenters were nailing down the lid of Magdalena’s coffin, he
screamed, “Hammer away! On doomsday she’ll rise again.” You see, Luther knew that, because of Christ's resurrection, Magdalena's cold, lifeless body was also going to rise up an imperishable, glorious, powerful, and spiritual body with every nerve shouting immortality! Such is the hope that the resurrection of the dead brings.
