A New Body

The ushers will be coming forward to give you an outline if you didn't receive one.

Also, if you'd like a Bible, they've got those for you.

So take advantage of that.

They say you know you're getting older when your body starts making the exact same clicking noise as a 15-year-old dishwasher on its final cycle.

You know you're getting older.

When the good news is that your metabolism has a very impressive memory for everything you eat.

But the bad news is it forgets to burn it and decides to frame it directly on your waist or hips instead.

You know you're getting older.

When the good news is that you're oh, when the doctor tells you there's good and bad news.

The bad news is you have short-term memory loss.

Then you ask, what's the good news?

And the doctor replies, you'll soon forget about the bad news.

Are you ever unhappy with your body?

Surveys tell us that most Americans aren't happy with their body image.

But unhappiness goes far beyond just the body image.

As we get older, things in this body don't work like they used to.

And eventually they break down.

That's the bad news.

So this morning we're going to go against the trend, and we'll be looking at the good news about our bodies from the scripture.

Open your Bibles and either read along with me or just listen to today's scripture reading.

But someone will say, How are the dead raised?

And with what kind of body do they come?

You fool, that which you sow does not come to life unless it dies, and that which you sow, you do not sow the body which is to be, but a bare grain, perhaps of wheat or something else.

But God gives it a body just as He wished, and to each of the seeds a body of its own.

All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one kind of flesh for mankind, another flesh of animals, another flesh of birds, another flesh of fish.

There are also heavenly bodies and earthly bodies.

But the glory of the heavenly is one, and the glory of the earthly is another.

There is one glory of the sun, one glory of the moon, another glory of the stars, for stars differ from star and glory.

So also is the resurrection of the dead.

It is sown a perishable body, it is raised an imperishable body, 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.

Our scripture passage jumps right into an ongoing discussion between Paul and the Corinthians.

I'm going to review the beginning of chapter 15, and then we'll focus on what today's passage says about our new bodies.

The chapter starts by stating the gospel.

This is the good news, the core of Christian belief.

We read in verse 3, Christ died for our sins according to the scripture, and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures, and that he appeared.

From this we see that both Jesus' death for our sins and his resurrection are essential parts of the good news.

In the next section, Paul confronts a group that was teaching there's no resurrection of the dead.

Paul explains that Christ's resurrection is a fact.

Jesus has triumphed over death, and he brings life to all who follow him.

The conclusion: our future resurrection is certain.

That brings us today's to today's scripture reading.

Two questions from the no resurrection teachers.

Well, first of all, how can the dead be raised?

And secondly, what kind of body will they have?

This is equivalent to saying, how can those bodies be put back together again?

The teachers are saying, Maybe you haven't been to the morgue lately, Paul, but we have.

And the sights are not pretty.

Some of the body parts are missing, other parts are so destroyed that there's no hope they'll ever be useful again.

So how can you, so to speak, put Humpty Dumpty back together again?

And how can their bodies be restored, or how can what kind of bodies will they have when they come back?

You can see those on your outline as well.

Okay, keep these two questions in mind as we look at the scriptures today.

The first question is, how can the dead be raised?

And the answer to the first question is agricultural.

The process of sowing and reaping illustrates the resurrection.

Listen while I start reading in verse 36.

Little technical.

There we go.

That which you sow does not come to life unless it dies, and that which you sow, you do not sow the body which is to be, but a bare grain, perhaps of wheat or something else.

But God gives it a body just as He wished, and to each of the seeds a body of its own.

Here we are given an analogy.

A seed seems lifeless or dead.

It can lie dormant, sit on a shelf, or even be stored away for years.

But when it's planted, it grows into a plant or a tree, and that's when it becomes useful and attractive.

Let's look back at this passage.

Do you see what's going on here?

Look at verse 36.

Before new life, what you sow has to die first.

So death precedes resurrection.

Then in verse 37, look at that.

We're seeing we're sowing not just, we're sowing a bare grain, not the new body that's going to be.

And then finally, Paul concludes this in verse 38 by saying that it's really God who gives life to it, the body that he wishes.

The real life-giving force is God, and he gives it life, the body he wishes it to have.

Scripture is reassuring us that the death of our current body is just like the process we see in nature.

The seed is planted.

Our body goes into the ground, a plant springs forth, and so we shall spring forth from our grave in a new body.

Death is not an end, it's a prelude to a glorious future resurrection body.

I have a few slides to help visualize the transformation.

Here is our wheat grains.

You can see that, the little bit of strand of wheat, and the grains themselves, very small, very unassuming.

But then they develop into something.

There we go.

Oh backwards.

Um into a full plant, full of life, blooming, growing.

A couple other illustrations I have for you.

I think you recognize this one.

Anybody, what kind of seed is this?

Acorn, and what does that develop into?

An oak tree.

There we go.

And I've got one more for the season since we're coming into fall.

Anyone recognize these seeds?

Pumpkin, that's right.

And ah, here we go.

Maybe okay.

There's our pumpkin.

I want to share a modern parable that comes from the our daily devotional.

Sit back and digest this.

I can.

During that same time, he and his family attended a funeral of a family member.

At the service, the pastor talked about the final resurrection of the dead.

Several days later, when the family traveled past the cemetery, the boy remarked, That's where they plant people.

He made the logical connection between the seeds planted in the ground and the bodies planted in the cemetery.

Before we move on to the next question, do we get it?

Can you see the parallel here?

The graveyard.

Is it a graveyard or a planting?

The grave is not the end of the story.

For believers, death is like a planting.

We're awaiting our resurrection.

So that sums up the first question and its answer.

Now, can anybody remember the second question?

Well, you can always refer to your sheet here.

What kind of body will they have?

A unique body.

Paul actually gives three full detailed answers to this question of what kind of body they're going to have.

And because it's an important question, we will look at all three in succession.

We're going to start with this first one.

We get the unique body.

Listen while I read, starting in verse 38.

But God gives it a body just as he wished, and to each of the seeds a body of its own.

All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one flesh of mankind, another flesh of animals, another flesh of birds, and another of fish.

So we here see here in verse 38 an expression, a body of its own.

What does that mean?

It means the resurrection body is a unique body, different from your previous body, but still uniquely you, your own.

To illustrate this further, he minds us in verse 39 that there are different kinds of flesh or bodies.

Man, animals, birds, even fish are all living and moving beings, but their bodies are different.

Likewise, the resurrection body can be unique, different from your present body, but still you.

What is the point of this passage?

Well, our present earthly bodies have a certain glory, but the resurrection body has its own glory, one which far outshines the present.

God is true glory.

All of our glory is a partial reflection of Him.

And although I can easily toss around the word glory, I find it easy to say, but yet very hard to define.

It's one of those things that you know it when you see it.

So to help us grasp the concept and maybe to wake you up, I'm going to have a few slides that help us picture glory.

A beautiful sunrise.

We might say that's glorious and wonderful.

And then the day moves on into a wonderful day at the beach.

Sun, sand, light.

Night comes and sunset happens.

We see wonderful, beautiful things as we look out at the ocean.

And then God's creations.

Look at what God has made.

Perfect symmetry, every hair in its place.

And by the way, this is Charlie, our dog.

I've been waiting to get a chance to get him in a sermon.

So here we are.

But glorious.

This couple is not related to us, by the way.

This is a stock photo.

But a couple on their wedding, they radiate.

We say, wow, look at them.

They're really full of glory.

And then, of course, we look to the sky and we see galaxies, we see stars, and we say, wow, that is just amazing.

It's a reflection of God's glory.

Let's get back to the new body.

I'm hoping these pictures help us to capture some understanding of glory.

It's worth repeating, God is true glory, and our resurrection bodies will be a greater reflection of his glory than these present bodies.

Now we can turn to the third kind of body we get in the resurrection, the resurrection body.

Listen while I start reading in verse 42.

So also is the resurrection of the dead.

It is sown a perishable body, it is raised an imperishable body, it's sown in dishonor, it's raised in glory, it's sown in weakness, it's raised in power.

If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.

Often the first question we think about our new bodies is, what will I look like?

You know, will I be five feet eleven inches tall?

Will I be blonde or brunette?

And how white are my teeth going to be?

But Paul doesn't spend any time on physical appearances.

So if you're looking for an answer to that, we're not going to get that today.

He jumps straight to our qualities and contrasts our present body with the future resurrection body.

Let's look at some of these differences.

Stop and digest that for a moment.

It won't fade or pass away.

You don't die or replant the resurrection body again.

It's in its final state.

That's what Jesus has come to give those who follow him eternal life.

Another difference we see is that the resurrection body is completely glorious, glowing, in fact, reflecting God's glory.

That's the glory we just talked about.

It's free from any dishonor that we may have presently.

Dishonor are the things that we hate about our present bodies.

Perhaps it's an ugly scar, a deformed or missing leg or arm, or the inability to walk straight or speak clearly.

All of these things will be restored to their full function.

And ironically, the worse we are now, the better we will be then.

That new body also has power.

This means no more weak knees, no more muscle loss starting at age 35.

We will not have infinite power.

That belongs to God alone.

But we will be able to fully use the body we have, each muscle, joint, and tendon working in perfect harmony.

Power is not just physical, but it also extends to our minds.

Imagine that you will be able to easily focus, learn, and grow.

The thing that you thing that you always wanted to do but gave up on because it was too hard, now it can become your new skill and accomplishment.

We have this saying, it's all Greek to me when we don't understand something.

But in our new bodies, maybe we will all we'll all speak Greek to each other.

To sum it up, we're told that our current natural bodies get transformed into new spiritual bodies that are imperishable, glorious, powerful, and spiritual.

But what is a spiritual body?

First of all, it's not a ghost.

It's not a phantom or an immaterial body.

Don't be misled by anybody who teaches that.

It's flesh and blood that has become imperishable, glorious, and in step with God's Spirit, able to follow the Lord without hesitation and to do his will.

That's the heavenly spiritual body.

We're gonna skip a couple of slides here.

Now, try to ponder for a moment what your new resurrection body will be like.

Unique, glorious, powerful, imperishable, and spiritual.

This is a stuff that poets and artists help us think about and visualize.

And since I'm neither of these, I want to share a quote with you, which begins to reveal the wonder of our new bodies.

You cannot tell what is in that body of yours, but wait until all the sin has been removed from it.

Wait until its weaknesses and limitations disappear.

Wait until it is changed and made like unto his glorious body, and then it will be seen as it was intended in the beginning.

A perfect vehicle.

Wait.

Wait.

Wait.

And then there it is.

The new body, the perfect body.

Well said.

So what does all this mean for us?

Of all people, we should have great hope.

As believers, we are in Christ and have gathered and have the great hope that when our bodies sorry, let me start over.

Of all people, we should have great hope.

As believers, we are in Christ and have the great hope that when our body that when our dead bodies our dead bodies will be given life and resurrection when Jesus returns to earth.

Listen to Romans 8, 11.

But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his spirit who dwells in you.

This is a solid promise.

One you can memorize and hold on to when you're facing your final moments before your death.

If you've ever struggled with fear of death, and many of us have, this is a verse that you can write down on the card to review or memorize today, so that it will strengthen and encourage you when you struggle with doubt.

But our hope doesn't just stop with us, it extends to other believers who pass away.

Listen while I read from 1 Thessalonians 4.

We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve, as indeed the rest of mankind do, who have no hope.

For if we believe that Jesus died and rose from the dead, so also God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep through Jesus.

Here is another promise you can hold on to.

Those who die in Christ will be raised with him.

This does not mean, of course, that we won't miss them when they die and they pass away, but it does mean that through that grief process, we have the confidence that they will be raised again in that new glorious resurrection body we talked about.

So if you struggle with the death of loved ones, here's another verse you can write down on the card to review or memorize, and it will strengthen you when you need it.

For the answer to that, we need to look back a few paragraphs before this one.

I don't have a slide on this, so listen while I start reading in verse 22.

For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive, but each in his own order, Christ the first fruits, and after that those who are Christ's at his coming.

Did you hear that?

All who are Christ's.

Those who belong to Christ are his and given the new resurrection body.

So the next question is how do I get included or belong to Christ?

Jesus was very clear on this.

Look at the passage on the screen as I read it.

I am the resurrection and the life.

The one who believes in me will live, even if he dies.

Now, belief here means trust.

This is not a true or false question to answer or a box to check in a multiple choice test.

Belief is trust.

Trust that his word is true.

Period.

And his word is this our sin has separated us from God.

Jesus himself paid for our sins, rose from the dead, and is coming again to raise the dead who believe in him.

If you believe or trust his word, then you are included.

But today, if you're not sure you believe that, ask God to help your unbelief.

He is close to those who call on him.

I want to leave you with this summary.

A new and wonderful body is the hope Jesus' resurrection has secured for us.

Amen.

Let it be so.