The Resurrection of the Body
1 Corinthians 15:35-57
3 Wrong Views of our Bodies: Deify, Demonize, or Dismiss
Main Idea: There is goodness in our bodies that will be fully realized when they are resurrected like Jesus in glory.
“The way we treat the body is a sign of what we believe about the future… Christians respect the body because we believe our material bodies are part of God’s goal for us and for the universe. At the same time, we don’t make the body ultimate…The body returns to dust. Those who make the body ultimate miss the vision of the kingdom. And those who dismiss the importance of the body misread that what matters ultimately is not just spiritual life but embodied life. That changes the way we live now.” ~ Russell Moore
I. Our Current Bodies
Paul describes our current, physical bodies as:
Created by God (15:38), and therefore good in nature.
Like seeds (15:36-37) that will be sown into the ground.
Fallen & mortal (15:42-44, 53), marked by being “perishable, dishonorable, weak, earthly, and mortal.”
Genesis 3:19: “... for you are dust and to dust you shall return.”
Having a physical body means that we are limited creatures. Not all of these limitations are a result of the fall but are actually in God’s good design for humans. Part of honoring & being good stewards of our physical bodies is accepting these limitations.
“[We have unconsciously] taken a view of human beings as advanced machines. Thus, we talk casually about how we are ‘wired’ and liken the brain to a computer, our bodies to hardware, and our personality to software. But as useful as these metaphors may sometimes be, the brain isn’t a computer, nor do our limbs contain any metal… [the body] is not actually code.” ~ David Zahl, Seculosity, 71.
II. Our Future Bodies
Paul describes our future bodies as:
A seed reaching full potential (15:36).
Resurrected, not resuscitated (15:51).
Imperishable, glorified, powerful, spiritual, and immortal (15:42-44, 53).
We often view our “glorified” future bodies in vanity, but this is meant to encourage the church that there is hope beyond the grave. Right now we still feel the “sting” and “victory” of death, but at the resurrection: “Death is swallowed up in victory” (15:54-55).
Romans 8:22–23: For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.
III. Jesus’ Resurrection & Our Resurrection
Jesus’ incarnation and his bodily resurrection emphasize the important role our physical bodies play in God’s design and goals for us and creation.
“The God in whose image we are made took on human form. The incarnation established that God is with us in all the dust, the sweat, and the tears of our physicality. Though the incarnation leaves no question about the goodness of our corporeality, the bodily resurrection of Jesus adds additional evidence. The resurrection of the body means that to be human with God is to be with him not as disembodied souls, but as people with noses, faces, arms, and legs that are similar to those we currently have.” ~ Matthew Lee Anderson
The emphasis of the Scriptures is that our resurrected body will be like Jesus’ resurrected body (15:49).
Philippians 3:20–21: But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body…
1 John 3:2: Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.
Jesus’ resurrection is the “firstfruits” (cf. 15:20) of the resurrection, and our existence for all eternity in the new heavens & the new earth will be in a physical body. This is the victory (15:57) we have through Jesus Christ.
Heidelberg Catechism, Q&A1:
Q: What is your only comfort in life and in death?
A: That I am not my own but belong—body and soul, in life and in death to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ...
