Why it is Foolish to Reject the Reality of the Resurrection...

Last week, we saw the Apostle Paul address a group of people, who were not only acting unchristian, they were unchristian. This group of people in the church at Corinth were unchristian because they were rejecting the reality of the resurrection. We were reminded that we cannot claim to be a Christian and reject that Jesus was physically and bodily raised from the dead.

We saw that rejecting the reality of the resurrection results in a denial of the gospel. We discovered that rejecting the reality of the resurrection results in condemnation. We saw that rejecting the reality of the resurrection results in a denial of our future as followers of Jesus. And we discovered that rejecting the reality of the resurrection results in stinking thinking.

The members of the church at Corinth however, still had more questions for Paul. We see their questions about the resurrection in 1 Corinthians 15:35:

But someone will say, "How are the dead raised? And with what kind of body do they come?" 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. 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 begins this section of his letter by continuing to address the belief of some members of the church at Corinth that there was no physical and bodily resurrection from the dead by addressing two skeptical questions that some members of the church had. If these questions were asked in the language of our culture today, would sound like this: “Well if the dead are raised, then how are they raised? If you think the dead are raised, then what kind of bodies do they have after being worm food for years”?

Paul responds to their questions in a very direct and unflattering manner: “You fool”. Well, I wish Paul would share how he really feels. When Paul uses the word fool here, it conveys the sense of disregarding reality. In the Bible, a fool is a person who knows something is true, yet proceeds to live life as though it is not true. Paul then confronts the churches recklessness disregard of God and lack of good judgment regarding their rejection of the resurrection of the dead by providing three examples from creation to answer their questions regarding how the dead are raised and what resurrection bodies will look like.

First, Paul brings the members of the church to the example of plant life which was very familiar in their culture. Paul begins by providing a word picture of a plant seed which decays before bringing forth new life. Paul then explains that the seed that experiences death and decay when it is planted in the ground does not have the same structure as a plant has when it springs to life. Paul’s point here is that our resurrection body will have a different structure and be composed differently in a material sense than our earthly physical body. Third, Paul reveals for us the reality that the reason for this difference is that God divinely designed seed structure and plant structure with a specific purpose in mind. And in the same way, God has divinely designed our earthly and our resurrection bodies with a specific purpose in mind. The members of the church at Corinth were foolish, however, because they were discounting God’s activity and design when it came to the resurrection bodies that we will receive.

Paul then transitions to a second example from creation regarding what resurrection bodies will look like, this time from animal life. When Paul states that all flesh is not the same flesh, he is literally saying that not all animals are covered by the same physical material. There are distinctions and differences between what covers humans, domesticated animals, birds, and fish. Humans do not have feathers and birds do not have scales. Paul’s point is that just as there are distinctions and differences between what covers different animal life, there are distinctions and differences between our physical bodies and our resurrection bodies.

Paul then provides a final example from creation regarding resurrection bodies by looking at the structures and bodies that fill the universe. There are significant distinctions and differences between the structures that reside on the earth and the structures in the universe. In addition, what makes something beautiful and attractive to us here on earth is different than what makes something beautiful and attractive when it comes to what we see in the heavens. What makes a star attractive is different than what makes the sun or the moon attractive. What captivates our heart about the heavens and the universe is different than what captivates our heart about those who we love on earth.

Paul is revealing for us the reality that in the same way, there are distinctions and differences between our earthly and resurrection bodies in terms of their beauty and attractiveness. Tomorrow, we will see Paul unpack the specific distinctions and differences when it comes to our physical earthly bodies and the resurrection bodies that we will receive when we are raised from the dead.