How Are The Dead Raised Series

HOW ARE THE DEAD RAISED?

1 Cor 15: 35-49 (p815) April 17, 2011

INTRODUCTION:

There aren't many funerals I do that I don't share one of my favorite stories about one of my favorite preachers….

My Dad's favorite, or one of his favorite T.V. shows growing up was He Haw…By knowing this you might understand a little about my heritage…he was from a little town outside Rock Hill, S.C. My Mom was born in Quicksand, KY…I was born and raised in Lexington, KY, but my roots are deeply countryfied. I loved Jr. Samples, Grandpa Jones, LuLu, (My Dad took special note of the He Haw Honey's) But my favorite person on the show was a preacher named Grady Nutt….He talked about carrying around a 97 lb. scoffed returnee Bible, not just for spiritual reasons, but it fend off attacks from farm dogs when he went calling. Grady Nutt reminded me a lot of my preacher, Wayne Smith…I thought he was hilarious while attending Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. In November of 1982 his plane crashed after a speaking engagement in Calmaw Ala… Everyone on board was killed…He was 48 years old.

At his funeral one of his best friends gave the eulogy…told stories, celebrated his life and then in the midge of this time of laughter, pain, grief and joy said…"you' all understand that Grady isn't here don't you…Only the shell…the Nutt has gone home."

This body that we live in is just the shell and although every single person has an eternal soul…that gives life to those mortal bodies. These bodies are first temporary…they get cracked, they get sick, they get old…and they get destroyed…they are not designed to house our eternal souls forever.

The Apostle Paul shares this exact truth in his 2nd letter to the Corinthians…"Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, and eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands" (2 Cor 5:1)

Tents are designed for camping out…a couple of days at the lake…or at most temporary shelter for soldiers who are displayed in war…no one really wants to live in a tent for too long…winds blow them down, rain saturates them…bears think they're sandwich wrappers. After about 3 days they smell like old sweat socks and its time to go home.

Sot as the apostle Paul writes about the resurrection in our text he's dealing with the questions about this body we live in…shells and tents…what happens to them when we die….? Here's what he writes.

1 Cor. 15: 35 "But someone may ask (and I'm pretty sure someone already has)

"How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come?"

Folks, despite what you've been told

1.

I THERE ARE STUPID QUESTIONS

You remember when your teacher would tell you there were no stupid questions…and then someone would ask a question and everyone in the class including the teacher knew she was wrong.

[Kair and I were going through a tour of Mammoth Cave…we loved it, but I have the Ranger a hard time all through the tour…and he gave it right back…we had a blast with each other…but at the end of the day as we got ready to exit he asked…Do any of you have any questions…and my hand shot up…."I told Kair, watch this" She rolled her eyes…and as the ranger looked at me he rolled his and said "Yes" And I asked him "if all of the cave was underground". And he cracked up…left character for a moment… and said and I quote…"Yes, stupid it’s a cave, its all underground"

Paul has been dealing with resurrection questions He's taken us on an underground tour…and here's a ride paraphrase of a question he's dealing with.

"Some of you might laughing at the idea that these temporary bodies have any long term significance…you think it’s a joke and sarcastically ask…If the dead are raised what kind of bodies will they have…won't they stink? They're gonna look pretty ugly and zombie like aren't they? Partially decaying, bones sticking out…why would I want to be resurrected and have to walk around in the condition?

Here's Ranger Paul's answer:

. 1 Cor. 15-36-44 (p815)

What a foolish question! "When you plant a seed in the ground, it doesn't grow into a plant unless it dies first.

And whatever you put in the ground is not the plant that will come out of the ground.

If seeds get a new body when they die…don't you think people will get a new body too?

"God gives it a body as He has determined and to each kind of seed He gives its own body" (v. 39)

Paul's point …stop thinking that our resurrected bodies will be anything like these temporary shells we live in now.