HOW ARE THE DEAD RAISED UP? – 1 Corinthians 15:35-49

Posted by Pastor Greg Allen on January 19, 2020 under 2020 |

Bethany Bible Church Sunday Message; January 19, 2020 from 1 Corinthians 15:35-49

Theme: The truths about our future resurrection are shown to us in the examples of nature and the resurrection of Jesus.

(All Scripture is taken from The New King James Version, unless otherwise indicated).

Click HERE for the audio version of this sermon.

Long ago, the apostle John was on the Isle of Patmos. He was there, he told us, “for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ”. And while there—in exile for his preaching of the gospel—he was given a vision of the Lord Jesus in His resurrected glory. He told us about it in the first chapter of Revelation.

We’re told that John was “in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day”. He heard a voice behind him; and when he turned to look, he saw “One like the Son of Man”. Jesus appeared to him clothed in a garment down to His feet, and with a golden band around His chest, and with hair white as snow, and with eyes like a flame of fire, and with feet like fine brass, and with a voice—loud and strong—like a mighty river or a roaring waterfall. When John tells us that when he saw this vision of the Lord, he fell at His feet “as dead”. That was John’s way of telling us that he passed out at the awesome sight of the Lord’s glory. In his frail humanity, he could not bear the sight of the Lord’s glorified majesty.

Among the other things that are said in that remarkable passage of scripture, we’re told that the glorified Lord Jesus came to John, put His hand upon him, and told him,

“Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last. I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death (Revelation 1:17-18).

And though that vision caused John to faint because of its awesomeness, I believe that you and I—dear brothers and sisters in Christ—are meant to draw comfort from our Lord’s words. The Lord Jesus is the eternal Son of God. He has experienced death for us on the cross. He is our Savior and Friend who lives, and was dead, and now is alive forevermore. It was as if He invites you and me to look at Him; and behold Him with careful consideration, He wishes for us to see that He had died—just as we will one day die; but that He is now alive forevermore. He has gained victory over the grave, and holds possession of the keys of Hades and Death. He tells us not to be afraid.

And the apostle Paul assures us in 1 Corinthians 15 that, just as Jesus lives, so will we.

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The apostle Paul had been writing, in 1 Corinthians 15, about the whole matter of death and of resurrection. The Corinthian believers had become confused and distressed by false teaching; and had grown to doubt the idea that they will one day be raised from the dead in Christ. Paul wrote to correct their mistaken thinking. And just as he had done with every other Corinthian problem he dealt with in this letter, he deals with this one by pointing their attention back to Jesus Himself.

That’s where our focus needs to be. We have been united to Jesus by faith. Just as His death is our death, so also is His resurrection our resurrection. Our hope for future resurrection is centered on Jesus. He is the one who, just before He went to the cross, told His disciples;

“A little while longer and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. Because I live, you will live also” (John 14:19).

It was because of this promise from Jesus that the apostle Paul could write to these Corinthians and say;

But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep (1 Corinthians 15:20).

It’s because Jesus has risen from the dead—and was seen alive by many eyewitnesses—that we can believe confidently that we will be raised with Him. We can take our Lord’s words to heart; and look at Him, and see that He is alive, and was dead, and is now alive forevermore. We can serve Jesus with all our energies—knowing, as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:58, that our labor “is not in vain in the Lord”. That’s why Paul was so diligent in this chapter to turn the eyes of the Corinthian believers back upon Jesus—and to urge them to no longer doubt their future resurrection.

Along the way in this chapter, Paul was led to answer some questions that the Corinthians had about their resurrection. And this morning, I ask that we consider those questions—and the answers Paul gave to them. In 1 Corinthians 15:35-49, he wrote;

But someone will say, “How are the dead raised up? And with what body do they come?” Foolish one, what you sow is not made alive unless it dies. And what you sow, you do not sow that body that shall be, but mere grain—perhaps wheat or some other grain. But God gives it a body as He pleases, and to each seed its own body. All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of animals, another of fish, and another of birds. There are also celestial bodies and terrestrial bodies; but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. There is one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for one star differs from another star in glory. So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption. 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. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. And so it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, and afterward the spiritual. The first man was of the earth, made of dust; the second Man is the Lord from heaven. As was the man of dust, so also are those who are made of dust; and as is the heavenly Man, so also are those who are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man (1 Corinthians 15:35-49).

The questions that Paul answered—the questions that were on the minds of the doubting Corinthians—may be on the minds of some folks here today. Some people only ask questions like these because they wish to stir up doubt; and that may be why some were asking them in the Corinthian church. But others ask them because they sincerely need to know the answers.

So; let’s be among those who—with all humility before God—sincerely desire answers about the resurrection; and let’s look in more detail at the answers Paul gave. As we do, we will see that the truths about our future resurrection are shown to us in very sensible, naturally-available ways; through the examples of nature, and through the resurrection of Jesus Himself.

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First of all, let’s consider the questions that some of the Corinthians might have been asking. Paul mentioned them in verse 35. “But someone will say, ‘How are the dead raised up? And with what body do they come?’” These are two distinct questions—and they require two distinct answers. But the answers to both point—ultimately—to trust in God’s power.

The first question has to do with ‘how’. How are the dead raised up? When someone dies, and their bodies are placed in the ground, how can they be raised up to life again? Isn’t life forever gone from them? That is a very sensible question; and it needs an answer.

Under the power of mere nature alone, such a thing could never happen. But we must remember God’s power. He is able to raise the dead. This makes me think of a time when the Sadducees challenged Jesus about the whole idea of resurrection. As we’re told in the Bible, they believed that there is no resurrection (Matthew 22:23). Jesus got right to the heart of the matter when He told them, “You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God” (v. 29). The God who has made all of this created universe from nothing has, by doing so, shown that He is powerful enough to raise up the bodies that He had already made, and can give them life again. That, in brief, really answers the question of ‘how’. We have no problem of ‘how’ if we believe that God is the Creator of all.

The second question has to do with ‘what kind’. With what body do they come? It may be that God could raise them up; but what would they look like if He did? What kind of bodies would they have if they were raised from the dead? That, too, is a very sensible question that needs an answer. And it too is a question that finds its ultimate answer in the power of our creator God.

Could God reconstitute someone’s body? Could He assemble all the parts and particles, and breath life into them again? Well; hasn’t He already done so once before? God has formed all of this created realm—with all that is in both the heavens and the earth—the first time according to His will. He was the one who originally gave all of it the order and function that it now has. He is the one who, by His power, sustains it in its present order. On the sixth day of His work, He formed Adam from the dust of the earth, and breathed life into him, and made Him a living being. He can certainly bring all the elements together again, and resurrect those who have died and give them the body that He chooses. Nothing is too hard for the Creator—not even bringing their bodies back together again.

And so; in considering both of these questions, let’s always remember that since we believe the account of God’s work of creation—and since we believe the eyewitness reports that Jesus Himself was made alive from the dead—then we have no problem believing God’s promise to resurrect us on the day of Jesus’ return. Both of these questions have their ultimate answer in the power of our Creator. He has displayed His power for us most perfectly in the created realm and in the resurrection of His Son from the tomb.

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Now; look at verse 36. Having anticipated the questions—Paul then responded to the supposed questioner by saying, “Foolish one …” That sounds rather harsh; doesn’t it? But it’s not really intended to be insulting. And it’s important that we understand what Paul meant.

If Paul had wanted to be insulting, there would have been other words that he could have used. In fact, when the Lord Jesus taught in Matthew 5: 22 that you or I would be in danger of hellfire if we called someone a “fool”, He used a completely different word—a very insulting word—the word mōros. (You don’t really need for me to translate that, do you?). But the word that Paul used, in this context, simply means “unthinking one” or “unenlightened one”. The questions that they were asking were not because they were stupid. They came about because they were simply not paying attention to the facts that were readily available to them.

And so, Paul draws their attention to the facts already around them, and answers that first question. How are the dead raised up? By what means is such a thing possible? Paul pointed their attention to the work of any farmer, or of any gardener; and wrote, “what you sow is not made alive unless it dies. And what you sow, you do not sow that body that shall be, but mere grain—perhaps wheat or some other grain. But God gives it a body as He pleases, and to each seed its own body” (vv. 36-38).

No seed that is sown can ever produce anything unless it first dies. It breaks open and ceases to be a seed. Jesus Himself told us this once when He was about to be crucified. He said;

“The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified. Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain” (John 12:23-24).

And when you sow, you don’t sow what you expect to have at the end, but rather the mere grain. If you wish to grow wheat, you could just dig a hole, grab a handful of stalks of full-grown wheat, and throw them all in. But it wouldn’t make sense to do that. Instead, a farmer sows the kernel of grain in order to grow the stocks of wheat. Jesus did not die in His glorified condition; but rather, was buried in His unglorified body.

And then, after that mere kernel of grain has died and has grown, God gives it a body of His design—to each seed its own body. One kernel of wheat grows into one stalk of wheat. One seed of barley grows into one stalk of barley. The mortal body of the Lord Jesus was buried and was raised the glorified body of the Lord Jesus.

And so; in answer to the question, “How are the dead raised up?”, all we have to do is look at creation itself and see that it is like something very much like what God does in this created realm all the time—in every farm-field, and in every garden, and in every orchard. The seed dies, and it is raised up a glorious plant or flower or stem of food.

Our Creator God did this for the body of the Lord Jesus. He can do so for you and me.

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And now Paul begins to deal with the second question. When it comes to the raising of the dead, with what kind of body do they come? And again, Paul turned the attention of his readers to what is already there for them to see. He showed them how God—in His creative power—has given unique forms to His created works that makes it possible for them to abide in the unique dwelling place He has established for them.

In verse 39, he wrote, “All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of animals, another of fish, and another of birds.” And that makes perfect sense; doesn’t it? The physical construction of a man is different from that of an animal; because an animal is made to live in a different kind of environment than a man. An animal’s body is covered with fir, and its outward form is harder and tougher and able to live in environments in which a man could not live. A bird is made different from a man; and is so constructed as to adapt to life in the air. A fish is made different from a man in order to live underwater—where neither a bird or a beast or a man could live. This shows forth God’s design—who, the Bible tells us, made each of these living things “according to its kind”, so that each can live in the dwelling place in this world that God had prepared for it.

Paul then went on to talk about the differences among God’s creation in the realms of outer space. In verse 40, he wrote, “There are also celestial bodies and terrestrial bodies [or “heavenly” bodies and “earthly” bodies as it's translated in the New International Version]; but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another.” I believe that the best way to understand this word “glory”, as Paul is using it, is as an outward manifestation of something at its best—it’s “splendor”. The beautiful splendor of an earthly thing is different from the beautiful splendor of a thing in the heavens. Paul goes on to say in verse 41, “There is one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for one star differs from another star in glory.” Each thing is designed by God to have its own unique glory—its own unique splendor—in relation to the dwelling place that God has intended for it.

Paul then went on to say in verse 42, “So also is the resurrection of the dead.” These bodies of ours—in their current state—are not equipped for an eternal dwelling in the spiritual realms. They grow sick, they grow old, and they die. They faint dead away at the sight of our Lord’s glory. But when God raises His people from the dead, they will have a new form—a new nature—a new splendor! They will be made fit to dwell forever in spiritual glory in the presence of Jesus. Paul wrote in verse 44;

The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption. 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. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body (v. 44).

And so; in answer to the question, “with what body do they come?”, all we have to do is look around us at the created realm. Look at the things God has made, and at how He has made them fit for the realms in which He has placed them. Our God, who has created the splendor of all things—and made them fit for the habitations that He has prepared for them—is able to raise these present bodies of ours, remake them according to His will, and give them a splendor like that of our Lord Jesus’ body—fit for dwelling with Him forever in eternal glory. Like Paul put it in Philippians 3:20-21;

For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself (Philippians 3:20-21).

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And in all of this—in all the questions someone could ask the resurrection of our bodies—the Lord Jesus Himself serves as the final answer. Paul went on to say in verse 45, “And so it is written, ‘The first man Adam became a living being.’ The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.”

Do you know what the name ‘Adam’ means? It means ‘dirt’ or ‘dust’. It’s the same word as one of the Old Testament word for ‘Man’. Genesis 2:7 tells us of how, when God formed Adam from the dust of the ground, He breathed life into Him; “and man [that is, 'Adam'; 'dust'] became a living being.” But that was the first ‘Adam’—the first ‘Man’. The Son of God became one of us, and has now become our second ‘Adam’. The first Adam became a living being and then died. The second Adam died, and was raised to be a life-giving spirit’.

Note the order of things. Just as the seed comes first, and then the glorious plant, Paul went on to say; “However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, and afterward the spiritual. The first man was of the earth, made of dust; the second Man is the Lord from heaven. As was the man of dust, so also are those who are made of dust; and as is the heavenly Man, so also are those who are heavenly” (vv. 46-48).

We are made of dust—just like our first father, Adam. But we are destined to be remade in glory—just like our second Adam, Jesus. And that’s how we will be made forever fit to dwell in spiritual realms of glory. As Paul put it in verse 49, “And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man.”

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Dear brothers and sisters; if we have trusted in Jesus as our Savior, then our hope of resurrection in Him is a reasonable one—explained and illustrated all around us by the marvels of God’s created realm, and assured to us by the resurrection of Jesus Himself.

With all this in mind, let me close by reading Paul’s closing words of this chapter. I really don’t think we could end in any better way than to rejoice in these words of victory!

Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed—in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”

“O Death, where is your sting?
O Hades, where is your victory?”

The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord (vv. 50-58).

Click HERE for the audio version of this sermon.

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