THE NATURE OF THE RESURRECTION
1 CORINTHIANS 15:35-58
In dealing with the great subjection of the resurrection, Paul has shown its validity (1 Cor. 15:1-11) and its importance (15:12-34). Now Paul turns to the nature of the believers resurrection body. He begins by anticipating questions from the opponents: “But someone will say, How are the dead raised? And with what kind of body do they come?” (15:35). They rejected the idea of a physical bodily resurrection. They may have been turning the doctrine into ridicule. Their questions concerned “how” could it be? And “what kind” of body would it be? Paul calls them “foolish” but endeavors to answer the questions. The Apostle Paul answers the two objections by explaining what will happen to those who have died and their relationship to those who have not passed through death at the time of the event (15:50-53), reminding the readers that both will have victorious bodies (15:54-58).
THE DEAD WILL RECEIVE A RESURRECTION BODY (15:35-44).
Analogies from Nature (15:35-44).
Paul begins his answer with three analogies from nature and creation. He used these to show the reality and characteristics of the resurrected body.
- The Analogy of the Seed (15:36-38).
I live in farm country, and every farmer knows the truth that a seed produces life and bears fruit. Paul uses this analogy as a strong rebuke to those who do not believe in the resurrection. The word “thou” in verse 36 is emphatic, hence it could be rendered “you yourself.” It denotes that their own experience is sufficient, teaching them the reality of resurrection. Their own act of sowing seed gives the answer to how. Nature itself provides the answer about the resurrection. First, death takes place; however, death itself does not trigger resurrection. The seed does not sprout just because it appears dead. Certain conditions (it must be planted, watered, tilled, etc), must take place before the seed sprouts into a new life form. Second, there is a relationship between the seed and the plant, although they are not identical; but each is recognizable. What went into the ground is not what comes out of the ground. Wheat is sown as seed and comes out a stalk of wheat. What comes out is related to what went in, but what comes out is the result of what went in. The same will be true of the resurrected body.
- The Analogy of Different Kinds of Flesh (15:39).
This analogy involves the various kinds of flesh found in forms of life. Man’s flesh is different from that of the animals; the flesh of animals also differs from one another. This analogy is to the difference in the flesh of the resurrected body. Lenski notes of this analogy: “In creation God was not restricted to one kind of flesh; how can he then be restricted in the resurrection? The human body which we bury shall rise again; but although it remains the very same body, it will appear wonderfully different in the resurrection” (1 and 2 CORINTHIANS, 708).
- The Analogy of Different Kinds of Flesh (15:40-41).
This analogy takes us to differences in the glory of the universe. The emphasis is one of the aspects of glory. The earth has a different glory from that of the heavenly bodies. Likewise in resurrection, the resurrected will have a different glory than that of the earthly or natural body. Vine comments about the differences in glory: “The point in all this is not that there will be differing degrees of glory in the bodies of the saints in the resurrection; but that God, Who has arranged all things in nature in the differing degrees of glory, has the power to bring about the state bodies of believers. Differences in degrees of glory in their glorified bodies is not in view” (1 CORINTHIANS, 219).
The Contrast Between the Natural and Resurrected Bodies (15:45-49).
From these three analogies we see that the resurrection is related to the natural body: that it will be consistent with the principles of creation, but different from the natural body. Now Paul goes no to explain the differences by contrasting the natural body with the resurrected body. Note the correlation between these contrasts and the analogy of the seed above. “It is sown…it is raised” are found four times in these verses. Like a seed, the natural bodies of saints are sown in the ground, but at the appointed time they are raised with a resurrected body.
The contrasts are between:
- Corruption and Incorruption (15:42).
The natural body is sown in corruption. The Greek word translated corruption is phtheiro, signifying the destruction by corruption. Creation is enslaved to this condition (Romans 8:21). This corruption is evident in burial. The body begins to break down, decay and return to dust. However, it will be raised in incorruption, never to break down or decay again. It will be imperishable.
- Dishonor and Glory (15:43).
The term dishonor has nothing to do with how we treat the body in burial; rather, as Hodge says, dishonor means “despoiled of the short-lived attractiveness which it had with living” (1 CORINTHIANS, 347). The contrast of the word dishonor is by the word “glory,” not honor. The resurrected body will manifest great glory (Romans 8:18-23). It will be fashioned like His glorious body (Phil. 3:21).
- Weakness and Power (15:43).
The body lives in weakness, climaxing in the weakest of all conditions, death. It ends totally without strength, but is raised in power. The Greek word is dynamei, denoting inherent capability and ability to perform. It is distinguished from exousia, which has to do with the right to exercise power. “The resurrection body will have an eternal self-sufficiency within it decreed by God” (Robert Gromacki, CALLED TO BE SAINTS, 194)
- Natural and Spiritual (15:44).
The Greek word translated natural is psuchikos, meaning belonging to the psuche, soul. Vine says it could be translated “soul-governed” (1 CORINTHIANS, 219). The body is governed by the soul and its laws. This soul-governed body will be raised a “spiritual” body. A spiritual body is governed and controlled by the spirit. The distinction is important. The Greeks believed that there was a difference between a corruptible body and an incorruptible soul. Paul in this contrast shows the real difference was between the natural and the spiritual, not the body and the soul. Paul makes clear that the spiritual body is real, as real as the soul-governed body. The soul-governed body dies, it is raised a spiritual body.
- The First and the Last Adam (15:45-49).
Paul contrasted the two headships. The “first” Adam represents the natural body; the “last” Adam [Christ] represents the resurrection body. Adam became a living soul by the breath of God into lifeless dust (Gen. 2:7). He came from the earth. By the original creation He received a “natural body.” In contrast, Christ, the last Adam, by resurrection “became a life-giving spirit.” Christ received a spiritual resurrected body. We will also.
Paul concludes this contrast with the principle of reproduction; like produces like (15:48-49). The descendants of the first Adam have natural, earthly bodies. The descendants of the last Adam will have glorified resurrected bodies. Believers will ultimately be like the last Adam [Christ] (1 John 3:2). Christ’s resurrection guarantees that all believers will bear “the image of the heavenly” (Phil. 3:30-31). Identification does not mean we will become twins of Christ, it means we will have heavenly characteristics like Christ. Our body will be spiritual, however we will not look like Christ, we will have our personal identities. Christ kept his personal identity after His resurrection. His spiritual body had the identity of his earthly body—it had the distinct personality of Christ, even the physical marks (wounds in his hands) of the body. His was completely recognizable, as we will be.
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