Thank you, Orchestra. Let's open our Bibles together,
please, to 1 Corinthians chapter 15. Preaching
the funeral one afternoon, the minister couldn't
seem to find a stopping place. The funeral director,
in charge of the service, grew concerned about
the lateness of the hour, and he stepped over
to a member of the church who was there at the
funeral. and asked the question, does your pastor
always speak this long at a funeral? To which
the church member replied, well, that's a fine
sermon, isn't it? The funeral director was a
little embarrassed that he'd asked the question,
so he backed off, but yet he kept looking at
his watch every few minutes. After a little while,
the member of the church prugged at the funeral
director's sleeve, and he said, what's the matter
with you? Don't you believe in the resurrection?
If you don't like to reply, well I sure do, but
I'm afraid you won't get this man to the ground
if I don't do it. We believe in the resurrection,
but that doesn't mean that all the questions
about the resurrection are answered in our minds.
And they were not answered in the minds either
of the Corinthians. Verse 35 begins by saying,
someone will say, how are the dead raised? And
with what kind of body do they come? and your
best most questions. Someone asked me a couple
of weeks ago a common question that we all have.
What age will we be in the resurrection? Will
babies be resurrected as babies will? Those who
are elderly may be resurrected with old bodies.
I have a guess of an answer in that direction,
but there are lots of questions regarding the
nature of the resurrection body. The Paul does
not entertain these questions gently. Notice
he says in verse 36, to whoever asks the question,
you fool. He says, basically in today's nomenclature,
duh. He says, don't you know? Are you in this?
Now, Paul probably is a little hard here because
the questions he refers to are not asked likely
sincerely, but... were generated by the doubtful
teachings of the false teachers who were raising
the questions about the resurrection in Corinth.
But he does answer the questions in a fashion,
and you and I get the advantage of reading his
response. The summation of Paul's response is
this, that the resurrection body will be made
to fit the new order that God has purposed. body
that you will have in the resurrection will be
made to fit the new order, the new creation that
God has purposed. Paul uses three techniques
in our text today to explain and emphasize the
nature of the resurrection body. He uses analogy
and emphasis, and then makes an announcement
about it. In these verses, Paul attempts to explain
the unexplainable and express the inexpressible.
So bear with him as he, by the inspiration of
God's Spirit, attempts to help us understand
what the resurrection body will be like. In verses
36 through 41 we come to the analogy portion
of Paul's explanation. Really, there are three
analogies that Paul draws here from nature. Remember
that an analogy is a resemblance in some particulars
between things that are otherwise unlike. So
Paul is going to draw upon three analogies from
nature in order to try to help us grasp what
the resurrection body is like. The first analogy
is from agriculture in verses 36 through 38.
He says, That which you sow does not come to
life unless it dies. And that which you sow,
you do not sow the body which is to be, but a
bare grain, perhaps of wheat or something else.
But God gives it a body just as he wished, and
to each of the seeds a body of its own. Now,
if you're a farmer or a gardener, you'll understand
what Paul is saying here. There are different
kinds of seeds. There are seeds of flowers, that
if they differ in their appearance, in some cases
at least. But there's a difference between wheat,
and corn, and oats, or sorghum. And you can see
that in the seeds. So, have you noticed that
in those seeds, there is a, the appearance, appearance
of dryness. There is a wrinkled condition. There
is a hardness in the seed. You and I eat corn,
don't we? And we enjoy eating it right off the
ear. But if you got to a bag of seed corn, pick
up a handful, throw it in your mouth, you're
going to need new teeth. Something happens to
that corn. It dries out. The seed is preparing
itself to germinate. The seed is planted, says
Paul, it dies, it decays. But through that process,
there is the germination that comes, and the
green sprout of life appears. So the analogy
with the resurrection body is that it too is
planted and it decays. But from that will come
a new sprout of life. It will not be identical
to that which was planted, but it will be identifiable.
When you plant a grain of corn in the ground,
what comes up the next spring is not that grain
of corn. It is a plant that comes out of that
corn. And yet, when you look at the seed and
you look at the plant in the spring, you say
to both, corn. And so our resurrection body is
going to be planted. What will come forth will
be different than what was planted, but still
be identifiable as you and your body. It will
be a continuation of your life, only in a new
and more wonderful body. And so I think what
we see here in this analogy is that it will be
a changed body, a changed body. like the planting
of a seed that brings forth a plant. In verse
39, we have an analogy from the animal world.
It says, all flesh is not the same flesh, but
there is one flesh of man, and another flesh
of beasts, and another flesh of birds, and another
of fish. If you go down to the buffet to eat
today, and go through the line, you will see
here's roast beef. Here is boiled fish. Here
is ham. Here is chicken. How do you know that?
Because God has made animals different in their
bodies. Now, let's go to the happier side of
it and see them while they're still living, shall
we? We teach our children. What is this picture?
Moo! That's right, it's a cow. And what is this
picture? It's a lamb, it's a sheep. And so from
our earliest days we know that God has made animals
with different kinds of bodies. It's a diversity
there. God gives a particular kind of body for
each variety of being. You know a cat, you know
a dog, you know a fish, you know a chicken. And
so in the resurrection God is going to create
a particular kind of body. that is suitable for
the spiritual realm. I think the bottom line
is, in this analogy, Paul says that the resurrection
body will be a suitable body, not a changed body,
but a body suited for the realm in which it is
intended to dwell in new order. The third analogy
is from astronomy, and it's verses 40 to 41.
There are also heavenly bodies and earthly bodies,
but the glory of the heavenly is one, the glory
of the earthly is another. There is one glory
of the sun and of the glory of the moon and of
the glory of the stars, for star differs from
star in glory, so also is the resurrection of
the dead, says Paul. Each of the heavenly bodies
has its own glory. It differs in hues and brightness
and in appearance. Have you been amazed as I
have at the pictures that have come back from
Hubble, as we have seen the wonders of God's
universe drawn close to us through photography?
For God has made each of those heavenly bodies
in its appearance. This suggests here that the
resurrection bodies that we will have will also
be distinguished. They may even differ. in their
glory, in their brightness, in their hues, in
some respect, it may point to the differing of
rewards. That is, that our resurrection bodies
will show our service on the earth in some respect
and the nature of that service. What we learn
from this analogy from astronomy is that the
resurrection body will be a glorious body, a
glorious body. So Paul's saying in the resurrection
there will be continuity and change. There will
be identity, and there will be a glorious diversity.
We will have changed bodies suitable for God's
purpose, having distinguishing marks of glory.
And so Paul tells us that much through the technique
of analogy. But let me move ahead to use antithesis.
can help us understand something of the resurrection
body. That's if this is a contrast of ideas.
And this is accomplished by means of parallel
arrangement of words or clauses or thoughts.
And so you put them opposite of one another.
That's what Paul does. The first thing he does
is to draw some contrast with our present body
in order to explain the nature of the resurrection
body. The beginning of verse 42 where he says,
if the body has sown a perishable body, it has
raised an imperishable body. It has sown in dishonor,
it has raised in glory. It has sown in weakness,
it has raised in power, it has sown a natural
body, it has raised a spiritual body. If there
is a natural body, there is also a spiritual
body, he says. Now notice the contrast that he
points out. First the contrast between the perishable
and the imperishable. The now body is a body
that is subject to disease and to the aging process.
The bodies that we have now decay and degenerate
with time. You realize this, the older you get,
you look around at you and see the young men
and women who are so full of energy and life
and fire and they think they're going to be this
way forever. Just like you and I thought that.
I remember when I was a kid I saw older people
who were smaller and I thought, boy, it must
be terrible to be like that. I'm going to be
different than that. But as I pass the half century
mark I find them. I can't help it. How did it
explode? The bodies that we have now are imperishable,
but the new body will be imperishable. It will
be incapable of decay. It is not possible that
the new body will be subject to disease, or deterioration,
or death. It's forever free of those things.
Now, the second contrast the Pope points to is
verse 43 between dishonor and glory. This honor
means humiliation, as it's used in Philippians
3 .21, the body of our humiliation, our humble
body. This word was used in some contexts in
ancient days as the loss of rights of citizenship.
This honor was to lose one's rights as a citizen
of a country. And so we think of a corpse that
loses its rights. Have you ever seen a corpse
demand its rights? Of course not. It has no rights.
It's a dishonorable condition. Even the most
beautiful body will eventually be dishonored,
and they see it. But the new body is unlike that.
It will have a brilliance about it like that
of Christ's. It apparently will be dazzling.
As it says, we shall be like Him, for we shall
see Him as He is. And so the now body is one
of dishonor, whereas the new body will be one
of glory. The third contrast is found in the
last part of verse 43 between weakness and power.
The now body has its limitations. We think of
our bodies as being strong and in certain respects
they are our hands, our feet, our... marvelous
examples of God's ingenious engineering. But
did you realize that a grasshopper can jump further
in proportion to its length of man? In order
for you to jump as far as a grasshopper proportionally,
you would have to jump 120 feet. Your body is
weak. It can't even do what a grasshopper can
do. A bird can see better than you can see, able
to pick up insects from its feet in the air.
A dog can hear better than you can hear. Your
now body is a weak body, but the new body will
be one of unlimited endurance. It will be a body
equal to man's intelligence and his position
as a child of God. It will be a body fitted for
eternal existence. And then Paul in verse 44
brings us to our fourth contrast when he says
that the now body is a natural body, whereas
the new body will be a spiritual body. The now
body is fitted for this natural world, this world
of nature. But the new body will be suitable
for the natural and the spiritual world. It will
not be most like, but it will be. changeable
and visible, yet it will not be subject to natural
laws like the body of Jesus, it will be subject
to the laws of the Spirit. The new body in the
resurrection will be renovated by the Holy Spirit,
and the Holy Spirit will bring that body into
concordance and agreement with the laws of the
spiritual realm. Harold Mayer writes, these words,
the spiritual body is an imperishable yet utterly
real body, one of a different order and having
different functions from the earthly body. It
is a body given by God Himself, a body glorified
with eternal life. So Paul points out by contrast
something about the resurrection body will be
like, and then he goes on with the second contrast.
It helps us understand why we will have this
kind of body. In verses 44 through 49, they contrast
Adam with Jesus. I'll pick it up in verse 45,
so also it is written, the first man, Adam, became
a living soul, the last, Adam, became a life
-giving spirit. However, the spiritual is not
first, but the natural, then that is after that,
the spiritual. The first man is from earth, earthly.
The second man is from heaven. As is the earthly,
so also are those who are earthly. And as is
the heavenly, so also are those who are heavenly.
And just as we have born the image of the earth,
we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.
Adam, our great -grandfather, Adam to whom we
are related by our first birth, our natural birth.
Adam was made the living soul, a reference to
Genesis 2 -7. When you read that text in Genesis,
you need to picture in your mind that you see
God forming the dust of the ground to make the
body of Adam. But it's just there, it's just
dust. It's just a body. And then God breathes
into Adam life, and suddenly what was only immaterial,
or over -terrible rather. infused with the immaterial
and became alive. What an amazing thing that
is that God created Adam in such a special way.
He became a living soul. He was from the earth.
He was earthly. And in these bodies we bear his
likeness and we bear his fallen likeness. Our
bodies are subject to the effects of sin because
of grandpa. But Christ is in contrast. It says
regarding Christ, the last Adam, that he is a
life -giving spirit. He is the one who imparts
life. He is the one who gave to Adam his life.
In the resurrection, he is going to impart life
to our bodies. This life -giving spirit, the
man from above, or in some translations, but
the Lord from above, the Lord from heaven, this
one is superior to Adam. He is incomparable in
his life -giving ability. Those of us who are
Christians are related to... this last Adam by
the second birth, the supernatural birth. And
it says that we shall bear his likeness, just
as we have borne the likeness of grandfather
Adam. We shall bear the likeness of the last
Adam, his full image and body and soul made like
him. Can you say it one more time? Paul has told
us earlier that there is an order to the resurrection
and the next sequence, the next step in the sequence
is the resurrection of those who are Christ's
when somebody said that is coming. Verse 47,
excuse me, verse 23. those who are Christ at
His coming. That's when this will happen. The
resurrection body is in contrast to the present
one. It is a body that is imperishable, it is
glorious, it is powerful, it is spiritual, and
it is inseparably linked to Jesus Christ, the
last Adam. That brings us to the third technique.
Paul uses to help us understand the nature of
the body. It's an announcement that he gives
in verse 50. This announcement probably comes
to address the obvious question in the minds
of the readers thus far. Well, Paul, if there's
a resurrection body for those who are dead, what's
the obvious question? So they tell me, what about
the living? What about those who are not dead
and is coming? How can they or how can we participate
in the resurrection if we're not dead? Paul makes
this point elsewhere. He says, now I say to this
brethren that flesh and blood cannot inherit
the kingdom of God nor does the imperishable
inherit the imperishable. Well, flesh and blood
is used here to denote our It doesn't say that
a body can't inherit the kingdom of God, but
it says flesh and blood bodies can't inherit
the kingdom of God. Bodies like we have now.
Flesh and blood bodies are corruptible. We must
have a kind of body that is incorruptible. or
something has to change. Our bodies must be converted
into incorruptible bodies before we can enter
into the final heavenly incorruptible state.
Paul has explained that that will be the case
with those who die. They will be raised with
this kind of body. Now, beginning in verse 51,
he's going to explain that for those who are
alive, there is a transformation that is coming.
We'll talk about that next week. The thing that
I want you to see here is this, that the announcement
is very clear. Fresh in blood cannot inherit
God's kingdom. A change was come. The resurrection
body is out of this world. in every sense. In
one way or another, it's out of this world that
it's also an absolute certainty. There is no
question that we shall have it. And God has purposed
a new order for the future. A new order of things.
And only those things and those people that are
fitted for this new order will enjoy it. Paul
speaks earlier in this chapter about that day
when the son, having everything subjected to
him, will then subject his kingdom and himself
to the Father. That God may be all in all. Now
those are ethereal words, perceptual words. our
minds around, so let me just read you a little
more from the Word of God about what that means.
I saw a new heaven and a new earth. The first
heaven and the first earth were passed away.
There was no longer any sea. And I saw the holy
city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven
from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her
husband. And I heard the voice from the throne,
saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is among
them. He shall dwell among them, and they shall
be his people, and God himself shall be among
them. He shall wipe away every tear from their
eyes, and there shall be no longer any death.
There shall no longer be any mourning or crying
or pain. The first things have passed away. The
first order, you see, is done. The present order
is finished. And he who sits on the throne said,
Behold, I am making all things new. The new order.
He said, Right. For these words are truly fateful.
He said to me, it is done. I am Alpha and Omega,
the beginning and the end. I will give to the
one who thirsts for the spring of the water of
life without cost. He who overcome shall inherit
these things. Who is the Overcomer in Revelation?
The Believer. He says, He who overcomes that
is by his faith in Jesus Christ will inherit
this new order, Divine Making. Divine will be
his God and he will be my son. But for the cowardly
and unbelieving and the vulnerable and murderers
and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters
all liars, their part will be in the lake that
burns with fire and rimstone, which is the second
death." Read the words. They help us understand
that God's new order is made for people who are
fitted for that new order. Not fitted by their
own efforts and works, but by the gift of salvation
that it gives to us. The resurrection will fit
us to enter that new order in suitable bodies,
but it is being born again that makes us citizens
of the new order. And friend, only citizens of
the new order will have this resurrection body
I've been inspired. Jesus said, accept the man,
be born again. He cannot see the kingdom of God.
You see, it's not church membership, it's not
the rituals of religion, whatever they might
be. It's not our works, being good people, being
moral, doing the best we can. It's not that at
all. It is being born again. It's receiving God's
gift of eternal life by placing one's faith in
Jesus Christ. That's what counts. The Rogers
family was a devout Christian family. The father
took special interest in making as sure as he
could as a dad that each of the children had
trusted the Lord and he would often ask them
to to share in their own words how they knew
that they possessed salvation. One day it was
little seven -year -old Jimmy's turn to do that.
And so Jimmy told his version of these words,
I think it's going to be like this in heaven.
One day when we all get to heaven, it will be
time for the big angel to read from the book
the names of all the people who will be there.
He will come to the Rogers family and say, Daddy
Rogers. And Daddy will say, here. Then the angel
will call out, Mommy Rogers. Mommy will say,
here. And the angel will come down and call out
Susie Rogers and Namus Rogers and they will say,
here. Then he paused and took a deep breath and
he continued and said, And finally, that angel
will read my name, Jimmy Rogers. And because
I'm little, he may miss me. So I'll jump up and
shout real loud, here! To make sure that he knows
I'm there. And the family enjoyed little Jimmy's
version of how he knew he was going to get saved.
It's up two weeks later. And the coroner kicked
him as he was on his way to school. And he was
rushed to the hospital in critical condition.
His family came as quickly as they could. They
gave it around Jimmy's death. There was no consciousness,
no sign of movement. And the doctor said, no
hope. So they prayed. They waited and watched.
It became clear that Jimmy was not going to wake
up from his coma. And yet they noticed the movement.
He quickly came to the bed, but closely his lips
were moving. And they bent down to catch what
he was going to say, and he said only one word,
which gave them comfort, I hope, is all I needed.
I heard Jimmy say, here. and you'll be able to
say, here, let's go. Accept a person, be born
again, and care out into the kingdom of God.
And you trust in Jesus Christ as your Savior.
Would you receive the Savior at this moment in
your heart? Say something like this, Lord Jesus,
by receiving. I trust you alone to save my soul.
I lay aside all of my and I invite you to come
in to me. Forgive my sin. Give me the gift of
eternal life. My friend, if that is your heart's
desire and your prayer today, your confession,
then I ask you are receiving Jesus Christ as
your Savior. Is there one who would lift your
hand and say yes today? I'm trusting Jesus. Be
born again. Lord, we give thanks to you. We give
thanks to you that we can become citizens of
the new world. And I pray that as we live through
this week, we will live in the joy of the resurrection.
Knowing I will lose heavy one day when that day
comes, when the angel calls our name, that we
will be healed by your grace. Let's stand together,
please. Sing us the verse of this song that I
think most of us know. the beyond the realm of
the dead, waiting for this power of the poor.
Oh, by the grace of God, let's live lives this
week that wouldn't be described by the word duh.
The lives that are described by the word of joy.