“How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come?” 1 Corinthians 15:35 NIV
“Life now is a brief prelude to a life glorious beyond all you could imagine.”
My thoughts today are about “serious questions.”
Questions are haunting if you cannot find acceptable and reliable answers. Among the most common of those are the questions about death, and what follows. Who isn’t curious to know if there is life after death? Who doesn’t want that to be true? There are a lot of questions. What are yours? In the Apostle Paul’s estimation, the questions seem to be how that happens, and what the effect will be.
To have such questions presupposes there is life after death. If there is not some experience after death, then those questions are moot and pointless. And deep in every heart is a whisper that there must be more to life than what we now know. Sad are those who have allowed their questions to persuade them this is all there is, but they would be wrong.
In a chapter of Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians in which his great theme is resurrection, Paul asks the questions you want answered, “But someone may ask, ‘How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come?’” 1 Corinthians 15:35 NIV. Accepting the reality of the eternal, “how and what” are good questions with which to begin. At some moment, everybody comes to this reality with questions; many have varied opinions. The Bible has answers you can trust.
Paul contrasts the differing physical bodies God has given to man, animals, birds, and fish. “Just as there are different kinds of seeds and plants, there are also different kinds of flesh – of humans, animals, birds, and fish.” 1 Corinthians 15:37-39 NLT. Your body will designed for eternity just as God has designed the uniqueness of each species for life here on earth – animals walk, birds fly, fish swim, each safe in its respective element – perfectly suited, no acclimation necessary. “It will happen in a moment, in the blinking of an eye . . our perishable, earthly bodies will be transformed into heavenly bodies that will never die.” Read 1 Corinthians 15:52-54 NLT.
Paul observes the differing splendor of the physical heavens to give us a glimpse of one’s experience after death. As one author has written, “Your faithful service now is what determines your status then.” Paul foresees, “The splendor of heavenly bodies and the splendor of 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. So will it be with the resurrection of the dead” 1 Corinthians 15:40-42 NIV.
For those who live Godly lives now, the splendor of life after this life will be more splendid, beyond compare. “God will give to each person according to what he has done. To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor, and immortality, He will give eternal life.” Romans 2:6-7 NIV.
Paul distinguishes the differing expression of life here with the life that awaits. “The body that is sown is perishable; it is raised imperishable. 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.” Paul’s rational and reasonable conclusion is as yours should be? “If there is a natural body, there is a spiritual body.” 1 Corinthians 15:42-44 NIV.
How will He do this? “He will take these weak, mortal bodies of ours and change them into glorious bodies like His own, using the same mighty power that He will use to conquer everything everywhere.” Philippians 3:21 NLT. Like His glorious body, imagine that! What answer beyond that could be needed? Life now is a brief prelude to a life glorious beyond all you could imagine.
“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for those who love Him. But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit.” 1 Corinthians 2:9-10 NKJV. Whatever the specifics – known or yet to be revealed – the reality exceeds the best you could have wished for.
My prayer for you today is that you prepare yourself now for life that is forever!