by Timothy W. Burnett
This was his answer, �You fool, that which you sow is not quickened, except it die. And that which you sow, you sow not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may be of wheat, or of some other grain. But God gives it a body as it has please Him, and to every seed his own body� (verses 36-38).
Paul did not call just anybody a fool, but addressed certain people who were using the simple questions as a method to breakdown the believing of other Christians. They were probably influential people in the church. They were sarcastically questioning the resurrection of the dead. He replied with their own reasoning and revealed their foolishness by showing that the principle of resurrection can be seen even in plant life. Each different plant produces its own seeds, which can be used to produce more plants after its parent plant dies. It�s so simple!!
He continues, �All flesh is not the same flesh. But there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fish, and another of birds. There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial. But the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another� (verses39-40). Paul continued to address the question, �with what body do they come?� Men have one kind of body, animals have other kinds of bodies, fish have other kinds of bodies, birds also. Each star, planet and constellation has its own glory in meaning and symbolism. The all differ from each other.
�There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars. For one star differs from another star in glory.�
Next, Paul parallels with the resurrection of the dead, �So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption. It is raised in incorruption. 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 and it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.� He was not saying that each person�s death was what made it available to be resurrected. Instead, he was simply stating that we are by nature in bodies that are corruptible and will die. And with that in mind, we are still able to believe unto being raised with spiritual bodies.
The death and resurrection of only one man set in motion the future resurrection of mankind. That one man was and is Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior! �And so it is written, ��The first man Adam was made a living soul.� The last Adam was made a quickening spirit� (verse 45). The �last Adam� referred to Jesus the Christ who died, and was raised from the dead with a new spiritual body by his Father.
What kind of a body will the born-again believers get? �Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself� (Philippians 3:21).
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