The Truth comes to Corinth

Paul Declares the Wonder of the Christians Resurrected Body Part 1

1 Corinthians 15:35-42 But someone will say, “How are the dead raised? And with what kind of body do they come?” You fool! That which you sow does not come to life unless it dies; and that which you sow, you do not sow the body which is to be, but a bare grain, perhaps of wheat or of something else. But God gives it a body just as He wished, and to each of the seeds a body of its own. All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one flesh of men, and another flesh of beasts, and another flesh of birds, and another of fish. There are also heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is one, and the glory of the earthly is another. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory. So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown a perishable body, it is raised an imperishable body. NKJV

Paul now addresses these skeptics of the Resurrection of the dead among the Corinthian believers even deeper by addressing a question he surely had been confronted with on numerous occasions during his missionary journeys. Paul wanted to lay out with detailed examination and even painstaking care the eternal glorious plan of God for every soul that would come to Him through the death, burial, and resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Paul being an eyewitness of the Glorified Risen Lord knew that we all who trust and love Him were destined to be just like Him as it is written by the Apostle John with these words, “Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is” (1 John 3:2). The Sadducees (who Paul lived among for many years before his conversion) denied life after death or the resurrection of the dead and many other Jews and Non-Jews alike; therefore, Paul understood why even some in the Corinthian church would question it.

Paul refutes their question by showing the ignorance in which it is raised by them as he gives them the illustration of a farmer who plants a seed that dies into the soil of the earth, that it would then be made alive into something totally different than the one tiny seed that was planted. Our Lord Jesus Christ gave this illustration to the disciples Phillip and Andrew speaking of His pending death on the Cross when He said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit” (John 12:24). Our Lord Jesus is declaring here to them and to us that just like in the natural world (all designed by Him and operate under His Laws and Authority) a lifeless seed brings forth plant life that produces fruit, wheat, and other things that man can use for food, shelter, and clothing, so in the supernatural world (also designed by Him and operate under His Laws and Authority) the death of the physical body does not kill the spirit but God takes the spirit and soul and reunites it with a new body a supernatural “spiritual body” that is completely different from the natural body.

Paul drawing from these words spoken by our Lord Jesus Christ writes to them and us, “But God gives it a body just as He wished, and to each of the seeds a body of its own” (1 Corinthians 15:38). Paul declares here that God the Father has determined before the foundation of the world what type of eternal body each “seed” or “soul” will be clothed with in heaven. The fact and reality that even human discovery of DNA proves that there are no two human bodies alike (not even identical twins) also testifies or bears witness to the truth of 1 Corinthians 15:38 that there will also not be any to “spiritual bodies” alike in heaven. Note: Paul does not address it here because his focus (rightly so) is to exalt the glorious beauty of our bodies in heaven, but there will also be prepared for the lost or the unsaved or unforgiven a distinct and unique “spiritual body” that will be prepared for their eternal suffering or torment in hell. Paul goes on in the next few verses to expound or explain the various differences of flesh God has clothed various animals with that function perfectly for the environment they inhabit.

I am an avid viewer of programs about wild animals on land and in the ocean. And it has often struck me how most of the men and women who operate, research, and work in the study of many different animals are always affirming and confirming (against their beliefs because most subscribe to evolution) the wondrous, powerful, awesome, and glorious hand of God in His Creation as they declare their utter amazement at every animal being designed and equipped with the exact body type and function to survive where they are located. Paul now refers to the difference in the celestial bodies (that of angels) and the terrestrial bodies (that of man on earth) and the difference as it is now is because the two bodies are clothed for their particular dwelling places.

Although we human beings are a spirit created in the image of God (Genesis 1:26) we are clothed with this terrestrial or the Greek word epigeios which literally means earthly or worldly. The bodies we occupy now are limited in their power and function because of sin, but when they die, then they will be raised in absolute perfection and be never marred by that disease of sin, it will be incorruptible. The writer of Hebrews has it as it most surely is for every one of us true believers as he writes this, “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for Him shall He appear the second time without sin unto salvation” (Hebrews 9:27-28). This is the internal longing of every one of us that have been regenerated and born again to receive our new eternal body never ever tempted by sin again to live forever in true loving obedience and adoration to our King of Kings and Lord of Lords Jesus Christ.

“We are certainly in a common class with the beasts; every action of animal life is concerned with seeking bodily pleasure and avoiding pain.” Augustine

“Death to the Christian is the funeral of all his sorrows and evils, and the resurrection, of all his joys.” James H. Aughey

“In every seed there is the germ of a new and beautiful growth, more elaborate and yet identical; so in each of us there is something which has the capacity and potentiality of furnishing another body, through which the emancipated spirit will be able to express itself more perfectly than it can in this body, which is composed of coarser materials. It is not difficult to believe in this, when we have seen the caterpillar become the butterfly. The world is full of wonderful and beautiful things. God’s inventiveness reveals itself in a myriad differing organisms. It is by His will that the golden head of wheat is fairer than the little brown seed cast into the furrow; so it is His pleasure that the body which is to be shall surpass the present in glory.” F. B. Meyer

“The fact that angels reside in heaven right now and we human beings in the bodies we have now cannot do so is proof positive of the difference in the earthly body and heavenly bodies, but the great truth that awaits each of us born again as children of God is cemented by these words spoken from the lips of our Lord Jesus Himself when He said, ‘The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage, but those who are considered worthy to attain to that age and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage; for they cannot even die anymore, because they are like angels, and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection’ (Luke 20:34-36).” Clifford D. Tate, Sr.

If you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ and His amazing healing power, pray this from your heart to the Lord Jesus Christ (you speaking directly to Him), Dear Lord Jesus, I confess to You that I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I believe You shed Your Blood and died for my sins. I believe that You rose from the dead proving that You alone are God. I repent of my sins. I want to turn from my sins. I ask You Dear Lord Jesus to come into my heart and take control of my life. I want You to be my Lord, Savior, and my God. Amen...


Sincerely in Christ,


Clifford D. Tate, Sr.

Author of “Silent Assassins of the Soul - Are you Broken by Pornography and Masturbation? You can be Restored by the Lord Jesus Christ and brought into Deliverance, Freedom, and Victory! A Guide for Men and Women in the Enemy’s Crosshairs” e-book available now @ Amazon Kindle, @ Apple I Bookstore for IPod, Barnes and Noble for Nook, Reader Store for Sony Reade, Kobo, Copia, Gardners, Baker and Taylor, and eBookPie…