By: Dr. Dale Weckbacher
Text: 1
Corinthians 15:35-49
1
Corinthians 15:48-49
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. 49 Just as
we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall[b] also bear the image of the man of
heaven.
As I grow older, I have
grown to look forward to the receipt of my spiritual body, a body free of
aches, pains, and disease. While I would prefer receiving my spiritual body at
the rapture escaping death, I do not care if God wills that I receive it
through death (1
Thessalonians 4:13-18). The resurrected body a believer receives at the
resurrection of the dead is a reward a believer can look forward to, especially
as he or she grows older.
Paul begins this text
with questions of how the dead are raised and what kind of body they will have
(1
Corinthians 15:35). He then says that the questions are foolish using an agrarian
example of how a seed planted does not come to life unless it dies (1
Corinthians 15:36). The bodies we presently have are not what we will have
for eternity but must die and be buried to resurrect into the body God has
chosen for us (1
Corinthians 15:37-38). Not all flesh is the same in God’s creation and
there are also heavenly bodies and earthly bodies because the glory of the
heavenly body differs from the glory of the earthly body (1
Corinthians 15:39-40). All of God’s creation has a unique glory of its own
(1
Corinthians 15:41).
The illustration of the
seed illustrates the nature of the resurrected body. The natural body is sown
in death with dishonor and in weakness but resurrected imperishable with glory
and in power (1
Corinthians 15:42-43). We presently have a natural body that dies and is buried
in the grave and at the resurrection of the dead we will receive a spiritual
body (1
Corinthians 15:44). At our natural birth we receive a natural body and
inherit our sinful nature and why all of us have sinned (Romans
3:23). Jesus told Nicodemus that one must be born again or experience a
spiritual birth so we can receive a spiritual body at the resurrection of the
dead from the life-giving spirit, Jesus Christ (1
Corinthians 15:45; John 3:1-8). The natural man is of the dust and at death
returns to the dust but the spiritual man is from heaven, coming to earth in a
natural body and dying without sin but rising from the dead and ascending to
sit at the right hand of God in heaven (Acts
7:56; 1 Corinthians 15:46-48). While on this earth we have the image of the
man of dust, the flesh, but through belief also bear the image of the man of
heaven which will manifest as a resurrected body at the resurrection of the
dead (1
Corinthians 15:49).
With an established
belief in the resurrection of the dead (1
Corinthians 15:12-34), Paul now begins a discourse on the resurrected body (1
Corinthians 15:35-49). God created the first Adam as a living being but
because of his sin, Adam died (Genesis
3). The second Adam, Jesus, took on the form of the first Adam but without
the corruption of sin, taking the curse of sin upon himself and buried it with
him through death only to arise a spiritual being (1
Corinthians 15:42-45; 2 Corinthians 5:21). One living without a belief in
the resurrection of the dead has no hope for they believe death is final.
Better to have a belief in the resurrection of the dead and a hope of eternal
life after death with Jesus.
John
3:16 is the most quoted and memorized verse in the Bible but with its
frequent quoting and memorization, we can recite it without taking time to
interpret what it says and apply it to our lives. Let us take a moment to look
at this verse for within it we find the most foundational theology of the
Church, the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
1)
God’s love for humanity – “For God so
Loved the World.” Humanity was the highest order of God’s creation and given
one simple command not to eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good
and evil (Genesis
2:17). Adam and Eve disobeyed this one command (Genesis
3:6) and because of their sin were evicted from the Garden of Eden (Genesis
3:24). If God did not love humanity, the Bible would have ended with Genesis
3, but God loves the world and humanity offering a promise of a redeemer in
Genesis
3:15 with the rest of the narrative of the Bible a love story of Gods plan
to redeem fallen humanity.
2)
The gift of God’s son – God gave humanity
the greatest gift of love He had to offer, his only son Jesus Christ. Since
Jesus is God (John
1:14), those who saw Jesus were seeing God (John
14:9). God then does the unthinkable and allows Himself to be crucified for
the sins of humanity and by resurrecting from the dead, provides humanity with an
opportunity to have a resurrected body for eternity (2
Corinthians 5:21).
3)
God’s grace – For anyone to have an
eternal relationship with God like God intended, is not something one earns but
something given to anyone who believes, but what does one need to place their belief
in? According to Romans
10:9-10, it is a belief in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus
Christ through confession with one’s mouth. The gift is given through God’s
grace (Ephesians
2:8-9) but one must accept the gift (Romans
10:9-10).
4)
Resurrection to eternal life – One
accepting the gift of grace from God receives eternal life and a resurrected
body. Believers who once bore the image of Adam, the man of dust, now have the
image of the man of heaven, Jesus, and will receive a resurrected body like
that of Jesus, minus the scars (Colossians
1:15).
If you are reading this
and have not accepted the gift of grace from God, I invite you to do so by
praying with me now,
Dear Lord Jesus, I know I have sinned
(Romans
3:23)
and know that the penalty for my sin is death (Romans
6:23). I ask you to forgive me of my sin and cleanse
me as you promise in your Word (1
John 1:9). I believe
you died, spent three days in the grave, and resurrected from the dead and now
declare you Lord of my life.
May God challenge,
convict, and bless everyone reading this post.
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