Resurrection in 1 Corinthians 15 (8) - The Resurrection Body

So, we're going to begin by singing in Psalm 105, Psalm 105, verses 1 to 8. That's on page 374.

Psalms 105:1–8

Give thanks to God, call on His name, to men His deeds make known. Sing ye to Him, sing Psalms,

proclaim His wondrous works each one. See that ye in His holy name to glory do accord,

and let the heart of everyone rejoice that seeks the Lord. We're invited to seek the Lord,

to do so with rejoicing hearts, hearts that rejoice in Him and in His salvation, and to come

and seek in verse 4 the Lord Almighty and His strength to seek that as well, and to think

on the works that He has done which breed admiration. So, verses 1 to 8, the tune is Denfield,

Give thanks to God.

Give thanks to God, call on His name, to men His deeds make known.

Sing ye to Him, sing Psalms, proclaim His wondrous works each one.

See that He in His holy name to glory do accord, and let the heart of everyone rejoice that seeks the Lord.

The Lord Almighty and His strength with steadfast heart seek He.

His blessed and His grace, His blessed and His gracious face, seek ye continually.

Think on the works that He hath done which admiration bleed.

Think on the works that He hath done which admiration bleed.

His wonders and His grace, His wonders and the judgment's all, which from His path rose ye.

O ye that God of Abram's grace, His servant will abound, and ye that Jacob's children are,

the Lord Almighty and His glory are, whom He chose for His throne.

Because He and He only is, the mighty God, the Lord.

Because He and He only is, the mighty God, the Lord.

And His most righteous judgments are, in all the earth, the Lord.

His covenant He remembered hath, that it may ever stand.

Two thousand generations, the word He did command.

Amen.

Well, let's once again call on the Lord in prayer.

Let's join together in prayer.

O Lord, our gracious God, it is so good for us to be taught by Your Word even as we sing.

For You have given us in these words that we have sung so much to think upon, so much to admire, so much to take in and take stock of,

concerning the Lord Himself and His works.

We thank You, O Lord, at the beginning of our service this evening, that we have such great reminders extended to us in Your Word,

and that every time we turn to Your Word, we are taught something of importance.

And we pray that we may regard Your Word even this evening as that source of light and truth for us, that will bring to us these foundational truths that You have been pleased to reveal to us.

We give thanks, Lord, for all that makes You worthy of our praise, for the beauty that pertains to You, for that perfection of beauty that belongs to You,

when all Your attributes combine so completely and perfectly, so that they form that holy God whom we come to worship once again.

And we give thanks that that continues, Lord, without any change, without any prospect of change.

For not only is Your Word set before us the way in which these attributes belong to You, but also the way that You are unchangeably the same yesterday, today, and forever.

And You are the God, therefore, whom we need as our foundation, one in whom we find our security, for it is in Your own perfection, in Your own unchangeable beauty and perfection, that we find the ground of our confidence.

O Lord, help us to come before You tonight exercising that faith that believes that You are God and that You are the rewarder of those who diligently seek You.

O Lord, we thank You that these words we have sung remind us of the importance of seeking You.

O Lord, while we sometimes refer the seeking of our souls for God to that time in our experience, before we come to saving faith, we thank You that Your Word reminds us that the seeking of the Lord is an aspect of the faith of Your people,

and that it is something that goes on through the whole course of life.

O Lord, we seek You that we seek You, O Lord, this evening to come to bless us.

O Lord, we seek You in Your power.

O Lord, we seek You through Your grace to come to speak to us once again.

O Lord, we seek You that we may know that we have met with You here, that we have had such a profitable time together as has come to know more of the wondrous truths of God.

O Lord, we thank You, O Lord, that we have met with us.

O Lord, we thank You, O Lord, for all that You continue to be for us.

O Lord, however far back we look in history, You have been a faithful God to Your people.

However far forward we may look in the promises of Your word, we thank You that You continue and will be a faithful God to Your people.

O Lord, we pray, O Lord, for that sense of security for us even this evening that would come to You once again and deposit our lives into Your hand and come to trust in You and draw from You all that we require for our life ahead.

O Lord, we thank You that You are the God who forgives sin.

O Lord, we thank You that You are the God who forgives sin.

And as we come with our confession of sin, as we always must, O Lord, we thank You we come to a God who has demonstrated His willingness to pardon,

who has come to reveal Himself as the forgiver of sins in the history and experience of all who have come to know You as their God and Savior.

O Lord, we confess tonight our sins.

We confess that we find it at times so frustrating that we sin against You even in ways that we have sinned against You before.

O Lord, we pray that as we contemplate these things, not only may we appreciate and give thanks for Your pardon,

but also may we, O Lord, further our interest and further also our longing to be found at last in heaven where there is no sin,

where we will be complete people, set in the image of God perfectly.

O Lord God, help us as we turn our mind again this evening for a short time to the wonder, the glory, the prospect of resurrection life.

O Lord, help us, we pray, to see ourselves in the light of it and to see the hope of Your people set in it, rooted in that resurrection of Jesus Christ,

so that we may look forward to the resurrection of Your people.

O Lord, we ask, O Lord, that You would give us, each of us here together tonight, that we may ourselves glory in Your resurrection

and find ourselves amongst those whose prospect it is to share in resurrection life at last.

May we be, O Lord, like the Apostle Paul long ago, whose desire it was to go on to know Christ and the power of His resurrection

and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable unto His death, if by any means He might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.

Bless us then, we pray each one.

Bless all that took place already here today in our morning service, and our morning services indeed in Gallic as well.

We thank You for the continuation of all our services, Lord, by Your grace.

We pray especially for our young people who heard today of the love of God and the various aspects of that love as was brought before them.

We thank You for them.

We thank You for the way that they sat and listened, for the way in which they obviously showed an interest in filling their worksheets

and coming to know more of that truth of the gospel.

We, Lord, pray for them.

We pray for them in this age in which they are confronted with so much that would seek to harm them physically, morally, spiritually.

Protect them, Lord, we pray, from the clutches of the evil one, and bless all who seek to instruct them and teach them and guide them in the right way, in the way of Your truth.

May it be so, Lord, within our families, our homes, our schools, and all the ways in which we find groups within the congregation and throughout the church,

seeking to have the well-being of our young people catered for the church, seeking to have the well-being of our young people catered for.

And, Lord, we pray that in our own case here in the congregation, these activities may flourish more and more.

We thank You for the many young folks who come to the worship services as well.

We pray that their participation in the worship services of Your church may prove to be of benefit to themselves, not only in the meantime, but as their life develops.

And so we commend ourselves, Lord, to You now.

And we pray as so much as taking place in our community in these days in memory of the Metagama and the Marloch and other ways by which people had to leave the island.

We pray as we cast our minds back and as we are informed through the meetings that take place of the difficulties of those days.

Lord, our God, make us thankful, we pray, for the relative plenty that You've given us to enjoy.

But remind us too, O Lord, how dependent we are on Yourself.

And as we think back on those who faced poverty and lack of work and lack of resources and lack of housing

and had to leave this island and other places of our nation to go abroad.

Lord, gracious Lord, make us thankful for the privileges we have.

And bless our young people.

And bless us, we pray, with employment and work for them as well.

So that we may see our communities further built up.

And that we may see further inroads into Your church as well by people who live around us and who presently don't come to the Gospel.

Be merciful to them, we pray.

Bless those who are in authority over us to that end as they wrestle with difficulties imposed by the conditions of our day, economic and otherwise.

Give them wisdom, we pray.

Grant Your blessing to those tonight we know who are struggling in these times financially.

Lord, we ask that You would help us to take note of them, to seek to help them, to do whatever we can to alleviate them, to counsel them, to give them the help they need.

We ask, O Lord, too, for those who tonight have other difficulties in life.

We pray for those who are ill.

We ask for those receiving treatment.

Bless them and keep them through that anxious time.

Bless those anticipating surgery.

We pray that You would maintain them, Lord, to look to Yourself until that takes place.

Remember, Lord, too, those who are seriously ill, any in hospice or hospital who are grievously low at this time.

We pray again for Willie Graham, and we thank You for the measure of improvement in his condition.

And we pray now that he is home in hospital here, that You would grant him, Lord, further progress in his health.

We ask, too, that You would bless Mawrak and the family.

Surround them with Your love, we pray, and continue to strengthen them all and grant to them as they would seek further improvement in Willie's condition,

that they may look to Yourself and that they may come trustingly to draw their strength from You.

Remember us now, then, we pray, and continue with us here with all that we seek in the pardon of our sin.

For Jesus' sake, amen.

We're going to sing again to God's praise this time.

It's in Psalm 54, 54, and the Sing Psalms version on page 70.

And singing verses 1 to 7, the whole of that psalm.

The tune is Evan.

Save me, O God, by Your great name, with power deliver me.

Hear, O my God, the words I speak, and listen to my plea.

For strangers are attacking me, the ruthless seek my life.

For they have no regard for God, and always stir up strife.

Words which remind us of our need to bring all our circumstances to God,

and assures us that God gives an ear to our cry as we come believingly to Him to seek His help.

So, Psalm 54, save me, O God, by Your great name.

Save me, O God, by Your great name, with power deliver me.

Hear, O my God, the words I speak, and listen to my plea.

For strangers shall attack me, the ruthless seek my life.

For they have no regard for God, and always stir up strife.

Consider this God is my help, the Lord upholds my way.

In faithfulness destroy my foes, their slander, glory pay.

I'll bring a sacrifice to you, a free will ofening.

Because your name, O Lord, is good.

Your praises I will sing.

For you, O Lord, have rescued me from my disgrace and woe.

My eyes are blue in victory upon my cruel foe.

O Lord, have rescued me from my life.

Readings from God's Word this evening.

There are two readings, firstly from the Gospel of John, chapter 5,

John 5 · chapter mention

and then we're coming back to read from 1 Corinthians 15.

First of all, John, chapter 5, and reading from verse 19 to 29.

John 5 · chapter mention

So Jesus said to them,

Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord,

but only what he sees the Father doing.

For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise.

For the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing.

And greater works than these will he show him, so that you may marvel.

For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life,

so also the Son gives life to whom he will.

The Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son,

that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father.

Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.

Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life.

He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.

Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming and is now here,

when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.

For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself.

And he has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of man.

Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out,

those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.

And we turn also to 1 Corinthians chapter 15.

1 Corinthians 15 · chapter mention

We read a short passage there from verse 35 to verse 45.

So 1 Corinthians 15 at verse 35.

But someone will ask, How are the dead raised?

With what kind of body do they come?

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 seed, 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 of 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 it is 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.

May God bless to us these two portions of his word this evening.

Before we turn back to 1 Corinthians 15, let's sing once again to God's praise in Psalm 71 on page 91.

Psalm 71, the tune is Bunili.

We're singing verses 14 to 21.

But as for me, my hope is steadfast, and more and more your name I'll bless.

I'll show your measureless salvation, and all day long your righteousness.

I will proclaim your acts, O Lord God, and your righteousness, yes, yours alone.

For since my youth, O God, you've taught me, and still your wonders I make known.

Through to verse 21, from verse 14 to the tune Bunili to God's praise.

God bless us, O Lord God.

I will proclaim Your Son.

But as for me, my hope is steadfast,

I'll show you

your salvation

and all day long

your righteousness.

I will proclaim

your acts, O Lord God,

your righteousness,

yes, yours alone.

For since my youth,

O God, you've taught me

and still your wonders

I may gloom.

And now, my God,

do not forsake me

when old and great

I have become

till I declare

your might and power

to generations yet to come.

Your justice reaches

to the heavens.

Who is like you,

O God, in strength?

Though you have shown me

many troubles,

you will restore

my soul at land.

From the deep places

of air's darkness,

you will bring up

my life once more.

You will increase

your servant's honour.

My comfort once

again restore.

Let's turn together

this evening again

to 1 Corinthians 15.

Let's continue with

our studies through

this chapter.

Tonight we're looking

at this passage

that we read,

especially the early part

of it,

and particularly

these words

from verse 42

to 44.

So it is,

with the resurrection

of the dead,

what is sown

is perishable,

what is raised

is imperishable.

It is sown

in dishonour.

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.

What a difference

it makes

when you're looking

forward to something

exciting.

What a difference

it makes

if you're,

let's say,

going to a place

on holiday

that you've never

been to before.

You've read

up about it.

You see all

the different

aspects of it

that take your

notice,

whether it's

into history

you are,

or whatever

aspects of

the world

you're interested

in.

You obviously

would have to

try and investigate

these.

Places you go

to usually

are favourites

for those sort

of reasons

that you want

to see various

aspects of things

you're interested

in.

And as you're

thinking forward

with excitement

to the eventuality,

to the occurrence

of happening,

the event

that you're

looking forward

to,

it inevitably

affects your

thinking right

now.

Of course,

you would never

actually book

for yourself

a holiday

in a place

where you're

going to see

a lot of

places,

a lot of

things that

really take

your interest

without meantime

making some

preparation for it,

without meantime

studying up some

more about these

things so that

when you get

there,

you're in a

better position

to actually

do that.

So,

the prospect

of what you're

going to have

in the future

as you've

made your

plans and

as you've

made your

bookings,

that is

obviously

affecting the

present way

of thinking

that you have

in a positive

way.

Of course,

it could easily

be the other

way about,

that things

in the future

are things

which give us

concern,

but let's

keep it to the

positive.

That's what

the passage

is about,

that positively

affects the

present.

And of course,

that's supremely

the case with

the Christian

life,

because all the

way through

this chapter

we've been

looking at

Paul's treatment

of the

resurrection,

the resurrection

of God's

people,

as that's

united to

the resurrection

of Jesus

himself from

the dead.

Now,

you could go

to a place

that you had

really longed

to see,

you'd made

all your

preparations,

and your

thoughts of

it as you

made your

preparations,

were building

up all the

time,

and then

you actually

get to it,

and it's

disappointing.

It's not

really what

you expected.

It's,

you've got a

feeling of

just being

let down,

and of course

maybe some

of the glossy

magazines or

adverts are

really overdone,

and what you

end up

experiencing is

just less

than really you

were hoping

for or

less than

was presented

to you.

Well,

of course,

it's never

going to be

that way

with your

Christian hope.

It's never

going to be

that way.

In fact,

it's going

to be the

opposite,

because as

we're looking

forward to

the resurrection,

as God's

people look

forward to

that,

and everything

that's on the

other side

of the

resurrection,

in the

beauties and

the glories

and the

bliss of

heaven,

the Bible

tells you

all the way

through that

it's going

to be far

better than

you can

even imagine

here.

And that's

why we're

saying the

prospect of

resurrection life,

following the

resurrection from

the dead,

is something

that fills you

here and ought

to fill us,

and in many

ways I find

myself saying,

maybe you do

too,

it's surprising

how little

excitement I

sometimes feel

at the prospect

of the

resurrection that

is unto life

everlasting on

the other side

of death and

resurrection from

the dead.

Now, Paul was

excited about

thinking of

resurrection.

You'll see that

throughout his

writings, that he

wasn't just

excited about the

prospect of leaving

this world and

going to be with

Christ, which he

says is far

better, as he

wrote to the

Philippians, but

it's particularly

resurrection that

he's got his

mind set upon.

That's the

terminus.

That's the

conclusion of

the whole

thing.

That's the

thing that God

himself has in

store.

That's what the

coming of Christ

was all about.

That's what his

death and his

resurrection and

his exaltation were

designed to

actually bring about

and lead to.

And I hope we've

got something of,

even though some of

these passages are

difficult, in 1

Corinthians 15.

I hope at least one

of the outcomes is

that it's brought

us in our mind to

think of the

wonders that await

the Lord's people on

the other side of

being raised from the

dead, and of how

there is no prospect

of the kind of

limitations and

experiences of pain

and loss that we

experience in this

life.

As we turn to

this passage, we've

already seen the

hopelessness of the

person who discounts

resurrection, who

denies such a thing

as the resurrection.

Where is our hope if

we don't believe in the

resurrection of Jesus

and if we don't

believe in the

resurrection of God's

people united to

Jesus?

There is no hope.

There is no ground

of hope.

hope.

It's just gloom, the

darkness of the

grave and nothing

beyond.

And this life in

this world, as we've

seen already in this

chapter in 1

Corinthians 15, if in

this life only we

have hope in Christ,

we are of all people

most to be pitied.

Because if this world

and the borders of

this world is really

all there is to it,

what is the purpose

of human life?

Yes, we can say we

can do so much to

help each other, and

that's good.

We can do so much to

help others and make

the world a better

place.

What then?

What is the outcome

of reaching the end

stage of your life in

this world if there's

nothing beyond?

Well, the Bible, of

course, discounts that

idea and brings us

this wonderful positive

emphasis that for all

who trust in Christ,

this world is not just

that it's not the end

of things, but it's the

end of the limitations

of things that we

experience in this life.

So, tonight we're

looking at the

transformation involved

in resurrection from the

dead for the Lord's

people.

And what a

transformation it is.

Even the Apostle Paul

is struggling to find

words adequate to

describe what the

resurrection body, and

that's what he's dealing

with mainly, the

resurrection body, what

our body will be like in

the resurrection.

We know what it's like

here.

We know what we feel in

terms of bodily pains and

bodily limitations.

We know what it's like

that aspects of our

physical makeup actually

themselves are so united

to our sinfulness and to

our being sinful people and

practicing sin.

And the Apostle is

excited at the prospect

that the body that will

be raised from the dead

is done with sin, and

it's done with these

limitations, and it's

done with the kind of

things you have here in

humiliation and in these

frustrations of not being

able to glorify God a

hundred percent as you'd

like to.

Let's look at what he's

saying.

First of all, I want to

take what really is a key

phrase from the passage,

and that's what you find

in verses 38 to 41.

And the key phrase

especially is where he

talks here about God

gives it a body in verse

38, but God gives it a

body as he has chosen.

These are really

significant words at the

heart of the passage.

Indeed, some are of the

view that that's really the

heart of the chapter.

God gives it a body.

It's not just that there's

such a thing as a

resurrection and a body

that comes out of the

grave as a resurrected

body, as the risen body

that's united then to the

soul.

In the case of the saved,

Paul is saying, God gives

it a body.

It is he who is in charge of

what comes up from the

dead.

And it's interesting how he

illustrates this because,

well, he begins by actually

picking up a couple of

skeptical objections, it

seems, if you might call it

that, in verses 35 and 36.

But someone will ask, how

are the dead raised?

With what kind of body do

they come?

And you can tell that Paul is

somewhat annoyed with that

because he answers that,

first of all, by saying, you

foolish person.

And he goes on to explain why

he is so vehement in such

language, you foolish

person.

It's as if he's dealt with

all that the chapter has

contained so far.

There were some in Corinth

who didn't believe in the

resurrection of the dead.

And we've seen how Paul has

dealt with that.

But there may well have been

some people who still, as

far as Paul was concerned,

were still skeptical, still

really not taking this in,

that there is such a thing

awaiting God's people as

the resurrection from the

dead.

So he's saying, someone will

ask, well, how are the dead

raised then?

As if he's saying, well, if

you believe in the

resurrection, tell me how

they are raised.

Or what kind of body will

they have when they are

raised?

And Paul's reaction is,

you foolish person.

That's very strong language

because what Paul is

concerned for is that they

haven't really exercised their

minds to follow what he's

saying even so far.

So he's now adding to it.

And he uses an analogy.

He uses the illustration of

what happens to a seed when

you place it in the ground

and the contrast between the

seed that you place in the

ground, whatever it might be,

and the plant that grows from

that when it reaches its

fullness.

That's the contrast that he's

drawing and he's using that to

illustrate why these people that

are raising these questions

really are foolish.

They're not really thinking

things through properly.

And of course, one of the

great important things for you

as a Christian, for us as

Christians, is to use your

mind.

Use the mind, as Paul says so

often, to consider God's truth.

Apply your mind to it.

And this is what he's saying.

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 seed,

perhaps of wheat or of some other

grain.

Now, you see what he's saying?

That you actually place the seed in

the ground, wheat, whatever it

might be.

And then what comes up from it, in a

sense, of course it's still attached

to the seed, but it's not exactly the

seed that you planted in the ground,

although it is in essence the same

plant.

And what he's really concerned for is

that the Corinthians will understand

that there's a process that needs to

be gone through.

Because the final plant requires the

death of the seed before it actually

comes to its full fruition.

The seed dies.

You look at a potato.

Some of you might have planted

potatoes already.

If you plant potatoes, and you know

very well when you come to find the

potato plant growing, yes, it produces

all these other potatoes underneath,

you hope.

The plant grows.

The leaves are there.

Everything comes out of the ground.

You go to the original potato.

You can't use it again.

It's rotten.

It's disintegrated.

It's given its life to the plant that

grew from it.

And it's that principle that Paul is

applying here when he says,

that which dies is placed in the

ground, and out of it grows the plant

from that seed.

And the process is death first, then

comes life from that.

Now, Jesus used this very interestingly,

used the same principle, same

illustration in John chapter 12.

John 12 · chapter mention

If you turn to that for a moment

with me, please, there's a few

verses there we can see are important.

John 12, verse 24.

John 12:24

This is Jesus applying this principle

to himself.

I'm not going to spend much time on this,

but just to illustrate how Jesus himself

used this same principle as well.

Here are, from verse 20, people who are

coming up and seeking to see Jesus.

Philip and Andrew are involved.

And this is Jesus answering.

He says,

The hour has come for the Son of Man,

that's himself, to be glorified.

Truly, truly, I say to you,

unless a grain of wheat falls into the

earth and dies, it remains alone.

But if it dies, it bears much fruit.

He's talking there of himself, firstly.

And as far as I'm aware,

it's true that in the tombs of Egypt,

grains were found that were buried

with some of the kings or important people

that were buried in these large tombs

or found in clay vessels,

still intact,

but still just as seed

as they had been placed

in the earthenware jar or whatever.

But I believe it's true that when

some of them were placed

in the earth,

they actually grew.

They still had life in them.

The point is this.

Unless the seed dies,

it remains, Jesus is saying,

on its own.

And he is saying that

about his own death.

Unless he dies,

there is no fruit

from him,

from his life,

without him first dying

and then rising from the dead.

But he doesn't leave it at that.

He says then

that whoever loves his life

loses it,

and whoever hates his life

in this world

will keep it for eternal life.

If anyone serves me,

he must follow me,

and where I am,

there will my servant be also.

If anyone serves me,

the Father will honor him.

Now, see what he's saying there.

He's saying about himself,

it must be the case

that there will be death

in my experience,

in my case,

for there to be life

as the outcome.

The Son of Man

must die

just as the seed

goes into the ground.

But he applies that then

to our lives

as human beings.

There must be

a dying

or a death

in our life.

And this is not just

in terms of

when our body

is laid into the tomb.

That's not what he's

dealing with there.

It's a matter of you

dying to yourself,

dying to your self-righteousness,

dying to your own

preferences,

as it were,

dying to everything

that's a contrast to

or an opposition

to placing your life

in the hands of God.

Whoever

keeps his life

shall lose it.

You hang on to it.

It's like the seed

that's never been planted.

It doesn't grow.

It doesn't produce the fruit.

But if it dies,

if you die to yourself,

remember that's what

you're doing,

when you give your life

over to Christ,

when you come to trust

in Him by God's grace,

what you're doing

is really handing over

your life

for Him to look after it,

for Him to keep it

in security,

for Him to bring

ultimately

that fruit of righteousness

into your life.

There has to be

a dying to self,

and he said that elsewhere,

didn't he,

in the other gospel,

speaking about

what it is

to be his disciple.

If any man would follow me,

let him take up his cross,

deny himself,

and follow me.

He always mentioned this,

deny himself,

die to yourself,

and die to the life

of sin's dominance.

So important,

isn't it?

We can't expect

to live spiritually

without dying to self.

I said I wasn't going to spend

too much time on it,

but it is an important point.

I want you to take that

with you

and just ponder it.

Have you died to self?

Have you given your life

over to Christ?

You see,

your life is either

in the hands of Christ

or it's in your own hands.

Your life is either

being looked after by Him

or you're trying

to manage it yourself.

And when you come to die,

you're either going to die

in the hands of Christ

or you're going to die,

sadly,

trying still to look after it

without any prospect

of resurrection unto life.

And so,

coming back to

1 Corinthians 15,

here is what he's saying

regarding the same principle.

What you sow

does not come to life

unless it dies.

And what you sow

is not the body

that is to be,

but God gives it a body

as He has chosen.

Now,

He extends that

to really pretty much

to the whole creation.

He talks about animals,

birds,

fish,

and what He's really

demonstrating is that

God gives them

their own body.

God gives them,

each of them,

the body

that He has designed

for them.

And He goes through

to say,

in the creation,

there are heavenly bodies

and there are earthly bodies.

There's the sun

and the moon

and the stars.

They all have

their own different bodies,

their own shape,

their own properties,

and their own glory.

And so it is,

He says,

with the resurrection

of the dead.

He's answering these objections,

these questions.

But the point is this,

if God,

as He is,

is giving their own body

to these objects,

to these planets,

to these stars,

to these creatures

in His creation,

if God is giving them

a body as He has designed,

He is the one

who is going to give

His people the body

in the resurrection.

If God has done

what He's done already,

Paul is really saying,

you can put it into words

like this or similar,

if you think of God

having done this already,

why should you doubt

that God will give

a body

to those

who died

and His bodies

initially were laid

into the dust

and death

because He will give it

a body

in the resurrection.

And that brings us

to the second part.

What kind

of body

will they be?

Well,

it's from

the natural,

He says,

to the spiritual.

Let's read from

verse 42.

So it is

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.

So,

in a sense,

you have the same

as you have

with the seed.

There's discontinuity.

It's not the seed

that rises.

And yet,

there's continuity

because what rises

is from the seed

that was planted.

Let me read to you

what Confession of Faith,

the Westminster

Confession of Faith,

and how it puts it

in chapter 32,

paragraph 2.

This is dealing

with the resurrection.

At the last day,

such as are found alive

shall not die,

but be changed.

He's talking here

about Christians,

the people of God.

Such as are found alive

shall not die,

but be changed.

And all the dead

shall be raised up

with the self-same bodies.

Now,

isn't that interesting?

With the self-same bodies,

the bodies that were laid

into the grave,

into the tomb.

In other words,

it will be your body

and my body

that comes out

in the resurrection.

It won't be a body

different in essence

to the body

that you had.

Let's continue

with the confession.

With the self-same bodies

and none other,

although with different qualities.

Although with different qualities.

And that's what he says here,

Paul is saying,

in verses 42 to 44.

The same body

as was placed in the grave,

it is sown a natural body.

It is raised a spiritual body.

The same body in that sense.

But what is sown

is perishable.

What is raised

is imperishable.

Your body,

my body,

that's what comes forth

from the grave,

but it comes forth

imperishable

and in power

and honor

and glory.

And if we look

at these briefly,

we can follow through

in what he's saying there.

So they're different.

Not the same in substance,

but they're different.

It's very difficult

for us to find

adequate words.

I mean,

I can't possibly

find adequate words.

The apostle was struggling,

so who am I

to try and put them

into English?

But this is what he's saying.

Let me see

if I can put it this way.

He deals with

four contrasts

to set out

this indescribably

great change

that comes about,

a change

from what was

put in the ground

to what you see

coming forth.

Same body

in substance,

but very different

in qualities.

That's how the

confession puts it.

And he gives it that here.

He's putting that here.

Paul is saying,

it is,

what is sown

is perishable,

what is raised

is imperishable.

Perishable,

of course,

means subject

to decay,

subject to

dissolution.

Our bodies return

to the dust.

We have to

contemplate that.

That's something

that has come about

by,

in God's response,

if you like,

to our sin

against him.

As he said to Adam,

from dust

you were made,

and to dust

you shall return.

It was part of

what God

brought upon

human life

as his response

to our sin

against him.

Never mind,

this is what he's saying.

It is sown,

what is sown

is perishable,

what is raised

is imperishable.

Now again,

I'm not going to spend

time with each of those.

Let's take them together.

Perishable,

subject to decay.

That's what

your body is

when it goes back.

When it's buried

in the grave,

it's subject to decay.

It's a very solemn point.

Something that we find

difficult to comprehend,

even to accept,

that that's what's

going to happen to us.

But that's what it is.

But it's raised

imperishable.

What is raised

is imperishable.

And it's not just

the opposite

of what is perishable,

it's the actual

reverse of what's

perishable.

because what's perishable

was always leading

towards that end.

All the way through

from the time

you were born,

you were going through

the process of dying.

But what is raised

is imperishable.

There is no such process

with regard to

the resurrection body.

It remains

imperishable.

Never again

will there be something

to enter into it

as a process of decay,

a process of decomposition.

It will in fact,

in other words,

have fullness

of life

associated with it.

We're going to be raised

to a fullness of life.

A life,

we may say,

with which your present body

just couldn't cope

because the body

presently

is still affected by sin,

even the body

of the saved people

of God.

And when you see

in the Bible

briefly,

dimly,

how coming into

the presence of God

or into the glory

of Christ,

such as Paul saw

on the way to Damascus,

his body couldn't cope

with it.

He immediately fell

to the ground.

He was struck

with blindness.

And what Paul is saying

is,

God will give us

a body,

all God's people

will be given a body

that we'll be able

to cope with,

we'll be able

to manage,

we'll be able

to actually

have this

everlasting life

without it having

a destructive effect

on you.

It's the reversal

of death.

It's fullness

of life.

There's these beautiful

words in the psalm,

isn't there,

in Psalm 16,

words that were

applied to Jesus

himself,

of course,

that he would not

see corruption.

In your presence

there is

fullness

of joy.

Fullness

of joy.

Raised up to

fullness

of life.

So it's

imperishable.

It is sown

in dishonor,

it is raised

in glory.

Because

what is

presently

the case

even with

our Christian

life,

with our

Christian

bodies,

they're still

attached to sin

and our sinning,

aren't they?

When you put

our bodies

in a coffin

and they're

then laid

into the

dust,

you still

associate that

body with

dishonor,

in the sense

that it's

humiliation

for us even

to come

to be

returning

to dust.

It's

something that

really,

again,

brings to us

the fact,

the reality

of sin,

the reality

of death

as the

wages of

sin.

It is

sown

in dishonor.

Sinful

desires

right up to

the very

moment,

perhaps,

when we die,

are still

attached to

this bodily

existence.

But it

is raised

in glory.

It is

raised

in glory.

There will

be no

sinful

thoughts,

no incapacity

as far as

glorifying God

is concerned.

Do you

not long

for that?

Do you

not long

to have

a body

where your

eyes,

where what

you see,

what you

hear,

where your

mouth,

where your

tongue,

where your

speech is

not so

attached to

sin and

dishonoring God

as it

presently is?

Do you

not long

to have

a body

that's no

longer a

body of

humiliation

or a

body that's

got dishonorableness

attached to

it due to

sin?

Do you

not long

to have

that body

where all

your physical

dimensions and

your physical

abilities and

capabilities are

all perfectly

aligned with

the glory

of God,

with the

praise of

God?

That's what

Paul is

saying.

It is

sown in

dishonor,

it is

raised in

glory.

It is

raised in

such a

way that

no longer

is there

any further

attachment in

any way to

sin.

And it is

sown in

weakness,

it is

raised in

power.

The

incapacity

and lack

of capability

that we find

now is

gone.

You know,

it is

exciting when

you think

of the

body with

which Jesus

was raised

from the

dead,

or the

body of

Jesus raised

from the

dead.

That is

the pattern

for the

body of

Christians raised

from the

dead.

And you

can see in

the Gospels

what that

was capable

of.

Jesus

actually

traveled

through

solid

walls.

He

manifested

himself

in the

middle

of

his

group

of

disciples

and the

doors

were

locked.

Why does

it say

the doors

were

locked?

Well,

so that we

can actually

conclude that

Jesus'

entrance must

have been by

some other

way.

And it

wasn't just

a spiritual

entrance as

if they were

seeing a

ghost.

He was

there bodily.

He invited

people to

touch Him.

How did

He come

bodily into

the presence

of that

gathered group

of disciples?

Well,

we can't

say absolutely

for sure

the spiritual

mechanics of

it, if you

like, but

His body

had properties

different to

or above

the properties

He had before

His death.

He came in

His resurrected

body.

That's the

pattern for

our own.

It's sown

in weakness.

It's raised

in power.

Can you

put a

measure

on what

our resurrected

bodies will

be capable

of?

I can't.

But it's

exciting to

think of

how our

physical,

the physical

aspect of

our bodies,

how the

physical aspect

of our being

will no longer

be as limited

as it is.

It will not

be divine.

It will not

be all

powerful,

but it will

be capable

of so,

so much

more,

perhaps even

in terms of

travel,

who knows?

But it's

certainly going

to be way

above our

capacity in

this life,

in our bodily

existence now.

It is sown

in weakness.

it is raised

in power.

You know,

when you

place a

coffin into

the grave.

Let me

say it's

something that's

important to

see.

I know some

people find

it difficult

to be there

at a graveside.

Of course,

it was the

practice that

women didn't

go to the

graveside long

ago or in

more recent

times.

But now

that's, I

think, a

good thing

that is no

longer the

case.

Everybody's

got their

own personal

opinion and

not interfering

with that.

But seeing a

coffin going

into the

grave, coming

to just show

the very last

respects by

scattering sand

or earth into

it, and the

grave being

filled in,

that has its

own point to

make.

That has its

own solemnity.

That has its

own level of

teaching.

And indeed,

that has its

own level of

finality as

well for this

life as we

say goodbye to

those we

love.

It is

sown in

weakness.

But as you

put that

coffin into

the dust,

as the

grave is

filled in,

one thing

you're absolutely

sure of when

you leave that

spot, that

coffin and

that body

inside is

not going

to move

until God

raises it

from the

dead.

It is

sown in

weakness.

weakness.

But it is

raised in

power.

And it is

raised in

power in

such a way

that we

find it

difficult even

now even to

estimate what

it would be

like.

But that's

what we're

told.

The opposite

of what's put

in the

ground is

what comes

out in the

resurrection.

And it

is sown a

natural body.

It is

raised a

spiritual body.

Now, it

doesn't mean

by that that

the body

that's raised,

the resurrection

body of

God's people,

has no

physical dimensions,

that it will

no longer have

flesh and

bones and

the substance

of our bodies

as we now

know it.

That's not

what's meant

by having a

spiritual body.

He says there

is a natural

body, there

is a spiritual

body.

It is sown a

natural body,

raised a

spiritual body.

What he means

by that, I

think, is it

is sown as

the body that

belongs to

this life,

the body that

belongs to

our existence

now, this

side of the

grave.

It is raised

a spiritual

body.

In other

words, Paul's

use of the

word spiritual

usually means,

and I think

means the

same here,

it is raised

in the energy

of and in the

dynamic of

the Holy

Spirit.

Because these

will be

bodies that

will be able,

through the

power of God,

the power that

God gives

them, will

be able to

have the

Holy Spirit's

residence to

the fullness

that God

will himself

bring about.

So you see,

it all comes

together,

imperishable,

glory,

power,

spiritual,

lived fully in

the dynamic of

the Holy Spirit,

which is not

what we are

capable of here

now in our

existence.

presence.

And of course,

we need to

retain this in

our mind too,

that Paul is

dealing here with

the resurrection

body, but you

mustn't think that

eternal life is

just a body

with some

spiritual life to

it.

What he's talking

of here is

God's saved

people,