Bible Reflections From Scripture Union Volume OneSample

The Resurrected Body
Read 1 Corinthians 15:35-58

"Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?" 1 Corinthians 15:55

In what form will the dead be raised? The answer: ‘In a new body.’ This body is ‘new’ because it will be heavenly, ‘spiritual’, and incorruptible, in contrast to our present earthly, ‘natural’, decaying body.

Had the Corinthian church misunderstood the ‘resurrection’ to be the re-animation and resuscitation of the body? Paul points out that Christ’s resurrection was obviously the transformation of His human physical body into a ‘glorified body’.

Paul attempts to explain the idea of a ‘spiritual’ (heavenly/glorified) body by comparing it to seeds and plants. When one wants to grow a plant, one does not put a full-grown plant into the soil. It is the seed that undergoes a marvellous metamorphosis into a different type of ‘body’ altogether. The seed and the plant are one and the same, the former transfiguring and transforming into the latter in one continuous reality.

Since the present body is under the original curse of sin, it must be transformed. The perfected body is imperishable and incorruptible, enabling believers to appropriately enter their heavenly dwellings. ‘Corruptible must be clothed in incorruptible.’

Let us give thanks for Christ's resurrection. Without this cornerstone truth, all will be lost. Let us take time to reflect on what the finished work of Christ has won for us. And let’s give grateful thanks.