Sown in Weakness, Raised in Power

As a pastor I often get asked what the resurrected body is like. The only way I can answer that question is by Scripture. Being a minister doesn’t place me in some type of privileged position by which I receive “insider” information from God. I have access to the very same source of information you have—the Bible. The only “privilege” I have is God has allowed be the opportunity to study the Bible as my vocation and has given me the “privilege” to share with you what I have learned. So lets turn to the only source we have—the Bible. Please turn to 1 Corinthians 15:36-49 in your Bibles or turn your attention to our projection system as I read.

As you turn there, let me give you this introduction:

I am going to preach from the earlier verses of 1 Corinthians 15 at our 10:50 service, but for now, just know that there were some in Corinth who were denying the resurrection. The majority of the believers in Corinth were gentile Greeks and from their cultural background they found the resurrection of the death not only improbable, but undesirable! The great hope of the Greeks was to be freed from the physical body, not to have it resurrected!

It is in that context Paul writes:

1 Corinthians 15:36–49 ESV

You foolish person! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. And what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare kernel, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain. But God gives it a body as he has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body. For not all flesh is the same, but there is one kind for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish. 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. 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. So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual. The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. 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. Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.

As you can see, throughout this passage Paul gives a series of comparisons and contrasts between our current natural bodies and our future supernatural bodies. The heart of this comparison and contrast is found in verses 42-44. He speaks of the body being like a seed that is sown in the ground, dies and then raises to a new life as a plant. The first comparison and contrast is found in verse 42.

Sown Perishable, Raised Imperishable (vs. 42)

Sickness, injury, decay and aging are such a part of our lives that we have a hard time imagining life without them. Even in the womb we are not immune to genetic defects or the effects of drug and alcohol abuse. Just this week it was reported that 76 infants were born last year in Greene County suffering from withdrawal from some type of controlled substance.

The resurrected body is no longer subject to physical sickness, injury, decay or aging. We marvel at the softness of a newborn’s skin, but even an infant can get dry skin. When we have our resurrected bodies we will for the first time have perfect skin and it will remain perfect for all eternity!

What this means is all the sadness that is caused by sickness, injury, decay and aging will also be a thing of the past. In his vision of the New Heaven and New Earth, John writes:

Revelation 21:4 ESV

He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

The second comparison and contrast is found in verse 43:

Sown in Dishonor, Raised in Honor (vs. 43a)

In saying that our present bodies are dishonorable, Paul is not saying that our present bodies are evil. The Greeks believed that the body was evil and that a person will only be perfected when they are free from the physical realm. We see this influence reflected in Colossians 2.

Colossians 2:21–23 ESV

“Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” (referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to human precepts and teachings? These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.

What these terms refer to the physical attractiveness of our outward appearance. Our resurrected bodies will be gloriously beautiful beyond our wildest imagination. In His resurrection appearances Jesus apparently vailed His physical glory, but in the book of Revelation, the Apostle John saw Jesus in His full glory and when he did, he was so overcome that he fell to the ground as though dead! (Rev. 1:17)

As a minister, I have never served churches in the community I grew up in. The elderly members for whom I have officiated at their funeral services where all people I did not know as young men or women. When I go to their viewing and see pictures of them as young men and women I am always struck by how handsome and beautiful they were when they were younger! Time and the aging process rob us of our physical beauty, but even at it peak our present physical beauty is but a dim shadow of what it will be!

They say that the human body reaches its peak between the ages of 30 and 33. I think it is no accident that this is exactly the age that Jesus was when he died and rose again. When we are resurrected Scripture tells us that we will be like Jesus.

1 John 3:2 ESV

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.

We are not going to spend eternity in the immature bodies of a child or the frail bodies of the elderly, but in the gloriously perfect body of our prime!

This leads us to the third comparison and contrast:

Sown in Weakness, Raised in Power (vs. 43b)

All the things I have said about our present bodies have pointed to their weakness—they are just not made to last. But there is more to our weakness than just this—we get tired and are limited in what we can do.

Have you ever considered that you will spend at least a third of your life asleep! Our years on this earth are so few, yet God has designed our bodies in such a way that we need to sleep one third of our lives! Why has He done this?

There is a number of answers to that question, but surely one of them is to create within us a longing for more. This life is good, but does not want us to become too satisfied with this life. Be thankful, but be hungry for a better life!

In His resurrection appearances we have already spoken of Jesus ability to change his physical appearance, but we also learn that He had the ability to enter and exit from a locked room. That He could instantly move from one location to another. These are the abilities of super heroes! Jesus is the Real Superman and someday we will all be Supermen and Superwomen!

Isn’t it encouraging that our elderly Christian brothers and sister who in this life are at their weakest mentally and physically are at the very doorstep of becoming Supermen and Superwomen!

As a boy I was promised in a Saturday morning cartoon commercial that if I could convince my parents to purchase for me PF Fliers I could “run faster and jump higher”! Now I know better. I don’t need new shoes, I need a new body and a new body is what we will all get at the resurrection!

The final comparison and contrast is found in verse 44:

Sown in a Natural Body, Raised a Spiritual Body (vs. 44)

Just as “dishonor” and “honor” in verse 43 is often misunderstood, so “natural” and “spiritual” is misunderstood in verse 44. The Greek work our Bibles translate “natural” comes from the root word “psyche.” It refers to the animating force that keeps our bodies alive. Thus the contrast is between bodies that are animated by earthly biological forces and bodies animated by the power of the Holy Spirit.

This being the case, our resurrected bodies are not like that of angels. We will not spend eternality as immaterial spirits, rather we will spend eternity in real physical bodies! The difference being we will be animated by the power of the Holy Spirit!

This truth explains why the first three truths we have learned about today are true. We are imperishable because we are animated by the Holy Spirit. We are glorious because we are animated by the Holy Spirit. We are powerful because we are animated by the Holy Spirit.

This emphases on the Holy Spirit explains why the rest of the New Testament speaks of believer’s already experiencing the power of the resurrection in their lives. We have been “crucified with Christ” (Gal 2:20), we have “died” (Rom. 6:2), been “raised” (Eph 2:6), we are “new creations” (2 Cor. 5:17) and we live by the same “power” that raised Jesus from the death (Eph 1:19)! This is why Paul calls the Holy Spirit a “seal” guaranteeing our inheritance (2 Cor 1:22 & Eph 1:14).

That does all this mean for us?

First, the current weak and perishable state we suffer in our bodies now is only temporary. I know the sufferings and sorrows seem like long endless night sometimes, but remember a dawn is coming which ushers in a day on which the Sun never sets!

Second, the best is yet to come. In this life our “best” quickly fads, but at our weakest we are on the verge of supernatural power and glory!

Third, because you have received the Holy Spirit, don’t wait to start living by the resurrection power! Don’t limit yourselves to the “natural” powers that animate you, live by the power of the Holy Spirit! Our passage ended in these words:

1 Corinthians 15:47–49 ESV

The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. 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. Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.

Stop living like Adam and start living like Christ! The same power that raised Jesus from the died is now at work within you! Right now our bodies may still be weak, but our spirits can be strong beyond our wildest imaginations!