1 Corinthians 15:42-44 (NASB) 42 So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown a perishable body, it is raised an imperishable body; 43 it is sown in dishonor, 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. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.
Our memory verses this week is our Christian Hope. It is the comfort that each of us have when we accept Christ as our savior and Lord. When that first sin was committed in the garden of Eden, death entered our world. From that first sin until the coming of the Lord we shall all experience death. As a believer, we shall live again in a glorified body that is no longer in decay but everlasting.
Key words in this passage…
There are four noteworthy differences between our body now and the body that will be give us in the resurrection.
- Our earthly body is corruptible; our resurrected body will be incorruptible. Corruptible means that our bodies age, deteriorate, die, decay, and decompose. But our heavenly bodies will differ radically. That body shall be incorruptible: never age, never deteriorate, never die, never decay, and never decompose. The body will be transformed and never perish. It will be completely free from defilement and depravity, from death and decay.
- Our earthly body is buried in dishonor; our resurrected body will be raised in glory. Every human body is doomed to become nothing more than a handful of dirt. Think about it. Nothing could be any more dishonorable than to take the wonderful mechanism and beauty of a man’s body and see it become nothing more than dirt. Yet that is exactly what happens.
- Our earthly body is buried in weakness; our resurrected body is raised in power. While on earth our body is ever so weak: subject to sickness, disease, and a host of other infirmities and limitations; and eventually it becomes so weak that it dies. In death the human body is utterly powerless: helpless, devoid of any strength and capability whatsoever. In death the human body is so powerless, it is unable to lift a simple finger. It can do nothing, absolutely nothing. The resurrected body is raised in power. It shall have a mind and body filled with strength, might, health, authority, and control. It will be a perfect body, never subject to disease, accident, or suffering. It will be a body so powerful that it will be able to control its acts and the circumstances around it—all for good.
- Our earthly body is buried a “natural body”; our resurrected body is raised a spiritual body. That the spiritual body is still a body just like the earthly body. The spiritual body still retains the qualities of the earthly body. The difference lies in this: it will no longer be a natural body. It will be spiritual. What does this mean? In essence, the body will have a different composition: it will be made for a different world, a different dimension. The body will be perfected and glorified: no longer subject to aging, deterioration, death, decay, pain, tears, sorrow, or crying (Rev. 14:4). The human body will be transformed into a body of glory. Glory means to possess and to be full of perfect light; to dwell in the perfect light, brilliance, splendor, brightness, luster, magnificence, dignity, majesty and grace of God Himself.