Our Resurrection Bodies
15: 35-49
Our resurrection bodies DIG: Who are the two Adams mentioned here? How are they alike? How are they different? What do they have to do with the resurrection? How does Paul make it clear that he is talking about our having bodies, not about being dismembered souls?
REFLECT: What do you learn from these verses about what a resurrected body might be like? How does the hope of resurrection affect your view of death? How does your hope of resurrection affect how you use your current body? And to tell others about Messiah?
If you want a glimpse of what our new, resurrected bodies will be like, take a look at Yeshua. He was raised with the same kind of body that we will be given when we are raised to life.
Having proved the necessity of the resurrection, Paul can go on to discuss his readers’ concern about the practical details. But someone will ask, “In what manner are the dead raised? What sort of body do they have” (15:35)? Those in Corinth who denied the resurrection did so primarily because of the influence of Gnostic philosophy, which considered the body to be inherently evil and only the spirit to be good. They asked, “How can people possibly rise from the dead when their bodies have completely rotted away?” These verses, therefore, are absolutely crucial to the argument of this entire chapter (to see link click Dq – The Resurrection of the Dead), since it responds to the real issue that led to their denial of the resurrection.
Paul was convinced that the resurrection was not some resurrection of a corpse, but, like Messiah, the firstfruits (see Dt – Messiah: The Firstfruits of Those Who Have Fallen Asleep), would be transformed into a heavenly body. As he would later write to the Philippians, “Messiah will change the bodies we have in this humble state and make them like His glorious body, using the power which enables Him to bring everything under His control” (Philippians 3:21). Because the Corinthians could not fathom how this was possible, they had given up any hope that it was possible. They believed that resurrected bodies would be unfit for heavenly existence. So the skeptics concluded that there is no resurrection.
But why would anyone who acknowledges God as Creator think His restoring bodies, in whatever way, would be any more difficult for Him than making them in the first place? As Paul asked when he was before King Agrippa: Why do you people consider it incredible that God raises the dead (Acts 26:8)? Why do people still today, including some believers, become confused and bothered about how God could restore bodies of those who have been lost at sea, blown up in an explosion, or cremated? Why is His restoring bodies more miraculous and unbelievably than His creating the universe? And besides, every dead body, no matter how well embalmed, eventually disintegrates.496 Paul answers the questions: In what manner are the dead raised? What sort of body do they have? in four ways:
1. An illustration of resurrection (15:36-38): Paul first counters the Corinthian objection by pointing to the miracle of the harvest. Yeshua used the same seed-sowing illustration: I tell you that unless a grain of wheat that falls to the ground dies, it stays just a grain; but if it dies, it produces a big harvest (John 12:24). But because the resurrection seemed impossible from a Gnostic point of view, Paul responded accordingly: You fool (15:36a)! The fool is the opposite of the wise (see Ax – A Faulty View of God’s Gifts). Everyone knows that a seed’s life springs from its death. The harsh description of a fool has deeper biblical roots, however. Fools say in their hearts, “There is no God” (Psalm 14:1). The fool does not suffer from an intellectual deficiency, but fails to take God into account.497
The main teaching of the illustration from nature is that death and resurrection are transitions to a higher life. Nothing in the background of either the Greek or Jewish members of the Corinthian church would have prepared them for the idea that the life beyond the grave would be superior to this life. The Greek culture looked upon the best position in the land of the dead as inferior to the lowest position in the world. Even the TaNaKh painted a very unattractive picture of the land beyond death. At best, it was some kind of shadowy existence. The lament of the psalmist that in death there is no remembrance of You (Ps 6:5), and the dead do not praise ADONAI, nor any who go down into silence (Ps 115:17) stands in stark contrast to the statement that Paul would later give to the Philippians, “For me, life is the Messiah, and death is gain” (Phil 1:21).
Thus, the questions posed here in 15:35 were not those of someone who wanted to know, but were mocking taunts of someone who thought they already knew. As with most of the questions put to Yeshua by the scribes, Pharisees and Sadducees, the purpose was to entrap and embarrass, not discover truth. To point out the foolishness of their objection, Paul gives a common illustration from nature. When you sow a seed, it doesn’t come alive unless it first dies (15:36b). Before Messiah could bear the fruit of salvation for us, He had to die. Likewise, before we can participate in the fruit of His resurrection, we too must die. Just as with crops, there had to be an end to the old before there could be a beginning of the new.
Also, in both the growing of crops and in the resurrection of bodies there is a difference between the original and final forms. What you sow is not the body that will be, but a bare seed of, say, wheat or something else (15:37). When Yeshua was raised from the dead His glorified body was radically different from the one which He died, so much so that Mary didn’t even recognize Him (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Me – Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene). Resurrection had changed Messiah’s body in marvelous and radical ways, and at His Second Coming all resurrection bodies will be changed marvelously and radically.
But in spite of the differences, there is nevertheless a continuity between the old and the new. God gives it the body He intended for it; and to each kind of seed He gives its own body (15:38). The seed changed radically, but it was still a seed. A wheat seed does not become barley, and a flax seed does not become corn. After Yeshua was raised, no one recognized Him unless He revealed Himself to them. But once revealed, He was recognizable. The disciples knew His face, and they recognized His wounds. In a similar way, our resurrected bodies as believers will have a continuity with the bodies we have now. Our bodies will die and change form, but they will still be our bodies. Surely it is not too hard to believe that the God who has worked this process daily through the centuries in His creation of plants, can do the same for us.498
2. The form of resurrected bodies (15:39-42a): From grain and plants, Paul turns to flesh. All flesh is not the same kind of flesh. The variety in creation reflects the will of the Maker. And God provides each of the animals, fish, and birds with bodies that are perfectly suited to their environments. So, there is one kind of flesh for human beings, another kind of flesh for animals, another for birds and another for fish (15:39). Paul wanted to correct the Corinthians of the mistaken impression that all flesh is the same so that they can begin to appreciate that the resurrection body is not identical with the earthly body.499
Further, there are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies; but the beauty of heavenly bodies is one thing, while the beauty of earthly bodies is something else. Listed in descending order of their radiance, the blazing sun has one kind of beauty, the soft glow of the moon another, and the twinkling of the stars yet another. Indeed, each star has its own individual kind of beauty (15:40-41). Although their structure is the same, their appearance is vastly different. Although the substance of our earthly bodies is the same whether they are lying in the grave or beautiful in resurrection, their appearance in these two is vastly different.500 The point is that each has its own beauty, so that in his argument, Paul contends that even though the earthly body must die, the resurrection body is not without its own beauty. Since the Corinthians recognized that heavenly bodies were different from earthly bodies, they should not expect the resurrected body to be a recycled earthly body. The body that is raised will be transformed into something entirely different from what is known on the earth and something entirely appropriate for a heavenly existence.501
So it is with the resurrection of the dead (15:42a). Resurrection bodies will differ from earthly bodies just as radically as heavenly bodies differ from earthly. And resurrection bodies will be as individual and unique as are all the other forms of God’s creation. Every star is different, just as every plant is different, every animal is different and every human is different. Why would anyone think it too hard for Him to re-create and resurrect earthly bodies, no matter what the form might be?502
3. The contrasts of the resurrection (15:42a-44): Paul points to a number of differences between the body now and the body raised, and begins with decay. The chief objection the typical Greek had to any doctrine of resurrection was that by its very nature the body decays. He looked for an existence when the soul would no longer be handicapped by his decaying body. Paul connects this very state with the resurrected body.503 He acknowledges that the earthly body decays, dies, and is put into the grave. A day is coming, however, when like a grain of wheat, our bodies will die (Ecclesiastes 3:20; Psalm 103:14-16). When the body is “sown,” that is, born, it decays; when it is raised, it cannot decay (15:42b). But he insists that the body that will be taken from the grave at the resurrection will be a transformed body. When sown, it is without dignity; when raised, it will be beautiful. Paul’s point is that the resurrected body is not a spruced-up version of the physical body. The two bodies are completely different.
Dear Heavenly Father, Praise Your mighty power that raises to new life those who love and worship You as Lord and Savior. Praise Your wisdom and powerful design that changes a creeping caterpillar into a beautiful flying butterfly. As heaven is totally new and different from the earth You created, so also will be the fantastic new and amazing body that You create for those who love You. Just as an old house is torn down and a new one is built in its place, so Your mighty power will give those who love You new bodies.
It’s not possible to be without pain or crying in our earthly body now. What a joy to think of our new body that will not feel pain nor cry (Revelation 21:4). Just as a baby in the womb of its mother cannot even begin to comprehend how life will be outside of the womb; so neither can we as we live on earth, comprehend how awesome our resurrected bodies will be. I praise You for Your love and attention to every detail to give us new bodies and a new life with no crying, dying, sadness nor pain. How absolutely wonderful! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!
I will live my life here on earth to show my thanks. There are many problems now, but I keep my eyes focused on living with You for all eternity. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us (Romans 8:18). I follow You and trust in Your steadfast love. Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds (Psalms 36:5). I bow in worship and thanks for how great and loving You are! In Your Son’s holy name and power of His resurrection. Amen
Paul continues to pick out those features of bodily life that seemed to the Greek to demonstrate the foolishness of the idea of the resurrection, and to show that they have no relevance to the resurrection. When sown, it is weak. Our present bodies are characterized by weakness. We are not only weak in our physical strength and endurance but also resistant to disease and harm. But not so our new bodies, when raised, it will be strong, raised to life by the same power that raised Yeshua from the grave (15:43). We are not told what our strength will entail, but it will be immeasurable compared to what we now possess. We will no longer have to say that the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak (Matthew 26:41). Anything our heavenly spirits determine to do our heavenly bodies will be able to accomplish.504
When sown, it is an ordinary human body; when raised, it will be a spiritual, not in the sense of being composed of spirit, but a body controlled by the Spirit, perfectly suited for the spiritual realm in which we will be living forever and ever (15:44). In Second Corinthians 5:1, Paul contrasts this earthly body to a tent that is to be torn down and replaced by an eternal house waiting in the heavens (see the commentary on Second Corinthians Bb – Going Home). The spiritual body is a body that eye has not seen and ear has not heard and has not entered the human mind (2:9), that is transformed into the likeness of Messiah (Second Corinthians 3:18).505 In our present earthly existence the body simply “is” – neither to be admired (or lavishly decked out), nor put down (as we are the temple of the Ruach Ha’Kodesh). Since it serves as the present vehicle of our life on this planet, one should properly care for it as the gift that it is; but “care” should not also lead to worship, just as it should not lead to hatred.506
4. The prototype of the resurrection (15:45-49): The contrast between our earthly and resurrected bodies is perhaps most clearly seen by placing Adam and Yeshua side by side. In fact, the TaNaKh says so: Adam, the first man, became a living human being and a prototype of our earthly bodies. We received this body from our first parent, Adam. He was made of dust, and so are we (Genesis 2:7). But the last “Adam” has become a life-giving Spirit and a prototype of our heavenly bodies (15:45). But the resurrection body is suited to a spiritual environment. In His resurrection body, Yeshua was able to move quickly from place to place, and even walk through locked doors; yet He was also able to eat food, and His apostles were able to touch and feel Him (Luke 24:33; John 20:19-29). Through Adam we have inherited our earthly bodies; through Messiah we will inherit spiritual bodies in the resurrection.
Paul points out the obvious: Note, however, that the body from the Spirit did not come first, but the ordinary human one; the one from the Spirit comes afterwards. The first man (Adam) is from the earth, made of dust; the second man (Messiah) is from heaven. People born of dust are like the man of dust, and people born from heaven are like the man from heaven; and just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, so also we will bear the image of the man from heaven (15:46-49). Just as we will exchange Adam’s ordinary human body for Messiah’s spiritual body, we will exchange Adam’s image for Messiah’s image.
Our new body comes at death. Whatever happens to our present bodies – whether they are healthy or unhealthy, beautiful or plain, short-lived or long-lived, or whether they are indulged or tortured – they are not our permanent bodies, and we should not hold them too dearly. Our blessed hope is that these created ordinary human bodies will one day be recreated into spiritual bodies. Although we only have a glimpse of what those new bodies will be like, it should be enough to know that we shall be like Him (First John 3:2c).507
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