Let's turn in our Bibles tonight to the book of 1 Corinthians, chapter 15. 1 Corinthians, chapter 15. Perhaps you had an opportunity this afternoon to read the text for tonight's message. 1 Corinthians, chapter 15. And we're going to start reading tonight in verse number 35, and we'll read down through verse number 50. Some very interesting verses that we're going to take as our text for tonight's message, and I hope will be thought-provoking and helpful to you this evening. Some pretty incredible truths that are revealed here in these verses, and tonight, with the Lord's help, I want to speak to you a little bit about the subject of bodies and resurrection. 1 Corinthians chapter 15, look there in verse number 35 where we'll begin reading and you direct your attention there as I read out loud. The Bible says, but some man will say, how are the dead raised up and with what body do they come? Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened except it die. And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other grain, but God giveth it a body, as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body." All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds. There are also celestial bodies and bodies terrestrial, but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars, for one star differeth from another star in glory. So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption. It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body and there is a spiritual body. And so it is written, the first man, Adam, was made a living soul. The last Adam was made a quickening spirit. Howbeit that was not first, which is spiritual, but that which is natural, and afterward that which is spiritual. The first man is of the earth, earthy. The second man is the Lord from heaven. As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy. And as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, neither doth corruption inherit incorruption." We find ourselves here in the middle of 1 Corinthians chapter 15 where the Apostle Paul is dealing with a controversy and a false belief that was present in the church at Corinth And as we've looked at in some previous messages, the church there at Corinth had been impacted by the culture around them, which primarily the Greek culture did not believe in the doctrine of the resurrection. Most of the Greek philosophers believed that you live your life and then you die, and that's the end of it. You just go into the grave, your body rots, it returns to dust. and that's the end of the story so live your life now because this is all that you get and that's pretty much the sum total of much of the greek philosophy they didn't believe that there was a resurrection in fact when the apostle paul came to athens and he spoke there on mars hill The intriguing thing that he brought up, which got a lot of people's attention, was he spoke about the resurrection of the dead. And many of the philosophers did not believe in the resurrection from the dead. The Sadducees, who were religious leaders in the land of Palestine, among the Jewish people, were influenced by this Greek culture, and they also did not believe in the resurrection of the dead. And so Paul was dealing with some Christians here at the church at Corinth who had allowed themselves to be affected by the culture around them and to allow the culture to define for them what it is that happens when a believer dies and what takes place. And let me say tonight, before we dig into the meat of the message tonight, and I'll warn you that you're gonna have to get your brain in gear and follow Paul's reasoning or you're gonna get lost along the way, because this is an extended argument that Paul is making for the doctrine of the resurrection and explaining a lot of things about what is going to happen to our bodies when we die and then at the time of resurrection. And Paul is talking about how important that is. But let me say this before we continue on. One thing that I've observed is that even as believers, sometimes we allow the culture around us to inform us about what we think happens when we die. And specifically, I mean, even a lot of professing Christians use terminology and say things at funerals that are just not biblical. And we have to be careful that as we think about as believers, when somebody who is in Christ, and that's really what Paul has in view here, someone who is in Christ. When someone who is in Christ dies, what is going to happen to that body and then what does the Lord have in store for them in the future? And we really need to have that clear in our minds because that is what gives us hope when we're at the graveside of a loved one who knows the Lord. And, you know, just to throw something out there, you know, there's a lot of people who talk about when someone dies, they say, well, that person has become an angel. They've earned their wings. The Bible doesn't talk about that. We're not angels. We never will be angels. God has made us as a special creation in the image of God. We are totally unique and different from the angelic beings. And actually, in many ways, the Bible speaks about the angels looking at our status, looking at how God has made us, and wondering and being in amazement at the grace of God that has been shown towards us. And so we have a great privilege. So tonight, when you think about somebody dying, don't think, well, they became an angel and they earned their wings and they're flying around. No, the Bible doesn't talk about that. It talks about something very different. And so tonight we wanna just dig right into the scripture here and see what is going on. Now, Paul, in the very first verse of this section, which we've taken as our text, in verse 35, Paul poses two hypothetical questions. And the questions are being posed by someone that, in verse 36, he calls a fool. And these two questions go like this. First of all, how are the dead raised up? And second of all, with what body do they come? And so obviously the person who is asking this question is a skeptic. There's someone who does not believe in the resurrection, and it's as if they're saying, oh, come on, you believe in the resurrection, How is that supposed to happen? How are the dead going to be raised? Tell me how this is going to work. And tell me what kind of a body they're going to have. What is this going to look like? Now Paul is going to answer that question for us. This is not the only passage of Scripture which speaks about the resurrection, but in the New Testament it is one of the clearest. And it gives us some very interesting details about the doctrine of the resurrection. Five thoughts tonight as we work our way through the passage. Notice, first of all, there is a principle which is expounded for us in verses 36 through 38. We saw the hypothetical question which was asked in verse 35, basically asking, how could I believe in the resurrection. Give me some reason to believe in the resurrection. I don't think that that could possibly be true. Verse 36, Paul answers with this principle, and he says, Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die. Now when he uses the term fool there, he is speaking about one who is an ignorant skeptic. This is someone that Paul is characterizing, and the term is very particular there. It means someone who has not thought deeply about what they say that they believe. In other words, he's saying the answer is obvious. Look around you, because there are illustrations and there is proof of the doctrine of the resurrection that is all around us in the world that God has made. You haven't thought very deeply if you just think, Well, we just die, and we go out into the grave, and that's the end of us, and there's nothing more. Actually, you've not thought deeply at all, because there is something within every man that says there is something more than just this life. And then when we look at the world around us, there are a lot of illustrations which point to the fact that there is a resurrection. Now, he says, if you are refusing to believe in the resurrection, you are refusing the evidence and the illustrations that are around you. Now, the primary illustration that Paul gives in verses 36 through 38 is an illustration of planting. And he gives the idea of planting a seed. So he says there in verse 36, that which thou sowest is not quickened except it die. Now I like this because Paul is really emphasizing sowing or planting rather than death. We often think in terms of death. The person who died is gone. They're no longer here. And certainly there is a sense that there's a separation between us and them. Paul rather is using, and he's speaking particularly about someone who is in Christ, when they die, he doesn't use the term death, he uses the term sowing or planting. And it has this idea, and he's using it as an illustration of what we see in nature. If you were to go and plant some seed in the ground come spring, maybe some corn seed, and you were going to put those corn seeds in the ground, what is going to happen is that death is going to precede life. The seed, are you all following me? The seed has to die. The seed has to decay. And this is a mystery that even scientists today, though we know that this is how it happens, we don't understand how it happens or be able to really explain it, how something dies, and from that, life springs up. But this is a universal principle, that when you put a seed in the ground, it dies, and then there is a plant that comes forth. Death precedes life, and decay precedes transformation. Now, when Paul emphasizes sowing or planting rather than death in these verses, it's as if Paul is saying this, death is not the end for the believer. Death is not just a destruction of the physical body. Rather, Paul is stressing this principle that death is a beginning. Death is not an end, but death is a beginning. And from that death, there is going to come a life that is going to spring forth. There is life that exists beyond death. Are you following his reasoning? In verse 37, he says, that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain. Okay, so think about the illustration of corn. You don't take an entire corn stalk, complete with the ears, the silk, the tassel, and dig a big furrow and stuff it down in the ground and cover it with dirt. No, you plant a seed and from that seed comes a plant. Did you ever think about that? This tiny little seed, you put it in the ground and from that seed there comes this really big plant. That always amazes me whenever we plant our garden. And I put a seed in the ground, maybe a bean seed, or a corn seed, or some other type of seed, and from that comes this big plant. And I think that's amazing that God put all that potential for life in that little seed. And that's exactly what Paul is saying is, When someone dies, it's like a seed is being planted, and there is life that is going to come from that. Now, in verse 38, he reminds us, "...but God giveth it a body, as it hath pleased Him, and to every seed His own body." In other words, God has created tremendous diversity in His creation, in what He has made. The plants look different from one another, don't they? you think about all the things that we like to eat a tomato plant has a distinctive look a Cucumber plant has a has a particular way that it appears a corn plant Appears in a different way and on and on we could go and we could say they're very distinct They're very unique in how they look God has given them all a body as it has pleased him now this in the same way that God is has decreed that certain seeds are going to bring forth a particular kind of plant, and you know that when you plant corn, you're going to get corn, and when you plant beans, you're going to get a bean plant, unless some other seed has gotten in there and you didn't know that it was in the package, you're going to get whatever you're expecting. Now, God is described in verse 38 as the one who has designed this process of resurrection. Now, this is important. Remember, this is a principle that is being expounded to help us to understand resurrection. If God can make it so that seeds go in the ground and plants come up, Isn't God able also to make it so that when we die, God can raise us from the dead and make us new and better than we were when we went in the ground? And that's really the principle, that's the thought that Paul is expounding here, is that God as a master designer, a master creator, knows exactly what he is doing, and he is, if you will, the master farmer. And when we die, that is a seed that goes in the ground, and God is going to bring life after that. A principle that is expounded. But second of all, there is a difference that is observed. In verses 39 through 41, now Paul continues speaking about different bodies. Now, he talked about the seed. that goes in the ground and produces a plant. But now he says something in verse 39 that's very interesting. All flesh is not the same flesh. We realize this, right? There's one kind of flesh that belongs to men. Human beings have a particular kind of flesh. They have a particular kind of design. There's another kind that we find in the animal kingdom, the cattle, and the deer, and the squirrels, and all of these creatures, they have a particular kind of flesh. There's another that is of the fishes that swim in the sea, and we find that that aquatic life has a particular kind of flesh. And then there's birds that fly through the air, and they have a particular kind of flesh. And here's what Paul seems to be calling attention to is this fact that God has made a difference between the bodies of men and animals and fish and birds. There's distinction and there's differences in the creation that God has made. Have you ever heard somebody say, well, we're 98% the same as chimpanzees? That's actually something that is talked about in the science world, you know, to put forth evolution. And in some ways, all right, in some ways that is true. It's actually a misleading statement from what I understand. And I'm not a genetic scientist, but I believe that that is a misleading statement. There are certain aspects where that is true. But if we could put it this way, if that is true, the 2% difference is actually a major difference. So it sounds like it's not that much of a difference, but it's a major difference. You probably haven't seen a chimpanzee observing the wonder of a sunset and thinking, wow, look at that sunset. You probably haven't seen them doing some of those things which require abstract thought. Why? Because chimpanzees may be capable of certain basic levels of language and interaction and thought process and things like that, but they're still an animal. And we are human beings, and we're different from them. Now, it's God who took all of creation, and this is what we're, I believe Paul is driving at, and which we understand today, is that when we look at creation, God takes a lot of basic building blocks, what we know as DNA, and a lot of that we share in common among the creation that is out there, and yet then God puts great variety and difference in what he has made. There's a great difference between these types of creatures. Now, Paul is making a point, and the point he is making is that there is a big difference between the body that we have now and the body that we will have in the resurrection. And that's what he's really driving at. Now, he illustrates this again in verse 40, and he says, there are also celestial bodies and bodies terrestrial, But the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. Celestial refers to that which is outside of the realm of our firmament. That would be what we consider to be outer space. And terrestrial is that which has to do with our planet. The planet Earth. By the way, if you're wondering whether they're going to find life on Mars or some other planet, I'll just answer that question for you tonight. No. God created Earth, and he put life here. And this is where life began. This is where God created life to be. And by the way, I don't have any desire to go to another planet and live. I like this one just fine until the Lord remakes it. That's fine with me. So God made this, He made a difference between things that are celestial and things that are terrestrial. Terrestrial bodies are things that are related to the earth, and we look at the celestial bodies, they're glorious and they're majestic, aren't they? We enjoy looking at them, the sun, the moon, and the stars, but they're different from the earth. They're different from where we're at. And there is an indication that seems to be here, that Paul is making, that there is a different nature to the bodies that we will have in the resurrection, that is, that they are going to be designed to exist in a different realm, or a different sphere, or, if you will, a different... How do I describe this? A different state of existence than what we're familiar with right now, and especially the limitations that we have in our body. A different dimension of existence might be a way to put that. Now in verse 41, he goes on and he says, there is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars, for one star differeth from another star in glory. Did you see the super moon on the way in? And if you take a look at that, hey, if you didn't see it, this is your last chance for this year. So now don't go running out of the service to see it. Hopefully you can see it after the service. There's a difference between the sun and the moon and the stars, right? We know that the sun, for instance, is giving heat and light to our planet. Were it not for the sun, our planet could not exist. this life that we enjoy on this planet could not exist. We're completely dependent on the sun, we're dependent on the location where God put it, how it relates to the earth. The moon is also an important part of our existence, but the moon is different from the sun because the moon doesn't produce its own light, it reflects the light from the sun, and when we see the moon glowing tonight, that super moon, it's just reflecting the light that's coming from the sun and we're seeing that. The stars as we see them sprinkled through the sky the other night brother Fetterman brought his telescope over here and set it up out in the field and we were looking at some of the planets and Off at the stars off in the distance and admiring God's handiwork And I always love how it says there in the book of Genesis chapter 1 that he made the stars also Just like an afterthought. Oh I'll bet they would enjoy some stars. Let me put those out there. And the finger work of God that we enjoy, the great glory that we see in creation, there's a difference between these bodies. Now we call them bodies, and Paul is making this difference. There are There's one star that differ from another star in glory. God made a differentiation in creation. He's the designer. He made it to be this way for his own glory. So the question that Paul seems to be bringing to our mind in answer to the question, what kind of a body is going to be in the resurrection and how are people going to be raised when the body goes into the ground and we know it deteriorates, how is there going to be a resurrection Then it seems that Paul, in his illustration, though he doesn't verbally say this or provide this question, but it seems as if he is asking this, if God is able to provide so much variety and diversity within his creation, is he not also able to give man, specifically those who are in Christ, a new and better body in the resurrection? Can God not do that if he is the master designer? So there is a principle that's expounded There's a difference that is observed, and this argument is all building one on another. Now in verses 42 through 44, Paul explains a superiority. So now he's going to jump from what he's been reasoning about. Okay, you know that we see some illustrations in nature. You know we see some things that point to God's design and God's handiwork. Verse 42, he says this, is the resurrection of the dead. In other words, the fact that God is able to do something different, something spectacular, that we couldn't imagine how He could do it. Now, He gives several steps, if you will, or illustrations of what the resurrection of the dead will be like. And note this in verse 42, first of all, it is sown in corruption, it is raised in corruption. So let's talk about these four contrasts and what Paul is saying is the resurrected body, the body that God is going to give us in the resurrection is superior in every way to the body that we have now. First of all, let me say that this ought to be a great consolation to us tonight, especially to those of you who are getting a little older and realizing the limitations of your body and realizing, hey, this body, though we are fearfully and wonderfully made, our body is marred by sin and that we see a lot of decline that's going on in our lives and in our physical life, in our physical existence. When a person dies, He says that body is sown in corruption and it is raised in incorruption. Now think about these two words. Corruption means spoiling or destruction. When someone dies, their body is planted in the ground. this corrupt body that we are living in right now, which houses, if you will, our soul and our spirit, and one day this body is going to die, and this body is going to go into the ground. Now, we're familiar with this, and I don't mean to be offensive tonight, but we understand that once your heart stops beating, and your body stops circulating blood, the process of decay begins very quickly. The body begins to break down. The Bible tells us that worms will eat our body. The Bible tells us that our body will return to the dust. For some people, their bodies are destroyed in death. In some sort of a destructive act, their body ceases to look the way that it did when they were alive. And on and on we could go. This body is sown in corruption. When we die, our bodies are subject to corruption because of the consequences of sin. In death, our bodies begin to decompose and return to dust. But then he says, the body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption. Now, incorruption is the exact opposite of corruption. When we are resurrected, those of us who are in Christ, it will be with an incorruptible body, a body that is not subject to failure. not subject to sickness or decay. It's not cursed by sin. It is not in any way ever going to age or decline in health. In other words, we will have a body like, I believe, Adam and Eve had before they sinned in the garden. We will have a body that is incorruptible. Isn't that a wonderful thought to think about? And sometimes, and we're going to get to the conclusion of all of this, but sometimes we think about, you know, in this life, our bodies cause us a lot of trouble, don't they? They ache, they hurt, we're sick, there's diseases, there's things that people suffer with. But you know, if you're a child of God, you can look forward to one day being raised with an incorruptible body. What a wonderful thought that is. The second of all, he says in verse 43, it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. You know, when we die, Our body goes in the ground, and the reason that we die is because we are sinners. There is a vivid picture in death of the fact that we have broken God's law, that we are guilty before God, and because of that, we exist under the curse of sin. We exist in a place where the consequences of sin still have a bearing upon our body. Death is a testimony to the fact that we are lawbreakers and that we have been found as guilty before God. Every one of us is going to die unless we're caught up in the rapture, which we'll talk about in the next section. But most of us, unless the Lord comes and calls us to Himself, then we're going to die. And in that death, that's going to be a time where everybody's going to know, yep, they're a sinner. Yep, they broke God's law. Yep, they did disobey God, because that is the consequence of sin. In contrast, though, when we are raised, it will be that we will be raised not in dishonor, but we will be raised to glory. What a contrast between dishonor and glory. When God raises us from the dead, when we're resurrected, we will be glorified, we will be like Christ. I was reading John Phillips' comments on this section and he says of this verse, now we have a body that is clogged with lust, but then we will have a body that is clothed in light. What a glorious prospect to think about how God is going to transform us. You see, it's not just that our body is spoiling and that we have physical problems with our body, but it is actually that sin still dwells inside of us. Though we are saved, we still struggle with sin, and there's a part of us as believers that longs to be set free from that, that longs to be set free from the indwelling presence of sin that we struggle with from day to day. And the promise that we have is one day we will realize that. One day we will be raised to glory, and I believe we will be raised to the glory of God. Third of all, in verse 43, he says, this body, when it dies, is sown in weakness and raised in power. Death is really the ultimate expression of our weakness, isn't it? We think we are strong. We think we can overcome. We think that we can do things, that we can really tough it out. But you know, when death comes, When our appointment with death comes, there is not one thing that we will be able to do to avoid that appointment. There is not one finger that we will be able to lift to get around the appointment that we have with death. Why? Because when it comes right down to it, we are weak. None of us are strong enough to avoid or overcome death. I'm reminded more and more, more funerals that I go to in my life, I'm reminded every time that life is a very fragile thing. Do you know, when you think about, and we don't, when we're young, we don't think all that much about this. We tend to have a little bit of a lackadaisical approach to this, and we think, well, I'll always be alive, you know, it won't ever happen to me. But life hangs on a very fragile thread, doesn't it? How many of us have been to a funeral of someone who died in a time of vitality and strength? They were healthy and strong, and some accident or something befell them, and we think, oh, what a tragedy that this would take place, because death really shows our weakness. Our body will be sown in weakness, but it will be raised in power. We will be raised by the power of God. The word power there is that word dunamis. It means force and strength, a miraculous work. You see, we're not gonna be raised from the dead by our own power, but God is going to raise us from the dead. It will be a miraculous work of God that we will be raised from the dead if we belong to Christ. And he goes on in verse 44 and he says, it is sown, when we die, it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body and there is a spiritual body. Now, we know what a natural body is. We all have one, right? Our body is subject to the laws of nature, to the laws of time and space. Our body is frail and weak. Our body has many limitations, and we realize that. We recognize what a natural body is. There is a natural body. We have one. We know what it's like. When we die, our body will be sown as a natural body, but in the resurrection, if you're in Christ, you will be raised a spiritual body. Now tonight, we can really only imagine what a spiritual body is like. There are some little hints and some indications in the scripture of what a spiritual body is like. I mentioned one of them in the message this morning, and that when we were talking about Moses and Elias who spoke with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration, and they were recognizable. They were known to the disciples somehow, and I don't think it was because they wore name tags, but somehow they knew who they were. When we think about a spiritual body, the Bible tells us that spiritual body is eternal. The Bible tells us that that spiritual body is without many of the limitations that we know today, that we are familiar with. When we think about the limitations of time and space and movement and all those sorts of things, those seem to be removed. For instance, Jesus in His resurrected body, when He came to see the disciples after His resurrection, He just walked right through the walls and He was in the room with them. And yet, at the same time, they could touch his body and they could feel the prints of the nails in his hands. He ate and He drank with them in His resurrected body. Isn't this interesting? To think about what His body was like, which incidentally is what our body will be like. He is the first fruits of the resurrection. So we learn a lot by looking at what Jesus' body was like after His resurrection, and that's what we find out about what our body will be like. This body, which Paul describes here as a spiritual body, will be fully in the image of God. I didn't say that we would be God, but we would be fully in the image of God. We would be exactly the way, we will be exactly the way that God originally designed man to be. The body that God will give us in the resurrection will be made and fitted for a different kind of existence, for life in a different dimension. I'm reminded of Philippians chapter 3 and verse 21, where Paul says this, who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself. Philippians 3.21 gives us an indication of how exactly this will take place, and that is by the power of God. Only God could do such a thing as is described in Philippians 3 and 1 Corinthians chapter 15. And the wonderful, powerful work of the resurrection will be all God's doing. So we see that there is a difference, which is here explained to us, and a superiority. When we think about what it will be like when we die, and the body that we will receive in the resurrection is going to be a superior body. Listen, nobody ever got to heaven and said, I wish I could go back. There's no indication of that in the scriptures. There's no idea that anybody in Christ ever died and said, I'm discontented with what I have here, I wish I could go back to earth. Now we think, because we don't know what heaven is like, and we don't know a whole lot about what that body is going to be like, we often think, I don't know if I want to go to heaven, I'd like to stay here. And there is that tension. Now, I'm not encouraging any of you to get a suicide pact together or something like that. We're not encouraging you to get to heaven faster. The Lord will take care of all that in His time. And there is a natural fear that we have of death, but at the same time, as believers, there ought to be an anticipation. And Paul said, Listen, in the book of Philippians, I think it's there in chapter 1, where he talked about how it's needful for me to stay and be present with you, but there was also part of him that longed to be with the Lord. He said, I would rather go and be with the Lord, but I know it's needful for me to stay with you. And so Paul was torn between two things as he longed for heaven. There's a superiority explained. Then in verses 45 through 49, there's a kinship that is recommended to us. He's going to continue his discussion about the difference between a natural body and a spiritual body now in verse 45. He says, and so it is written, the first man, Adam, was made a living soul. The last Adam was made a quickening spirit." Now, we should know and point out, I think you may know this already, but just to make sure we're all on the same page, when he talks about the first Adam, he's talking about Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, Adam who sinned against God and rebelled against the commandment of God, and because of his sin, death came upon all men, for that all have sinned. When he talks about the last Adam, or as he's also called, the second Adam in the book of Romans, he's talking about none other than the Lord Jesus Christ. You see, we receive life in a physical sense, of course, because God allows it, but we receive that through procreation because of the life that was given to Adam. And because life was given to Adam, that is passed down to us, but along with that is passed down his sin nature. And so, because we are children of Adam, in this sense, Adam is our father, because of that, death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. But Jesus is the second Adam, and Jesus provides a new opportunity for life by His victory over death through His resurrection. Now he says, he goes on to say in verse number 46, how be it that was not first, which is spiritual, but that which is natural. So follow his reasoning. You had to be born physically before you could be born spiritually, right? You had to physically exist before you could be born again. The natural comes first and the spiritual comes second. This is an established order, which is laid out in verse number 46. We are born, all of us who are here tonight, have been born as natural beings. You all are made in the image of Adam. You all have the sin nature of Adam, and that's been passed down to you. We're born into this world as natural beings. But if you are in Christ, you've been born again to spiritual life. So you have more than physical life, you have spiritual life because you are in Christ. In verse 47, he says, the first man, the first Adam, is of the earth. He's earthy. Okay? Tonight, you're all earthy. You're all earthy. That's why sometimes you smell so bad, because you're of the earth. It's true, isn't it? Why do we have odor? Why do we have these problems? Well, ultimately, because our bodies are decaying and dying, and we've got to cover that up. We've got to mask that. We're earthy. That means we're corrupt. We're subject to decay and destruction. We're subject to death, because we are of that first Adam, and he is earthy. And as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. The second Adam is not earthy, he's heavenly. He's entirely different. You say, but he died. But His death was different. His death was voluntary. His death was substitutionary. His death was unnecessary. Do you know, in this sense, Jesus did not have to die, except by the plan and decree of the Father, and the willing submission of the Son, because Jesus never sinned. Jesus, in His death, took our sin upon Himself, and He died in our place. But His death is altogether different than the death of any other human that has ever lived. Jesus is heavenly, and those who are of the heavenly Adam, those who are of this second Adam, Well, we will have an existence which is eternal and which is spiritual. By the way, I'm not going to get off too far on this, but we've received a down payment of that. And the down payment is what? The Holy Spirit that lives inside of us, that is going to deliver us into the presence of God when we die, and our soul and spirit will go to be with the Lord when our body goes into the ground. wonderful thought that God has provided for us. We have a heavenly nature. So we have an earthly nature, but we have a heavenly nature because why? We're from that second Adam. through faith in Christ. Now verse 49 says, And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. Tonight, you and I bear a human, earthly image. We look around tonight and we see, and there's variation, there's difference tonight in this auditorium. If you travel around the world, you'll see different people from different countries and backgrounds, and they'll look a little different. Maybe their skin color will be a little different, or the shape of their face, or their eye color, and different things about them, but we're all human beings. We all belong to the human race, and though there is variation, we look at other human beings and we say, there's another human being. Why? Because we all bear the image of Adam. And Adam was made in the image of God, but sin corrupted that likeness and obscured the image of God. But one day, for those of us who are in Christ, that will be changed, and we will no longer bear only the earthly image. One day we will bear the heavenly image, the image of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. Now it is true that believers are even now being changed into the image of Christ. That work is what we call sanctification. That's the work of the Holy Spirit of God. That is a work that is happening from the inside. But one day there is going to be a major transformation on the outside. And we will be formed into the image of Christ in every way from the inside out. One day we will be complete in the presence of Jesus in our resurrected body, and what a glorious day that will be. 1 John chapter 3 and verse number 2 says, Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when He shall appear, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. What does it mean to be like Him? I don't know completely, I just know that it's very good. You know when God made all that He made on the last day of creation, that sixth day before He took the day of rest, the Bible says God saw everything that He had made and it was very good. Now, sin has marred the creation of God, but one day, God will look again at His creation, which He has changed into the image of Christ, which He has delivered from the curse of sin, and once again, God will say, it is very good. But right now, all of creation is groaning and travailing together, waiting for the day of redemption. So there's a kinship that is recommended. I recommend that if Jesus Christ If you have not been related to Him through the second birth, if that second Adam has not placed you into the family of God through His sacrifice, and God has not become your Father, I recommend that kinship, because that gives you hope for the future. But finally, in verse number 50, and then we're done, there's a problem that is considered. And the problem is this. Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. Neither doth corruption inherit incorruption." So what is the problem? Here's the problem. We're still flesh and blood. We're still here. So on the other side of death, there's something that is really good that is in store for us something that is so Incredible that we can really not even find the language in our in our human ability to be able to express that There are things too wonderful to be described which God has laid up in store for his children But tonight flesh and blood are not able to inherit the kingdom of God because the kingdom of God is spiritual There must be a change for us to truly inherit God's kingdom. He says there in verse 50, that which is corruptible cannot inherit or possess in corruption. In other words, I cannot step from here to heaven because I am corrupt. and I am corruptible. Before I can step into the presence of the Lord, there has to be a change that takes place, and that change is what Paul is speaking about in the resurrection. Now when we think about spiritual riches and heavenly riches, and there are spiritual blessings which we enjoy today, but the full gamut of those riches we cannot enjoy in our corruptible bodies. So when we think about death, death is a fearful thing, but as a believer we realize that death is a doorway through which we pass in order to fully inherit the kingdom of God. What is on the other side is something that God has laid up in store for us. Obviously, you and I must be changed by the power of God in order to receive the true spiritual riches that God has in store for us. And so Paul is making this point, resurrection is necessary. If we're ever going to be in the presence of God, if we're ever going to enjoy the riches that God has set aside for us, if we're ever going to be delivered from the corruption, from the decay, from the defilement of sin, there must be a change, and that change is going to involve our body. There's going to be a new body that will be given to us. Now, consider with me four implications tonight, real quick. First of all, This implication, our resurrected body will be similar enough to our corruptible body that we will be recognizable. But that body will be superior in every way and different enough that we could say it's not the same as the body that we have now. You say, how is God going to do that? I have no idea. I really have no idea. The Bible doesn't explain for us how God is going to do that, but the Bible is very clear that we will know one another in heaven, in the presence of the Lord. In our resurrected bodies, we will know one another. We'll be able to recognize one another, but there's going to be something different about us, and all of that defilement that goes along with sin will be taken away. Second of all, this implication, resurrection really for us should take away much of the fear of death. Why? Because for the believer death is not final. Death is a doorway for the believer to eternity. We don't need to fear death because the doctrine of the resurrection is true. I don't mean tonight to say that death is easy. I don't mean to say tonight that there wouldn't be any hesitation in us, and that if you have any hesitation, you're unspiritual. No, I just mean that as believers, we really don't need to fear death. And this is the conclusion that Paul's going to come to in the next section, and he's gonna talk about the sting of death and how we are delivered from that through the resurrection of Christ. But you know, for us, death, Though it is, and I think the fearful part of death for us is the unknown. And it is also the separation that takes place because when someone dies, we no longer can fellowship with them. We can't communicate with them. We can't go out to their grave and talk to them and have them talk back to us. And if you have somebody talking back to you at a grave, it's not the person that was buried there. It's a spirit that is talking to you, a fallen angel, and you ought to be careful about dabbling with that sort of stuff. There's not a communication between us and those who've gone before us. Now, one day when we step across, we'll be able to communicate with them if they're in Christ, and we're in Christ. But there's no need for us as believers to fear death, because the doctrine of the resurrection is true. Third of all, this implication I believe tonight, as we consider the doctrine of the resurrection, Jesus is worthy of our worship and our praise, because we owe everything about the resurrection to Jesus. If Jesus did not raise from the dead, There's no hope that we could raise from the dead. The same power that raised Jesus from the dead is the same power that will raise us from the dead. And what a wonderful truth that is tonight as we think about Jesus and we think about what He accomplished in the gospel, the death, burial, and resurrection, that ought to cause us to worship Him, to say, Jesus, You are worthy of my worship and my praise, because I was lost and condemned, I was undone, I was unable to save myself, but Jesus delivered me through His sacrificial death on the cross and His triumphant resurrection from the dead. Finally tonight, fourth of all, if we truly believe in the resurrection, and it sounds like most of you do, then we really should live right now like eternity is real. And this is also the point that Paul is going to make in the next section, and we'll bring this out more strongly in the next section as we study that together. But Paul really makes this point, if Christ is risen from the dead, and one day we're going to be raised from the dead, and we're going to continue in the presence of God and eternity is real, then we ought to stop playing games right now. and we ought to live for Christ. But we ought to continue on, and we ought not to let ourselves get discouraged by the things that burden us and weigh us down in this life, because truly Jesus is worthy of our praise, and one day we're going to be in His presence for all of eternity, worshiping Him. If we truly believe in the resurrection, I believe that should make a difference in our life right now. Tonight, the resurrection is true. Paul says if somebody doesn't believe in the resurrection, he calls them, thou fool. It's obvious all around us there is evidence that there is a resurrection and that one day we're going to be in the presence of the Lord. We don't necessarily understand all the mechanics of that resurrection or all the details of it, but we have enough details given to us in this passage that we can with confidence say, if I am in Christ, one day I'm going to be raised from the dead. Praise God for that. By the way, and some people have asked about this, what about people who are in Christ and their body is destroyed? You know when a body goes into the ground, and of course now they put a lot of chemicals and things into the body to preserve the body longer, but eventually that body's going to decay, and it's going to deteriorate, and it's gonna return to dust. You say, how is that going to happen? Well, God is going to make a new body. He's going to make it completely different, but similar enough that we'll recognize it. Isn't that an amazing thought? Just like God made out of dust a man that He called Adam, and He breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, God is able to give us a new body with which we will be able to glorify and praise God for all of eternity. Tonight, would you stand with me with your heads bowed and your eyes closed? Maybe tonight God has challenged you. Maybe you want to come and just talk to the Lord and worship Him a little bit about the truth of the resurrection. And Kristen, if you could just play a verse of that song, Have Thine Own Way, Lord, Have Thine Own Way. Maybe God has spoken to your heart tonight. Maybe tonight you're here and you say, I don't have a hope of heaven. I've never been born again. I have the relationship with the first Adam, but I've never been born again, and I'm not a part of the family of God through what Jesus did on the cross. We'd love to help you tonight from the scriptures, and if we could show you what Jesus has done so that you can be forgiven and have a home in heaven, we'd love to help you with that tonight. But if God's spoken to your heart, we want to give you an opportunity to respond. As the piano and the organ begin to play the invitation hymn, you come and Talk to the Lord if you'd like to. You can talk to the Lord there in your seat. We'll just have a couple of minutes to reflect on this passage and what God would have us do in response to the preaching of the Word of God.