I was a product of the Disney movies, especially the ones from the 90s. In the 1992 Disney movie Aladdin, the Genie describes his limitations to Aladdin in the Cave of Wonders. He says, “Rule # 1: I can’t kill anybody. So, don’t ask. Rule # 2: I can’t make anybody fall in love with anybody else. Rule # 3: I can’t bring people back from the dead. It is not a pretty picture. I don’t like doing it.”[1] As the Genie mentions rule #3, the background score has a howling wolf and other eerie sounds while the Genie morphs into a zombie-like creature. Perhaps he was alluding to Michael Jackson’s Thriller from 1983.[2]
These popular culture media take their cues from medieval folklore and ancient myths. Various people have differing thoughts about the dead—ghosts, wandering spirits, zombies, vampires, etc. Hinduism teaches that the spirit of the departed continues to roam unless all rites and rituals are properly performed. The combination of folklore and myth provides fodder for excellent horror stories. Children who watch or hear such stories have nightmares and are afraid of the dark. Some adults, too.
Myth and folklore aside, to the modern scientific person, death is final. There is no afterlife. There is no resurrection from the dead. This life is all there is. Both groups are wrong. There are no ghosts, wandering spirits of the dead, zombies, or vampires. There is a resurrection of the dead. Resurrected bodies are not zombie-like creatures, but glorious creatures. In today’s sermon, we will consider the glorified body.
Let us pray.
Heavenly Father, grant us the wisdom we need to understand this passage. Give us the eyes to see, the ears to hear, and set our minds and hearts ablaze as we hear the truth of your word. Amen.
1 Corinthians 15 teaches that bodily resurrection is central to Christian theology and faith. It is a gospel issue. In my last sermon, I argued that belief in the resurrection of the dead is necessary to be a Christian. However, today, I will address the question, “How are the dead raised?” Given that decomposition occurs as soon as a person dies, how then do Christian’s believe in the bodily resurrection of the dead? The question boils down to how the resurrection is possible for Christians. While the last passage answered the question whether the resurrection from the dead is possible, this passage, 1 Corinthians 15:35–49, addresses the mechanism of the resurrection from the dead. In this sermon, after briefly explaining Paul’s answer to the question, I will show that the resurrected bodies will have moderated hearts that do not succumb to corruption, will be wholly Spirit-obedient bodies, and will display great splendor. Finally, I will demonstrate that because we will be raised from the dead, we must do everything we can to invest in the treasury of heaven so that we may enjoy its benefits in the life to come.
When Paul is asked the question, “How are the dead raised?” Paul answers, “Look around you. Have you observed a field or a farm? Have you considered the stars and planets?” Paul finds botany, zoology, and astronomy all help us answer the question of bodily resurrection. Look with me at verses 35–49.
What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. Familiar words; we have heard Jesus use them (John 12:24). Paul explains that trees come from seeds. We do not plant trees, but we sow seeds. Each seed grows into a tree according to its kind. Familiar words again; we have heard Moses use them (Gen 1:12). Then Paul turns to the flesh type. He says the flesh of humans is different from that of animals, which is different from that of birds, which in turn is different from that of fish. Basically, he says there is a difference between cannibal kuzhambu, pork vindaloo, chicken 65, and fish porichathu. Once again, this takes us back to Genesis 1 and 2. God made animals, birds, and fish according to their kind and man according to his image. Then Paul switches gears and says there is an extreme difference between earthly things and the heavenly host. Yes, he goes back to Genesis 1 again. He says that the sun differs from the moon, and each star is unique.
Why does Paul present us with a class on “Creation and Science” when the topic is the resurrection of the body? Paul says there is an analogy between what he has described and the resurrection of the dead. Just like each kind of creature grows from its seed, a resurrected body comes from a perished natural body. He compares the two events, death or sowing of the body and the resurrection of the dead, with a series of opposites in 42–44. “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.” Do you see those opposites? Well, except for dishonor and glory… Glory, in this case, is a package word for honor, glory, and immortality (look at Rom 2:7).
In verse 44, Paul claims, “If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.” Can we grant him such a logic? We know that there are spirits, like angels. God is spirit. That seems fine. But how can he say there is such a thing as a spiritual body? He can do so because naming is defining. Naming is teaching. Naming is worldview-revealing! There is a reason why Adam names all the animals and his wife (Gen 2). A definition requires a differentiation from the rest. When we say, “Man is a rational animal,” we mean that there are animals, and not all of them are rational. Of all animals, only humans are rational. When we say, “Man is a sentient and sapient being,” we claim that we feel through our senses and have passions and affections. That is what differentiates us from other animals. Likewise, when we call something natural, we claim there is something spiritual. When we call something physical or material, we claim there is something spiritual or immaterial. Naming is defining, teaching, and worldview-revealing. Paul does not hopelessly thump his fists, asserting the possibility of spiritual bodies; he does so because our calling these bodies natural has defining consequences. It is logically possible that there is such a thing as a spiritual body.
Lest we misunderstand what a spiritual body means, Paul clarifies his meaning. First, a spiritual body does not mean an immaterial body or a spirit of some kind. We do not become ghosts or wandering spirits. Second, Paul explains how this logical reasoning is biblically demonstrable with two reasons. He returns to Genesis 2:7 again. Adam was a living being (lit. a living soul). But on the other hand, based on John 5:21, Jesus, the last Adam, became and remains a life-giving spirit. Adam was given life. He possessed it. Jesus gives life. He dispenses it. And his reserve never depletes. That’s Paul’s first reason.
A second reason comes from Genesis 2 and John 3. Paul says that Adam is dusty. He is made from the dust. That has a lesser glory. Jesus is heavenly; He came from heaven. That has more glory. Both being an Adam (that is, they both are a head or a representative) cause their followers to have their respective image. Adam gives us his fallen, dusty image. Jesus gives us his glorious, heavenly image. Thus, both what each Adam is and what the purpose of each Adam is point to the resurrection of the body as a possibility, logically and theologically.
You must not stop merely at believing that you will indeed have resurrected bodies, but you should consider what those bodies will be like. From this passage, I will show you that our glorified bodies will have moderated hearts that do not succumb to corruption, will be wholly Spirit-obedient bodies, and will display great splendor.
One of the features of the bodies we have currently is souly (v. 44). Souly is my best attempt to describe what is translated as a natural body. When God created Adam, he breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and Adam became a living being. The Greek translation of the Old Testament says, Adam became a living soul; alternatively translated, a living being. What Paul does with that is he says that the life-giving principle of Adam is his soul. He is animated by the soul. The soul does not animate the glorified body. In the resurrected state, we will have glorified bodies and glorified souls. The glorified body is animated by the Spirit. It is called a spirity body or, as our translations put it, a spiritual body.
While that may be a technical difference that may only interest the most inquisitive of you, it has some important implications. First, since the promise of the eternal state includes sin-free living, how can we be sure that another Eve’s temptation-like incident will never occur again? We can only do that because our glorified bodies will no longer have hearts that can choose excess or poorly. In other words, we will possess moderated hearts that only choose the good gifts that God has created for us to enjoy. Every good pleasure is created by God to be enjoyed at the right time, in the right way, and in the right degree. The devil tempts us to enjoy the pleasures that God has created at times, or in ways, or in degrees, which he has forbidden.[3] The reason that the devil was successful in tempting our first parents or us is because we have this souly body that has a heart that is capable of choosing to sin even though it is capable of choosing otherwise. Our sprirty body will have a heart that will only choose to enjoy pleasures in the right time, way, and degree. We can be certain because the Spirit does not sin.
Second, our spirity bodies will be wholly obedient to the Holy Spirit. It is one thing to have a heart that will desire the right thing at the right time and way, but our bodies can have appetites that come in the way. We not only have souls that have the faculties of the will, but we also have bodies that have senses and appetites. When our appetites are wreaking havoc, our will can have little power over us. A sleep-deprived parent is snappy. An exercise-deprived person is lazy. The souly body has an innate weakness. The spirity body will be wholly obedient to the Spirit. Such bodies will be disciplined and optimal for glorifying God in everything. Our habitual sinful appetites will be gone.
Third, our bodies will be glorious. It will reflect God’s glory with such splendor. Our bodies will be raised in glory (v. 43). However, not all of us will have the same glory. Every star has a different glory (v. 41). Thus, each of us will have a different glory. Consider the following. Since God gives different gifts to Christians on this side of eternity for his glory, and that he illuminates different Christians with different levels of light, it is not far-fetched to consider that God will give us different levels of glory in the life to come. This glory is connected to the differing rewards that Christians will receive in heaven (cf. Matt 19:29).
So, if our entire being will be glorified, body and soul, and we will have differing glories and differing rewards, then we must do our best to ensure that we have stored up the treasures in heaven for our life then and there. It seems absurd to me that those who earnestly invest for their future, whether retirement, a wedding, or the purchase of an asset, will not be investing for their future eternal condition. It is just as absurd to me that those who spend a lifetime preparing their children to step out of their home will not prepare their children to step into eternity. If our entire endeavor on earth is to find a way to make it to heaven barely, then something is amiss with us. Consider what Paul says about the Christian ministry:
Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire. (1 Cor 3:12–15)
To not get rewarded but to be saved is to be like a person who barely survived being engulfed by fire. While it is a great thing to be saved, the Bible does not commend us to live in a way that we are pleased with this minimal way to spend our eternal lives. We are to desire a maximal, abundant life in the world to come.
Since that is true, then we must do such good works on earth today that we are storing up rewards in heaven. This is one of the reasons why heavenly-minded Christians have been at the forefront of doing good on Earth. Listen to C. S. Lewis:
Hope is one of the Theological virtues. This means that a continual looking forward to the eternal world is not (as some modern people think) a form of escapism or wishful thinking, but one of the things a Christian is meant to do. It does not mean that we are to leave the present world as it is. If you read history, you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were just those who thought most of the next. The Apostles themselves, who set on foot the conversion of the Roman Empire, the great men who built up the Middle Ages, the English Evangelicals who abolished the Slave Trade, all left their mark on Earth, precisely because their minds were occupied with Heaven. It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this. Aim at Heaven and you will get earth ‘thrown in’: aim at earth and you will get neither. (C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity (1952; New York: HarperOne, 2001), 134)
Christians must consider how to live so that we store up treasures in heaven in order that we reflect God’s glory as much as we can in our eternal state. Brothers and Sisters, in all your desiring, desire that you will seek God’s rewards, that you will glorify God visibly in heaven by serving him steadfastly on earth.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Lewis, C. S. Mere Christianity. 1952. Repr., New York: HarperOne, 2001.
———. The Screwtape Letters. 1942. Repr., New York: HarperOne, 2001.
Aladdin. Buena Vista Pictures, 1992.
Thriller. Epic Records & Sony Music, 1983.
[1] Aladdin (Buena Vista Pictures, 1992).
[2] Thriller (Epic Records & Sony Music, 1983).
[3] C. S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters (1942; New York: HarperOne, 2001), 44.
