Introduction
"Extreme Makeover" is a popular show that takes people who do not meet the standards for good looks, and through extreme measures of plastic surgery, dental work, eye surgery, and whatever else is needed, turns ugly ducklings into babes and hunks, thus freeing them to live happily ever after. God promises us the ultimate extreme makeover – transforming our natural bodies into perfect spiritual bodies in which we will live forever.
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But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?”
This seems like a logical question to ask, and we are grateful that it is raised since Paul takes the time to explain. But it is not a mere question of curiosity. The very reason that the doctrine of the resurrection from the dead was rejected by some in the Corinth Church is the repugnance they felt at the idea of corpses being resuscitated. Kind of a “zombie-phobia.”
We’ve talked about the Corinth saints believing that they had spiritually arrived, what with their cool spiritual gifts and the higher plane of spiritual wisdom they had obtained. All that was hindering their complete ascension into spirituality was their bodies. To shed their bodies was their hope for full freedom. Now here is Paul talking about putting these vulgar shells back on. Just what kind of body does he have in mind? To such persons, Paul gives his answer. That’s why he starts off with a strong address: 36 You foolish person!
To explain the resurrected body, Paul starts off with two analogies: seeds and kinds of bodies. First, the seeds.
What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. 37 And what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare kernel, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain. 38 But God gives it a body as he has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body.
In a sense, a seed comes forth from fruit that has died. It is then buried, i.e. planted in the ground. The result is a resurrection of new life. So it is with the body. It dies, is buried, and it will rise with new life. But more to the point is that it rises in a different form. Just as it is not a big seed that comes up out of the ground, but a new plant, so it is that the body raised takes a new form as well.
Then comes the analogy of God having created different kinds of bodies:
39 For not all flesh is the same, but there is one kind for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish. 40 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. 41 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.
Consider flesh: our bodies are different from the bodies of horses, which are different from the bodies of geese, which are different from the bodies of catfish. Each has a body that fits their way of life. Look at other kinds of bodies: there are heavenly bodies, such as the sun, moon, and stars. They differ from the types of bodies found on the earth such as already mentioned. But then they also differ from one another in glory, i.e. in the degree and way that they shine. Again, each is fitted with the kind of body that serves the purpose God has given it. As Paul stated in verse 38, God gives to everyone the body that he chooses.
This is an important point. It is God who gives what he chooses to give. The Corinthians are hung up with the idea that a dead body must rise as it already is. Paul’s point is that the issue is now how a body rises, but who raises it and for what purpose. The sovereign God will do what he pleases, and if he chooses to raise a body in a new form, he will do so.
In the remaining verses Paul applies his analogies. Follow the series of contrasts:
42 So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. The body that is sown in burial is a perishable body. It decays into dust and ashes. Does it bother you that your body gets ill, that it grows old? Does it worry you to know that you have “passed your prime” and your body will only be able to do less? Does it bring fear to know that your body will die? Then know, that when you rise in Christ you will take on a body that will never get sick, never grow frail, that will never experience death.
43 It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is buried as dead flesh. There is nothing splendorous about the dead body. The best we can hope for is that an expert hand will make us for awhile look close to ourselves sleeping. Look at your skin now. Depending upon your age and health, it may be soft and smooth, or wrinkled and dry. But at the resurrection we rise in splendor, shining in glory. As Philippians 3:21 explains, Christ will “transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body.”
It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. The body cannot be any weaker than when it is dead. It can do nothing. And what about now? Does your weakness bother you? No matter who you are, how strong you are, you have limits. You cannot accomplish what you see others do. There is always someone faster, stronger, better coordinated. And however good you might be, eventually your strength and skill will decline. You may even become bedridden. But at the resurrection, our dead bodies will be raised by great power and will be given great power. On that day we will become superhuman in power.
44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. The body of dust returns to the earth. The elements of the body are but the same elements of the earth. Whatever we make of ourselves as spiritual creatures with immortal souls, the truth remains that our bodies are but earthly elements destined to return to the soil. But at the resurrection, our bodies will be transformed to spiritual bodies, not bodies that are immaterial, not ghost-like forms. Indeed, if anything, they will take on more certain, distinguished forms than before. They will become true Spirit-filled bodies. The Corinthians thought they had already become spiritualized creatures. But it is at the resurrection, in our raised bodies, that we become fully spiritual.
Paul then develops further this concept of their being different bodies: If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. 45 Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.
Adam was given a natural body and then had life breathed into him. Jesus, who is the last Adam also had a natural body. But after his body died, he was raised with a spiritual body and in that body has given life to others.
46 But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual. Like the plant that comes forth from the seed, so the spiritual body comes forth from the natural body.
Paul then groups mankind accordingly to each Adam: 47 The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. 48 As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven.
Because we are all descendents of Adam, our natural bodies are of the dust and share his destiny of death and decay. But for those who are also in Christ, we possess the further destiny of resurrection and life. But even of greater significance is not only that we live forever, but that we take on the image which we were originally intended to bear.
49 Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.
We have borne Adam’s image of frailty and death; but we were created to bear the image of God, which we have seen in Jesus Christ, the man of heaven. There is disagreement over whether Paul wrote “we shall bear” or “let us bear.” Either, both apply. Because we shall, at the resurrection, bear fully the image of the man of heaven, Jesus Christ, let us now live in such a way that we bear his image as fully as possible. Let us live out our destiny as well as we can to our Lord’s honor.
Do you struggle with sin? Of course you do. But look ahead to the destiny that awaits you. Keep before you the Christian hope of the resurrection to come, when you will be raised in glory, in power, with spiritual bodies that bear the image of your glorious Lord.
Questions
This is a wonderful passage. Let’s take time to consider questions that it may have raised. If our bodies are to be raised, then is it permissible to have our bodies cremated? Yes, it is. Why? First, consider logic. The bodies of millions of saints in Christ no longer exist even as ashes. Many bodies were never buried, having been destroyed by war or accident. Many bodies buried, were buried in common graves so that their ashes are intermixed. If God has promised to raise all those who die in Christ, logic leads us to conclude that his promise applies to those whose bodies were not preserved in burial.
Furthermore, the resurrection of our bodies is not predicated on what we do with our bodies. Nowhere does Scripture say that we will be raised if our bodies are properly buried. And the reason it would not do so is that the reality of the resurrection lies in the power of God. It is God who will raise our bodies; God who will exert the power that brings together whatsoever atoms (if they are atoms) that he determines to constitute our spiritual bodies. We may bury our bodies; we may donate them to medical science; we may have organs removed; we may cremate them. Nothing we may do will thwart God’s purpose for us at the resurrection.
Another question we may have has to do with our identity. Will we look the same? Will we be recognizable to one another? We will keep our identity. Unlike the Eastern religions which depict our ultimate destination as that of a drop of water entering into a river or sea, our hope is that our “drop of water” will turn into its unique crystal. Our identities do not merge into one spiritual force, nor do they lose their unique qualities that distinguish them from one another. The only unique qualities we lose is our unique ways of sinning.
Jesus’ resurrected body is the model for ourselves. He remained recognizable. Even so, his body had changed. It could not longer be bound to the forces of nature. He could appear and disappear as he pleased. He ate, though it is questionable if he grew hungry as he did in his “natural” body.
Furthermore, he ascended into heaven in his body. There is no record, no implication that he ever shed his body. All the more reason, we have hope that we will be raised to eternal life in our resurrected bodies. How silly it would be for our Lord to carry his incarnated-resurrected body while we floated about like spirits.
What, then, about souls before the resurrection? What about our loved ones who have died? Are they sleeping? 1 Thessalonians 4:13ff speaks of those who have “fallen asleep” and who will rise to meet Christ when he returns. We speak of those who have died in Christ as being alive and with Christ in heaven. Should we change that imagery to one in which they are having a long sleep?
Consider Paul’s musings about his own death. In Philippians 1:22-23 he writes, “If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better.”
Again, in 2 Corinthians 5:6-8: “We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.”
In Jesus’ parable of the rich man and Lazarus, he depicts Lazarus was enjoying the blessings of heaven after death (cf. Luke 16:19-31). He promises the thief next to him on the cross that he will be with him that day in Paradise. On the Mount of Transfiguration, Jesus is seen talking with Moses and Elijah. These men were alive and awake!
Scripture uses sleep as an image of death to depict our perspective. To us, one who has died appears to be sleeping. From our viewpoint, he has “fallen asleep.” But from heaven’s perspective, the one who has fallen asleep in Christ has never been more awake, for he enters into the presence of God.
What is still lacking, however, is the resurrection of his body. That is still to come for both the dead and the living. At the time of the resurrection, the dead will rise with transformed bodies, and the living will experience the transformation as well.
Lessons
This is all good news for those who die in Christ, i.e. who die with faith in Christ as their Lord and Savior. You will be interested to know that actually everyone who has ever lived will be resurrected regardless of their attitude or knowledge of Jesus Christ, and that all will live forever. Paul is addressing Christians in this passage and specifically correcting a false teaching about what happens to Christians. Thus, he doesn’t take up the subject of what happens to those who die without Christ. Scripture addresses that elsewhere.
The Resurrection Day is also Judgment Day. When Christ returns to raise his people to eternal life, he will also judge the living and the dead. Jesus said in John 5:28-29: “an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice 29 and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.” Paul, in his defense before the governor Felix, presented himself as having the same beliefs of his fellow Jews: “that there will be a resurrection of both the just and the unjust.”
For those who die without Christ, the Resurrection Day is not a day of hope but of despair. It is the final judgment. There is no second chance. In their resurrected bodies, they will face eternal wrath. This doctrine offends many and is the primary reason given for many rejecting the gospel. Nevertheless, it is Jesus who most spoke about the judgment to come, about hell, and who gave warning to us to repent. Take warning now while you can. Once death comes, and who knows when it will come, your decision is made for you. Once Christ returns, and who knows when he will return, resurrection and judgment come with him. There is no turning back.
And everything rests upon your attitude towards Christ. You’ve heard John 3:16. Listen to it in its context: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God” (John 3:16-18).
You can complain that you don’t think such a judgment is fair. You can plea that you ought to be excused. But neither will avail when the time comes, which it will. You might feel that you can gamble it will be a long time before Christ returns, but certainly you will not gamble that it will be a long time before you die. Either way, you opportunity to repent and turn to Christ will be too late. Repent now of your sins; turn now to Christ in faith.
Then, to you who are in Christ, give thanks for such a mercy that is shown to you. You were as guilty as the worse of sinners, but Christ died for your sins. You were as lost, as resistant to the gospel as anyone else, but the Holy Spirit changed your heart. You were born of Adam, the man of dust, and death was your destiny; but God elected you to eternal life. And not just to receive life, but to receive glory. Was it for anything you had done? No. Out of his love he chose to love you; out of his mercy he redeemed you; by his power he will raise you as he raised Christ. Let us live now, then, for his glory. Let us now devote heart and soul to living godly lives in our natural bodies to the glory of our Risen Lord.
