The Nature of the Resurrection Body (Part 1)
1 Cor. 15.35-41
Paul knew there were people in the Church at Corinth who did not believe in the resurrection of the body. So Paul argues that if this were true, then Christ Himself has not been raised. This means that the whole of the Christian faith and the preaching of the Gospel is a giant lie. But the fact that Christ Himself was raised means that all of the dead will eventually be raised. This will happen when Christ comes again from heaven where He is now reigning. Everything has been made subject to Christ, including death itself. So Christians live in hope. If there is no hope of the resurrection then living as a Christian, which includes suffering for Christ and denying sinful pleasures, makes no sense.
If there is no resurrection then we might as well just live for the pleasures of this life. Some of the Christians at Corinth were doing that because they were ignorant. Paul would not tolerate this situation at Corinth.
The next section of Paul’s argument will get to the heart of this hope of the resurrection. Believers in Christ can look forward to having new bodies. (Actually, all of the dead will be raised in new bodies but Paul is discussing the hope of believers not the fate of unbelievers.) So Paul will now discuss the details of the resurrection body and continue to answer some of the objections those at Corinth might have had to this doctrine. Paul will also touch on what will happen at the end to those who are alive when Christ comes.
Paul’s first concern is to answer those who had questions and objections about what kind of body will be given to those who are raised. Apparently there had been some misunderstanding. The confusion about the precise nature of the resurrection body seems to have given an opportunity for some to scoff at the idea. So to explain the nature of the resurrection body Paul will use a series of analogies from nature. Paul is making a comparison and contrast here between the bodies we have now and the resurrection bodies we will have then. Paul does not want there to be any confusion about this matter because this can create an opportunity for unbelief and a corresponding loss of hope.
Paul was given a lot of revelation concerning the resurrection of the dead and the resurrection body. These details had not previously been revealed. The Jews did have the hope of the resurrection at the end of time. But it was the resurrection of Jesus that brought life and immortality to light (2 Tim. 1.10). The surprising thing about the Gospel for the Jews was that the resurrection of the dead had commenced with the resurrection of Jesus. But the Gentiles had no hope of the resurrection at all. I think this is why Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles, was given some special insight into the resurrection of the dead. To be ignorant of the resurrection of the dead is to have no hope beyond this life.
Paul mentions the resurrection of the dead in his letter to the Thessalonians (See 1 Thess. 4.13-18). But that was not a full treatment of the subject as in this letter to the Corinthians. This is because the situation was different in Corinth and it called for a more thorough treatment of the subject. But in both contexts the concern that Paul had was that believers should have hope beyond this life. We can’t live without hope.
We are living in a generation that has lost hope. Most people live for the here and now as if there is nothing beyond this life and this world. Most people live for pleasure which is just a cover for a deep fear and despair.
People dive into sin because they do not believe that they will be held accountable for it. In the Church there is a lot of ignorance about the resurrection of the dead. Most teaching about eschatology and the coming of the Lord focuses on peripheral issues like the coming of the Antichrist. What is often generated in the Church is not hope but fear of the future, which is completely antithetical to the Gospel and to Paul’s purpose in expounding this doctrine.
The Gospel is designed to give us hope so that we will live correctly in this world. Doctrine always impacts living. Refusing to believe the Gospel is the beginning of a downward spiral into sin and, ultimately, despair.
A Foolish Question
Our text seems like an innocent question, which I believe was not innocent at all: “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?” It is usually difficult to hear the tone of a question in print. But Paul’s response to this question should tip us off: “You foolish person!” People today might think Paul is being rude here. But he is taking on this problem in Corinth head-on. This question was asked in unbelief with even a mocking and arrogant attitude.
We must remember that Paul is addressing people INSIDE the Church at Corinth, not the secular unbeliever. We might excuse this kind of foolish question from someone on the outside. Paul got a similar response when he preached the resurrection to the philosophers on Mars Hill in Athens. But to encounter this kind of unbelief in the Church is another matter and Paul does not let this go.
Paul was very direct with these skeptics in the Church at Corinth because this kind of unbelief is completely inappropriate for people who claim to be Christians. Christians are called “Believers” in the New Testament. Faith should be the first response of Believers. I do not mean to imply that having faith means having a perfect understanding of all things. It is possible to believe something without full understanding. If this were not the case I don’t think anyone could even be a Christian at all since there are many aspects of the Faith that elude perfect understanding yet we believe to be true. But a refusal to accept the truth is completely wrong. When we hear the truth we must accept it. The Gospel is a report that is to be believed and accepted.
Jesus rebuked His disciples when they did not believe that He had been raised from the dead. They had heard the report of His resurrection from the women who had first seen Him. Then there was Thomas who refused to take anyone’s word for it but had to experience seeing the resurrected Christ Himself. But Thomas was not blessed by the Lord for his skepticism. Those who believe without seeing are blessed (See John 20.29).
Jesus also rebuked the Sadducees when they came to him with a question about the resurrection of the dead (Matt. 22.23-32). But the Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection! They were not asking because they wanted to know the truth. They were asking in unbelief in order to try to catch Jesus in his words. And Jesus told them “you know neither the Scripture nor the power of God.” Jesus’ answer to their question then revealed just how ignorant and unbelieving the Sadducees really were. And nobody wanted to ask Jesus any more foolish questions!
Now some people would contend that a little doubt and skepticism can be healthy. After all, we don’t want to just believe everything we hear. Discernment is a necessary thing. But just as we can’t believe everything we hear, neither should we be skeptical of everything. At some point we have to doubt our doubts and believe. The person who persists in doubt after having heard the truth is unstable and double-minded (James 1.6-8). That person will not receive anything good from the Lord.
Others might contend that there must be some freedom of opinion in the Church. Some Christians believe a particular doctrine but another group might have a different interpretation. Should we not be free to have different interpretations and still be Christians? But let’s not confuse those disputable matters on which we are free to maintain a good conscience and those matters which are the pillars of the Christian Faith. There are some truths that are not open to interpretation but must be believed. The resurrection is perhaps the most important pillar of the Faith. There can be no group of Christians who are free to reject or reinterpret the resurrection. That would be tantamount to overthrowing the Faith. Those who reject the Foundation are not building the same thing that Christ is building.
So some foolish questions can come from skepticism or unbelief. There are also foolish questions that come from spiritual slackness or laziness. Jesus and the Apostles were probably not as patient as some people think. Jesus expected His disciples to believe and understand and He rebuked them when they were “slow of heart.” Understanding is traced to the heart, not the intellect. If the heart is set right the mind will follow.
But most of us manage to do what we want to do. If someone really wants to understand the things of God, there is nothing in heaven or on earth that can ultimately stop that from happening. We are limited only by our affections. Some people do not understand the Scriptures because they are not really trying to understand. Paul clearly expected more from the Corinthians.
A Profound Answer
In spite of the skepticism and spiritual lethargy of the Christians at Corinth, Paul is giving them an answer to their questions. This does speak to the patience of the Spirit of God. The Church at Corinth had not yet been written off. Paul is going to answer this question: “With what kind of body do they come?” That is, what will the resurrection body be like?
What may have been in the mind of some of the Corinthians was that Paul was teaching that these same mortal bodies would be raised back to life, along with all our weaknesses and infirmities. Perhaps some might even picture a kind of living death in which we are trapped in bodies that are subject to corruption. Why would we want these mortal bodies to be raised to life again?
Remember that the Greeks thought of the body as a liability that needed to be removed so that the immortal soul could be free from its prison. Without any other revelation to consider, this view does seem logical. Why would we want to live forever in these mortal coils? That is a legitimate concern and question. And Paul will address that concern directly in this text.
To do so Paul utilizes several analogies to objects in nature. Nature can teach us something about the resurrection.
The Power of the Creator seen in Creation
The created order declares the glory of God. That is, nature has the fingerprints of God all over it. By what is created men should know that there is a Creator. Creation has been cursed by the Creator and subjected to the futility of corruption and death, yet it still is evidence of the Divine Power (Rom 1.18-23).
The revelation of the glory of God in creation is inferior to the special revelation in Scripture and especially in the Gospel. But if creation does show God’s glory we would expect it to be consistent with everything else God has revealed in His written Word. The natural world can teach us spiritual principles, or laws, about how the Kingdom of God operates. The natural is a window into the spiritual and this creation anticipates the New Creation, which is already being born. If God can turn a caterpillar into a butterfly then He can make us into new creatures (2 Cor. 5.17)!
The created world tells us something about the power of God. Creation itself is powerful. When Job thought he could question God’s rule, God challenged Job to first try to figure out and manage the mysteries of the natural world (See Job 38-39). If Mother Nature is powerful and mysterious, what does that teach us about her Creator? Consider the power of the wind, which Scripture uses to teach us about the power of the Spirit of God. Consider the sheer size of the universe and see if you don’t feel insignificant! “When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him” (Psalm 8:3-4)? And what kind of God could create a Great White Shark? Creation is so powerful that we are easily overcome by it when it is pitted against us. We do not rule this creation. And if creation is powerful, so powerful we cannot control it, how much more powerful is the Divine Power that put that power in the natural world? If God has this kind of power, is it too hard to believe that He can raise the dead and give them new bodies?
Those who doubted the resurrection of the dead were doubting the power of the God who created everything and upholds it by the Word of His Power. Is anything too hard for the Lord? We live in a universe that is filled with the glory of God. And in this universe anything is possible, even the raising of the dead. In fact, God seems to especially enjoy surprising us with His power and doing what is impossible for men to do.
A Lesson from Seeds
The illustration that Paul chooses is from the cultivation of seeds, like that of wheat or some other type of grain. The planting of a seed and the growth of that seed is a picture of the resurrection of the body. (The cultivation of a seed happens within the normal course and framework of nature. Even in a cursed world seeds will sprout and grow, given the right circumstances. But this is not true of the resurrection of the dead. Resurrection is not a part of the normal course of nature. In a cursed world people die and they are not resurrected. The resurrection of Jesus was a Divine interruption in the normal course of nature and a glimpse of what is to come.)
When a seed is planted in the ground it has to die first before anything can come from it. Our mortal bodies are going to pass away. Unless we are alive when the Lord comes, our bodies must die and then pass away through corruption and decay. When that seed is planted it is gone for good.
When our bodies die that physical form is gone for good. It must pass away just like the heavens and earth must also pass away. This entire created order must pass away. That includes our physical bodies that we now have. The seed that is planted in the ground dies and passes away in the process of becoming something else.
The whole concept of Christian burial is based on this metaphor of the sowing of a seed. The Jews also buried the bodies of the dead. When a farmer sows a seed he always does so in hope of the harvest. Likewise, Christians bury their dead in the hope of a resurrection. The practice of cremation was originally a pagan one where there was no hope.
The seed that is sown in the ground is not what comes up. The body that dies and is buried in the ground is not the body that will rise at the resurrection. The seed passes away and something new and different emerges. The thing that comes from the seed is quite different from the seed itself. The seed is rather unimpressive compared to what comes from it when it dies. The seed from which a rose emerges is so unlike the beauty of the flower that it may be impossible to convince a skeptic that what you now have in your hand is actually the beginnings of a rose. In some strange and mysterious act of creative power God put the blueprint of a rose inside its seed. But when the rose emerges the original form of the seed has passed away.
What Paul is trying to clarify is that this mortal body is not going to be raised again with all of its weaknesses. Consider how frail we are! We are wonderfully made. But how easy it is for these mortal bodies to get sick, injured, or die. Some people worship the human body. But it is really quite weak and unimpressive, even if you are Mr. Universe or Miss USA! Not only do we worship the body, we also worship youth. But our bodies are subject to corruption, which is the aging process. What looks good now may be sagging in a few years! Thank God this body is not going to be raised at the resurrection of the dead!
So what body will come up at the resurrection? It is hard to tell just by looking at a seed what might come up, unless you happen to know what the seed is. God has already determined that certain kinds of seeds produce certain kinds of plants. If you plant a pumpkin seed you will not get a turnip! God has already determined its kind. The same is true of the resurrection body. God has already determined what our new bodies will be. We don’t know what we will be. We do know that we will be like Christ (Phil. 3.19-21).
I don’t think we have to worry about being something weird, like being reincarnated as an animal. Christians do not believe in reincarnation. Resurrection means there will be some continuity. When Jesus was raised He was still a man, but He was a glorified man. Jesus had a body when He was raised and we will also have bodies. That is the promise of God in the Gospel. That is the hope of full redemption (Rom. 8.23). We are currently groaning with anticipation for these new bodies and I know that whatever God gives us will perfectly satisfy the desires of the New Man.
Our mortal bodies are like tents in which we are waiting until we can make a move into our mansions that He has already made for us and that are waiting for us in heaven!
A Valuable Elaboration
The idea that God can raise the dead and give them new bodies should not surprise us who believe in and know the power of God. All we have to do is look at creation with all of its majesty and we are reminded of what God can do.
We may not know the exact nature of the resurrection body, but we do know that God has already prepared it for us. And we also know for certain that these mortal bodies that we now inhabit, with all of their weakness, sickness, and corruptibility will pass away. We don’t have to worry about these bodies coming back to hinder us again at the resurrection!
The fact of the resurrection does imply having a body. This hope that we have is not purely spiritual. Man was made with a body and God means to redeem the body. Our bodies are part of who we are. When Jesus died He not only purchased these poor, lowly, mortal bodies for Himself, He also secured for us a resurrection body.
But that resurrection body will not be like these bodies we now inhabit. The resurrection body is a different kind of body. Paul reminds us that there are different kinds of bodies even in nature. Animals have one kind of body. Some of them move on the land. Some swim in the sea. And others can even fly through the air in their bodies that God gave them. So God can make different kinds of bodies. There are also heavenly bodies like planets and stars. These heavenly bodies are entirely different from earthly bodies and have a greater glory. But God made them and so it should not surprise us that God can make new and different bodies for His children.
When the Scriptures use the word “new” it does not just mean that something has been reissued in its same form or simply improved. No. “New” means it is of an entirely different order. The New Man is not just a reformed or improved self. The New Man is a whole New Creation. In Christ we become a new KIND of person, not just an improved person. The same is true of the new bodies we will receive at the resurrection of the dead. We should probably not become overly concerned with what these bodies will LOOK like. There are other considerations.
We should remember that a body is not just for looks but for utility. Our bodies get us around and enable us to interact with this world. Our bodies were made to accomplish things. And God made our bodies to inhabit the world that He created. It is a good thing our bodies breathe oxygen, for example. If our lungs required something else we could not live on earth. So God made our bodies to inhabit the earth. God did not make us to fly or to live in the sea, though man has invented artificial means of doing those things. God’s original intention was for man to rule creation. This purpose has been interrupted by sin and the curse of death.
But man was made in the image of God, which means he was made to be God’s representative on earth and rule it as God’s steward. For this job God gave man a suitable body. This world is going to pass away and there will be a new heavens and a new earth. If God gave man a suitable body for this creation then we have every reason to believe that our new bodies will be perfectly suited to that New Creation. To be sure, we will have REAL bodies in which we will live in a REAL world. There is nothing completely spiritual or ethereal about the new heavens and earth or the new body. But perhaps the most important reason for the new body will be to match the New Man. Right now we are frustrated by having a New Creation in an old body. This causes all kinds of frustration and conflict and requires the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit. But these new bodies will be perfectly suited for the life of the New Man as well as life in a New World.
When God makes something new it is always superior to what is old. Perhaps the reason we have these bodies now is just to introduce us to what is to come. This world is the front porch of eternity. God has a way of preparing for what is to come. God gave the Law before He sent Christ and the New Covenant, which is a greater glory. What God has in store for us is so great it required some kind of introduction and preparation. This is just the first stage of salvation. Whatever kind of struggle and suffering we have to pass through to get to the next phase will be worth it. “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). A large part of that future glory will be the resurrection body.
No comments:
Post a Comment