SUMBER KRISTEN: KOTBAH BAHASA INGGRIS
melayani jemaat dan hamba Tuhan
melayani jemaat dan hamba Tuhan
When Jesus entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday morning, he knew
that he had come to die. But he also knew of the Old Testament
promises that his life would be restored. The inevitability of
the crucifixion and the hope of the resurrection are the sub-texts
under the gospel narratives of the events and the teaching ministry
of Jesus during Holy Week.
John Irving's novel A Prayer for Owen Meany captures the
uneasy anticipation of this week. Johnny, the friend of Owen Meany,
says,
I find that Holy Week is draining; no matter how many times I have lived through his crucifixion, my anxiety about his resurrection is undiminished; I am terrified that, this year, it won't happen that, that year, it didn't. Anyone can be sentimental about the Nativity; any fool can feel like a Christian at Christmas. But Easter is the main event; if you don't believe in the resurrection, you're not a believer. (1)
First Corinthians 15 focuses on "the main event" of
Jesus' resurrection on Easter Sunday morning. We're going to look
at verses 35-49, which focus specifically on what Jesus' resurrection
body was like and what form our resurrection body will take. Paul
is responding to questions that he has been asked by his brothers
and sisters in Corinth. Verse 35:
But someone will say, "How are the dead raised? And with what kind of body do they come?"
There is some background to those two questions. Let me quickly
summarize what we covered previously in this chapter (Discovery
Papers 4536, 4537,
4538). These Christians were struggling
with the issue of what happens after you die. They were living
about twenty years after the resurrection of Jesus Christ. As
we were introduced to the chapter, we surveyed some of the religious
culture that influenced their understanding of life and of death.
Remember, Greek philosophy didn't believe in resurrection from
the dead. We discovered that some of these Corinthian Christians
were a lot more pagan in their thinking than they were Biblical.
They were afraid of being disembodied spirits after death, because
they hadn't embraced the Christian conviction that human beings
will experience resurrection to eternal life. So Paul was speaking
into their confusion about this issue. He emphasized three things.
First, he put the resurrection at the heart of the gospel of Jesus
Christ. Our faith is grounded in the resurrection. He supported
the fact of the resurrection with eyewitness testimony by a number
of people he named who had seen the living, resurrected Christ.
Second, Paul emphasized the importance of Christ's bodily resurrection
by surveying some of the terrible consequences that we would live
with if Christ had not been raised from the dead.
Third, he focused on the certainty of Christ's bodily resurrection
on that first Easter morning, and then went on to show the logical
outcome, the fact that there will be a future resurrection of
believers because Jesus was raised. Paul pointed to his own lifestyle
and said, "Would I live this way if I wasn't convinced of
the resurrection?"
Now this issue that has been raised about believers' being raised
to eternal life has triggered the questions of verse 35. Eugene
Peterson paraphrases verse 35 this way in The Message:
Some skeptic is sure to ask, 'Show me how resurrection works. Give me a diagram; draw me a picture. What does this 'resurrection body' look like?" (2)
HOW RESURRECTION WORKS
Paul answers the first question of how our resurrection bodies will be raised in verses 36-41. The first image he gives us to help us understand how our bodies will be raised is that of planting a seed in the ground and of the plant that springs up from the seed. Let's read verses 36-38:
You fool! That which you sow does not come to life unless it dies; and that which you sow, you do not sow the body which is to be, but a bare grain, perhaps of wheat or of something else. But God gives it a body just as He wished, and to each of the seeds a body of its own.
The question, Paul says, very foolishly ignores the obvious
examples of resurrection life all around us in the natural world.
There is also something of an Old-Testament ring to his challenge,
"You fool!" Remember, the fool in the Old Testament
is the person who refuses to acknowledge God's presence and activity
in the natural order of things and in the human sphere. That is
the ultimate foolishness.
It says in verse 36 that death is a necessary part of the process
of resurrection. When a seed is planted in the ground, it dies.
It actually decomposes. It must cease to exist in its original
form as a seed before it can come to life in its final form as
a plant. Jesus applied the same figure to himself. The week of
his arrest, trial, and crucifixion, he was teaching in the temple
anticipating his death and resurrection. He said, "Truly,
truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth
and dies, it remains by itself alone; but if it dies, it bears
much fruit" (John 12:24). Before Jesus could bear the fruit
of our salvation, he had to die. The point Paul makes here is
that the same is true for us. We can't be raised until we've died.
In a sense we're not really buried or cremated; the reality is
that we are sown just as a seed is sown, and from that sowing
new life will explode. This view is unique to Christianity among
all the philosophies and religions of the world.
Verse 37 says that there will be a difference between the physical
body and the resurrection body, the old form and the new form.
The plant that emerges from the ground looks very different from
the seed that was planted. You could never imagine what the plant
was going to look like just by looking at the seed. In the same
way, we can't look at our present physical bodies and have a sense
of what our resurrection bodies are going to be like, because
we're going to be transformed into something new and gloriously
different at the resurrection.
But there is a continuity, and that's the point of verse 38: "...To
each of the seeds a body of its own." The seed changes radically,
but it does continue the same life form. A wheat seed doesn't
turn into a barley plant, and a kernel of corn doesn't turn into
flax. The identity of the seed continues into the full-grown plant.
In Jesus' post-resurrection appearances in his resurrection body,
none of his disciples and followers recognized him until he chose
to reveal himself to them. But once he told them who he was, they
did recognize him. They saw the wound in his side and the nail
prints in his hands. They knew his face. The promise for us is
that we will have some kind of continuity of our personhood, our
personality, our unique individuality, after death.
So in answering this question of how we are raised after death
in verses 36-38, Paul is asking us to believe that the God who
has worked out this process daily through all of history in his
creation of plant life can certainly do it with human beings.
PERFECTLY SUITED FOR HEAVEN
In verses 39-41 Paul says that our resurrection bodies will
be perfectly suited for the heavenly environment in which they
are to function.
All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one flesh of men, and another flesh of beasts, and another flesh of birds, and another of fish. There are also heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is one, and the glory of the earthly is another. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory.
Paul uses illustrations from the worlds of biology and astronomy
and points to the tremendous variety in the animal kingdom and
the infinite variety of sun and moon and stars. Each body, terrestrial
or extraterrestrial, is perfectly matched to its intended environment.
I remember a Broadway musical in which there is a love song. The
lady sings, "Fish gotta swim, and birds gotta fly, and I
gotta love one man till I die." Each one uniquely fulfills
the purpose for which it was created. Fish are created to swim
in the seas, birds to fly, and human beings to know love relationships
with other human beings. Fish don't fall in love. Fish swim in
the ocean. And we are created to love another human being, but
we are not created to flap our arms and fly around like an bird.
The sun generates tremendous light and energy in our solar system.
The moon is just a rock that reflects the light of the sun toward
the earth. And all this variety and diversity in the worlds of
biology and astronomy is a marvelous hint of the same diversity
of resurrection glory in our heavenly bodies.
Again, if our human bodies are suited for this earthly environment,
they won't be right for heaven. When we're raised to resurrection
life, our bodies will be suited for eternity, and God himself
will clothe us appropriately and perfectly. We won't have to worry
about being overdressed or underdressed in eternity. That's a
problem I always have as a pastor when I go to wedding rehearsals.
I always get it wrong. If I wear a suit and tie, everybody else
is in casual clothes, and if I go casual, they'll be in suits
and ties. I finally started just asking, "What should I wear
to your rehearsal?" so I wouldn't be embarrassed about being
inappropriately clothed.
But the good news is that I won't have that problem in heaven.
Just as down here a polar bear always wears fur and a peacock
always wears bright plumage, in eternity we'll always be appropriately
clothed in radiant glory. That's the point of Philippians 3:20-21:
"But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a
Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that
enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform
our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body."
(NIV.) We'll be dressed like Jesus in heaven! What tremendous
news.
WHAT OUR RESURRECTION BODIES WILL BE LIKE
The second question Paul addresses is "With what kind of body do they come?" or "What kind of resurrection bodies will we have?" He responds to that in verses 42-49. Verses 42-44 tell us that we'll be wonderfully different from the way we are in our earthly existence. In these verses Paul applies the analogies from biology and astronomy that he used in verses 39-41.
So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown a perishable body, it is raised an imperishable body; 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.
Paul is now focusing more directly on our resurrection bodies,
and through these four contrasts he mentions specific ways in
which our glorified bodies will be different from our earthly
bodies.
The first contrast says the perishable will be supplanted by the
imperishable. That speaks of durability. As human beings, we are
not very durable. From the moment we are born, the process of
aging, deterioration, and eventual death has begun. And we know
from the Scriptures that this is a tragic consequence of the fall.
We are irreversibly mortal now. But the good news of the resurrection
is that we'll be raised for good, as eternally alive as Jesus
Christ himself. Our new bodies won't experience sickness or deterioration
or death. And the quality of life that we will experience in heaven
eternally is imperishable as well. The apostle Peter addresses
that quality of life in 1 Peter 1:3-4: "Blessed be the God
and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great
mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through
the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance
which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved
in heaven for you...."
The second contrast says the dishonorable will be supplanted by
the glorious. This contrast addresses value or potential. We know
that as sinful men and women we are dishonorable. At the fall
our potential for pleasing, serving, and glorifying God was drastically
reduced. Genesis tells us we were created in the image of God,
designed to reflect his glory and perfection, created to honor
him. But we know that sin is at work in us now. Even though we've
been redeemed from the penalty of sin by Jesus Christ, we still
struggle with fleshly patterns of sinful rebellion. Even the most
faithful follower of Jesus Christ knows that his body, his intellect,
his emotions, and his will are in a sense dishonorable or imperfect
or incomplete. We live in a fallen, flawed world, and we reflect
that fallenness. But we will one day be raised in glory, to use
Paul's phrase. When we get to heaven we won't be sinful anymore.
That's the point in Philippians 3:21: "...The Lord Jesus
Christ...will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be
like his glorious body." We'll be just as glorious as Jesus
Christ is in eternity. And all throughout eternity, our new, immortal
bodies will be gloriously, honorably valuable. We'll be perfected
for pleasing and praising our Lord. We'll be fully glorified so
that we can enjoy the Creator who made us and the Redeemer who
saved us.
The third contrast says the weak will be supplanted by the powerful.
This has to do with our abilities. Our earthly bodies are temporary,
weak and fragile. The older I get, the more I hear myself say,
"The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak." We all
feel it happening. We're frustrated by our own limitations, whether
they're physical, emotional, or spiritual. In 2 Corinthians 10-13
Paul reflects on how his entire experience is one of weakness,
not just physically but in every area, and how he longs to be
delivered from that weakness.
Our new resurrection bodies won't be like that. They'll be raised
in power, and again, we'll be like Jesus. We're not told exactly
what that's going to be like, but it will be incredible compared
to what we live with right now. We'll experience no limitation
of weakness. We'll be filled with power, and we'll be able to
accomplish anything in eternity that God calls us to do. I hope
you're clear that heaven is not about floating around on clouds
and strumming harps. The Scriptures tell us that we're going to
have work to do in eternity. It will be good, fulfilling, exciting,
and challenging work. (See Matthew 19:28; Revelation 20:4.)
Finally, the fourth contrast says the natural will be supplanted
by the spiritual. This contrast echoes the analogy from verses
39-41 because it focuses on the sphere of existence. This earthly
body of mine is strictly natural. This physical world is the only
setting in which it can live and function. But my new resurrection
body will be raised a spiritual body. Now, I do have a spirit
within me that was given life by the Lord Jesus when I accepted
him as my Savior and Lord. It now resides in an earthly body,
which is tremendously limiting, but one day it will live in a
spiritual body. Both spirit and body will be perfectly suited
for heavenly living. In Matthew 22 Jesus said that we will be
like the angels in heaven, and the human categories of getting
married and not getting married will be irrelevant. It's not that
we're going to be the same as angels, but we'll be like them in
that they are perfectly suited for heavenly, spiritual, supernatural
living.
JESUS IS THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE
Paul further addresses this second question from verse 35, "What kind of resurrection bodies will we have?" in the last section of our passage, verses 45-49. He tells us that we will have bodies that are eternally alive, and that eternal life comes because we have responded to the Lord Jesus Christ and opened our hearts to him. Look at verse 45. He talks about the analogy between Adam and Christ, the first Adam and the last Adam, quoting from Genesis 2.
So also it is written, "The first man, Adam, became a living soul." The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.
Then in verses 46-48 he summarizes this order of physical
creation and spiritual re-creation, new life in Christ, being
spiritually reborn.
However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural; then the spiritual. The first man is from the earth, earthy; the second man is from heaven. As is the earthy, so also are those who are earthy; and as is the heavenly, so also are those who are heavenly.
The second man, the one from heaven, is the last Adam, Jesus.
Those who are heavenly are people who have responded to him.
Then this wonderful, final conclusion in verse 49:
And just as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.
Paul answers the question of what kind of resurrection bodies
we will have with absolute certainty: We will have bodies that
are eternally alive.
As Paul summarizes this, there are only two men who have ever
lived in all of history. He has already mentioned the first Adam
and the last Adam back in verses 21-22: "For since by a man
[Adam] came death, by a man [Christ] also came the resurrection
of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all shall
be made alive." So the first Adam is the head of the human
race. By our physical birth, we are his sons and daughters. We
all have natural or earthy bodies like Adam.
We were created from the dust of the earth and given the breath
of life. And because of Adam's sinful rebellion against God, each
one of us is born spiritually dead in our trespasses and sins.
But the good news is that God sent the last Adam, his son Jesus
Christ. He came from heaven, not from the earth. Jesus was a man
of the spirit, not a man of the earth. He came to give us eternal
life, to make us people who are suited for eternity, for heaven-if
we receive him, surrender to him, open our hearts and our lives
to him. Remember the beautiful story in John's gospel of the friendship
Jesus had with Mary and Martha and their brother Lazarus. Lazarus
died before Jesus could arrive at their home, and Martha and Mary
were grieving. "Jesus said to her [Martha], 'Your brother
shall rise again.' Martha said to Him, 'I know that he will rise
again in the resurrection on the last day.' Jesus said to her,
'I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me shall
live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me
shall never die. Do you believe this?'" (John 11:23-26.)
That must be the question for us: Do we believe Jesus is the resurrection
and the life? Have you believed in this life-giving Jesus Christ?
And as a result, are you a heavenly being instead of an earthly
being? Having been born as a son or daughter of the first Adam,
are you now a child of the King of heaven because you've accepted
his forgiveness for your sin and surrendered your life to him?
Have you accepted the eternal life that Jesus offers? And if you
have, can you claim the promise of that last clause in verse 49,
"We shall also bear the image of the heavenly"? We don't
have to be afraid of what happens after death. We'll be with the
Lord forever in this incredible resurrection body that Paul has
been describing in this passage.
About twenty years ago I found a wonderful little summary statement
by Ben Haden, a Presbyterian pastor in Memphis, Tennessee. It
pulls together this issue of the value of death and resurrection:
I was thinking about death. We hate death. We fear death. We'll do anything, pay anything, just to postpone death a few hours.
But suppose you couldn't die. Do you know what that would mean? The blind would remain blind...The paralyzed would never walk...The retarded child would never have a normal mind...The injustices of this world would continue to prevail...That which is crooked would remain crooked and never be straightened...The last would remain last...The first would remain first...The least would remain the least...Those terminally ill would remain ill but never terminate...And aching hearts would continue to ache and never be healed.
Suppose we couldn't die. Wouldn't that be horrible?
Inside, each of us yearns for a life not measured by years or by flesh. We yearn to have another crack at life, to do it over again but to do it so differently.
But wouldn't it be wonderful to die and not be dead? That's not some vague hope. That's the unchangeable promise of God.
There's never a man, woman, or child in whom the risen Jesus lives who can do any more than physically die. The real person-the real me...will survive without experiencing one moment of eternal death. Jesus' resurrection changes everything.
Jesus' resurrection changes lives. It changes our willingness to forgive...It changes our willingness to shift the blame to ourselves...It changes us into people of boldness who do not fold under cancer, or heart attack, or open-heart surgery, or anything else we can name.
Jesus said, 'I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes
in Me shall live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes
in Me shall never die. "Do you believe this?"
NOTES
1. John Irving, A Prayer for Owen Meany, © 1989,
Ballantine Books, New York, NY. P. 250-251.
2. Eugene H. Peterson, The Message, p. 365, © 1993,
1994, 1995, 1996, used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group,
Colorado Springs, CO.
Scripture quotations taken from the HOLY BIBLE,
NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION are identified as such herein. ©
1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. Used by permission
of Zondervan Bible Publishers. All other Scripture quotations
are taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE. © 1960, 1962,
1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 The Lockman Foundation.
Used by permission.
Catalog No. 4538
1 Corinthians 15:35-49
33rd Message
Doug Goins
March 28, 1999
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