1 Corinthians 15:35-44 But someone may ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come?” How foolish! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. When you sow, you do not plant the body that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or of something else. But God gives it a body as he has determined, and to each kind of seed he gives its own body. All flesh is not the same: Men have one kind of flesh, animals have another, birds another and fish another. There are also heavenly bodies and there are earthly bodies; but the splendor of the heavenly bodies is one kind, and the splendor of the earthly bodies is another. The sun has one kind of splendor, the moon another and the stars another; and star differs from star in splendor. So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is 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 spiritual body.
In the above passage, Paul expresses the magnitude of God by describing his creation. God and his mighty works surpass our understanding. God the Creator made everything with its own beauty, uniqueness, and quality. Out of deadness can come life, life that differs greatly from the previous state of being. We read about the state of the world before God created life: In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. (Genesis 1:1-2) Yet this life as we see it now, with the identity and qualities that we are understand as a part of existence, will not continue indefinitely. No, we will be changed. We will have the eternal living nature of the living God in us. As we discover in nature, the seed, the egg does not portend what it will be. If we had no former experience with an egg or a seed, our wildest imaginations and speculations could not accurately determine the final product of either. So it is with life after death, So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. WE WILL BE CHANGED! If not at our death, in the coming of the Lord, we will be transformed as Paul describes later in this letter: For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. (1 Corinthians 15:52) We will have all the splendor of God himself as his eternal children, his sons and daughters. Of course, this understanding is beyond our ability to comprehend fully. Just as we cannot comprehend the transition of the egg or seed into another form. We cannot understand when Paul says, it (the body) is raised a spiritual body. This body will be timeless, eternal, without decay or death. How can we truly understand such a mystery in our present form? We cannot grasp such a plan with our natural minds, but we do have faith that God made this world out of nothing. By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible. (Hebrews 11:3) This mighty God we serve abides in us. Our hope of life forever in a new and different state is planted in Jesus Christ and his eternal life, for we are IN HIM and HE IS IN US. With such a faith, we can place our lives in him, trusting in a sure eternity to come.
All flesh is not the same: Men have one kind of flesh, animals have another, birds another and fish another. Even though all fleshly beings are just biological entities, functioning in approximately the same way: eating, drinking, propagating, seeking shelter, and the like, God set the human specie apart from the rest in that people can choose to believe in God. We have knowledge that there is something beyond our mere existence. We have memories of the past, and we possess an awareness of a future beyond our present existence. As Christians, we believe God made the heavens and earth and all living plants and animals. We believe He made us in his own image, with a capacity to understand realities beyond our own existence of eating, drinking and being merry, an existence that our dogs and cats enjoy but cannot process or discuss with us. As believers we have a place in us where God can abide, a place where He can communicate with us in an intimate way. Since God will not dwell with sin, we must be cleansed within for God to accept us and to commune with us. We needed a Savior, and God sent his precious son to die on a cross to make us holy and acceptable to the Father. Since we are redeemed by Christ's blood, the Holy Spirit abides in us in a holy place, for we are the temples of God. As Paul writes in his second letter to the church in Corinth, For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.” (2 Corinthians 6:16) We have this great privilege as we walk this earth. When we face life's end, our flesh will die, but our spirits will live on. Right now, the Holy Spirit abides in that holy place deep within us. We can hear his still small voice, a tender voice, over the din of this noisome world. Because of the cross, we who are alive in Christ can come boldly to the throne of God. Christ has paid the price for us; the price He paid was enough.
Christian friends, remember, we are alive IN CHRIST; we are eternal beings now. Of course, the word "now" is the important word for us as Christians. Now is the day of salvation. Now is the day to express your love for Christ. Now is the time to testify of Christ's redeeming work. Now we should be living sacrifices to the world. As we read: For he says, “In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.” I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation. (2 Corinthians 6:2) Non-humans live to eat, drink, and find satisfaction in the day. The fleshly, carnal human can live as the animals, birds, and fish, for self-preservation and needs fulfillment, but we who are IN CHRIST live for him and his perfect will. We live in the now, not for ourselves but for God. We are ambassadors for Christ today, soldiers in his army. We are to represent him in such a way that people will know there is a resurrection ahead, a time when they will meet God, either boldly IN CHRIST or in their own filthy rags of the flesh. They will either come in Christ's name or in their own names. The Bible gives us an account of that day: All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. (Matthew 25:32-33) To the blood-bought sheep, blameless and holy dressed in robes dripping with the blood of Christ, Jesus will say, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ (Matthew 25:34-36) The price was paid in full for their sins. But to the goats He will say they did not feed him or give him drink, shelter, or clothes, and they did not look after him. "I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me." Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life. (Matthew 25:45-46) Eternal life, heaven! What will we be like in heaven? We will be what Jesus said: lights, shining for him. Often, when we describe seeing Jesus, we relate how brilliant the light was that we saw. We too, will be brilliant. As the stars are brilliant, so will we be. Dear children around this breakfast table, remember God today and his works for you and in you. He has redeemed you from a finite existence into an eternal one with him. Praise him with your lips, with your songs.
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