Resurrection 101

 The boss asked a new-hire, "Do you believe in resurrection?" "Yes, I do," he answered. "Then I guess it's OK," his boss went on. "After you left work to go to your grandmother's funeral, yesterday, she stopped by to see you." That wasn't resurrection. What is? What do we believe? For too many of us, it's like a man in this story. Pastor was preaching about resurrection to English coal miners. He asked, "What do you believe?" A man answered, "I believe the same as the church." "What does the church believe?" "Well, they believe the same as me." Pastor saw he was getting nowhere. So, he asked, "And what is it you both believe?" "Well, I suppose the same thing." What should we believe? Let's take a deeper look at Paul's answer in 1 Cor 15:35-38, 42-50. 35aSomeone may ask, "How are the dead raised? The issue? Suppose a sailor dies & is buried at sea. Fish eat his body & absorb his molecules. Fisherman around the world then catch those fish & people eat them. Their bodies absorb the fish, further scattering those molecules. These people too will die, be buried, decompose into the soil. Years later, someone sow a crop on the grave. What grows will absorb their molecules. As others eat the crop, the cycle starts all over. How can the 1st person's body ever come together again? Even if the molecules could be gathered, 35bWhat kind of body will they come with?" What kind of body could they have? That's a natural objection. In reality? 36How foolish! What you sow doesn't come to life unless it dies. Pick a seed. Any kind. Unless you bury it, it remains a seed. But when you plant it... 37aWhen you sow, you don't plant the body that will be. What we plant is 37bJust a seed (perhaps wheat). Not its future body. Once planted, 38aGod gives it a body as He's determined. Wheat seeds only grow wheat. The wheat comes from the seed. But it's different. 38bTo each kind of seed God gives its own body. Each seed grows only the plant God designed for it. And each seed must be buried for that to happen. 42aSo it'll be with resurrection of the dead. Our bodies will die & be buried. Like seeds, 42bthe body that's sown is perishable. Like a buried seed, the body loses its original form. This far, the analogy holds. But a seed produces a plant will someday die. Our bodies won't. When our body is raised, it's something better. Our body 42cis raised imperishable. Eternal. 43aIt's sown in dishonor. This flesh inherited Adam's sin nature. 43bIt's raised in glory. Ro 8:18 & Col 3:4 show it's now hidden inside us & will be revealed at resurrection. A body 43cis sown in weakness. The instant our bodies gain adulthood, aging & decline start weakening them. Decline & decay continue until death. But 43dit's raised in power. Like Jesus' body. It can no longer decay. The point? 44aIt's sown a natural body. It's raised a spiritual body. Like Jesus. Let's look at another way. 44bIf there's a natural body, there's also a spiritual body. How so? 45aIt's written: "The 1st man Adam became a living being." Part of the 1st creation. The natural creation. The 1st Adam fell & sin entered the 1st creation. 45bThe last Adam, became a life-giving spirit. Notice the order. 46aThe spiritual didn't come 1st, but the natural. Only after comes the spiritual. This is a Biblical principle. We'll see it over & over. 1st the suffering. Then the glory. Our 1st birth is natural. Our 2nd birth is spiritual. God rejected our 1st birth. When Adam sinned, God rejected the natural. Therefore, in Jn 3:7, Jesus says, "You must be born again." A spiritual birth. Only after our natural birth. Scripture is full of examples. God rejected Cain, Adam's 1st-born. God rejected the natural. He chose the 2nd born, Abel. God chose the spiritual. God rejected Ishmael, 1stborn of Abraham. Natural. He chose Isaac, Abraham's 2nd-born. Spiritual. God rejected Esau, Isaac's 1st-born. Natural. God chose Jacob, Isaac's 2nd-born. Spiritual. Over & over, we see it in Scripture. God rejects the natural & accepts the spiritual. Our 1st birth is natural. It can't save us. Nor can its works save us. The body of our 1st birth is already condemned. To live, we must be born again. Once we're reborn, we become part of the spiritual order. 47aAdam, 1st man was of the dust of the earth. Earth is natural. Part of the 1st order. Fallen. Rejected. 47bJesus, the 2nd man was from heaven. The 2nd order. Spiritual. Eternal. Which do you want? 48aAs was the earthly man, Adam, so are those who are of the earth. From dust we came. To dust these bodies will return. That's the natural order. 48bBut as is the man from heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. Our new bodies will be of the spiritual realm. Jesus' realm. He's already preparing a place for us there. Ever since He returned to the Father's right hand. 49aIn this life, we've borne the likeness of the earthly man. 49bJust so in our future bodies we'll bear the likeness of the man from heaven, Jesus. The point? Our future body, our resurrection body, will finish Jesus' work of redemption. Until then, our recreation into Christ's image won't be complete. Only at resurrection does God finish remaking us into Christ's image. Until then, His work of transformation continues inside us. At resurrection, our bodies become as transformed as our inner selves. Both, finished. Complete. Forever. We'll have reached His goal. Here's the truth. 50aI declare to you, brothers & sisters, that flesh & blood can't inherit the KoG. Our flesh & blood is of the 1st order. The natural order. Like the entire natural order, it's perishable. 50bThe perishable does not inherit the imperishable. This entire order will someday be replaced by a new heaven & a new earth. Complete. Perfected. What have we & the church both believed about resurrection? What will our bodies be like? Like Jesus' body. Scripture says His disciples & friends didn't always recognize Him. At the tomb, in Jn 20:10-11, 14-15, Mary didn't recognize him. In Lk 24:13-16, Jesus walks to Emmaus with 2 disciples, about 7 miles. In those hours, they don't recognize Him. Look at Jn 21:1-4. Jesus stands on the shore of Galilee. The disciples fishing with Peter know Jesus, but none recognize Him. Each time, Jesus is the same person. But somehow, He looks different. Different enough that at 1st, even those closest to Him don't recognize Him. Just so, we'll be the same people. But somehow, our resurrection bodies will look different. Scripture also says Jesus' resurrection body didn't have same limits ours do. For instance, in Jn 20:19, the disciples are meeting in a room. They fear arrest, so its doors are closed & locked. Without unlocking or opening the doors, Jesus suddenly appears. And in Jn 20:26, they're meeting again in that upper room. Doors still locked. Jesus suddenly appears again without unlocking or opening the doors. And in Lk 24:30-31, after walking to Emmaus, He breaks bread & disappears. Jesus could appear suddenly at will. He could just as suddenly disappear. His resurrection body isn't subject to the laws of this natural order. In the new heavens & new earth, neither will our resurrection bodies. We wonder if Jesus' body needed food & water, like ours do. We have only one story of Jesus sharing a meal with His disciples after the resurrection. In Jn 21:9, 12-15a. Jesus did share breakfast with His disciples. But mostly, He either appears at times other than meal-time or skips the meal. After walking to Emmaus, Jesus left just after breaking the bread. Before eating. So, we wonder. But look at Mt 26:29. In the Last Supper, Jesus told us He'll share the cup with us again in the KoG. And in Mt 22:1, Jesus says the heavenly KoG will be like the wedding feast for His marriage to His bride, the church. There will be food & drink in the KoG. To me, it seems that while we won't need nourishment as we now do, we will be able to enjoy it. When we die, our natural bodies will be resurrected to a higher life. We'll still be us. But we'll be perfected. The sting of death? Gone. Along with all sorrows, illness, & decay. Sounds great. But are you wondering, so what? If so, think. If this is all there is, where's hope? The hope of salvation is resurrection. Without the helmet of the hope of salvation, how could we guard our thought life? We'd be missing a crucial piece of our armor! But thanks be to God, we have this treasure already laid up for us in heaven. Perfected bodies. A home with Jesus. Forever. Let's praise God for such a wonderful salvation! Let's sing... Resurrection 101 - 1 Corinthians 15:35-38, 42-50 Page 1 of 1