Our Resurrection Body

The Baptist Roger Williams founded Rhode Island, and did so as a refuge of religious freedom. That's important now, but it was apparently so unimportant back then that when Williams died in 1683 he was shoveled into an unmarked grave, in the corner of the yard John Brown, founder of Brown University Nearly 200 years passed before someone decided to dig him up and give him a proper burial. That was in 1860, and that's when the problems started

In 1860, the people of Providence decided to create a suitable memorial to the founder. They dug They did some digging, and found 'greasy earth'" (a hint that a body had been there) and they also found something else. An apple tree root.

The root had entered the coffin. It curved where Roger's head should have been and entered the chest cavity, growing down the spine. It branched at the two legs, and then upturned into feet!

The tree root looked as if it had taken on the form of Roger Williams. It had traveled the length of Williams's body, splitting at the hips, bending at the knees and turning up at the feet.

So how will Roger be resurrected if his body was the food that nourished the apple tree as it grew and produced apples. What about those who ate the apples, they were feasting on Roger.

How does God resurrect those who have turned to dust.

There are 2 questions asked in v. 35

The How Question —

How are the dead raised?”

The easy answer is God can do it.

The answer is in v. 36

The What Question —

“And with what kind of body do they come?”

The answer is in vs. 37-49

“How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?””

The Requirement of the Resurrection (36-38)

1 Corinthians 15:36 -38 “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.”

Paul uses the analogy of the seed to correct two common errors:

1) That the resurrection body will be identical to the one that was buried.

2) That the resurrection body will be completely unrelated to the original.

First we see.

Death is Necessary

Death is a necessary part of the process.

Far from being an obstacle to resurrection, death is essential to it.

You can put that in the form of an axiom: Nothing that has never died shall ever be raised from the dead.

Obviously if it is going to be raised from the dead it has to die.

Therefore, death is not an obstacle to resurrection.

It is an ingredient of it and necessary to it.

To balk at the fact that people die and the body loses its ability to function and its form and consistency as a body,

ought never to be any hindrance to believing that life will emerge from it.

The body must die just as the seed must die.

This is a really clear, powerful and helpful analogy or illustration.

The seed is put into the ground.

Any seed, every seed is put into the ground and it dies,

it dies, it decomposes in the ground.

And out of that decomposed seed comes a resurrection life.

A plant rises, and that plant is a very different kind of body than the seed.

Changed to be different yet the same.

The second lesson that nature teaches us is this:

The body that emerges from the seed that dies is different from the one that was planted.

Put a grain of wheat or a kernel of corn into the ground and what comes up?

Another grain of wheat or another kernel? No!

What comes up is a green stem which does not look at all like what you put into the ground.

In fact, you could never tell by looking at the seed what the resurrected body of the plant will look like.

You couldn’t tell by looking at the plant what the seed would look like either.

There is dissolution, and then there is difference, but at the same time, there is continuity; one dies, and in dying gives life.

It is very different than what it produces.

The seed is dissolved, decomposed, then it rises again, and there is a vast difference, a vast difference.

In fact, we understand that massive trees come from one tiny seed.

Plant a pine cone, (we pick up what seemed like thousands of pine cones form our yard this week) you get a tall pine, not another cone.

Plant acorn and you get an oak tree.

Now the corn plant, the pine tree, the oak tree all are different

Nevertheless it is tied to it; it is continuous from it; it has an identity with it.

There is an undeniable tie with that which you put into the ground, and yet it is not the same; it is the “same” without being similar.

The difference is not only in the shape of it, but in the volume of it, in the characteristics of it.

It is the same seed out of which comes the same genetic life

basically driven by the same genetic code in the cells of the seed,

and yet the body that comes from the seed is utterly unlike the body of the seed itself.

This is the analogy, So it is, in our case,

our bodies will be buried and as they dissolve and disintegrate into the ground,

God will cause us to rise again in a different form;

but the fruit remains in that it will be the same person,

changed by death and resurrection,

but the same life, the same person coming forth in a different form.

How the ressurection happen, we must die then we are changed.

The Result of the Resurrection (39-49)

Our Bodies will be Diverse and Distinguishable

1 Corinthians 15:39-41 “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.

illustrations from the earth, ( Humans, reptiles, and birds all have different flesh and covering)

illustrations from astronomy ( Eve though the stars look the same form here they are all different temperatures and different colors. )

show us there can be bodies that God designs without limit,

and that every single body is different than every other one.

every flower is a flower that is unique.

Every animal is an animal that is unique.

Every Star is unique

It’s incredible to realize the massive, incomprehensible, creative power of God.

No two people are alike,

no two plants are alike,

no two animals are alike,

no two flowers are alike,

no two blades of grass are alike;

so also is the resurrection of the dead.

We’re not going to be resurrected as cookie cutter kind of clones,

we’re going to be who we are uniquely.

As one body differs from another,

so the resurrection body of the believer will differ from this body, that’s what he said.

And we will also be diverse.

And there is the possibility that in the resurrection we will be unique; that’s the second point that he’s making.

That is to say your human personality, your personhood will not be wiped out,

it will be preserved forever in perfection,

but with its distinctives and with its differences.

Just as you differ from everybody else now, you will then,

just as you are you now, you will be then,

so that you will know each other in heaven.

You say, “Well, will we recognize each other?”

t won’t be a matter of recognition, it’ll be a matter of innate knowledge,

because there will be nothing that you don’t know;

you will know as you are known.

So the form, not a problem for God, not a problem for God; He can prepare a body.

A Body that is different, but carries some our same characteristics.

Different and diverse, and Distinguishable but the same..

Our Bodies will be Drastically Different

Meaning: Majestic, exalted, grand

Undefiled, decontaminate disinfected form sin...

1 Corinthians 15:42-44 “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.”

I love the epitaph that Benjamin Franklin wrote for himself while still a young man. It wonderfully catches the spirit of Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 15.

The body of B. Franklin, printer,

(like the cover of an old book, its contents torn out and stripped of its lettering and gilding)

lies here, food for worms.

But the work shall not be lost;

for it will (as he believed)

appear once more,

in a new and more elegant edition,

revised and corrected

by the Author.

Paul gives us In four clauses, each repeating the verbs it is sown … it is raised how glorious, transformed our new bodies will be.

No more sickness and death (“perishable”)

What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable

The Authorized Version used to say, “Sown in corruption, raised in incorruption.”

The whole of life for man from the cradle to the grave is in this fear of corruption.

What does that mean?

It means that the first breath you take is the beginning of your dying.

This is corruption, dust to dust. The moment you’re born you begin to die.

Corruption begins to function and operate. It is a property of man’s earthly body.

Corruption is here to stay, we cannot get rid of it. it is what defines us as human.

We are in the process of corruption.”

We live in this fear of corruption.

Something will take us out sooner or later.

But there is a raising. Go back then to verse 42: “It is sown a perishable, or corrupt, body.” Literally it says,

“There is a raising of an imperishable or incorruptible body.”

So resurrection life is not just bringing back, like Lazarus , some corruptible body, to die again,

but it is raising an incorruptible body, that will never ever experience sickness, decay, or death

No more Cancer, No more Dementia, no more strokes, no more Covid, no more colds, no more eye glasses....

No more shame because of sin (“dishonor”)

43 It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory.

There is a sowing in dishonor.

This is the dishonor of death, this is the dishonor of dying.

No matter how intelligent you are,

no matter how handsome you are,

no matter how brilliant you are,

no matter how successful you are,

no matter how much you’ve accomplished, you begin to show signs of dishonor, corruption.

Sin takes its toll, and all your beauty and youth and brilliance and strength and power and influence begin to fade;

and you go from whatever honor you received to dishonor.

And if you ever wonder about that, just go visit a home for old people and see some of the brightest and the most honorable people in a state of utter dishonor.

Sin is ultimately going to dishonor us.

We all get there, unless our life is snatched away before.

It’s going to turn us into something that needs to be removed from society and put away and locked up. Human life eventually becomes dishonorable in that sense, in the bodily sense.

“But” – says Paul – “it is raised in glory, it is raised in glory.”

What does that mean? In the picture of that, Matthew 17, transfiguration glory of Christ.

It is raised in radiant glory. It is raised in the full manifestation of divine creation intention

We will be like Adam would have been if he had never sinned.

We will be glorified. Romans 8, he says that: “Whom He has chosen, He justified and He glorified.”

When we come out of the grave there will be no dishonor.

We will be everything God created mankind to be,

full human glory,

radiating even the glory of God shining through our redeemed and resurrected humanity.

No more failing in temptation (“weakness”)

It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power.

we are sown like a seed in weakness, raised in power.

Nothing is weaker than a dead body.

We are even weak when we are alive.

We get weaker as life goes on.

We’re subject to disease, heartache, failure, injury.

We can’t fulfill our dreams, we can’t fulfill our desires,

we can’t conquer our weaknesses,

we can’t overcome our temptations.

Finally in death, we are utterly helpless.

We are sown then in weakness. Nothing weaker than a dead body.

But we are raised in power, raised in power.

When we are raised there will be no weakness. We will be raised, possessing eternal power, divine power, the power that is generated in and through us by the very life of God in us.

No more the sting of defeat.

No more the bitterness of disappointment.

No more the shame of failure.

No more the impossibility of certain accomplishments and efforts.

We will live in a sphere of power and triumph and victory.

We will live in a sphere that will has nor presence of sin. Sin will be deafened for good.

No more limits to the time/space sphere (“natural”)

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.”

And summing in verse 44: “It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there’s a natural body, there’s also a spiritual body.” Natural means pertaining to the flesh. Natural means pertaining to this life. It has to do with the present life, it’s the natural man, 1 Corinthians 2:14. That’s what this body is for. When we go into the grave, we go sowing – that body is being sown as a natural body, a body designed to fit this present life.

As long as we live on earth we’re plagued by being natural, thus corruption, dishonor, and weakness.

That all is a part of sin, of course.

The natural body then is not suitable for the life to come;

it has to be sown, it has to die, so that another body can come forth,

not a natural body,

but that it be raised a spiritual body.

That is a body which is fit for the spiritual realm; not a spirit, but a body suited for the spiritual realm.

The body we have now is adapted to this lower place;

the body we receive in resurrection will be adapted to that higher place.

It is pneumatikon sóma, a body transformed by the life-giving power of the Holy Spirit and adapted for our new residence in heaven.

It will be a body of glory.

Glory means it’ll be a body where God’s manifestation will radiate from us.

We will possess divine life in every sense.

We will radiate the very glory of God.

Jesus is our prototype.

1 Corinthians 15:45-49 “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. 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.”

In the world. The way we are right now, we are built for this world.

When we die and we are raised, we're going to be built for a new world.

Implications of the Ressurection

Our body should be valued

If we are going to have a body that will be similar in eternity, then we must respect our body now.

Respect it, care for it.

Love it, with out it becoming an idol.

We must stay away form the Gnostic notion that the body is evil and only the soul is important.

Body and soul are important.

Respect how God formed and created you.

And by the way, God determines what that body is, verse 38: “God gives it a body just as He wished.”

It was God that said the acorn will look like an oak tree and be an oak tree.

It was God who said the seed of corn would become a stalk.

It was God who said a grain of wheat will become a shaft of wheat that looks like this.

Every seed produces its own plant because of God’s will, because of God’s design.

So it is with us.

We are created who we are to be.

God has created us to be who were are, Male and Female.

Buts sin has ravage that creation.

Cremation is not unbiblical.

If God created us out of duct, then he can resurrect us out of dust as well. Cremation just speeds up the process of our bodies returning to dust.

The Irony of the Resurrection:

God has made the incomprehensible comprehensible in Jesus.

Jesus reversed the cosmic order for his people!

In order to save his people,

Jesus, the only naturally imperishable one,

became perishable on their behalf.

Jesus the man of Heaven took on a body of dust in order that people who are made of dust might take on a heavenly body.

Jesus the imperishable became perishable that the perishable might become imperishable.

Jesus, the glorious one, experienced dishonor so that the dishonorable might experience glory.

Jesus, the powerful one, became weak so that the weak might become powerful.

Jesus who deserved life experienced death so that those who deserved death might experience new life.

Jesus, “the man of heaven” (v. 49), made himself a Son of Man—a man of the earth—

so that the sons of Adam, men of the earth, might become men of Heaven.

In this Jesus the natural and the supernatural come together.

The present and future converge. This is how individuals can be certain that “just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven” (v. 49).

If one belongs to Jesus, his or her future supernatural resurrection body is just as certain as his or her present natural body.

Christ is in us—we already have the DNA!

We are like a seed that will be planted and will sprout to counterintuitive, unexpected new life.[1]

[1] Um, S. T. (2015). 1 Corinthians: The Word of the Cross (R. K. Hughes, Ed.; pp. 277–278). Crossway.