LEARNING DAILY

1 Corinthians 15:35, How are the dead raised up? And with what body do they come?

Jesus came out of the tomb He was placed in after He gave up His life; He defeated death. David Jeremiah has written, “The Bible consistently teaches the reality of the resurrection, for God created eternity in our hearts.” I think that this week it would be appropriate to explore what the Bible tells about the resurrection of Believers.

Paul was addressing some interesting questions. There were those in the city of Corinth that were teaching there was no resurrection from the dead. Others were asking legitimate questions about how the dead were raised and what did the body look like. There were those who had been dead and buried for a long time; others had been killed in terrible ways. It is not difficult to see the difficulty in understanding the resurrection. Paul’s response seems to be quite harsh. Were they trying to be difficult, challenging Paul? Or were they really having trouble imaging what the resurrected body would look like?

To answer them, he uses an analogy of planting a seed into the ground – a seed does not come to life unless it is planted in the ground. Continuing on, Paul writes that God gives life to the plant based on the seed that was planted. Our body before we die is like the seed to the much better body God has planned for Believers.

1 Corinthians 15:42 goes on, “So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption.” That statement makes me wonder how the Believer’s resurrected body will be different from the Believer’s present body. To get some understanding of this, it is important to understand that through the first Adam (v. 45) we received our natural bodies; after the Fall described in Genesis, our bodies became mortal. In other words, they became subject to wearing out by aging and eventually death occurs. Ecclesiastes 3:20 tells us, “All go to one place. All are from the dust, and to dust all return”. As a result of the Fall, because of sin, we are made in dishonor.

However, because of Jesus being nailed to a cross in the place of all who would believe in Him, and because of His resurrection, the Believer’s imperfect body will someday be raised in glory, set free from the failings brought on by sin, aging, disease, sickness and death brought on by living in this world. The resurrected body will be honorable and perfectly suited for living in God’s kingdom for eternity. That means no more pain. No more disease and a body that will never wear out nor die.

Let me conclude with this verse from Romans 6:8-9, “Now if we died with Christ, we believe we will also live with Him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, He cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over Him”. What does this mean for a Believer. Placing your faith in Jesus Christ means you believe Jesus died on the cross taking your place; He died as a one-time payment for your sins – past, present, and future. Your new life in Him, walking the narrow way in faith and obedience with Him means you are headed toward life in His kingdom with Him. Spiritually speaking, Believers, through their faith in Jesus, have died and risen to new spiritual life. Believers are to walk the narrow way as if dead to themselves and alive to God in Christ (Romans 6:11).

We will look more at this tomorrow.