1Cor 15:35-49 | KingComments | STEP | . It is not very pleasant to ask a question about resurrection, when the person who replies to that, calls you “fool” ( ). Who doesn’t have questions about the resurrection!? Though, you should keep in mind that Paul is still talking about people who do not take the resurrection seriously, which is the very case these days with so-called Christians. The question of should be seen in that light. It is asked by a person who is not willing to be convinced that there is a resurrection. The question is only asked to satisfy his curiosity and not from an inner desire to know more of God’s dealings. . Therefore Paul rebukes the questioner by pointing out examples from nature. From those examples he could have learned some things about the resurrection. I heard about a man who was dying and who had been thinking a lot about death and thereafter. He did not believe in the resurrection of the dead. He had had a long sickbed. Out of his bed he could see the plants and the trees outside. He then noticed that in the autumn everything was, as it were, dying. Almost all colors were changing brown and the leaves fell off until there was nothing more left than bare branches. In winter everything seemed to be even dead. But what happened in the springtime? Then new life began! Buds appeared on the branches, which later became leaves and flowers. There was life after death! This was the eye opener in his own situation. It led him to conversion and faith in the Lord Jesus. When he died, he knew that that was not the end, but that he went to his Savior and that he would even receive a new body one day. . What this man saw and noticed can be connected with what Paul is saying here. He points at the seed that is sown. That has to die first before it germinates and grows. And what is it that grows? Does it still look like a grain that has been sown? It absolutely does not look like that anymore. The grain that was sown in the ground is not the same as what comes out above the ground after a course of time. What comes out above the ground though, comes out from the grain that has been sown. . The kind of seed that is sown, determines what will come out of it. You would be very surprised when you plough up the ground, then sow grass seed into it to get a nice lawn, but instead of that get a flowing wheat field, after a course of time, wouldn’t you? That is not possible, of course. Each seed has its own body and its own inflorescence that becomes visible above the ground. This is how God has ordained it in nature. He has given everything its own body, its own shape. It is said in Genesis 1 that God made everything “after their kind” ( ). . If you look around you in nature, this time not regarding the vegetation, but regarding men and the animal world, then you notice the same distinction. Man and animal are made from the same substance, namely flesh. Nevertheless, there is a huge variety of this matter. What an immense distinction God has made between men, animals, birds and fish! The examples that Paul mentions, come from the first creation, as it is originated in Genesis 1. But through the way he uses these examples, you learn that Genesis 1 has also something to say about the distinction that will be in the new creation. . To add more details in the distinctions, Paul now introduces the difference between the celestial and terrestrial bodies. In the previous verses he talked about the terrestrial bodies, while in he goes a step higher and points at celestial bodies, as the sun, the moon and the stars. Each planet in the universe has its own special glory, which is given by God. I just read in Psalm 19: “The heavens are telling of the glory of God; and their expanse is declaring the work of His hands” ( ). All glorious things that are seen in creation are the radiation of God Himself. He Himself is the Author and Executor of everything. He wants us to see that and praise Him for that. If that applies to the first creation, how much more it applies to the new creation. The new creation consists of a new heaven and a new earth. In the new heaven and on the new earth new people will dwell. How the new heaven and the new earth will be established, you can read in 2 Peter 3 ( ). We return now to 1 Corinthians 15. There it is about new people, as they will appear in the resurrection. Of these people there will be people who dwell on the new earth in a body with a terrestrial glory and there will be people who dwell in the new heaven in a body with a celestial glory. Jealousy will be no issue there, for sin does not exist anymore. Everyone will praise the wisdom of God, for He will give a body to all things as is fitting for everybody. In summary, you can learn three things from the foregoing: 1. There is talk of seed that must die first, after which a body sprouts from what looks totally different than the seed ( ). 2. There is talk of the differences between the bodies that are sprouted from the seeds ( ). 3. There is talk of the difference between celestial and terrestrial bodies ( ). . These three things are taken from the first creation in which we live and prove that there is a resurrection. The conclusion is: “So also is the resurrection of the dead.” . It has been proven that there is a resurrection and that the resurrection will happen in a way that is comparable with examples from nature. Still, what we will exactly be like, is not clarified by this proof. Neither does it become directly clear in the following verses. What has become clear is that everything will be far more wonderful, without any remembrance of weakness and the corruption of an earth where sin has done its destructing work. You may compare this with a caterpillar and a butterfly. A caterpillar pupates. It spins silk all around itself and after a course of time a beautiful butterfly comes out of it. This transformation is really unimaginable. If you compare your earthly life with the caterpillar and your resurrected body with the butterfly, you then may have some idea of the transformation that will take place in the resurrection. Paul uses for our ‘caterpillar life’ the words “perishable”, “dishonor”, “weakness” and “natural body”. These words indicate how terribly the consequences of sin have left its scars in our terrestrial body. When we die, this is the last and clearest proof of the decay our body has suffered from birth. Then our body is put into the ground: it is “sown”. But to the believer that is not the end! Actually there is sown because there is a resurrection. And that resurrection shows a totally different and much more glorious body. The body is raised “imperishable”, “in glory”, “in power”, and as a “spiritual body”. The words that are used here, have to do with the Lord Jesus and His work, with heaven, with God and with the Holy Spirit. Through His work on the cross the Lord Jesus has “abolished death and brought life and immortality to light” ( ). Heaven is the place where glory is seen and experienced and where we first were not able to come ( ). It is the power of God that will make the resurrection possible ( ). We then will have a body that does not have any natural needs anymore. It doesn’t need food and drink anymore to remain alive. The life of the resurrected body is a spiritual life, which means that the Holy Spirit provides everything that body needs and that is fellowship with the Father and the Son. From that fellowship each activity takes place, both in the millennial kingdom and in eternity, in the Father’s house. It seems wonderful to me to be occupied undistracted with everything the Father prepared for us based on the work of His Son in a realm where there is nothing that can disturb that anymore. Now read 1 Corinthians 15:35-44 again. Reflection: What characteristics of the resurrected do you find in the section?

‏ 1 Corinthians 15:35-49

How the Dead Are Raised

1Cor 15:35. It is not very pleasant to ask a question about resurrection, when the person who replies to that, calls you “fool” (1Cor 15:36). Who doesn’t have questions about the resurrection!? Though, you should keep in mind that Paul is still talking about people who do not take the resurrection seriously, which is the very case these days with so-called Christians. The question of 1Cor 15:35 should be seen in that light. It is asked by a person who is not willing to be convinced that there is a resurrection. The question is only asked to satisfy his curiosity and not from an inner desire to know more of God’s dealings.

1Cor 15:36. Therefore Paul rebukes the questioner by pointing out examples from nature. From those examples he could have learned some things about the resurrection. I heard about a man who was dying and who had been thinking a lot about death and thereafter. He did not believe in the resurrection of the dead. He had had a long sickbed. Out of his bed he could see the plants and the trees outside. He then noticed that in the autumn everything was, as it were, dying. Almost all colors were changing brown and the leaves fell off until there was nothing more left than bare branches. In winter everything seemed to be even dead. But what happened in the springtime? Then new life began! Buds appeared on the branches, which later became leaves and flowers. There was life after death!

This was the eye opener in his own situation. It led him to conversion and faith in the Lord Jesus. When he died, he knew that that was not the end, but that he went to his Savior and that he would even receive a new body one day.

1Cor 15:37. What this man saw and noticed can be connected with what Paul is saying here. He points at the seed that is sown. That has to die first before it germinates and grows. And what is it that grows? Does it still look like a grain that has been sown? It absolutely does not look like that anymore. The grain that was sown in the ground is not the same as what comes out above the ground after a course of time. What comes out above the ground though, comes out from the grain that has been sown.

1Cor 15:38. The kind of seed that is sown, determines what will come out of it. You would be very surprised when you plough up the ground, then sow grass seed into it to get a nice lawn, but instead of that get a flowing wheat field, after a course of time, wouldn’t you? That is not possible, of course. Each seed has its own body and its own inflorescence that becomes visible above the ground. This is how God has ordained it in nature. He has given everything its own body, its own shape. It is said in Genesis 1 that God made everything “after their kind” (Gen 1:11 ; 21 ; 24 ; 25).

1Cor 15:39. If you look around you in nature, this time not regarding the vegetation, but regarding men and the animal world, then you notice the same distinction. Man and animal are made from the same substance, namely flesh. Nevertheless, there is a huge variety of this matter. What an immense distinction God has made between men, animals, birds and fish! The examples that Paul mentions, come from the first creation, as it is originated in Genesis 1. But through the way he uses these examples, you learn that Genesis 1 has also something to say about the distinction that will be in the new creation.

1Cor 15:40-41. To add more details in the distinctions, Paul now introduces the difference between the celestial and terrestrial bodies. In the previous verses he talked about the terrestrial bodies, while in 1Cor 15:40-41 he goes a step higher and points at celestial bodies, as the sun, the moon and the stars. Each planet in the universe has its own special glory, which is given by God.

I just read in Psalm 19: “The heavens are telling of the glory of God; and their expanse is declaring the work of His hands” (Psa 19:1). All glorious things that are seen in creation are the radiation of God Himself. He Himself is the Author and Executor of everything. He wants us to see that and praise Him for that. If that applies to the first creation, how much more it applies to the new creation. The new creation consists of a new heaven and a new earth. In the new heaven and on the new earth new people will dwell. How the new heaven and the new earth will be established, you can read in 2 Peter 3 (2Pet 3:10-13).

We return now to 1 Corinthians 15. There it is about new people, as they will appear in the resurrection. Of these people there will be people who dwell on the new earth in a body with a terrestrial glory and there will be people who dwell in the new heaven in a body with a celestial glory. Jealousy will be no issue there, for sin does not exist anymore. Everyone will praise the wisdom of God, for He will give a body to all things as is fitting for everybody.

In summary, you can learn three things from the foregoing:

1. There is talk of seed that must die first, after which a body sprouts from what looks totally different than the seed (1Cor 15:37-38).

2. There is talk of the differences between the bodies that are sprouted from the seeds (1Cor 15:39).

3. There is talk of the difference between celestial and terrestrial bodies (1Cor 15:40-41).

1Cor 15:42a. These three things are taken from the first creation in which we live and prove that there is a resurrection. The conclusion is: “So also is the resurrection of the dead.”

1Cor 15:42b-44. It has been proven that there is a resurrection and that the resurrection will happen in a way that is comparable with examples from nature. Still, what we will exactly be like, is not clarified by this proof. Neither does it become directly clear in the following verses. What has become clear is that everything will be far more wonderful, without any remembrance of weakness and the corruption of an earth where sin has done its destructing work.

You may compare this with a caterpillar and a butterfly. A caterpillar pupates. It spins silk all around itself and after a course of time a beautiful butterfly comes out of it. This transformation is really unimaginable. If you compare your earthly life with the caterpillar and your resurrected body with the butterfly, you then may have some idea of the transformation that will take place in the resurrection.

Paul uses for our ‘caterpillar life’ the words “perishable”, “dishonor”, “weakness” and “natural body”. These words indicate how terribly the consequences of sin have left its scars in our terrestrial body. When we die, this is the last and clearest proof of the decay our body has suffered from birth. Then our body is put into the ground: it is “sown”.

But to the believer that is not the end! Actually there is sown because there is a resurrection. And that resurrection shows a totally different and much more glorious body. The body is raised “imperishable”, “in glory”, “in power”, and as a “spiritual body”. The words that are used here, have to do with the Lord Jesus and His work, with heaven, with God and with the Holy Spirit.

Through His work on the cross the Lord Jesus has “abolished death and brought life and immortality to light” (2Tim 1:10). Heaven is the place where glory is seen and experienced and where we first were not able to come (Rom 3:23-24 ; Rom 5:2). It is the power of God that will make the resurrection possible (Eph 1:19-20).

We then will have a body that does not have any natural needs anymore. It doesn’t need food and drink anymore to remain alive. The life of the resurrected body is a spiritual life, which means that the Holy Spirit provides everything that body needs and that is fellowship with the Father and the Son. From that fellowship each activity takes place, both in the millennial kingdom and in eternity, in the Father’s house.

It seems wonderful to me to be occupied undistracted with everything the Father prepared for us based on the work of His Son in a realm where there is nothing that can disturb that anymore.

Now read 1 Corinthians 15:35-44 again.

Reflection: What characteristics of the resurrected do you find in the section?

A Mystery Revealed

1Cor 15:45. To make clear the difference between the natural and the spiritual body, Paul quotes what is written about the creation of the first man. As you see, this is another “so … it is written”. The answer to each question, regarding the existence of man and the here-after, you ought to look for in the Bible.

How did the first man become a living soul? That happened when God breathed the breath of life in his nostrils. This is how man, who was formed by God from the dust of the earth, became a higher being than an animal. Through the breath of God man was able to start his existence on earth and was able to have fellowship with God. This is not the way God gave life to the animals. God could approach Adam and speak with him and vice versa. This is not the way God dealt with animals. God created man in such a way that he, to remain alive, had to eat. God provided man with that food.

So you see by the way God created Adam, he was someone who was dependent on God. He received everything, his life and livelihood, from God.

He received life through the soul. What the soul exactly is, I cannot explain that to you. Many people have tried to do that by writing books about it, but no one seems to have the final say about that. I certainly do not have the final say, but I would like you to consider the following. The word ‘soul’ in the Bible is used to indicate several things. One of the things is to indicate the incorporeal side of man, thus something else than his physical body, which you could call the corporeal side of man. When the word ‘soul’ is used in this way, it usually refers to man in relation to the terrestrial conditions, the way he feels and behaves on earth.

What had happened to the first man is now compared to what took place with the last Adam. The Lord Jesus is called here “the last Adam” to indicate that after Him there never will be a next Adam. Well, what is the character of the last Adam? That He became “a life-giving spirit”. So, the last Adam, the Lord Jesus, did not receive something from God, but He Himself gave life to others. The Lord Jesus did that, after He has been raised from the dead.

In John 20 you read about that (Jn 20:22). He breathed on the disciples and by doing that, He gave them a life in which the Holy Spirit could work. This seems similar to what happened to Adam in Genesis 2 (Gen 2:7), but still it is different. Through what happened to Adam, he was able to live on earth as a living soul. Through what happened through the last Adam, the disciples received a new life, which enabled them to approach God in heaven.

1Cor 15:46. You also see the ranking here: first comes the natural and then the spiritual. This ranking you encounter every day. A baby only needs milk. You cannot talk about spiritual matters with a baby. That is only possible if a person has reached a certain age.

1Cor 15:47. There is not only a difference in what Adam and the Lord Jesus became, they also differ in origin, where they come from. This is a huge difference. The first man owes his existence to the dust of the earth. After the fall of man God said: “For you are dust, and to dust you shall return” (Gen 3:19). Man with his self-importance is nothing more than that. Without a powerful work of God there was no hope that a change would take place.

Then came the Second Man. Where did He come from? A new man from the dust of the earth? No. He came from heaven. He surely became Man, but His origin is heaven.

1Cor 15:48. These two Adams both have their ‘offspring’. He who belongs to the first man – Adam – is therefore made from dust. He who belongs to the last Adam – Who is here called “the heavenly” – is heavenly. So you are heavenly, exactly like the Lord Jesus. That is quite something! Though you are on earth and still participate in what is from dust, your inner man belongs to heaven. Inwardly a tremendous change has already happened.

1Cor 15:49. We are waiting for the great change that will take place at the resurrection. Then we shall bear the image of the Heavenly. Some wonderful verses that speak of that, are found in Romans 8 and 1 John 3 (Rom 8:29; 1Jn 3:2).

1Cor 15:50. “Flesh and blood” do not partake in the issues that are dealt with here. The expression ‘flesh and blood’ regards man as a creature with limitations, in whom sin dwells since the fall of man. That’s why he is “perishable”. God cannot disclose His kingdom for those men. He did not make them heirs. The inheritance of His kingdom is only made possible for those who are connected with the Heir, the Lord Jesus. Outside this connection there is no inheritance.

1Cor 15:51. When Paul has come at this point of his teaching, he reveals a mystery. All the time he had talked about the resurrection of the dead. That is something that was also known in the Old Testament. All the believers of the Old Testament died in the faith that there will be a resurrection one day and that they will receive what God has promised. Through the whole chapter of Hebrews 11 you encounter such believers. To partake of the resurrection you ought to be dead first.

The exceptional thing of the mystery that is revealed here, is that when Christ comes to fulfill God’s promises, not all will be dead. This is because there will also be believers on earth who are still alive when Christ returns. Paul even says this in a way as if he is sure that he will not die. He speaks about “we will not all sleep”. How much more could we, who are now still alive, say that.

What then will happen to those who are alive? They will be changed. That is necessary, for you have read in 1Cor 15:50 that flesh and blood cannot inherit God’s kingdom. To be with God in heaven, we need a body that is able to be there. In Philippians 3 it is said that when the Lord Jesus returns He “will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory” (Phil 3:21).

1Cor 15:52. The moment that will happen, cannot be expressed in a time unit. We use all kinds of words if we want to indicate the fastness of an event, for example: a flash, swift as an arrow, a part of a second. Still each description fails to describe the fastness in which this transformation will take place. It is in “the twinkling of an eye”.

The signal that heralds this event is the sound of the trumpet, the last trumpet of course. By that Paul alludes to the traditions of the Roman army, where the trumpet was sounded three times. The first time was the sign to break up; the second time means to line up; the third time was the command to march. That is how they used to do it in the Roman armies: breaking up, line up, march.

This is what we ought to do as Christians. Have you already broken up and are you lined up yet? Breaking up means: disconnect everything that still connects you to the world. To line up means: to be ready to go.

We have to wait for the last trumpet. When that sounds, two things happen in that twinkling of an eye. First the dead are raised. They have priority over the living, although it is just a moment of that twinkling of an eye. They do not remain longer in the grave than necessary. What happens further you can read in 1 Thessalonians 4 (1Thes 4:15-18). That section is about the same event. The emphasis there is on those who are asleep, while here the change of the living is put more in the forefront. Anyhow, the result is that we shall always be with the Lord. A wonderful perspective!

Now read 1 Corinthians 15:45-52 again.

Reflection: Which great changes will be effected by the return of the Lord Jesus? Do you look forward to that?