THOUGHTS ABOUT THE PASSAGE:
It was not until 1850 that our world reached the one billion mark. By 1930 we reached two billion. It took only thirty more years for the world’s population to reach three billion. We have now arrived at six billion. Statisticians tell us that by the end of this century we’ll have over seven billion. Until 1800 the top speed was twenty miles an hour as people traveled on horseback. With the arrival of the railroad train, almost overnight we jumped to 100 miles per hour. By 1952 the first passenger jet could travel 500 miles an hour. By 1979 the Concorde cruised at more than 1,200 miles an hour. But even back in 1961 the astronauts were orbiting the earth at 16,000 miles per hour. (C. Swindoll, Rise and Shine, 1989).
In our passage today we are told about a bigger change than this. In the previous passage, we were told that the body is buried in corruption because it is going to decay; but it is raised with such a nature that it cannot decay. With this change there is no decay or death in heaven. The expression "last Adam," in verse 45, was coined by the Apostle Paul as a reference to Christ. Today we have a "natural body," that is, a body suited to an earthly environment. We received this body from our first parent, Adam. Adam was made from the dust of the ground and so are we (Gen. 2:7). Our resurrection body will be made in the image of Jesus Christ, the last Adam. In His resurrection body, He was able to move quickly from place to place, even through locked doors; yet He was able to eat food and His disciples were able to touch and feel Him (John 20:19-29).
The point that Paul seems to be making in this passage is that the resurrection body completes the work of redemption and transforms us into the image of our Savior. We are made in the image of God, as far as personality is concerned. We are made in the image of Adam, as far as the body is concerned. One day we will bear the image of our Savior, when we are in heaven. Our first birth gave us that which is natural, but our second birth gives us that which is spiritual. God rejects the first birth and says, "Ye must be born again!" If we depend on our first birth, we will be condemned forever; but if we experience the new birth, we shall live with Christ forever.
APPLICATION:
When I am resurrected, God will give me a changed, eternal body suited to my new eternal life.
