The Hope of the Resurrection

By Mary Lim

1 Corinthians 15:35-58

Key Verse 49

“And just as we have borne the image of the earthly man, so shall we bear the image of the heavenly man.” 

The Corinthians at the time began to fall away from God; they started to mix their own thinking and knowledge into the word of God: They were excusing sexual immorality, using spiritual gifts improperly, and misinterpreting the gospel. So Paul wrote this letter in order to help them regain the truth and to go back to the gospel of Jesus. Though Paul addresses very specific problems in the earlier chapters of Corinthians, Paul closes with the core of the gospel because he knew that the root of their problems came from forgetting Jesus’ death and resurrection. 

Last night, Anna talked about the gospel. One fact that we have to accept in her message is verses 3-5 which says “For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance, that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures...” Then, John talked about the importance and truth of the resurrection. In verse 22 it says, “For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.” Which leads to my message: the hope that the resurrection gives us. 

Paul begins with a question in vs.35 that he thinks the Corinthians will ask: “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come?” Paul knew their inner hearts. He knew how attached they felt to the world and how they did not want to die. In this way, we can all relate to the Corinthians. Our life may seem like the only thing that matters now, however, Paul clearly knew the uselessness of desiring things of this world. Immediately he calls it foolish to ask these kinds of questions. Because he was so anchored in his faith, the answer was obvious to him. Logically, we may ask things like, “How can we be raised from the dead if our hearts stop pumping blood through our bodies and if our organs stop working?” or “If we are decomposing under the ground, how is it possible for our bodies to reform into a full body again?” But Paul knew they were not thinking from a spiritual standpoint, only from a worldly perspective. The question should’ve been, “How can we attain the heavenly body?” 

Nevertheless, Paul answers this question. He first addresses how our bodies are raised using the analogy of a seed. Verse 36b says “What you sow does not come to life unless it dies.” Here, Paul simply says that we cannot be resurrected unless we die. But Paul does not only mean death in a literal sense. He also means putting to death our worldly desires and needs. Basically, he means that we need to overcome our sin. Paul answers how to overcome sin later in the passage. 

He goes on to answer the second question: “With what kind of body will they come?” In verses 37 to 38 it says, “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.” Try to visualize the transformation from a small, tiny seed, into a 300 ft tree happening in one second. It’s unimaginable. But this is what our resurrected bodies will be like. The small, tiny seed is our earthly body. The tree, is our heavenly body. The insignificant seed is incomparable to the plant. We can’t even imagine what our resurrected bodies will be like compared to our earthly bodies. 

Though the seed and the plant are two completely different beings, the plant originates from the seed, as do our spiritual bodies. In this way, our spiritual body will be determined by how we live our earthly lives.

From verses 39-41, Paul stresses how the earthly body and heavenly body are two different beings. He compares the flesh of a man to the flesh of an animal, and the splendor of the moon and the splendor of the stars. Paul is trying to explain that saying that the earthly body is the same as the heavenly body, is like saying a bird is the same as a fish, and is like saying how the splendor of the moon is the same as the stars. In verse 40, Paul writes, “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.” 

Why does Paul repeatedly emphasize how the earthly body and heavenly body are its own state of being? Those, though they are related, are like two different things? 

Before Adam and Eve ate the fruit from the knowledge of Good and Evil, man was sinless, and therefore, lived eternally according to God’s plan. However, after acting against God’s will, they became tainted with sin, tainting the rest of mankind from that point on, with sin. From verses 42 to 44, Paul parallels the earthly body with the heavenly body. It says, “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. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.” Our bodies are perishable, dishonorable, and weak because of sin. Paul first calls our bodies perishable because we are extremely vulnerable. If we were to touch something a sick-person had just coughed on, we can get a cold. If we were to eat expired foods, we can get food poisoning. If we were to stay too long in direct sunlight, we could get cancer. 

This reminded me of an episode in the show Community when Jeff, a middle-aged health fanatic, gives up on maintaining his healthy lifestyle because his doctor tells him he has high cholesterol. Despite his efforts to stay healthy, he realizes that his body inevitably will deteriorate with age. Men are also dishonorable and weak-minded. How many times can you remember deciding to stick to your New Year’s resolutions but end up breaking all of them within the first week? How many instances can you remember running away from something because you were afraid? 

How many times can we remember sinning despite knowing what was right? 

When we are resurrected, our bodies will be imperishable, glorious, and powerful. We will be without sin. Not only will we be sinless, but also eternal. No longer will our bodies feel inadequate and vulnerable. All our worries, of college and school, will be washed away. All our insecurities and weaknesses will disappear. We will never again fear death.

I think the greatest change from our earthly body and heavenly body will be our hearts. For me, the trait that I hate myself the most for is my constant selfishness. But my heavenly body will be selfless. I would be free of my fear of rejection and failure, and I won’t need glasses with my perfect 20/20 vision.   

Try to envision your own, heavenly body. Maybe you're that person who on the outside seems outgoing and happy, but on the inside feels inadequate compared to other people; like you're just not talented enough, or smart enough, or good enough at anything. Maybe you're that person whose struggling with one sin that you are hiding from other people. Or maybe you're that person who just feels so indifferent and unmotivated to do what you know you're supposed to do. Despite our differences in our inner struggles, God can transform each of us. You will no longer feel inadequate, but self-sufficient. You won't shame and guilt, but forgiven. You will no longer feel unmotivated, but full of purpose. 

But how does this happen? How does our earthly body, that is full of sin, transform into a heavenly body? In the beginning of the passage, Paul emphasized how the earthly body and heavenly body are two different things. So how do we cross that barrier? Verses 47 - 49 say, “The first man was of the dust of the earth, the second man from heaven. As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the man from heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. And just as we have borne the image of the earthly man, so shall we bear the image of the man from heaven.” Our bodies are made of the dust from the ground. Dead skin cells fly off from our flesh. We originated from the earth. Verse 50 says, “...that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God.” However, though Jesus too was a man, he is of heaven. And because he is God, only he can save us from our sins. And so, we come to the very foundation of our belief: that Jesus came down as a sinless man in order to die on the cross to forgive us of our sins and conquer death, so that we can have a second chance. This is how we can conquer sin. This is how we can have a resurrected body. If we truly believe in the gospel, that Jesus was dead, buried, and raised, instead of having a body that will eventually die away, we shall bear the image of Jesus. 

What if we were all like Jesus? He was so full of empathy and unconditional love for others, he had full control over his mind and heart, he was humble, he was full of wisdom, and finally he had the ability to conquer death. So we too, can conquer sin and death and rise from the dead because of him.

In verses 51-52, Paul writes, “Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed - in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.” First, Paul calls this a mystery. A secret.A puzzle that not many people know. Paul wanted the Corinthians to hold unto this hope like a treasure, that when Jesus comes again, we will all be completely transformed. 

But we also have to make a change in our current lives. We can’t just sit around and do nothing, we have to continue to grow in faith. Just as how well you nurture the seed determines how well the plant will grow, we have to continue to grow in our earthly bodies in order to obtain the heavenly body. When my sister told my family how she accepted Jesus, she said that when she read the bible, she felt like she was reading it for the first time, even though she grew up hearing the same things over and over again. She said that there was a point in her life where everything made sense, where she gained a new, fresh light on the bible. Though we may have heard messages on these passages many times, we can look at the bible in a new light and renewed mind each time we approach it. 

It was very difficult for me to accept this passage. I had to directly confront my indifference and unbelief and examine my heart. I realized that the main thing that was keeping me from believing was my skewed mindset. I tried to use my human logic, I tried to reason my way into believing. But I realized that believing with human logic is impossible. Thinking from a worldly perspective, Jesus’ resurrection seems so strange and surreal. However, we are sinful and therefore cannot see the truth. Human logic is very relative; what we may think is the truth, may be simply a concept that we have accepted to be truth early in childhood. Why is it, that when we learn from our teachers at school we readily accept what they say, but when approached with the bible, we reject Jesus? I told my dad how idealistic and unreal Jesus’ love for me and his death and resurrection seemed, however he told me to have spiritual logic. I had to change my way of thinking and accept the bible as it is. In Mark 9:14-32, a father asks Jesus to heal his demon possessed son. Then the man says "If you can do anything, take pity on us and help us." Jesus responds, "IF you can? Everything is possible for him who believes." And then the father replies with a strange paradox, "I DO believe, help me overcome my unbelief." So, I prayed. I asked God to help me overcome my unbelief, and he’s helping me.  Gradually, like my sister, I began to understand. I recently started bible study with Sarah Kim, and though I’ve constantly told her that I couldn’t believe, each time I went to study with her I felt like I was reading the bible for the first time. I realized that there is only one truth. Whether we accept that truth or not is up to us. I truly believe that God is transforming me now, slowly, but surely. 

Verses 54b to 57 says, “then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory. Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Though death may seem like the end, if we simply believe Jesus’ resurrection, we will have eternal victory over death.   

Paul ends by saying, “Therefore my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.” Everything we do will not go to waste. What we strive to do in this lifetime for God up until our very death can be done with the hope that we will be resurrected. Resurrection answers the “So What” aspect of our belief. If death was the end, what would be the point of our belief? What would be the point of accepting Jesus and preaching the bible? But, because Jesus died for us, forgave us of our sins, and rose again from the dead, we have life after death. With this promise from God, we can live our lives free from the fears of the unknown, and dedicate our whole lives to him. But what does it mean practically to give ourselves fully to the work of the Lord? Matthew 6:21 says, "Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." It means to reset your priorities, so that whatever you do will be for God. School can turn into a category separate from church, however, we can study with the hope that God will use this time in our lives for in his plan for us. We can hold unto the hope that our bodies will be renewed and without sin when Jesus comes again.