About this sermon
Some in Corinth asked how the dead are raised and with what body they come. Paul answers from the seed that dies before it lives and from the two Adams, the first a living soul and the last a life-giving spirit whose image believers will bear. Because Christ has conquered death, believers give thanks for the victory, stand firm, and know that their labor in the Lord is not in vain.
Sermon transcript
We come now to the reading of God’s inspired word as we open our Bibles together to 1 Corinthians chapter 15. 1 Corinthians 15, we’ll begin reading at verse 35 and reading through verse 58. Give your attention for this is the word of God. 1 Corinthians 15, verse 35.
But someone will say, how are the dead raised? And with what kind of body do they come? You fool, 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 of something else.
But God gives it a body just as he wished, and to each of the seeds a body of its own. All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one flesh of men, and another flesh of beasts, and another flesh of birds, and another of fish. There are also heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is one, and the glory of the earthly is another. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars, for star differs from star in glory.
So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown a perishable body, it is raised an imperishable body. 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 spiritual body.
If there is a natural body, 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, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, then the spiritual. The first man is from the earth, earthy. The second man is from heaven. As is the earthy, so also are those who are earthy. And as is the heavenly, so also are those who are heavenly. Just as we have borne the image of the earthy, we will also bear the image of the heavenly.
Now I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does The perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold, I tell you a mystery. We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.
For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality. But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord. Thus far, the reading of God’s inspired and infallible word. Amen. Let’s pray together. Father, we ask once again that you would take this word that has been read and now will be preached, that you would use that word for our transformation, that we would more and more become the people you intend us to be as we are more and more transformed into the image and likeness of your son, the Lord Jesus Christ. that one who is indeed already raised from the dead. We pray for the power of the Holy Spirit who inspired the Apostle to write these words. Be that same spirit that is now at work in us and among us here tonight to illumine our hearts and minds that we might embrace this word, understand it, and act upon it in accordance with the truth.
Our Father, as we extend our prayer time this now, we do pray for Dr. Gidley as he prepares for this surgical procedure on Wednesday. We ask that you would be merciful and kind that the surgery would have its good and desired effect. We also pray for Ian as he prepares for an upcoming singing engagement. We pray that you will clear away the cold that hinders him now and we ask Lord for good health and that your grace and power and blessing would be with these men as they face their trials this week.
We ask Lord once again that you will guide us into an understanding of the word of truth as we prepare now to receive the Word of God as it is delivered to us. We pray that we would set aside all of those things that hinder, that distract us, and that we would concentrate ourselves fully upon the Word of God as our God speaks to us for our growth in grace and the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray, giving thanks. Amen. The Apostle Paul’s concern up to this point in chapter 15, as we’ve looked at it in two previous sermons, has been to refute those who deny the resurrection of the dead by putting forth the resurrection’s absolute necessity.
If there is to be any Christian faith at all, there must be a resurrection. Deny the resurrection and everything is up for grabs. If there is no resurrection, Christ’s death as a saving event is utterly denied. There is simply no salvation. Jesus would have lived and died in vain. If there is no resurrection, there is no forgiveness of sins. If there is no resurrection, there is no hope for the future. If there is no resurrection, there is neither meaning nor purpose for Christian ethics. Let us instead eat and drink, for tomorrow we die, as Paul writes in this 1 Corinthians 15 chapter. If there is no resurrection, the very character of God is denied. For he is not the God of the dead, but of the living, as Jesus says in his gospel.
Almost certainly what lay behind that denial of the resurrection among the Corinthians is a view of the material world and order that found the resurrection of material bodies or dead corpses to be a doctrine most abhorrent. I would ask you then to think of Greek philosophical dualism, which exalts the mind and spirit as good and denigrates the physical material realm as inherently evil.
To that issue of Roman paganism and Corinthian paganism, Paul now turns his attention in his writing. The turn in his argument here is signaled both by the two questions that appear in verse 35, namely, how are the dead raised, followed by, and what kind of body do they come? We see this shift with these two questions, but we also see a shift in Paul’s own language. there’s a decided shift at this point in the epistle.
The Greek word nekros translated in our English Bibles as the word dead appears 11 times in verses 1 to 34 of 1st Corinthians 15. Six times actually in the phrase if the dead are not raised, the word nekros. From this point onward however from verse 35 onward that word nekros, dead, occurs only three times in verses 35 to 58. The word that replaces dead in prominence or dominance is the word soma or body. That word soma occurs 10 times here in verses 35 to 58 but not once does that word body appear in verses 1 to 34. Nevertheless these are related ideas to be sure but we simply note at this point that we’re seeing a turn in Paul’s language and argument.
The dead, as a phrase, refers not simply to people who have died, but also to their dead bodies that have been laid in the grave. This suggests that the real concern behind the Corinthians’ denial of the resurrection of the dead was an implicit understanding that that meant the reanimation of dead bodies, the resuscitation of corpses. Look closely, look closer at these two questions that appear posed in verse 35. Those who deny the resurrection actually ask, is it possible for the dead to be raised? They doubt that a dead body can be raised at all. Indeed, they do not believe that a decaying body that is either buried or burned is capable of bringing forth a new body. The question then is whether a resurrected body will be exactly the same as the body that died. For if it is not the same, how can one speak of a resurrection?
Greek philosophers taught the immortality of the soul, but they most certainly denied the immortality of the body. Paul, you remember, was scorned by Epicurean and Stoic philosophers in Athens, when at the end of his Areopagus address, he mentioned the resurrection from the dead. Cross-reference the book of Acts, chapter 17, verses 31 and 32. So it was that those Corinthians who were influenced by Greek philosophy repudiated the teachings on the resurrection.
They told Paul that raising a person from the dead was simply impossible. They refused, at this point, to listen to the message of the Old Testament scriptures, the account of Jesus’ resurrection, and the promise that believers in Christ will rise from the dead. Last, they rejected the thought of continuity, for they saw only the dissolution of the physical body when death occurred.
No wonder, then, that Paul vented his disapproval with such sharp words as he does in verse 36, saying, You fool! Fools fail to think even when all the facts are self-evident and plain. Fools despise wisdom, they distort the truth, and they display indifference to God and to God’s revelation.
On the other hand, the wise people who fear God depend on him for the gift of wisdom. After all, we know the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. Proverbs chapter 9 and verse 10. Paul’s response to the Corinthians’ disbelief then is driven by two concerns. First concern, denial of the resurrection for Paul meant the denial of any genuine continuity between the present and the future. The point of continuity for Paul’s gospel lay with the body. Therefore, there must be a resurrection of the body. Second, and even more importantly, the reality of the resurrection of Jesus Christ absolutely dominated Paul’s thinking at every turn. Since Christ was raised bodily, he was buried, raised, and seen by many, including Paul himself. There must, of necessity, be a bodily resurrection also of believers.
Nevertheless, Paul was equally convinced that Christ’s resurrection was not merely the resuscitation of a dead corpse, but the transformation of his physical body into what Paul describes in Philippians 3.21 as a glorified body, adapted to his present heavenly existence. It is this reality that ultimately controls Paul’s present argument. For Paul, there is both continuity and transformation. With what kind of body are the dead raised? As with Christ, so for us. The same, yet not the same. This body, but adapted to the new conditions of heavenly existence. Sown like a seed one way, it is raised another. The same body is sown and is raised.
By way of analogy here, Paul defends his argument by alluding to the world of plants, a world that provides vivid illustrations of the continuity of life. He confronts the foolish person who denies the resurrection account as he points to something this person, many persons, do from time to time, that is, sowing seed, such as in a garden. When someone plants a seed in fertile soil that has sufficient moisture and sufficiently warm temperature, that seed germinates. The germination process causes the sown seed to disintegrate. That dying seed gives birth to new life in the form of a developing plant, a plant that eventually matures and again produces seed.
We think of John’s gospel, Jesus speaking in John 12 verse 24. Notice that we sow the seed to be sure, but we are unable to bring about germination and new life. We must recognize that is God’s work. We can’t make germination happen as much as we might think we can. We can put the seed in the ground, we can water, we can fertilize, we can hoe the row, but God must germinate, must make things to grow. This illustration of a seed is apt for Paul’s present argument.
It applies to the human body that at death descends into the grave. That body disintegrates and in the course of time disappears completely. The analogy does not include a specific period of time, how long that takes, for that is not germane to the issue at hand. The point is that life comes forth out of death. No human being on earth is able to bring forth new life out of the body that has returned to the dust of the ground. Only God, through Christ, can reassemble the dust particles of the human body to call it forth in glorified form and in newness of life. In verse 36, look closely with me.
Our New American Standard Bible says, that which you sow does not come to life unless it dies. Regrettably, the New American Standard Bible and other modern translations like it use in this verse the active voice, come to life. Whereas the Greek text, the Greek verb is actually a passive verb. The older King James Version here actually gets it right. when it quotes, Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened except it die.
This idea of being quickened is something that God does. The passive voice conveys the sense that God alone is the agent that quickens the seed, who creates life. and that human beings can only watch this miracle occur, they can’t do it. Life comes from God and from God alone. Effectual calling, as we described it in our confession of faith here tonight. Effectual calling, life comes from God, who is its source. Paul continues his analogy in verse 37.
He knows that the seed that is sown is only a bare kernel. either a kernel of wheat or of some other plant. That seed has a specific form and substance. It is perhaps round or oval. It is hard. It is dry. He tells his readers that that which is sown germinates and develops into a plant. Yet in form, the plant is entirely different than the dry seed that was sown into the ground. That plant continues to develop and is incomparably more beautiful than the kernel that was planted. Paul contrasts the bare kernel from the growing plant in our text.
The question of continuity and discontinuity then is relevant. Plants and trees, fish and fowl, wild animals and livestock all show continuity in reproduction. Fish beget fish, fowl beget fowl, wild animals beget wild animals, livestock beget livestock. Nevertheless, even so, there is also a sense of discontinuity when a kernel germinates and develops into a plant. A seed brings forth its own kind of plant, which in turn produces the same kind of seed.
The detail should not be pressed, however, for the plant procreates the seed that was sown. In this text, Paul is not yet ready to comment on the difference between the perishable body and the imperishable body, the mortal and the immortal state of a human being. He will do so in just a few succeeding verses. say as he does in verses 52 to 54, he’ll talk about that. But for the moment he emphasizes the truth that out of the dying seed new life springs forth.
Jesus’ physical body was placed in the tomb It arose a glorified body, a body that showed continuity. You remember his followers recognized him in his glorified body. Yet it was also completely different, a discontinuity if you will, for it was no longer subject to time and space. Jesus’ resurrected body could enter and leave the room while the doors were shut. We read in John’s Gospel and also in Luke chapter 24 verse 31. The newness of his body reveals a dimension we, in our present state, fail to comprehend. Paul does not elaborate on the human body that will be raised from the dead.
Instead, he teaches that it is God who provides future bodies for every seed that is sown in his creation. Notice that Paul, in verse 38, writes, Just as God wished, In the past tense we read there an allusion to the creation account. God placed his will on creation that every plant should procreate its own kind after its own kind. You remember the language of Genesis 1 verses 11 and 12 for example. Thus, according to God’s will, God gives to every seed that is sown its own body. Paul stresses that God works out his plan of creation in harmony with his divine will.
And that will encompasses the human body that is raised from the dead. We know that God is in control and thus we await the day of resurrection to receive new bodies. Christians believe that their bodies will be raised from the dead when Jesus returns. They know that scripture tells them that their own bodies will be transformed and glorified. We will not receive, however, completely different bodies.
It will be that same body, raised, transformed, and glorified. The scriptures reveal that Jesus’ disciples recognized him, you remember. They saw the scars that were in his hand and in his side, John 20, verse 27. And the transformation, in the transformation, the characteristic features of an individual will still be evident, we assume. We know that the resurrection of Jesus Christ is the assurance and guarantee of the resurrection of all his followers.
In verse 39 we see that Paul turns from grain and plants to flesh. All flesh is not the same kind. There is the flesh of men, the flesh of beasts, that is the beasts of burden, cattle and so on. There is the flesh of birds, there is the flesh of fish, and each is different. Paul is preparing the way for the thought that there should be a difference between the kind of body we have before the resurrection and the kind of body we shall have after the resurrection. In keeping with this differentiation from various forms of earthly life, there is also a difference between the heavenly bodies and bodies terrestrial or bodies earthly. Next he distinguishes the heavenly luminaries and says that each is distinct in its own.
The sun, the moon, the stars for example. The brilliance of the celestial luminaries is awe-inspiring to be sure. But the majesty of the mountains and the forests that are on earth cannot be underestimated. Each has its own particular attributes and its own particular glory. Each has a luster of its own.
To be sure, the intense radiance of the sun far outshines the soft glow of the moon’s reflected light. As one planet or one star differs from another in heavenly brilliance and magnitude, yet none is without significance, God created all of them with various degrees of grandeur. There is not one of them alike, for each radiates or reflects its own glow. In conclusion then we ask, if God has circumscribed the celestial luminaries with indescribable glory, will he not be able to clothe human beings with transformed and glorified bodies?
I would say to ask the question is to answer it. Of course God can give us glorified bodies. Look at verse 42. So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown a perishable body. It is raised an imperishable body. 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 spiritual body.
If there is a natural body, 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, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, then the spiritual. The first man, Paul writes, is from the earth, earthy.
The second man is from heaven. As is the earthy, so are those who are earthy. And as is the heavenly, so also are those who are heavenly. Just as we have borne the image of the earthy, we will also bear the image of the heavenly. Paul compares Adam to Christ in our text. comparing the lesser to the greater.
Adam is the first human who, through God’s creative power, became a living soul, literally a living soul, a living being. Adam is the head of the human race, made in the image of God. Adam passed on to his offspring both physical qualities and moral attributes.
But Adam did not receive the gift of immortality because God wanted to test him in a probationary period of which we read in Genesis 2.17.
Adam failed in that probation and through him sin entered into the world and with sin came death. Romans chapter 5 and verse 12. Angels then drove Adam from the garden of Eden to prevent him from eating from the fruit of the tree of life and living forever. Genesis 3 verses 22 to 24.
However, that which was lacking in Adam is now perfected in Jesus Christ. By conquering death, the second Adam achieved immortality. The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. As Adam became a living soul in the fullness of the time, the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. Paul calls Christ the last Adam as a reflection on a parallel to and a contrast with the first Adam. By writing the word last, Paul notes that Christ is the complete fulfillment of the first Adam. The verb associated with both Adam and Christ in this context is the verb became. That is, when God created Adam, he became a living soul.
And when Christ entered the world in human form, He became the One through whom God gives eternal life to every believer. He became a life-giving Spirit. Christ suffered death, but He conquered it. When He arose from the grave and ascended into heaven, He received the power and the authority to grant the gift of immortality to His people through His Spirit. Remember, Scripture teaches, the Word became flesh in time and in space. That’s the Son of God, Jesus Christ, became the last Adam, became a life-giving spirit in the fulfillment of redemptive history. That last Adam became a life-giving spirit.
The spirit whom Christ gives is the spirit who gives the power of resurrection life to Christ’s followers, and to make their bodies like his own body, spiritual, that is, heavenly, in resurrection glory, we are told. As is the earthy, so also are those who are earthy. And as is the heavenly, so also are those who are heavenly. Just as we have borne the image of the earthy, Adam, the first Adam, we also bear the image of the heavenly, the last Adam.
Now I say this, brethren, Paul writes, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold, I tell you a mystery. We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised, imperishable. And we will be changed.
For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality. But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, Paul writes, death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.
But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Remember these things. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord. The message is clear. The contrast is emphatic. Death does not have the last word. Death has not secured the victory. The victory belongs to Jesus Christ, and the victory belongs to those who belong to Jesus Christ. Thanks be to God, then, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Amen and amen. Let’s pray together. Our Father, what a glorious message we read and hear this evening. We ask thanking you for the work of our Savior. And we give our thanks and our praise to you for indeed death is not the victory. Death is not the victor, but Christ is the victor who has overcome death in resurrection power. And we now in him by grace through faith are joined with him in that resurrection, both already in spirit and in that glorious day when our bodies will be wonderfully transformed into their appropriate heavenly orientation. Oh God, we long for that day, we await that day. We rejoice in that day as we give thanks even now, and we would conduct ourselves in the world then as those who have been born again to a living hope, and that we would conduct ourselves in such a manner that we would recognize that our labor here and now is not in vain. Neither was Christ’s labor, death, and resurrection in vain, but he has brought to us a salvation beyond description and comparison. So may it be that we take heart and hope in him as we conduct ourselves in the world. Fill us with that spirit of resurrection power, we pray in Jesus’ name, amen. Now I invite you to join with me in singing hymn number 518, please, 518.
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