1 Corinthians 15:42-49

1 Corinthians 15:42-49

And in the same manner is the resurrection of the dead.  It is being sown in decay.  It is being raised up into that which is not subject to decay.  It is being sown in dishonor.  It is being raised up in glory.  It is being sown in incapacity.  It is being raised in power.  The natural body is being sown.  The spiritual body is being raised up.  If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual one.  Thus it has also being written: the first man Adam became into a living soul, the last Adam became into a spiritual being that gives life.  But the spiritual is not first, rather the natural, then the spiritual.  The first man is made of dust out of the earth.  The second man is out of heaven.  Similar to the one made of dust, so are the ones made out of dust.  Similar to the heavenly one, so are the heavenly ones.  And just as we bore the image of the one made of dust, we will also bear the image of the heavenly one.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought

Paul talks about the difference between the natural body and the resurrected body.  But here’s the thing.  Notice that Paul doesn’t talk about them as mutually exclusive.  Remember Paul’s analogy from yesterday?  The seed goes into the ground and comes out a plant.  The plant is there when the seed goes into the ground.  Likewise, Paul tells us that the spiritual body is sown in decay.  We have the spiritual within us now – even while we are in decay!  Even though we are not perfect, we have the spiritual within us now!  Even though we sin now, we can still know God and His perfection.  No, we aren’t perfect and we aren’t free of our sinful nature.  But we can still live knowing that the spiritual nature of God has already been sown within us now.

What does it mean to you to know that the spiritual is sown within you already?  Why is that significant?

Second Thought:

In the middle of this passage Paul gives us a very poetic thought.  The first man became a living soul, but the last man (Christ) became a life-giving soul.  The first man was given life, the last man gives life by giving up His life.  This is a neat comparison between mankind and God.  We are given life; we cannot create it on our own.  God gives up what He has in order to make sure that we have a greater life than we even deserve.

Why do you think God gives us life that we cannot get on our own power?  What does this say about the nature of God?

Third Thought:

Paul ends this passage with an interesting twist in the verb tenses.  When Paul is talking about the image we have, he gives us a past tense verb and a future tense verb.  We bore the image of Adam.  In other words, we were born into sin, corruption, and decay.  That was how we came into the world.  Paul then uses a future tense verb to talk about what those in Christ will experience.  We will bear the image of Christ.  Which raises an interesting question.  If we bore the image of Adam and we will bear the image of Christ, what image do we bear now?  I don’t mean this to be a negative point, but I believe Paul is making a point here.  The image we bear in the future is guaranteed if we are in Christ.  But the image we bear now is really up to us.  When we are obedient to the Father, we bear the image of Christ.  But when we choose to be obedient to ourselves we bear the image of Adam.  But ultimately the present is in our hands.

Whose image do you bear most often?  Why?

Passage for Tomorrow: 1 Corinthians 15:50-58