You can open them up to 1 Corinthians chapter 15.
And I don't know if, David, you're able to bring up my first slide there.
How'd you like to take a ride in one of those?
Too small.
I think that's that secret desire to actually do it talking,
but knowing that we probably won't get the chance,
or we'll just never be able to afford it.
But ever since I was young, I've always thought,
man, it'd be so cool to ride in a car like that.
If I ever got the chance, I would take it,
especially if it didn't cost me anything.
There's something about a car like that,
excellence in engineering and design.
It even looks good.
The performance capabilities are just off the charts
compared to my Sienna minivan.
Hit the next one, David.
How about that?
Some of you, maybe that's a little bit more appealing.
The S790, the latest offering by John Deere
with all of the latest features.
Maybe some of you feel that appreciation
for quality design and engineering
as you think of having one of those guys.
And even though it's green, it does look good, doesn't it?
The next one there, David.
How about something like that?
Something that probably more of us can relate to.
Apple computers, Apple phones.
There's something about those that when we look at it,
we recognize the design, the engineering,
the quality that has been put into it.
It looks good in that sleek silver finish.
It has amazing visuals,
and it's light as a feather.
There's something that we are really drawn to
and appreciate when it comes to excellence
in design and engineering.
You can put it to the black one.
But this morning, we're going to be looking at
what the Lord has told us through Paul
is one of the most amazing
masterpieces in design and engineering.
We've been working our way through 1 Corinthians 15.
We began with a reminder from Paul
that we need to hold firmly to the good news
and what that is, the message of Christ.
Then we've heard that there are some who are preaching
or saying that there's no resurrection.
There's no life after death.
And Paul takes time to lay out the implications
of embracing that idea.
He corrects the idea.
He says,
Christ has indeed been raised from the dead.
He goes on to explain a bit of the bigger picture here
of what's going on between God
and his son and his world
and how Jesus is going to return to reign.
And when he does,
those who belong to him will be raised from the dead.
Last Sunday, we went on to hear a few more implications
that Paul has for denying the resurrection.
We heard him appeal to his own life
and how he has put himself through
all kinds of trials and suffering
because he knows that the resurrection of Christ is true
and how it wouldn't even make sense for him
to be living like he's living
if all of this was a lie,
to be risking the one precious life that he has.
He's lived consistently with the truth.
And now we come to verse 35.
Paul says this,
But someone will ask,
How are the dead raised?
With what kind of body will they come?
How foolish!
What you sow does not come to life
unless it dies.
Paul begins with a couple questions.
And at first read,
we're kind of,
they're probably questions
that we would like the answer to.
How were the dead raised?
Yes, tell us that.
With what kind of body will they come?
Yes, we want to know more about that.
But what's not as clear
is the way that these questions are being asked.
Are they sincere questions?
Are they just kind of questions
Paul imagines them asking
after what he's been teaching
about the resurrection?
Or are they kind of cynical questions?
Questions that kind of have
a little tone of challenge in them.
Paul's answer kind of,
I think,
gives us a bit of a clue.
He says in verse 36,
immediately after,
How foolish!
Literally, fool!
It seemed odd to respond like that
if they were just genuine,
sincere questions.
And so I think
these questions
are the kind of questions
that some have been asking
as a subtle challenge
to the idea of resurrection.
How are the dead raised?
How's it even possible?
With what kind of body
will they come?
Will their remains
somehow come back together
and be reanimated
and their soul go back
into their corpse
and they come back to life?
That doesn't even make sense.
You don't have the answer
to that question?
Oh, it's probably because
it's a bunch of baloney.
It's foolishness.
But Paul immediately
turns the table
on those who would be
offering this kind of challenge.
He says,
Fool!
No!
You guys are the ones
who are mistaken,
who are foolish
in denying resurrection
and the possibility
of resurrection.
And he goes on
to give the analogy
of a seed
as he explains
why denying the resurrection
is foolishness.
He says,
What you sow
does not come to life
unless it dies.
Verse 37,
When you sow,
you do not plant the body
that will be,
but just a seed,
perhaps of wheat
or of something else.
But God gives it a body
as he has determined.
And to each kind of seed
he gives its own body.
I don't know if you can see that.
This is a seed.
And for those of us
who have lived here
on earth for a while,
we know what this does.
But how often do we stop to think,
isn't it amazing
that this tiny little,
almost like a speck,
when we plant it
in the ground
will turn into
a full-fledged,
healthy,
vibrant,
growing,
green tomato plant
that produces tomatoes
delicious and juicy
that are like this big.
All of that
is right there
in here.
Isn't that amazing?
What's the lesson here
that Paul is giving?
The lesson is this.
He says,
what you sow
into the ground,
when you sow,
you do not plant
the body
that will be
but just a seed.
What goes into the ground
is not the same
as what comes up
out of the ground.
Verse 42.
We're going to connect
back to this verse
again and again
because Paul's going to use
a whole bunch of analogies here.
So is it
with the resurrection
of the dead.
The body
that we have now,
the body that is buried,
the body that turns
into a pile of dead bones
after it's been buried
for a while
is not the body
that comes out
of the ground.
Just the same
as this little seed
is not what comes
back out of the ground.
Something
totally different,
new,
and better
is what comes up
out of the ground.
Verse 38.
But God gives it
a body
as he has determined
and to each kind
of seed
he gives
its own body.
body.
So what kind
of body
will we have
at the resurrection?
Well,
just as God
has designed
each different
kind of seed
to turn
into its own
unique
kind of plant,
in the same way
at the resurrection
he will give us
the body
that he has
determined
according to his design,
according to his plan.
and notice
the word
gives.
But God
gives it
a body
and to each
kind of seed
he gives
its own body.
The body
that we will have
when we are raised
from the dead
comes from God.
It's something
that he gives
as he
has determined
to those
who belong
to Christ.
And I think
there's a bit
of a subtle
point
that we're meant
to take
from this.
I mean,
the question
how is it
possible
for the dead
to be raised?
What kind
of body
will they
come with?
I think
that what's
implied
in this
analogy
just like
we have
really
when it
comes down
to it
no idea
how this
tiny little
thing
can turn
into a
full-fledged
plant.
It's a miracle.
So too
is the
resurrection.
It's not
something
that we're
meant to
theorize
about
and try
to figure
out
how will
God
gather
up
the
remnants
of
our
dead
bodies?
What if
some of
the parts
of our
body
were
eaten
up
by a
fish
or
something?
How is
he going
to do
that?
How is
he going
to
reanimate
and put
our
soul
back
into
a
corpse?
That
question
is
foolishness
says
Paul.
Just
the
body
that
we're
going
to
go
into
the
ground
with
when
we
die
and
are
buried
is
not
the
body
that
we
will
be
raised
with.
God's
going
to do
something
miraculous
and it's
not a
natural
process.
It's
not
something
that you
can
explain
with
science.
It's
a
miracle.
It's
something
that he's
going
to do
by his
own
life
giving
power.
His
own
amazing
ability
to
engineer
and
design
and
give
life
as he
raises
our
bodies
back to
life
from the
dead.
And
what's
even more
amazing
about this,
I mean,
you think
about that
little
seed.
Here's
kind of a
skill
testing
question.
We'll
see if
our
agronomist
is up
on his
game.
Is that
little
seed
alive
or
dead?
Kind
of a
trick
question.
I
asked that
to my
wife.
I
don't
know.
Is it
alive?
Is it
dead?
You can
Google
this
online
later.
But
kind of
the
consensus
out there
is that
that
seed
is
alive.
It's
dormant,
but it's
alive.
And you
can actually
kill it
so that
it doesn't
sprout.
these are
not coming
from people
of faith
or anything.
This is
science.
They're
saying,
yeah,
it's
alive.
We don't
but it's
amazing how
quickly you'll
come to
find out
that they'll
admit we
have no
idea how
it stays
alive for
years and
years.
There's
some
processes
going on
in there
even if
they're
very slow
and yet
there's
no input.
The metabolism
is not
active and
going in
the same
sense as
when it's
germinating.
It's
amazing.
Very easily
I was able
to find all
kinds of
people saying
this is an
amazing process
and it's
not one
that's well
understood.
That's a
seed.
That's a
living thing
like that
turning into
a living
thing,
a plant.
Or you
think about
the miracle
of life
and how
each one
of you
in this
room
began
as a
single
cell,
a single
human
cell.
And even
in that
case,
you came
from
living
things,
you came
from a
living sperm
and a
living egg,
but the
resurrection
is something
else.
Those are
natural in
the sense
that they do
naturally
occur.
and we
should admit
that yes,
they are
miraculous.
We can
try to
observe it,
but do we
understand how
it works?
Can we
reproduce that?
No way.
But the
resurrection
is not
living things
turning into
living things,
but something
that's dead
turning into
something that's
alive again.
Now that
is amazing.
When your
body dies,
dies,
it's because
the organs
that sustain
your life
have stopped.
They've
failed.
They've
ceased.
All of the
processes,
all of the
biological
functions that
sustain your
life have
permanently
ceased.
That's what
death is.
The living
organism that
is your
body,
from that
point on,
it just
decomposes.
And up to
a month
later,
I read
one source
that said
the term
they used
was it
begins to
liquefy.
And depending
on how you're
buried,
eventually,
all that's
left is a
bunch of
dead bones
in the
ground.
And yet,
God is
able,
if he is
able to
do what
he can
do with
this,
and turn
it into
a plant,
with a
single cell,
and turn
it into
you,
absolutely,
he can do
the most
amazing of
all,
and give
life to
the dead.
It's a
miracle of
God.
We don't
need to be
able to
explain the
resurrection in
scientific terms
or in
terms of how
the parts of
the body will
come back
together.
It's something
that God
does by
his amazing
power.
Paul goes
on to
give a few
more analogies.
Verse 39,
he says,
not all
flesh is
the same.
People
have one
kind of
flesh,
animals have
another,
birds another,
and fish
another.
There are
also heavenly
bodies,
and there are
earthly bodies.
But the
splendor of the
heavenly bodies
is one kind,
and the
splendor of the
earthly bodies
is another.
The sun
has one
kind of
splendor,
the moon
another,
and the
stars another.
And star
differs from
star in
splendor.
Now,
there's at
least three
or four
different
analogies all
packed into
there,
so we're
going to
start with
the first
one.
He says,
not all
flesh is
the same.
And then
he walks
backwards
through the
days of
creation.
There's
different kinds
of bodies
that God
has given
in the
various
creatures that
he has
created.
There's
you and
I,
and the
kind of
body we
have.
We've
got two
legs,
we've
got two
arms,
we're
built to
walk,
we're
built to
work.
Then there's
the animals.
Some of
them are
built
differently,
they have
a different
kind of
body.
Some of
them have
a tail
so that
they can
balance in
trees,
or on
steep
cliffs.
Or they
have
four legs
so that
they can
run really
fast.
Or they
have fur
so that
they can
endure
the
coldest
of
climates
and
temperatures.
Then there's
birds.
They're a
whole other
kind of
animal.
They've
got wings
so that
they can
fly through
the air.
They've
got beaks
so that
they can
break
open
seeds.
Then you've
got fish,
totally
different.
They've
got fins
and a
tail and
they're
sleek so
that they
can move
quickly through
the water.
They've
got gills,
something
totally
different than
we have.
What's
Paul's
lesson in
this?
Because as
we said
earlier,
he comes
down again
to verse
42,
so it
is with
the
resurrection
of the
dead.
God has
uniquely
tailored
each
different
kind
of
creature
that
he
has
made
for
the
environment
that
he
intended
for it
to live
in.
In the
same way,
when we
are raised
from the
dead,
he will
give us
the body
that we
need
for the
life
that he
has for
us
in the
forever
kingdom
that Jesus
is coming
to bring
we
will
be
perfectly
suited
to
eternal
life.
The
body
we
have
will
be
engineered
perfectly
for that.
Paul
goes on,
he says
that there's
heavenly
bodies
and earthly
bodies.
He goes
on to
talk about
how there's
different
levels of
splendor
or glory
between
stars and
various
things in
the heavens.
You almost
get the
sense that
Paul is
just reflecting
on what
he has
seen of
what God
has done
in the
universe.
God's
created all
kinds of
stuff.
What a
variety we
see on
earth,
but that's
not it.
I mean,
God has
done an
incredible
variety of
stuff in
the heavens
beyond the
earth.
And as
our technology
improves,
we're able to
see more and
more of that
beauty through
Hubble
telescopes and
satellites and
all kinds of
things like
that.
And we
haven't even
begun to
scratch the
surface of
this vast
universe that
we live in.
I'm going to
give a bit of
a teaser.
We're going to
go here more
next week because
Paul gets to
this a little
later, but the
point that he
is, I think,
making here is
that we are
earthly, but
there will come
a day in the
resurrection where
we will bear the
image of the
heavenly man.
This
resurrection thing,
it's not just the
body that we went
into the ground
with coming back
up again.
No.
It's like the
seed.
I mean, there's
nothing spectacular
looking at that
little seed.
It just looks like
a little speck.
But compared to
that speck, the
tomato plant, when
it's fully bloomed
and grown and the
tomatoes are on
it, no, that's
glorious.
That's beautiful.
So it is with the
resurrection.
Our bodies will
go into the
ground, a thing
of the earth, but
they will be raised
to be glorious and
beautiful, a
marvelous work of
God.
Verse 42.
So it is with the
resurrection of the
dead.
We've already
talked about this.
Paul's kind of
relating this.
These are all
analogies that are
pointing to how we
will be raised from
the dead when
Christ returns.
But we want to
know more.
We want to know
the details.
Well, what's it
going to be like?
What's my new
body going to be
like?
Paul goes on.
He gives us a
few descriptive
words.
He says in verse
42, the body that
is sown is
perishable.
It is raised
imperishable.
The word
perishable refers
to decay.
The bodies that
we have right
now, they're
subject to decay.
They wear down.
They run down.
They, after a
period of time,
they expire.
Our organs fail.
That's the kind
of body that will
be sown into the
ground when we
die.
But it will be
raised imperishable.
A body that will
never wear out.
A body that will
never expire.
A body that is
not subject to
decay.
Paul says it
is sown in
dishonor.
It is raised in
glory.
There's some
back and forth
over what it
means to be
sown in
dishonor.
Some people
see that as
kind of how
death in itself
is kind of a
humiliating thing.
You can think
back to Jewish,
the Jewish
religious laws
from the Old
Testament.
Even to touch
a dead body
would make you
unclean.
And that view
kind of sees
dishonor as
referring to the
ugliness and the
shamefulness of
death.
others have said,
well, no, perhaps
dishonor refers to
more to kind of
the consequence
that death is.
That they died is
evidence that they
were a sinner,
that they lived a
dishonorable life.
And which it is of
the two, I'm not
sure.
But what we're
really looking at is
the contrast that
Paul gives.
It is sown in
dishonor.
It is raised in
glory.
And while it's
true that being
raised from the
dead is a
glorious thing,
to have the
terrible consequence
of death reversed
and undone, I
think what Paul is
really pointing to
is the body and
what the body will
be characterized
by.
It will be
imperishable and
it will be raised
in glory.
It will be a
glorious body.
Think back to
what Paul said in
his letter to the
Philippians.
He says that we
are awaiting a
savior, Jesus,
who by his power
will transform our
lowly bodies so
that they will be
like his glorious
body.
There's that same
idea.
Our bodies, when we
are raised from the
dead, are going to
be nothing like the
kind of body that
we had.
I'm not going to
talk about whether
we'll have two arms
and two legs today.
We can talk about
that next Sunday.
But in terms of the
quality, the
permanence of our
bodies, the
splendor, the glory
of our bodies, it
will be the
difference between
this tomato seed and
the full-grown plant
with the fruit on
it.
Like Christ's
glorious body.
Paul says, it is
sown in weakness.
It is raised in
power.
Weakness.
That's what describes
the bodies that we
have right now.
They're frail.
They're fragile.
They break.
And we have a
limited ability to
heal ourselves.
But the bodies that
we will have in the
resurrection, it will
be raised in power.
And yes, I think that
that describes how
God will do it.
He will do it with
his power.
But I think Paul is
really describing what
the body will be like.
It will be
imperishable.
It will be glorious.
It will be a body
of power,
characterized by
power.
The life-giving
power of God
will be in it.
Perhaps we will
have capacities
or abilities that
we never had
before.
I'm not going to
go too much into
that kind of
speculation.
But for sure,
the capacities
that we will have,
the abilities that
we have, will be
perfected.
in that body.
We'll be strong.
We'll have energy.
Lastly, Paul says,
it is sown a natural
body.
It is raised a
spiritual body.
And we're actually
going to focus in on
that next Sunday.
It's one of those
verses that I think
we have often
misinterpreted.
And Paul has quite a
lot to say about it
in the next whole
paragraph.
So we're going to
save that for
next Sunday.
What is Paul's
point in all this?
Paul's point is
that it's foolish
to think that
the resurrection
is impossible
because we can't
imagine how it
works.
We can't even
imagine how that
little seed turns
into a tomato
plant.
God will do it.
He can do it
by his amazing
power, by his
design and
engineering
ability that is
completely unrivaled
and like nothing
else that we have
ever seen.
If we think that
the Ferrari is
impressive, we
ain't seen nothing
yet.
If you think that
that S790 is
awesome, a work of
true ingenuity,
you ain't seen
nothing yet.
If you think
that the best
of art and
music and film
that people are
able to create
is something
today, you
ain't seen
nothing yet.
And the
evidence of
that, Paul
says, is in
the world that
we live in.
Look around.
Open your
eyes.
Look at the
world that he's
created.
All of it
points to his
ability to do
this, to give
life from the
dead.
And he will.
He will for
those who
belong to
Jesus.
For those who
belong to
Jesus.
It's not
something that
will be given
to everybody.
The resurrection
to this life
and this new
body, this is a
gift that God
will give as he
determines to
those who belong
to Jesus.
Do you
belong to
Jesus?
If you have
any doubts in
your heart or
if that's
something that
you want to
know more
about and
you're not
sure, come
talk to me
after the
service.
I'd love to
have that
conversation
with you.
The last
thing that I
want us to
reflect on for
a moment.
I mean, this
is Paul writing
to the
Corinthian
church.
You might
think, well,
that's so long
ago, that's so
out there.
What does this
have to do with
my life today?
And what I
want to press
home is simply
this.
Isn't it
amazing that
for those of
us who belong
to Jesus, God
is going to
give us this
amazing gift of
a new, glorious,
imperishable,
powerful body to
live in, that
will be us for
eternity.
What do we do
to deserve
that?
Nothing.
In fact, we've
done all kinds
of things not
to deserve it,
and yet this
too is part of
the good news
that Jesus has
done this and
he gives this
to us as a
free gift of
his love and
his grace.
The one thing
that totally
beats us all,
death.
He is going
to flip on
its head and
give us life
and a new
body.
won't it be
something to
have a body
that doesn't
have problems
with sickness?
Won't it be
something to
have a body
that doesn't
have any
issues of
disability?
Won't it be
something to
have a body
that doesn't
have any
problems with
hormonal
imbalances and
not feeling the
way that I
should about
different things?
a body that
doesn't have
problems with
achy joints
and pain
with parts of
it that just
wear out and
don't work
right anymore?
This is the
gift of God
for his people,
for all of
those who
belong to
Christ.
Isn't that
amazing?
God,
let's pray.
Father in
heaven,
thank you that
we have this
to look forward
to.
Lord,
some of us
don't feel it.
We're young.
We bounce
back pretty
quickly when we
get sick.
But we pray
and ask that
you would
increase our
faith,
that we would
not be like
the skeptics
who doubt
your abilities
and your
power.
increase our
faith and
fill our
hearts with
joy as
we trust
in the
good gift,
the good
future that
you have
prepared for
us.
We ask
this in
Christ's
name.
Amen.