'1Cor 15:35-58

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The resurrection body (1Co 15:35-58)

Some people mocked the idea of the resurrection by asking how could bodies that have decayed in the earth be raised to life again. Paul answers with an illustration. A seed dies when it is put in the ground, but this is part of the process of bringing forth new life in the form of a plant that grows up out of the ground. What grows up is different from what was buried, but in a sense it is the same thing. It is dry and dead looking when put in the ground, but fresh and beautiful when it appears as a living plant (1Co 15:35-37).

The doubters should remember also that plant life takes many different forms. So does animal life (1Co 15:38-39).

God gives a different life, beauty and form to different things, depending on his purposes for them (1Co 15:40-41).

In similar manner the resurrection body is different from the body that is buried in the ground. The body that is buried is perishable, unattractive, and powerless; the body that is raised is imperishable, beautiful, and strong. Just as the present body is suited to the needs of present earthly life, so the resurrection body is suited to the needs of the spiritual life of the age to come (1Co 15:42-44).

Adam was the first of a race of physical, earthly people; Christ is the first of a race of spiritual, heavenly people. Adam’s body was the pattern for the bodies of people in the present life; Christ’s body is the pattern for the bodies of believers in the life to come (1Co 15:45-49).

Believers will have their physical bodies of the present life changed into spiritual bodies suited for life in the heavenly kingdom (1Co 15:50).

The change from the physical to the spiritual will take place when Christ returns and the dead are raised. All Christians, both those who have died and those still alive, will have their physical perishable bodies changed instantly into spiritual imperishable bodies (1Co 15:51-53).

Death will have no more power over believers. Sin, which makes death fearful and which uses the law to hold people in this state of fear, will be finally destroyed (1Co 15:54-57).

Believers have no reason to be hesitant or doubtful concerning the coming resurrection. Rather they will find that they have greater confidence and purpose in their Christian life and service as they understand the full meaning that the resurrection has for them (1Co 15:58).