1Cor 15:40-41 | Barnes | STEP | Verse 40. There are also celestial bodies . The planets; the stars; the host of heaven. See . And bodies terrestrial . On earth; earthly. He refers here to the bodies of men, beasts, birds, etc.; perhaps, also, of trees and vegetables. The sense is, "There is a great variety of bodies. Look upon the heavens, and see the splendour of the sun, the moon, and the stars. And then look upon the earth, and see the bodies there--the bodies of men, and brutes, and insects. You see here two entire classes of bodies. You see how they differ. Can it be deemed strange if there should be a difference between our bodies when on earth and when in heaven? Do we not, in fact , see a vast difference between what strikes our eye here on earth and in the sky? And why should we deem it strange that between bodies adapted to live here and bodies adapted to live in heaven there should be a difference, like that which is seen between the objects which appear on earth and those which appear in the sky?" The argument is a popular one; but it is striking, and meets the object which he has in view. The glory of the celestial is one . The splendour, beauty, dignity, magnificence of the heavenly bodies differs much from those on earth. That is one thing ; the beauty of earthly objects is another and a different thing . Beautiful as may be the human frame; beautiful as may be the plumage of birds; beautiful as may be the flowers, the fossil, the mineral, the topaz, or the diamond, yet they differ from the heavenly bodies, and are not to be compared with them. Why should we deem it strange that there may be a similar difference between the body as adapted to its residence here and as adapted to its residence in heaven? (a) "are also celestial"

1 Corinthians 15:40-41

Verse 40. There are also celestial bodies. The planets; the stars; the host of heaven. See 1Cor 15:41.

And bodies terrestrial. On earth; earthly. He refers here to the bodies of men, beasts, birds, etc.; perhaps, also, of trees and vegetables. The sense is, "There is a great variety of bodies. Look upon the heavens,

and see the splendour of the sun, the moon, and the

stars. And then look upon the earth, and see the bodies

there--the bodies of men, and brutes, and insects. You see

here two entire classes of bodies. You see how they

differ. Can it be deemed strange if there should be a

difference between our bodies when on earth and when in

heaven? Do we not, in fact, see a vast difference

between what strikes our eye here on earth and in the sky?

And why should we deem it strange that between bodies

adapted to live here and bodies adapted to live in heaven

there should be a difference, like that which is seen

between the objects which appear on earth and those which

appear in the sky?"

The argument is a popular one; but it is striking, and meets the object which he has in view.

The glory of the celestial is one. The splendour, beauty, dignity, magnificence of the heavenly bodies differs much from those on earth. That is one thing; the beauty of earthly objects is another and a different thing. Beautiful as may be the human frame; beautiful as may be the plumage of birds; beautiful as may be the flowers, the fossil, the mineral, the topaz, or the diamond, yet they differ from the heavenly bodies, and are not to be compared with them. Why should we deem it strange that there may be a similar difference between the body as adapted to its residence here and as adapted to its residence in heaven?

(a) "are also celestial" Gen 1:16 Verse 41. There is one glory of the sun, etc. The sun has one degree of splendour, and the moon another, and so also the stars. They differ from each other in magnitude, in brightness, in beauty. The idea in this verse differs from that in the former. In that 1Cor 15:40, Paul says, that there was a difference between the different classes of bodies; between those in heaven and those on earth. He here says, that in the former class, in the heavenly bodies themselves, there was a difference. They not only differed from those on earth, but they differed from each other. The sun was more splendid than the moon, and one star more beautiful than another. The idea here is, therefore, not only that the bodies of the saints in heaven shall differ from those on earth, but that they shall differ among themselves, in a sense somewhat like the difference of the splendour of the sun, the moon, and the different stars. Though all shall be unlike what they were on earth, and all shall be glorious, yet there may be a difference in that splendour and glory. The argument is, since we see so great differences in fact in the works of God, why should we doubt that he is able to make the human body different from what it is now, and to endow it with immortal and eternal perfection.

(b) "and another" Ps 19:4,5