The Resurrection Body

Studies in 1 Corinthians Series [39]1 Corinthians 15:35-49

May 3, 2015Pastor Paul K. Kim

RECAP: FOUR TRUTHS ABOUT THE RESURRECTION

• The resurrection is CENTRAL to the gospel.

• The resurrection is INDISPENSIBLE to our salvation.

• The resurrection is RADICAL in its effects on us and beyond.

• The resurrection is IMPACTFUL on our daily lives practically.

35 But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised?

With what kind of body do they come?” (v. 35)

WHAT KIND OF BODY WILL THE DEAD HAVE IN RESURRECTION?

1) SEED & PLANT: It will be different from the body sown in death just as the plant is different from the seed.

36 You foolish person! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. 37 And what you sow is not the body that is

to be, but a bare kernel, perhaps of wheat or of some other

grain. 38 But God gives it a body as he has chosen, and to

each kind of seed its own body. (vs. 36-38)

Apostle Paul calls the Corinthians’ skepticism and confusion about the resurrection body foolish. Why?

Even in nature, we can see this mysterious truth: A seed sown dies but it brings up a new life as a plant and crop.

The resurrection body is not the dead body resuscitated, but a new different body raised from what is sown, as God gives it.

WHAT KIND OF BODY WILL THE DEAD HAVE IN RESURRECTION?

2) FORM & GLORY: Just as God gives a variety of bodies to the creatures, it will be in a form of unique body that fits eternity.

39 For not all flesh is the same, but there is one kind for humans,

another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish. 40 There

are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is of

one kind, and the glory of the earthly is of another. 41 There is one glory

of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory

of the stars; for star differs from star in glory. (vs. 39-41)

There are many different bodies given by God’s choice for different fitting needs in earthly creatures—they are unique.

Moreover, heavenly creations have the forms/bodies that fit heavenly glory—they are also unique.

Likewise, our resurrection bodies will be given in Christ as an imperishable unique body fitting for eternal heavenly glory.

50 I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit

the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 

2 Corinthians 15:50 

WHAT KIND OF BODY WILL THE DEAD HAVE IN RESURRECTION?

3) SOWN & RAISED: What is sown is a natural mortal body, but what is raised will be a supernatural immortal body.

42 So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. 43 It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in

weakness; it is raised in power. 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. (vs. 42-44)

What is sown? It is perishable, in dishonor, in weakness, a natural body—sown in death.

What is raised? It will be imperishable, in glory, in power, a spiritual [supernatural] body—raised in resurrection.

This is the living hope we have in the risen Christ—we will have a glorious resurrection body that never dies!

WHAT KIND OF BODY WILL THE DEAD HAVE IN RESURRECTION?

4) FIRST ADAM & LAST ADAM: Adam is the one from whom we inherited our earthly bodies, but Christ is a life-giving spirit as the prototype of our resurrection bodies.

 45 Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”; 

the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. 46 But it is not the spiritual

that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual. 47 The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second

man is from heaven. (vs. 45-47)

WHAT KIND OF BODY WILL THE DEAD HAVE IN RESURRECTION?

4) FIRST ADAM & LAST ADAM: Adam is the one from whom we inherited our earthly bodies, but Christ is a life-giving spirit as the prototype of our resurrection bodies.

48 As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust,

and as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven.

 49 Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall

 also bear the image of the man of heaven. (vs. 48-49)

The first Adam was a mere living being—i.e., we have inherited from him a natural earthly body.

The last Adam, Christ, became a life-giving spirit—i.e., we will receive a supernatural spiritual body like his prototype body.

In all this, God’s sovereign purpose is to give the children of God a fitting body in the image of the Man of heaven, the Son.

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.1 John 3:2

 

Finding Such Incredible Hope!Can you imagine the hope this gives someone spinal cord-injured like me? Or someone who is cerebral palsied, brain-injured, or who has multiple sclerosis? Imagine the hope this gives someone who is manic depressive. No other religion, no other philosophy promises new bodies, hearts and minds. Only in the Gospel of Christ do hurting people find such incredible hope . . . Sitting there, I was reminded that in heaven I will be free to jump, dance, kick and do aerobatics. And although I'm sure Jesus will be delighted to watch me rise on tiptoe, there's something I plan to do that may please him more. If possible, somewhere, sometime before the party gets going, sometime before the guests are called to the banquet table at the Wedding Feast of the Lamb, the first thing I plan to do on resurrection legs is to drop on grateful, glorified knees. I will quietly kneel at the feet of Jesus.

― Joni Eareckson Tada

THREE PRACTICAL QUESTIONS FOR OUR EVERYDAY LIFE

1. What truth about the resurrection body is most encouraging to you? Why?

2. In what ways does the apostle Paul’s analogy of “seed and plant” help you understand the principle of resurrection?

3. What would it mean for you to live in the hope in Christ, the last Adam who will give you a new resurrected body?