The Resurrection Body

You can open them up to 1 Corinthians chapter 15.

1 Corinthians 15 · chapter mention

And I don't know if, David, you're able to bring up my first slide there.

How'd you like to take a ride in one of those?

Too small.

I think that's that secret desire to actually do it talking,

but knowing that we probably won't get the chance,

or we'll just never be able to afford it.

But ever since I was young, I've always thought,

man, it'd be so cool to ride in a car like that.

If I ever got the chance, I would take it,

especially if it didn't cost me anything.

There's something about a car like that,

excellence in engineering and design.

It even looks good.

The performance capabilities are just off the charts

compared to my Sienna minivan.

Hit the next one, David.

How about that?

Some of you, maybe that's a little bit more appealing.

The S790, the latest offering by John Deere

with all of the latest features.

Maybe some of you feel that appreciation

for quality design and engineering

as you think of having one of those guys.

And even though it's green, it does look good, doesn't it?

The next one there, David.

How about something like that?

Something that probably more of us can relate to.

Apple computers, Apple phones.

There's something about those that when we look at it,

we recognize the design, the engineering,

the quality that has been put into it.

It looks good in that sleek silver finish.

It has amazing visuals,

and it's light as a feather.

There's something that we are really drawn to

and appreciate when it comes to excellence

in design and engineering.

You can put it to the black one.

But this morning, we're going to be looking at

what the Lord has told us through Paul

is one of the most amazing

masterpieces in design and engineering.

We've been working our way through 1 Corinthians 15.

We began with a reminder from Paul

that we need to hold firmly to the good news

and what that is, the message of Christ.

Then we've heard that there are some who are preaching

or saying that there's no resurrection.

There's no life after death.

And Paul takes time to lay out the implications

of embracing that idea.

He corrects the idea.

He says,

Christ has indeed been raised from the dead.

He goes on to explain a bit of the bigger picture here

of what's going on between God

and his son and his world

and how Jesus is going to return to reign.

And when he does,

those who belong to him will be raised from the dead.

Last Sunday, we went on to hear a few more implications

that Paul has for denying the resurrection.

We heard him appeal to his own life

and how he has put himself through

all kinds of trials and suffering

because he knows that the resurrection of Christ is true

and how it wouldn't even make sense for him

to be living like he's living

if all of this was a lie,

to be risking the one precious life that he has.

He's lived consistently with the truth.

And now we come to verse 35.

Paul says this,

But someone will ask,

How are the dead raised?

With what kind of body will they come?

How foolish!

What you sow does not come to life

unless it dies.

Paul begins with a couple questions.

And at first read,

we're kind of,

they're probably questions

that we would like the answer to.

How were the dead raised?

Yes, tell us that.

With what kind of body will they come?

Yes, we want to know more about that.

But what's not as clear

is the way that these questions are being asked.

Are they sincere questions?

Are they just kind of questions

Paul imagines them asking

after what he's been teaching

about the resurrection?

Or are they kind of cynical questions?

Questions that kind of have

a little tone of challenge in them.

Paul's answer kind of,

I think,

gives us a bit of a clue.

He says in verse 36,

immediately after,

How foolish!

Literally, fool!

It seemed odd to respond like that

if they were just genuine,

sincere questions.

And so I think

these questions

are the kind of questions

that some have been asking

as a subtle challenge

to the idea of resurrection.

How are the dead raised?

How's it even possible?

With what kind of body

will they come?

Will their remains

somehow come back together

and be reanimated

and their soul go back

into their corpse

and they come back to life?

That doesn't even make sense.

You don't have the answer

to that question?

Oh, it's probably because

it's a bunch of baloney.

It's foolishness.

But Paul immediately

turns the table

on those who would be

offering this kind of challenge.

He says,

Fool!

No!

You guys are the ones

who are mistaken,

who are foolish

in denying resurrection

and the possibility

of resurrection.

And he goes on

to give the analogy

of a seed

as he explains

why denying the resurrection

is foolishness.

He says,

What you sow

does not come to life

unless it dies.

Verse 37,

When you sow,

you do not plant the body

that will be,

but just a seed,

perhaps of wheat

or of something else.

But God gives it a body

as he has determined.

And to each kind of seed

he gives its own body.

I don't know if you can see that.

This is a seed.

And for those of us

who have lived here

on earth for a while,

we know what this does.

But how often do we stop to think,

isn't it amazing

that this tiny little,

almost like a speck,

when we plant it

in the ground

will turn into

a full-fledged,

healthy,

vibrant,

growing,

green tomato plant

that produces tomatoes

delicious and juicy

that are like this big.

All of that

is right there

in here.

Isn't that amazing?

What's the lesson here

that Paul is giving?

The lesson is this.

He says,

what you sow

into the ground,

when you sow,

you do not plant

the body

that will be

but just a seed.

What goes into the ground

is not the same

as what comes up

out of the ground.

Verse 42.

We're going to connect

back to this verse

again and again

because Paul's going to use

a whole bunch of analogies here.

So is it

with the resurrection

of the dead.

The body

that we have now,

the body that is buried,

the body that turns

into a pile of dead bones

after it's been buried

for a while

is not the body

that comes out

of the ground.

Just the same

as this little seed

is not what comes

back out of the ground.

Something

totally different,

new,

and better

is what comes up

out of the ground.

Verse 38.

But God gives it

a body

as he has determined

and to each kind

of seed

he gives

its own body.

body.

So what kind

of body

will we have

at the resurrection?

Well,

just as God

has designed

each different

kind of seed

to turn

into its own

unique

kind of plant,

in the same way

at the resurrection

he will give us

the body

that he has

determined

according to his design,

according to his plan.

and notice

the word

gives.

But God

gives it

a body

and to each

kind of seed

he gives

its own body.

The body

that we will have

when we are raised

from the dead

comes from God.

It's something

that he gives

as he

has determined

to those

who belong

to Christ.

And I think

there's a bit

of a subtle

point

that we're meant

to take

from this.

I mean,

the question

how is it

possible

for the dead

to be raised?

What kind

of body

will they

come with?

I think

that what's

implied

in this

analogy

just like

we have

really

when it

comes down

to it

no idea

how this

tiny little

thing

can turn

into a

full-fledged

plant.

It's a miracle.

So too

is the

resurrection.

It's not

something

that we're

meant to

theorize

about

and try

to figure

out

how will

God

gather

up

the

remnants

of

our

dead

bodies?

What if

some of

the parts

of our

body

were

eaten

up

by a

fish

or

something?

How is

he going

to do

that?

How is

he going

to

reanimate

and put

our

soul

back

into

a

corpse?

That

question

is

foolishness

says

Paul.

Just

the

body

that

we're

going

to

go

into

the

ground

with

when

we

die

and

are

buried

is

not

the

body

that

we

will

be

raised

with.

God's

going

to do

something

miraculous

and it's

not a

natural

process.

It's

not

something

that you

can

explain

with

science.

It's

a

miracle.

It's

something

that he's

going

to do

by his

own

life

giving

power.

His

own

amazing

ability

to

engineer

and

design

and

give

life

as he

raises

our

bodies

back to

life

from the

dead.

And

what's

even more

amazing

about this,

I mean,

you think

about that

little

seed.

Here's

kind of a

skill

testing

question.

We'll

see if

our

agronomist

is up

on his

game.

Is that

little

seed

alive

or

dead?

Kind

of a

trick

question.

I

asked that

to my

wife.

I

don't

know.

Is it

alive?

Is it

dead?

You can

Google

this

online

later.

But

kind of

the

consensus

out there

is that

that

seed

is

alive.

It's

dormant,

but it's

alive.

And you

can actually

kill it

so that

it doesn't

sprout.

these are

not coming

from people

of faith

or anything.

This is

science.

They're

saying,

yeah,

it's

alive.

We don't

but it's

amazing how

quickly you'll

come to

find out

that they'll

admit we

have no

idea how

it stays

alive for

years and

years and

years.

There's

some

processes

going on

in there

even if

they're

very slow

and yet

there's

no input.

The metabolism

is not

active and

going in

the same

sense as

when it's

germinating.

It's

amazing.

Very easily

I was able

to find all

kinds of

people saying

this is an

amazing process

and it's

not one

that's well

understood.

That's a

seed.

That's a

living thing

like that

turning into

a living

thing,

a plant.

Or you

think about

the miracle

of life

and how

each one

of you

in this

room

began

as a

single

cell,

a single

human

cell.

And even

in that

case,

you came

from

living

things,

you came

from a

living sperm

and a

living egg,

but the

resurrection

is something

else.

Those are

natural in

the sense

that they do

naturally

occur.

and we

should admit

that yes,

they are

miraculous.

We can

try to

observe it,

but do we

understand how

it works?

Can we

reproduce that?

No way.

But the

resurrection

is not

living things

turning into

living things,

but something

that's dead

turning into

something that's

alive again.

Now that

is amazing.

When your

body dies,

dies,

it's because

the organs

that sustain

your life

have stopped.

They've

failed.

They've

ceased.

All of the

processes,

all of the

biological

functions that

sustain your

life have

permanently

ceased.

That's what

death is.

The living

organism that

is your

body,

from that

point on,

it just

decomposes.

And up to

a month

later,

I read

one source

that said

the term

they used

was it

begins to

liquefy.

And depending

on how you're

buried,

eventually,

all that's

left is a

bunch of

dead bones

in the

ground.

ground.

And yet,

God is

able,

if he is

able to

do what

he can

do with

this,

this,

and turn

it into

a plant,

with a

single cell,

and turn

it into

you,

absolutely,

he can do

the most

amazing of

all,

and give

life to

the dead.

It's a

miracle of

God.

We don't

need to be

able to

explain the

resurrection in

scientific terms

or in

terms of how

the parts of

the body will

come back

together.

It's something

that God

does by

his amazing

power.

Paul goes

on to

give a few

more analogies.

Verse 39,

he says,

not all

flesh is

the same.

People

have one

kind of

flesh,

animals have

another,

birds another,

and fish

another.

There are

also heavenly

bodies,

and there are

earthly bodies.

But the

splendor of the

heavenly bodies

is one kind,

and the

splendor of the

earthly bodies

is another.

The sun

has one

kind of

splendor,

the moon

another,

and the

stars another.

And star

differs from

star in

splendor.

Now,

there's at

least three

or four

different

analogies all

packed into

there,

so we're

going to

start with

the first

one.

He says,

not all

flesh is

the same.

And then

he walks

backwards

through the

days of

creation.

creation.

There's

different kinds

of bodies

that God

has given

in the

various

creatures that

he has

created.

There's

you and

I,

and the

kind of

body we

have.

We've

got two

legs,

we've

got two

arms,

we're

built to

walk,

we're

built to

work.

Then there's

the animals.

Some of

them are

built

differently,

they have

a different

kind of

body.

Some of

them have

a tail

so that

they can

balance in

trees,

or on

steep

cliffs.

Or they

have

four legs

so that

they can

run really

fast.

Or they

have fur

so that

they can

endure

the

coldest

of

climates

and

temperatures.

Then there's

birds.

They're a

whole other

kind of

animal.

They've

got wings

so that

they can

fly through

the air.

They've

got beaks

so that

they can

break

open

seeds.

Then you've

got fish,

totally

different.

They've

got fins

and a

tail and

they're

sleek so

that they

can move

quickly through

the water.

They've

got gills,

something

totally

different than

we have.

What's

Paul's

lesson in

this?

Because as

we said

earlier,

he comes

down again

to verse

42,

so it

is with

the

resurrection

of the

dead.

God has

uniquely

tailored

each

different

kind

of

creature

that

he

has

made

for

the

environment

that

he

intended

for it

to live

in.

In the

same way,

when we

are raised

from the

dead,

he will

give us

the body

that we

need

for the

life

that he

has for

us

in the

forever

kingdom

that Jesus

is coming

to bring

we

will

be

perfectly

suited

to

eternal

life.

The

body

we

have

will

be

engineered

perfectly

for that.

Paul

goes on,

he says

that there's

heavenly

bodies

and earthly

bodies.

He goes

on to

talk about

how there's

different

levels of

splendor

or glory

between

stars and

various

things in

the heavens.

You almost

get the

sense that

Paul is

just reflecting

on what

he has

seen of

what God

has done

in the

universe.

God's

created all

kinds of

stuff.

What a

variety we

see on

earth,

but that's

not it.

I mean,

God has

done an

incredible

variety of

stuff in

the heavens

beyond the

earth.

And as

our technology

improves,

we're able to

see more and

more of that

beauty through

Hubble

telescopes and

satellites and

all kinds of

things like

that.

And we

haven't even

begun to

scratch the

surface of

this vast

universe that

we live in.

I'm going to

give a bit of

a teaser.

We're going to

go here more

next week because

Paul gets to

this a little

later, but the

point that he

is, I think,

making here is

that we are

earthly, but

there will come

a day in the

resurrection where

we will bear the

image of the

heavenly man.

This

resurrection thing,

it's not just the

body that we went

into the ground

with coming back

up again.

No.

It's like the

seed.

I mean, there's

nothing spectacular

looking at that

little seed.

It just looks like

a little speck.

But compared to

that speck, the

tomato plant, when

it's fully bloomed

and grown and the

tomatoes are on

it, no, that's

glorious.

That's beautiful.

So it is with the

resurrection.

Our bodies will

go into the

ground, a thing

of the earth, but

they will be raised

to be glorious and

beautiful, a

marvelous work of

God.

God.

Verse 42.

So it is with the

resurrection of the

dead.

We've already

talked about this.

Paul's kind of

relating this.

These are all

analogies that are

pointing to how we

will be raised from

the dead when

Christ returns.

But we want to

know more.

We want to know

the details.

Well, what's it

going to be like?

What's my new

body going to be

like?

Paul goes on.

He gives us a

few descriptive

words.

He says in verse

42, the body that

is sown is

perishable.

It is raised

imperishable.

The word

perishable refers

to decay.

The bodies that

we have right

now, they're

subject to decay.

They wear down.

They run down.

They, after a

period of time,

they expire.

Our organs fail.

That's the kind

of body that will

be sown into the

ground when we

die.

But it will be

raised imperishable.

A body that will

never wear out.

A body that will

never expire.

A body that is

not subject to

decay.

Paul says it

is sown in

dishonor.

It is raised in

glory.

There's some

back and forth

over what it

means to be

sown in

dishonor.

Some people

see that as

kind of how

death in itself

is kind of a

humiliating thing.

You can think

back to Jewish,

the Jewish

religious laws

from the Old

Testament.

Even to touch

a dead body

would make you

unclean.

And that view

kind of sees

dishonor as

referring to the

ugliness and the

shamefulness of

death.

others have said,

well, no, perhaps

dishonor refers to

more to kind of

the consequence

that death is.

That they died is

evidence that they

were a sinner,

that they lived a

dishonorable life.

And which it is of

the two, I'm not

sure.

But what we're

really looking at is

the contrast that

Paul gives.

It is sown in

dishonor.

It is raised in

glory.

And while it's

true that being

raised from the

dead is a

glorious thing,

to have the

terrible consequence

of death reversed

and undone, I

think what Paul is

really pointing to

is the body and

what the body will

be characterized

by.

It will be

imperishable and

it will be raised

in glory.

It will be a

glorious body.

Think back to

what Paul said in

his letter to the

Philippians.

He says that we

are awaiting a

savior, Jesus,

who by his power

will transform our

lowly bodies so

that they will be

like his glorious

body.

There's that same

idea.

Our bodies, when we

are raised from the

dead, are going to

be nothing like the

kind of body that

we had.

I'm not going to

talk about whether

we'll have two arms

and two legs today.

We can talk about

that next Sunday.

But in terms of the

quality, the

permanence of our

bodies, the

splendor, the glory

of our bodies, it

will be the

difference between

this tomato seed and

the full-grown plant

with the fruit on

it.

Like Christ's

glorious body.

Paul says, it is

sown in weakness.

It is raised in

power.

Weakness.

That's what describes

the bodies that we

have right now.

They're frail.

They're fragile.

They break.

And we have a

limited ability to

heal ourselves.

But the bodies that

we will have in the

resurrection, it will

be raised in power.

And yes, I think that

that describes how

God will do it.

He will do it with

his power.

But I think Paul is

really describing what

the body will be like.

It will be

imperishable.

It will be glorious.

It will be a body

of power,

characterized by

power.

The life-giving

power of God

will be in it.

Perhaps we will

have capacities

or abilities that

we never had

before.

I'm not going to

go too much into

that kind of

speculation.

But for sure,

the capacities

that we will have,

the abilities that

we have, will be

perfected.

in that body.

We'll be strong.

We'll have energy.

Lastly, Paul says,

it is sown a natural

body.

It is raised a

spiritual body.

And we're actually

going to focus in on

that next Sunday.

It's one of those

verses that I think

we have often

misinterpreted.

And Paul has quite a

lot to say about it

in the next whole

paragraph.

So we're going to

save that for

next Sunday.

What is Paul's

point in all this?

Paul's point is

that it's foolish

to think that

the resurrection

is impossible

because we can't

imagine how it

works.

We can't even

imagine how that

little seed turns

into a tomato

plant.

God will do it.

He can do it

by his amazing

power, by his

design and

engineering

ability that is

completely unrivaled

and like nothing

else that we have

ever seen.

If we think that

the Ferrari is

impressive, we

ain't seen nothing

yet.

If you think that

that S790 is

awesome, a work of

true ingenuity,

you ain't seen

nothing yet.

If you think

that the best

of art and

music and film

that people are

able to create

is something

today, you

ain't seen

nothing yet.

And the

evidence of

that, Paul

says, is in

the world that

we live in.

Look around.

Open your

eyes.

Look at the

world that he's

created.

All of it

points to his

ability to do

this, to give

life from the

dead.

And he will.

He will for

those who

belong to

Jesus.

For those who

belong to

Jesus.

It's not

something that

will be given

to everybody.

The resurrection

to this life

and this new

body, this is a

gift that God

will give as he

determines to

those who belong

to Jesus.

Do you

belong to

Jesus?

If you have

any doubts in

your heart or

if that's

something that

you want to

know more

about and

you're not

sure, come

talk to me

after the

service.

I'd love to

have that

conversation

with you.

The last

thing that I

want us to

reflect on for

a moment.

I mean, this

is Paul writing

to the

Corinthian

church.

You might

think, well,

that's so long

ago, that's so

out there.

What does this

have to do with

my life today?

And what I

want to press

home is simply

this.

Isn't it

amazing that

for those of

us who belong

to Jesus, God

is going to

give us this

amazing gift of

a new, glorious,

imperishable,

powerful body to

live in, that

will be us for

eternity.

What do we do

to deserve

that?

Nothing.

In fact, we've

done all kinds

of things not

to deserve it,

and yet this

too is part of

the good news

that Jesus has

done this and

he gives this

to us as a

free gift of

his love and

his grace.

The one thing

that totally

beats us all,

death.

He is going

to flip on

its head and

give us life

and a new

body.

won't it be

something to

have a body

that doesn't

have problems

with sickness?

Won't it be

something to

have a body

that doesn't

have any

issues of

disability?

Won't it be

something to

have a body

that doesn't

have any

problems with

hormonal

imbalances and

not feeling the

way that I

should about

different things?

a body that

doesn't have

problems with

achy joints

and pain

with parts of

it that just

wear out and

don't work

right anymore?

This is the

gift of God

for his people,

for all of

those who

belong to

Christ.

Isn't that

amazing?

God,

let's pray.

Father in

heaven,

thank you that

we have this

to look forward

to.

Lord,

some of us

don't feel it.

We're young.

We bounce

back pretty

quickly when we

get sick.

But we pray

and ask that

you would

increase our

faith,

that we would

not be like

the skeptics

who doubt

your abilities

and your

power.

increase our

faith and

fill our

hearts with

joy as

we trust

in the

good gift,

the good

future that

you have

prepared for

us.

We ask

this in

Christ's

name.

Amen.