“For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.” 1 Corinthians 15:22 ESV
Reflection: what makes you believe the dead will rise again?
We recently planted some lettuce seeds in a small garden behind our house. And only after a few days, the seeds started sprouting, and soon we will enjoy fresh lettuce from our own garden. In our fast, modern lives, many have lost touch with the basics of food, including gardening, farming, fishing and hunting. To understand the basic cycle of life, of what God gave us to care for. To understand and care for life itself. Valuing life. This earth is not to be given to a few to decide what to do; what can live and what must die. It was given to all of us to care for, it is everyone’s responsibility. The ground, the water, the air, animals and plants. And of course, human life. The value, the dignity of all life, but especially human beings, made in the image of God. Let me ask you,
What do you think we will look like when we are raised again from the dead?
It might not be a topic you have spent much time thinking about. Paul is touching on several deep subjects of life, death and the resurrection of the dead in chapter 15. Now, in a simple explanation, Paul compares what we put in the ground, like a lettuce seed, and what comes out of the ground as new life being very different. “But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?” You foolish person! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. And what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare kernel, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain.” 1 Corinthians 15:35-37 ESV. If you remember, the disciples and those closest to Jesus didn’t physically recognize him after he had been raised from the dead. It was only after engaging with him they realized it was him. And we also remember that, while Jesus could “walk through walls” by suddenly appearing, the disciples touched him, and Jesus are with them. That’s all pretty interesting, right?
Paul explains, “But God gives it a body as he has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body. For not all flesh is the same, but there is one kind for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish. There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is of one kind, and the glory of the earthly is of 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 is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is 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. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.” 1 Corinthians 15:38-44 ESV.
While we are spiritually raised with Christ to new life in him, we who belong to Christ will also be given a spiritual body when Christ returns. Like the seed planted not looking much, we will be raised in glory. This time not like Adam; we will bear the image of Christ. Paul explains “Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual. The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.” 1 Corinthians 15:45-49 ESV
Jesus was the “first fruit” of the resurrection from the dead. “But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.” 1 Corinthians 15:20 ESV. “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.” Romans 8:11 ESV. Someday, as our physical bodies have been planted in the ground, new life, a new glorious body will rise to meet Christ. The “sting of death” is therefore gone, replaced by this glorious hope we have! And we echo what John wrote, “He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.”
Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!” Revelation 22:20 ESV.