Rational Doubt and Biblical Answers on the Bodily Resurrection – 1 Corinthians 15:35-38

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 [a]something else. But God gives it a body just as He wished, and to each of the seeds a body of its own. 1Cor 15:35-38

Understanding Jesus’s bodily resurrection is beyond the bounds of man’s philosophy and science. It can not be proved or disproved by the scientific method, nor can it be comprehended by human logic or wisdom. When false doctrine began to infiltrate the Corinthian church, those who got deceived fell away and rejected the bodily resurrection- thereby rejecting the whole gospel- because it didn’t line up to their agnostic beliefs. In these verses, Paul responds to their doubts by showing the similarities between the nature of seeds that are sown and the bodily resurrection.

Both are mysteries. Exactly how a seed gets planted and grows to bear fruit is a mystery. Botanists observe the process, and can scientifically explain what is happening, but no one knows exactly how seeds are able to do what they do. In the same way, Jesus’s resurrection is a mystery. Men have witnessed and testify to it, but no man knows how Jesus died and rose from the dead. It is a mystery of God.

There will be a consummation. Seeds don’t look like much, but they are able to sprout and grow into majestic trees, bearing much fruit. This is a picture of the Christian life. Our lives now may be full of suffering and weakness, but the end will be glorious because of Jesus’s resurrection. (Phil 2:8-11)

There will be a differentiation. As a flower is more beautiful and glorious than its seed, so in heaven, everything will be wholly different from our current condition. The imperfect will be perfected, and everything will be made new. Differentiation is our hope in this broken world and sinful flesh. (Jn 12:24-26)

There will be a cessation. Just as a seed must cease to be a seed in order to grow, so man must cease being in his old self in order to be converted to Christ. Spiritual life is marked by death- I am crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. Jesus died in the flesh to rise again glorified; I, too, will one day cease to be in the flesh to receive a resurrected body. (Gal 2:20)

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