>> Jen: Hello and good morning, faithful listeners, and welcome to the Bible Explained podcast. I am so excited that you're here to share a delicious cup of hot coffee or tea with me this morning as we discuss First uh, Corinthians chapter 15. And we'll talk more about our resurrected bodies and what a resurrected body will be like. So stay tuned for all of that. So I don't have a cup of coffee with me today, but I do have a nice hot cup of cranberry apple tea in the other room that I
forgot to bring in here. I'm actually going to go get that right now so it doesn't keep on getting cold before we start today's podcast episode. So give me a second for that. And now I have it right here with me and I'm enjoying it. And I hope that you guys are enjoying your nice hot beverage this morning, whatever that might be. Let's go ahead and read First uh, Corinthians 15:35 through 50, and we're going to talk about what our resurrected bodies are going to look like.
So let's jump right in. I'll be reading as usual out of the web, but someone will say, how are the dead raised, and with what kind of body do they come? You foolish one, that which you yourself sow is not made alive unless it dies. That which you sow, you don't sow the body that will be but a bare grain, maybe of wheat or of some other kind. But God, uh gives it a body even as it pleases him, and to each seed a body of its own. All flesh is not the same flesh.
But there is one flesh of men, another flesh of animals, another of, uh, fish, and another of birds. There are also celestial bodies and terrestrial bodies. But the glory of the celestial differs from that of the terrestrial. There is one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars. For one star differs from another star in glory. So also is the resurrection of the
dead. The body is sown perishable, it is raised imperishable, it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory, it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power, it is sown a natural body, it is raised a, uh, spiritual body. There is a natural body and there is also a spiritual body. So also it is written, the first man, Adam, became a living soul. The last Adam became a life giving spirit. However, that which is spiritual isn't first, but that which is natural, and
then that which is spiritual. For the first man is of the earth made of dust. The second man is the LORD from heaven, as is the one man made of dust. Such are those who are also made of dust, and as is the heavenly. Such are they also that are heavenly. As we have borne the image of those made of dust, let's also bear the image of the heavenly. Now I say this, brothers, that flesh and blood can't inherit God's kingdom. Neither does the perishable inherit the
imperishable. In this chapter, Paul is setting the Corinthian Church straight because they didn't. Well, some of them didn't believe in the resurrection of the dead. And actually there was kind of a push for this in Paul's day. And even in Jesus day, the Sadducees, who were a sect of religious scholars, believed that there was no resurrection of the dead. And they were very influential. They were very rich and wealthy and well known, and their beliefs were well known as well.
So apparently some of the uh, Corinthians were listening to some of these Jewish scholars that believed in no resurrection from the dead. And these members of the Corinthian Church were somewhat living in the Christian faith, but they didn't believe that there was a life after death. And so Paul sets them straight. He says, how can't you believe in the resurrection of the dead? Because that is the foundation of Christianity, that Jesus came to earth, died for our sins,
to give us eternal life. In other words, life after death. And then Jesus himself was buried in the tomb, and then he raised, he resurrected three days later. So if you claim to be a Christian, you must understand the core principles of Christianity. So in first uh, 1 Corinthians 15, the majority of it has been Paul on this, like, tirade explaining how the resurrection of the dead is the truth. So now Paul mentions some questions here that he feels he might receive from the uh, Corinthians.
Figurative questions, verse 35. But someone will say, how are the dead raised? And also with what kind of body do they come? And I love that. Right after this, Paul calls, uh, these figurative people foolish. He says, you foolish one. And it's also funny that Paul doesn't even address the first figurative question, how are the dead raised? Because that one is so obvious. Obviously the dead are raised or resurrected by God, uh. So Paul's like, I don't even need to address
that figurative question. Obviously the dead are raised because of God, uh. But he does in detail address the second figurative question, with what kind of body do they come? Meaning, if God, uh just raises our physical body right now, how can we expect to get into heaven? Because our physical Bodies right now are mortal, and they're also sinful. Paul says this question is foolish. He says, you foolish one. Obviously, even nature shows that certain things have to die in
order to bring life. And he gives the example of a seed. He says, that which you yourself sow is not made alive unless it dies. So a farmer goes out, he plants his little seeds, and what happens after that? Well, the seed goes into the ground. And as we know now, because we can analyze little seeds that go into the ground, the seed dies in order to produce new life. And I actually looked this up online to see if seeds really do die when they go into the ground. And yes, they
factually do die. The seed splits open and becomes something new. And then the seed casing is just, like, left behind. It's like the shell, the body of the little seed that dies. And Paul even explains that further in verse 37. That which you sow, you don't sow. The body that will be but a bare grain, maybe of wheat or some other kind, but God, uh gives it a body even as it pleases him, and to each seed, a body of its own. So
Paul gives the analogy of wheat. He says, you know, you sow the bare little seed in the ground, and that bare little seed doesn't pop up out of the ground and become a giant seed. Instead, it takes on a totally new form as a head of wheat. And God, uh gives that head of wheat a completely new look, a completely new structure, a completely new body than what it initially had as that
little seed. And Paul is using this entire analogy of farming and gardening to show that our physical bodies now are not going to be the same bodies after we are resurrected from the dead. They're going to be something completely new, completely different. Our current body, like the seed, has to die in order to be made into something brand new and something wonderful. So that's the first analogy Paul gives the uh, Corinthians about what our resurrected bodies will be
like. The second analogy he gives is in verse 39. All flesh is not the same flesh, but there's one flesh of men, another flesh of animals, another of, uh, fish, another of birds. There are also celestial bodies and terrestrial bodies, but the glory of the celestial differs from that of the terrestrial. So Paul moves into a second analogy of what our resurrected bodies will be like. He says, look, not every single body is the same. You are not the same as a fish in the
sea. You are not the same as a bird flying through the sky. You are not the same as a horse or a dog or Any other animal, you are different. God, uh made different bodies for different things. So obviously, if God, uh can make tons of different types of bodies, he can obviously make a resurrected body that is completely different than your current mortal and sinful body. He can do that because he created everything. And he created everything
very uniquely. And the uh, Corinthians were getting caught up in thinking that it was literally impossible for God, uh to make resurrected and perfect body of each individual Christian. So that's the second analogy that Paul gives. And then the third analogy is verse 41. There is one glory of the sun, there is another glory of the moon and another glory of the stars. For one star differs from another star in
glory. So the stars and the sun and the moon are very different from our physical bodies. Right? But they have their own form of glory. Like, I don't know about you, but I love going outside on my back porch during the summer or during, like a meteor shower or something like that, and just staring up at the night sky. I love doing it. I missed the meteor shower that I think takes place every November. I missed that one this year. But my husband and I did look at the
last one that I think happened in. When was it? End of summer, I think it was. And that was super cool. We love doing that. And man, like, the stars are just so cool, aren't they? Like, they just really show God's amazing power to be able to create something like that. Something so. Yeah, glorious like that. So if God, uh can create something that glorious, then obviously it's going to be no problem for him to make a resurrected body that is completely glorious as well. Verse 42. So also is the
resurrection of the dead. The body sown, the one we have right now is perishable, but it is raised imperishable. The body we have now is sown in dishonor, but it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, but it is raised in power. It is sown in a natural body, meaning our, uh, terrestrial bodies, we have right now where we live here on Earth, but it will be raised as a spiritual, a celestial type of body, something completely different. So there is a natural body and there is also a spiritual
body. Paul says. So whatever our resurrected body is going to be, it's going to be something extremely different. It's going to be something glorious and without sin and perfect and also able to handle heaven. Because one of the things we know about God, uh and His glory is that our mortal bodies can't handle it really at all. Even Moses, who talked to God, uh on a Regular basis actually says that God, uh would come down and visit him and they talk as friends.
Even Moses, who had that kind of relationship with God, uh, couldn't see God's face because it would have just killed him. And God, uh was like, yeah, you're not allowed to see my face because if you do, you'll just disintegrate. Because Moses really wanted to see God's face. So God, uh actually gave Moses the ability to see his backside. My husband calls it the holy mooning. I don't know if it was a mooning per se, but Moses was able to see like God's after glory, if that makes sense.
Moses was not allowed to view God, uh in any sense, otherwise he would have just like died. His physical body would not have been able to handle it. So whatever our celestial body becomes our resurrected body, it's going to be something that is able to handle heaven and not just disintegrate, but moving on in verse 45, so also it is written the first man, Adam became a living soul. And that's from Genesis 2, verse 7. And the last Adam became a life giving
spirit. So this is once again the idea of Adam being the first sinless man and then Jesus being the second sinless man. But the first sinless man, Adam brought death into the world and the second sinless man brought life into the world. However, that which is spiritual isn't first, but that which is natural and then that which is spiritual. So Paul explains that the natural has to come first, then the spiritual comes after that. And that's just
the order of things. You know, human beings are born into the sin nature, their natural selves, and then the spiritual takes place. If they, if they choose the spiritual, that is, if they choose to believe in Jesus and believe in his gift of resurrection, then the spiritual comes after the natural. The first man is of earth who is natural and he was made of dust. But the second man is LORD from heaven, as one is made of dust. Such are those who are also made of dust, but as is the heavenly,
such are they also that are heavenly. So anyone who is born into their natural state and does not move on into the spiritual state, meaning they don't believe in Jesus, they never accept the gift of salvation, they just stay in their natural sinful state. Those people are made of dust, just like Adam was, and they will go back into the earth made of dust and they won't experience the resurrection
into life. But the people who were born into their natural state, but chose to believe in the saving power of Jesus, they will also experience Death, the death of their physical body. But it won't be the same way because they're going to experience that resurrection of their mortal bodies becoming heavenly bodies. But actually, just to clarify that a little bit, which we're not going to talk about this today, but we will talk about this next week when Jesus comes
again. Not every Christian will experience a death. That's where the idea of rapture comes in, when Jesus comes once again. But we will talk a lot more about rapture on Tuesday. But then Paul concludes his thought by saying, since we have borne the image of those made of dust, let's also bear the image of the heavenly. I say this, brothers, that flesh and blood can't inherit God's kingdom. Neither does the perishable
inherit the imperishable. So that's another reason why we are not good enough to get into heaven on our own is because our bodies are in their natural state. And Paul actually says, flesh and blood, the way it is now, cannot inherit God's kingdom. So nobody is good enough to get into heaven because our bodies actually aren't good enough to get into heaven. Not just our actions, but even our physical bodies just cannot make it there. The only way we can make it there is if we experience that
resurrection into life. So Scripture says, act now as if you have experienced that resurrection into life, even though you're still in your natural body that must die in order to become something new. Live in such a way that reflects that life that you have been given. Live in a way that honors God, uh. Because as verse 49 says, since we have borne the image of the earthly man, let's also bear the image of the heavenly man. M
not going to lie. I really struggled talking about this one today because maybe it's just because, you know, the resurrected body and what God, uh is going to do after we die. It's just so above me, if that makes sense. Like, it just feels very, um, grand. And I can't exactly put it into words, but, yeah, I sort of struggled talking about this one and even researching it a little bit because it is a difficult topic to really
think about and to talk about. But it's really amazing to think that someday I am actually going to be resurrected in that way and you will too. It's just amazing to think that, like, I can't even imagine what that will be like. It's going to be so amazing. But faithful listeners, I hope that you enjoyed today's episode and that, uh, you thought a little bit more about resurrection than maybe you have in the past. And if you did like the episode, please, uh,
share it and tell people that the Bible Explained podcast exists. And also go over to Apple Podcast or to any other listening platform that you prefer that has a rating system. And please rate the podcast five stars or whatever you honestly think of it, because every rating that the podcast receives helps more people find the podcast. So I'd appreciate all of those ratings if you would.
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Psalm 40 beanie. You'll find that listed in the description of the episode. Faithful listeners, have a fantastic and wonderful rest of your Thursday. I will see all of you guys on Monday for an episode from First Kings. Happy listening and God, uh Bless.