Rational Doubt and Biblical Answers on the Bodily Resurrection, Part 3 – 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 [k]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

To deny the bodily resurrection is more than a mere matter of misinformation- those who practice unbelief have no knowledge of God, having rejected the living Christ, who is the only way, truth, and life. (Jn 14:6) To the unbelieving Corinthians who doubt the possibility of a bodily resurrection, Apostle Paul speaks on two attributes of God that are manifested as He raises the dead to life.

The power of God. God’s power is incomprehensible. He is able to bring to pass whatsoever He pleases, and no one can ward off His hand or say to Him, “What have You done?” (Dan 4:34-35) From Genesis to Revelation, God’s power is on display for us to see. We can not have a right understanding of God unless we know of His infinite power. He who has no rivals in heaven or on earth created the heavens and the earth, instantaneously and perfectly. (Gen 1:3-4) His power is over us, and everything is up to His Will. Everything we have in our lives is not from our intellect or abilities- it is all from God. By His power Jesus was born of a virgin, and by that same power, seeds are germinated, and the dead are raised to life. Nothing will be impossible with God. (Lk 1:39)

The sovereignty of God. God’s sovereignty is absolute- no one can resist God’s Will. He planned all things before the foundation of the world, and He will bring it to pass by His power. Our salvation is wholly tied to His sovereignty, because God sovereignly elects some people for salvation. (Rom 8:29-30) Many hold the doctrine of election in contempt, but frankly, if salvation were up to us, nonewould be saved, because no one would even desire to be saved from God’s wrath. Those who are elected by God confess Jesus as Lord and God when God calls them through the gospel. (Jn 20:28) Believers have a living hope, because of the seed of Jesus’s resurrection in them. Our hope in salvation is sure, knowing that God will do what He wills. Let us therefore seek and set our minds on the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. (Col 3:1-2) By God’s power and sovereignty, the dead will be raised to rejoice and glory in Christ’s complete work of our everlasting salvation.

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