How the Dead Are Raised
I Corinthians 15:29-49

April 27, 2003
by C. W. Powell

²⁹ Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? why are they then baptized for the dead? ³⁰ And why stand we in jeopardy every hour? ³¹ I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily. ³² If after the manner of men I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantageth it me, if the dead rise not? let us eat and drink; for to morrow we die.

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 dishonour; 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.

We must remember that the Bible is not written to satisfy our carnal curiosity. It is written to build our faith and to encourage us to confess the Lord Jesus without fear and without hesitation. All the questions that arise in our minds concerning things to come are not answered in the Scriptures; instead, we are given promises, for nothing is more certain that we glorify the Lord most on this earth when we believe and trust in His promises, for we walk by faith and not by sight.

In this great chapter, the apostle Paul affirms without question that the dead will rise. They will rise because Christ has risen from the dead, and is the first fruits of the resurrection from the dead. He is the guarantee of the promise and the first of its fulfillment. In this passage he bolsters his argument and answers some questions concerning the nature of the resurrection of the dead:

1. Verses 29-32.
   1. He refers to a practice at Corinth, no longer practiced in the church, the meaning of which is obscure. What does it mean to baptize for the dead? Various explanations are given, and Paul does not say what they did was right. "What shall they do," not what does the church do? This may have been one of those things that Paul intended to set right when he came, for baptism for the dead has never been practiced by the true church of Jesus Christ, in the sense that ceremonies that we perform on the earth can in any way benefit the dead. I will not even speak of the insanity of the Mormon heresy. But Paul’s point is clear; this practice is absurd if you’re dead when your dead. All such practices among the heathen and among cults are foolish if there is no resurrection from the dead. Man has a consciousness of the immortality of the soul, and his very cultic practices, heretical though they may be, testify to that consciousness.
   2. Paul then refers to himself and the sufferings of the apostles, which were everywhere known. Why renounce the world, seek the honor of Christ, hold to right doctrine and practice against the praise of the world, put your life in danger every day, and gain the enmity and hatred of the world, if this life is all there is. Demas forsook the true faith, Paul says in another place, because he loved the present world. What is wrong with that, if this world is all there is? If this world is all there is, then we are fools if we do not seek to gain the whole world, for there is no soul to lose, and Christ becomes a false prophet.
   
   
2. Verses 33,34. Beware of false doctrine. It is not necessary for you to taste every poison in order to know the value of good food and to be nourished by good food. The Corinthians loved to engage in speculative theology and by this means had been drawn away from one of the great doctrines of Christianity. The way you live will depend upon the nature of the teaching that you get-flee from folly and error as you would from the SARS plague. Absolute freedom of doctrine in the church will breed diseases that will slay the soul. Wake up, Wake up, Wake up. Because of false doctrine, some in the Corinthian church do not have the knowledge of God. Here Paul reinforces the doctrine of Christ. When the Sadducees came to him with a stupid question about the resurrection, the Lord Jesus said, "Ye do not know the scriptures or the power of God..." Error always assaults the nature of God, who is Truth and cannot deny Himself.
   
   
3. Verses 35-49. But How are the dead raised?
   1. It will be suitable to the redeemed soul. Vs. 35-38
      1. Ignorance of the Scripture and the Power of God is the reason for a scientism that will question the resurrection of the body. Sophisticated doubt. How? And with what body?
      2. Death is not the obstacle, but the very prerequisite, to the quickening. The seed must be sown in the ground, before it can sprout and grow.
      3. The body that comes will have no resemblance to that which is sown. Can you see the radish in the seed? Does the oak resemble the acorn?
      4. God does as He pleases!! Away with your sophisticated, scientific doubt! How dare you doubt the power of God!
   2. There are more glories than you can imagine-more than you have even considered in God’s creation. Vs. 39-41
      1. All flesh is not the same.
      2. Bodies in space have a different glory than those on the earth. Vs. 40,41. God created great diversity. This does not mean that the planets, comets, and stars are alive.
   3. The glory of the resurrection body will be completely different from that which is sown. Vs. 42-44
      1. Incorruption, not corruption.
      2. Glory, not dishonor
      3. Power, not weakness.
      4. Spiritual, not natural
      There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. The analogy is to the seed and the plant. The seed is real, and the plant is real; but the glory is completely different. The spiritual body is that which is quickened by the spirit in the resurrection; the natural body is that which is derived by procreation from Adam, as the next verses make clear. There is a connection between the natural body and the spiritual body, illustrated by the connection between the seed and the plant.
   4. Verses 45-49. Here is Federal Theology again. Beware what theology you adopt. The natural body is derived from the First Adam; the spiritual body is derived from the Last Adam. Jesus Christ was not born into the world as a life-giving spirit; this is what He became, as Mediator, by the resurrection from the dead.
      1. The First Adam was made of the dust of the ground, and all his seed partake of that nature. He is earthly, natural, fleshly. The animal life we receive from Adam; the spiritual, heavenly life, we receive from Jesus Christ in regeneration. Paul says in another place: "But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you." Romans 8:11.
      2. The Last Adam is the Lord from heaven, resurrection from the dead. We have borne the image of the First Adam; but, hallelujah, we shall bear the image of the Last Adam in the resurrection from the dead.

But I have given you enough for today. I will overlap, beginning with verse 45 next week. God bless you all.