The Resurrection Body (1 Corinthians 15:35-49)

The Apostles Creed, which today was recited in countless churches around the world as believers in Jesus verbally recited what they believe, includes the line, ‘I believe … in the resurrection of the body.’ No doubt, at the time it was first composed, this statement was made in direct confrontation of those who assumed that the resurrection was impossible (after all, that was the outlook everywhere regarding the idea of resurrection). It can also be stated as a source of comfort concerning believers who have died. And it is also an expression of confidence in what Jesus is able to do for all his people.

Paul’s reasoning

Paul anticipates two questions that will be asked concerning the resurrection. These questions indicate misunderstandings about what will occur at that time. The answer to the first question is that God will raise the dead and the answer to the second question is that God will decide what kind of body believers will have. Obviously, Paul wanted the Christians to focus on God, and this explanation is one that should be applied in every area of life, but especially when thinking about aspects of salvation. 

The apostle then mentions four details that we should always bear in mind when thinking about the resurrection body. First, in aiming for a harvest, the sower knows that death is the way to life because the seed that is sown dies before it produces the crop. Jesus had also used this illustration when describing his own death and subsequent fruit that would appear. Second, the crop looks very different from the seed from which it came (wheat does not look like the original seed that was sown, for example). Third, God decides what the final body looks like (he brings about the harvest). Fourth, God is capable of producing many kinds of bodies and he gives specific glory to each kind (the glory of the planets and other heavenly bodies is unique and different to that of humans and other earthly creatures). 

So when thinking of the resurrection body, we should not be surprised by death coming first, we should not think that the resurrection body looks like the body we currently have, we should be thankful that God will decide what kind of body his people will have, and we should anticipate that the resurrection body will be something unique and beautiful and glorious. 

The body that is sown 

Paul says four things about the bodies of believers when they die and contrasts those features with those they will have in the resurrected state. It is important to note that Paul uses opposites here. He does not say that that the current state of a human body when the person dies is close to what that person’s body will be like when the resurrection comes. Instead, he says that the difference is great.

Paul writes that a dead body is perishable, dishonourable, weak and natural. What does he mean by those four descriptions? It may help us if we take them in reverse order.  To say that the body is natural is to say that we receive it from our connection with Adam. God made him from the dust at the beginning and warned him that should he disobey God he would return to the dust. Sadly, that is what Adam did and death came into the human experience. Because he sinned, all natural people die, and each of them is marked by the other three features of weakness (a dead body cannot do anything), dishonour (a dead body must be hidden) and perishable (a dead body will decay). As we know, those features begin immediately a person dies, which is why we give them a special place where we cannot see them anymore.  

Yet although the description given by Paul is not pleasant, we should note that he inserts alongside them a statement of hope when he says that perishable, weak, dishonourable and natural bodies are sown. He means that in some way they are going to reappear again in a different form at a time of harvest, because that is why we sow various seeds. We do so because we anticipate a harvest. What should we anticipate about those who have died in the Lord? 

The body that is raised 

Paul mentions four details about the resurrection body and each one is the opposite of one of the details in what he said about the body that died. The resurrection body will be imperishable, glorious, powerful and spiritual. What do these details point to?  

Imperishable means that they are no longer subject to death. This is an incredible description because death, in numerous ways, marks existence in this world. Everything is fading and perishable, people have diseases. But at the resurrection, the opposite will occur. Instead of perishing, everything will be permanent and perfect. 

But in what ways will they be permanent and perfect? Paul mentions that the resurrected person will have a wonderful position of glory. In this life, death robs the most illustrious of their place and soon they are forgotten. But in the resurrection, the people of God will be given a place of incredible privilege as the sons of God and in their resurrected bodies they will know a glorious status. Paul may also be referring to the condition of their bodies because they will be glorified (bright and beautiful). Connected to that privilege they will have real power or boundless energy, fit to live the life of the ages. They will never be tired again.

Paul also mentions that the resurrection body will be spiritual. He does not mean by this that the body will not be physical or that it will be kind of see-through body. Instead, he means that each believer will have the Spirit controlling and empowering him to a far greater extent that is experienced in this life. They will be able to engage in spiritual activities that would be impossible for them now. After all, in this life the work of the Spirit in their lives involves progression in sanctification and overpowering the remnants of sin. But that is not what will be taking place within them when they have their resurrection bodies.

Of course, the reality is that no-one on earth today has ever seen what believers will yet look like in their resurrection bodies. It is like trying to describe to a blind person the difference between a sickly person and a person full of health. If we could say about the sickly person that a doctor can make him like the healthy person, the blind person would say that was good. But if he has never seen a healthy person, his understanding is obviously limited. And that is where we are with regard to the resurrection body. But we know that it will be perfect, and perfect for an innumerable number of believers.

The role of Jesus

Paul contrasts Jesus once again with Adam. It is worth observing that Paul here calls Jesus by the title, ‘the last Adam’. The title ‘Adam’ is connected to beginnings. The first Adam was head of the first creation and the last Adam is head of the new creation. Paul does not say that Jesus is the second Adam. Instead by using ‘last’, he indicates that Jesus will never be replaced in the way that the first Adam was. The reason why that is the case is that Jesus can never fail.

When God made Adam at the beginning, he was made with the power of reproducing life in the sense that he would have descendants. All his descendants were and are like him. He came from the dust and his descendants do as well. That is why they can die, and because of his sin they will die. Jesus, in contrast, because of his resurrection, is from heaven. Adam, although long gone, has left his marks on the human race. Jesus, now gone to heaven, leaves his marks on those of the human race who trust in him and experience his power.

When a person believes in Jesus, he or she changes their home address. Before they believed, their address was earth with all its problems ending in death. Despite the many good things they had, they knew that it was not going to last. The change of address occurred when they believed and their home address is now heaven. Paul mentions this change in his letter to the Philippians when he reminds them that their citizenship is in heaven.

Jesus reminded his disciples that they could store up treasures in heaven that could never be lost. His words mean that the poorest Christian has more than the wealthiest unbeliever because the latter is always moving closer to the moment when he will lose everything whereas the Christian is always moving closer to the moment when he will discover how much treasure he has.

Moreover, says Paul, when a person believes in Jesus, he is promised a wonderful destiny, which is that he ‘will bear the image of the man of heaven’. In other words, they will be like Jesus. We know that even in this life they are being conformed into the image of Jesus – this is what sanctification means.

It is worth reminding ourselves what happens in salvation. The great blessings of salvation are justification, adoption and sanctification. In justification, a sinner is given the standing in God’s presence that Jesus has because the righteousness of Jesus is reckoned to his account. In adoption, we become the sons of God and join the family in which Jesus is the Son, and we become joint-heirs with him. And in sanctification, we will eventually be fully conformed to his character and have the same kind of thoughts, desires, affections and behaviour as he has.

Of course, we will not be like Jesus in the degree that he is perfect. He will always be more competent than us, he will always be the ultimate prophet, priest and king, he will always be the Heir who graciously shares his inheritance with all of his people. We will not bow to other members of the family, but we will bow to him and confess that he is Lord.

Applications

The doctrine of the resurrection is a reminder of how much God values his creatures that he made in his image. Instead of removing all of them from his sight forever, he rescued some of them from the disaster they had brought on themselves. It is an obvious deduction from the fact of the future resurrection that God wants his redeemed people with him forever.

Another obvious deduction that we should make is to value the message of the gospel. Paul made clear earlier in the chapter that a correct declaration of the gospel will mention the resurrection of Jesus and the consequences of it for everyone. In the gospel, we are invited, and urged, to respond by trusting in Jesus and depending upon him. And surely we should do so since he is capable of such great achievements in his death and in his resurrected state.

How can we know that this will happen to us? Paul gives us a way of doing so when he writes in Romans 8:11 these wonderful words: ‘If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.’ In that verse, Paul tells us to see if we are experiencing the gracious work of the Spirit in our hearts, and if we are, we can be confident that we will receive a wonderful resurrection body.