Read 1 Corinthians 15:35-58

 

    Paul compares the resurrection with the growth of a seed in a garden. Seeds placed in the ground don’t grow unless they die first. The plant that grows looks very different from the seed because God gives it a new body. There are different kinds of bodies: people, animals, fish, birds. Even the angels in heaven have bodies that are different in beauty and glory. Our resurrected body will be very different from our earthly body. It will be a spiritual body full of glory. 

    Our present body is perishable and prone to decay. Our resurrection body will be transformed. These spiritual bodies will not be limited by the laws of nature. This does not necessarily mean we’ll be super people, but our body will be different from and more capable than our present earthly body. Our spiritual body will not be weak, will never get sick, and will never die. 

 

   Because Christ rose from the dead, He is a life giving spirit. This means that He entered into a new form of existence. He is the source of the spiritual life that will result in our resurrection. Christ’s new glorified body now suits His new glorified life: just as Adam’s human body was suitable to his natural life. When we are resurrected, God will give us a transformed, eternal body suited to our new eternal life. 

 

    Christians alive at that day when Christ returns, will not have to die but will be transformed immediately. A trumpet blast will usher in the new heaven and earth. The Jews could understand the significance of this because trumpets were always blown to signal the start of great festivals and other extraordinary events (Numbers 10). 

 

    We all face limitations. Some may have physical, mental, or emotional disabilities. Some may be blind, but they can see a new way to live. Some may be deaf, but they can hear the Gospel. Some may be lame, but they can walk in God’s love. In addition, they have the encouragement that those disabilities are only temporary. Paul tells us that we all will be given new bodies when Christ returns and that these bodies will be without disabilities, never to die or become sick. This can give us hope in our suffering. 

 

   If you could select your body, what kind would you choose: strong, athletic, beautiful? Paul explains that we will be recognizable in our resurrected body, yet it will be better than we can imagine, for it will be made to live forever. We will still have our own personality and individuality, but these will be perfected through Christ’s work. The Bible does not reveal everything that our resurrected body will be able to do, but we know it will be perfect, without any infirmities (Philippians 3). 

 

    Most Greeks did not believe that people’s bodies would be resurrected after death. They saw the after life as something that happened only to the soul. According to Greek philosophers, the soul was the real person, imprisoned in a physical body, and at death the soul was released. There was no immortality for the body, but the soul entered an eternal state. Christianity, by contrast, affirms that the body and soul will be united after resurrection. The church at Corinth was in the heart of Greek culture. Thus, many believers had a difficult time believing in a bodily resurrection. Paul wrote this part of his letter to clear up this confusion about the resurrection.

 

    Satan seemed to be victorious in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3) and at the cross of Jesus. But God turned Satan’s apparent victory into defeat when Jesus Christ rose from the dead (Colossians 2; Hebrews 2). Thus, death is no longer a source of dread or fear. Christ overcame it, and one day we will also. The law will no longer make sinners out of us who cannot keep it. Death has been defeated, and we have hope beyond the grave. 

 

    Paul says that because of the resurrection, nothing we do is useless. Sometimes we become apathetic about serving the Lord because we don’t see any results. Knowing that Christ has won the ultimate victory should affect the way we live right now. Don’t let discouragement over an apparent lack of results keep you from doing the work of the Lord enthusiastically as you have opportunity.