1 CORINTHIANS 15:35-45.1CO 15:35-45
let QUESTION, answered in verses 36-38, 42-45 “But some man will say, How are the dead raised up?” and 2nd QUESTION, answered in the parenthesis, verses 39-41.
"With what body do they come?" (Ver. 35.)
FIRST ANSWER.
"Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die: and that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other grain: but God' giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body." (Verses 36-38.)
FIRST ANSWER RESUMED.
“So also is the RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD. It 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 was made a LIVING SOUL; the last Adam was made a QUICKENING SPIRIT:" (Verses 42-15.)
EXPLANATION OF THE ABOVE PASSAGE.
Two inquiries are here made. First, How ARE THE DEAD RAISED UP? Secondly, WITH WHAT BODY DO THEY COME? In reply to the first, the apostle points, as it were, to the wheat field, and shows that as the seed sown therein passes through A process of death and resurrection, so is it with us—we die, we go down to the grave, there to sleep, it may be, for centuries, till the time comes for Christ to put forth His power, and then that which was sown in corruption, dishonor, and weakness, is raised in incorruption, in glory, in power; the natural body becomes a spiritual body, we rise, we ascend, we take our place in those heavens to which in spirit, while yet in the body; we had ascended before. There is no reasoning here according to man, and yet it is reasoning, such as faith understands and delights in. The above illustration we find in verses 36-38,—the fact in verses 42-45; while the reply to the SECOND QUESTION comes in the 'parenthesis. (Verses 39-41.) And now, before noticing the latter, we would add a word as to the change through which we are to pass. In verse 50 of this chapter we read, that "Flesh and 'blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God," a passage on which some light is thrown in Lev. 17:14, "The life of all flesh is the blood thereof." So it is with us now, connected so far as we are, with the old creation, with death, In the blood the vital principle dwells. But in heaven it will be otherwise. Our bodies then will be instinct, not with blood, but with Spirit; not transformed into spirit, but, however refined, however subtle as to their essence, material, palpable bodies. Hence Christ, when He rose, spoke of Himself, saying, " Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit bath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have." (Luke 24:39.) Observe, of blood He says nothing. This, together with His life, He had poured out on the Cross. Such was the HEAD, and such His MEMBERS will be.
And now for the second inquiry "WITH WHAT BODY DO THEY COME?" Here he considers the four orders of beings—men, beasts, fishes, and birds; and shows that while flesh is common to all, they differ one from the other; for instance, that the flesh of a man differs from that of a fish, and the flesh of a beast from that of a bird. And then he proceeds to show that so it is with regard to the celestial and terrestrial body. Bodies they both of them are, both formed of flesh, but differing as to their nature: one formed for heaven, the other for earth. He enters into no explanation, but uses the above illustration, then states the fact, leaving us therein to admire the power and goodness of God.
But it is not new bodies alone that we are to have. GLORY also belongs to the saints. And here, in order to illustrate the distinction between the glories of the celestial and the terrestrial body, he, as it were, looks up to the heavens, and finds in the sun, moon, and stars an exemplification thereof. The moon, in its brightest and most beautiful moment, what is it compared with the sun?, So with the celestial and the terrestrial body, glory belongs to them both, but in different measures: the, one surpasses the other, as the sun surpasses the moon.
This last point, observe, we have thus explained in order to correct the notion of some who read what is said of the sun, the moon, and the stars as an illustration of the degrees of glory in heaven, as showing that the dignity of some in the kingdom, as a reward for their faithfulness, will be higher than that which others will have. This is a blessed truth, we allow, quite according to God; but it is not taught in this passage. The explanation here given is the true and simple meaning thereof.