Understanding The Incredible

We learn by comparisons or relationships. Definitions are often made by comparison. For example, synonyms for the word dark are dim, dusky, dusk, darkly, obscure, murky, opaque, gloomy. Then the dictionary gives this definition: “lack or deficiency of light, or illumination of whatever kind.” You see what I mean? We learn by comparisons. This was Jesus’ method of teaching. He taught by parables. He often said, “The kingdom of heaven is like .. .” Then He made a comparison. But there are some conditions in life that we find difficult to define. We may call them incredible, that is, hard to believe.

One of them is space travel, like the space platform, 240 miles into space. What several decades ago appeared impossible is now an everyday experience. Who would have thought 40 or 50 years ago that people would go 240 miles into space and live there for weeks or months?

To the critics certain realities revealed in the Bible are impossible. Therefore, they reject what the Bible reports as having happened. One of those is the resurrection of Jesus. We have been examining the apostle Paul’s great discourse on the resurrection in I Corinthians 15. Now to understand this, the first step we must take is to believe Paul’s argument. Faith will unlock truth that reason finds impossible. I further state, that faith is not unreasonable; it goes beyond reason. So from I Corinthians 15:35-50, I wish to help in your UNDERSTANDING THE INCREDIBLE.

35 But some [man] will say, How are the dead raised up? and with what body do they come?

36 [Thou] fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die:

37 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]:

38 But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body.

39 All flesh [is] not the same flesh: but [there is] one [kind of] flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, [and] another of birds.

40 [There are] also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial [is] one, and the [glory] of the terrestrial [is] another.

41 [There is] one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for [one] star differeth from [another] star in glory.

42 So also [is] the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption:

43 It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power:

44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.

45 And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam [was made] a quickening spirit.

46 Howbeit that [was] not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.

47 The first man [is] of the earth, earthy: the second man [is] the Lord from heaven.

48 As [is] the earthy, such [are] they also that are earthy: and as [is] the heavenly, such [are] they also that are heavenly.

49 And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.

50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.

Follow me as I show you the necessary STEPS to Understanding the Incredible from Paul’s words.

Step one is:

35 But some [man] will say, How are the dead raised up? and with what body do they come?

36 [Thou] fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die:

37 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]:

38 But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body.

39 All flesh [is] not the same flesh: but [there is] one [kind of] flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, [and] another of birds.

There was a self-styled intellectual who thought he could raise a question that would really stump the apostle Paul. So he asked, “How are the dead raised up, and with what body do they come?” He thought that certainly would put the apostle Paul in a corner. But you see, both questions are based on the present order. None of our knowledge has in view a resurrected body. So how do you prove that? How do the dead come forth? What kind of a body do they have?

The apostle Paul meets the question and teaches that the seed is different from the plant. When the Lord God created the earth, He said, “Let the plants bear fruit. Let the plants reproduce themselves after their kind” (Genesis 1:11). Now the apostle Paul picks this up and says that you don’t plant the plant; you plant the seed. Do you remember that great oaks from little acorns grow? Pick up a little acorn. Take a look at it. You would never dream that a great, monstrous oak tree would develop from this tiny little acorn.

Paul goes on to say that all flesh is not the same. There is flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fish, and another of birds. Mortal existence is not the same as the resurrected body is what he is telling us. So the question is ridiculous. There is no way you can make a comparison except, as he has attempted to do, by the seed and the different kinds of flesh.

The resurrected body is of a different order. We must not rule out the resurrection simply because we have no reality with which to compare it, except by these somewhat parabolic comparisons the apostle makes.

Barnes has a word for us in this regard. He refers to the man whom Paul calls “thou fool”:

The meaning is, that it was foolish to make this objection when the same difficulty existed in an undeniable fact which fell under daily observation. A man was a fool to urge that as an objection to religion which must exist in the undeniable and everyday facts which they witnessed. The idea is, “The same difficulty may be stated about the growth of grain. Suppose a man who had never seen it, were to be told that it was to be put into the earth; that it was to die; to be decomposed; and that from the decayed kernel there should be seen to start up first a slender, green, and tender spire of grass, and that this was to send up a strong stalk, and was to produce hundreds of similar kernels at some distant period. These facts would be as improbable to him as the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead. When he saw the kernel laid in the ground; when he saw it decay; when apparently it was returning to dust, he would ask, How CAN these be connected with the production of similar grain? Are not all the indications that it will be totally corrupted and destroyed?” Yet, says Paul, this is connected with the hope of the harvest, and this fact should remove all the objection which is derived from the fact that the body returns to its native dust.

So the first step is do not ask such a Ridiculous Question.

The second step is:

40 [There are] also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial [is] one, and the [glory] of the terrestrial [is] another.

41 [There is] one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for [one] star differeth from [another] star in glory.

42 So also [is] the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption:

43 It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power:

44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.

The apostle goes on to point out that there are different types of bodies. There is the celestial, which is heavenly, and there is the terrestrial, which is earthy. Earth has its properties and heaven has its properties. So he goes on to illustrate this by referring to the sun, moon, and stars. The sun has one kind of glory. We know something about the sun. Our scientists have explored the sun carefully from this distance of 93 million miles, and they tell us what it is composed of. They can see the sun storms and the sunspots and so forth. It has a certain glory all its own. We are told that if the earth would move away from the sun a few degrees, we’d freeze to death, and if it went closer to the sun, we would boil, and burn up.

Paul says there is also another glory in the moon. In September 1996, we were told that there was a full eclipse of the moon at 9:12 at night, Eastern Standard Time. Unfortunately, a cloud cover obscured the sky, so we could not see the eclipse of the moon. We’ve had astronauts visit the moon. That was a tremendous experience. I’m sure the man who stepped out of the gondola onto the moon’s surface was right when he said, “A great step for mankind.” The astronauts didn’t find what they expected to find, but they found some things of great interest to the entire world.

Then Paul says that there’s another glory of the stars. And one star differs from another star in glory. NASA has been trying to explore the planets—Mars, Jupiter, and others. We have probed some stars. Each has its peculiar properties. That’s a reasonable suggestion.

Look what Paul then says, “So also is the resurrection of the dead.” He goes on to explain how in the resurrection of the dead the body is sown in corruption and raised in incorruption. Corruption means that it wastes away, but the resurrected body will not waste away. It is incorruptible. The body is sown in dishonor, greatly humbled. It is raised in glory. Marvelous! It is sown in weakness. All of us know that. It is raised in power. It is sown a natural body and raised a spiritual body. Marvelous! Earthy, humble, corrupt, dishonored, weak, natural, raised in never-ending beauty, glory, honor, power, and spiritual life. The order is the natural then the spiritual.

So the second step is Reasonable Suggestions, to answer the question, What kind of body is the resurrected body?

The third step is:

45 And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam [was made] a quickening spirit.

46 Howbeit that [was] not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.

47 The first man [is] of the earth, earthy: the second man [is] the Lord from heaven.

48 As [is] the earthy, such [are] they also that are earthy: and as [is] the heavenly, such [are] they also that are heavenly.

49 And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.

50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.

The contrast is made between the first man, Adam, and the second man, Christ. Adam was natural. God created him out of the dust of the earth, so he is called earthy. Then God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and he became a living soul. The last Adam is spiritual. And by the resurrection, He is the Lord from heaven. In fact, He was the Lord from heaven before He was incarnate in the flesh.

The earthy is unavoidable. We are earthy. As is the earthy, such are the earthy. And as is the heavenly, such are they that are heavenly. Then Paul goes on to say that since we have borne the image of the earthy, we will bear the image of the heavenly.

Now the apostle is speaking to Christians, believers. But everyone is going to be raised from the dead. Even the wicked will be resurrected. Jesus said there are going to be two resurrections, the resurrection of the righteous and the resurrection of the wicked. So every descendant of Adam is a subject for death. And because Christ rose from the dead, all the dead will rise from the dead. As we have taken part of the earthy, so we shall take part of the heavenly.

Pay very close attention to verse 50: “Now this I say brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.” There must be a change before the kingdom of God can be inherited.

How will the kingdom come? That’s a good question. Once when He was near Jerusalem, Jesus gave a parable and said, “The kingdom is like a noble man going into a far country to receive the kingdom, and then to return” (Luke 19:12). Clearly, this refers to Jesus who came to earth, sacrificed Himself on Calvary’s cross, arose from the dead, and ascended to glory to receive His kingdom. He will come to take His kingdom, to establish His kingdom. So I must tell you with all candor, I’m not a kingdom builder, nobody else is. We have had a number of people say, “Yes, we’re going to bring in the kingdom.” They’ve said it repeatedly throughout generations and centuries. “We will bring in the kingdom of God if we can just get everybody to have all they need. From each according to his ability, and to each according to his need. We’ll have the kingdom of God on earth.” But that will never happen.

Jesus told us to pray like this in the Lord’s Prayer: “Let Thy kingdom come.” I would remind you that is an incident, an act, not a process. Very clearly in the Greek New Testament, it is that way. It will come when the King comes back. The book of Revelation tells us that at one point they’re going to say, “The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ” (Revelation 11:15). Yes, we cannot inherit the kingdom of God in our mortal existence. That’s what flesh and blood means, mortal bodies. No way can mortals enter God’s kingdom.

So, my friend, we rejoice in the truth of the Resplendent Confession of the resurrection. As surely as the seed grows into the plant; as surely as there are varying glories of the sun, moon, and stars; as surely as there are the earthy and heavenly, so surely is the resurrection. By faith, we Understand the Incredible.

Paul undergirds this faith by answering

About how the dead are raised and

the kind of body they will have.

He then makes

That the natural body gives place

to the spiritual body.

And he concludes with

That nature itself bears witness

to the certainty of the resurrection.