1 Corinthians 15:35-36


1 Corinthians 15:35-36 (ESV)
[35] But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?” [36] You foolish person! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies.

We are in the midst of an international crisis, a pandemic. It has filled many with fear and has raised anxiety around the globe. One little virus has crashed the stock market and brought much of the world to a standstill. It has spread quickly largely because the world has become so interconnected and mobile. It has spread unreasonable panic because we live in an age of unprecedented connectedness and communication. So, what does that have to do with the verses quoted above?

1 Corinthians 15 is a chapter on the resurrection of both Jesus and his followers. A naturalist will argue that there is nothing after death. That leads many to an unhealthy panic. In the face of something like a pandemic they are filled with fear and reflect on all their hopes and dreams that seem to have vanished. A mystic, on the other hand, sees their hope in a mystical union with he spirit world or with some universal spirit or energy. But Christianity sees hope beyond this life in a physical resurrection.

Belief in the resurrection does several things for the believer. First, we lose that fear of “what if.” What if I don’t get to do . . .?  What if I don’t get to go . . . or see . . . ? We understand that life is more than just here and now. There is so much more beyond this life that the “what ifs” lose their power.

Second, we believe that when we die we do not lose our identity. We do not simply merge with a universal energy. We are not disembodied spirits looking for a home. We do not cease to exist becoming part of a black nothingness. Abraham continued to be Abraham after he died. Elijah continued to be Elijah. Moses continued to be Moses. Jesus continues to be Jesus. You continue to be you.  

Third, you enter into the fullness of what you were created to be. Redemption is just that. It is redemption. Romans 8 teaches us that all creation is groaning as it waits for the redemption. This earth will be burned up and be recreated. Revelation 21 starts out, “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth” (Rev 21:1). At the center of that new creation is a city from which the glory of God shines. “By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it” (Rev 21:24). In the resurrection we will find purpose as we care for God’s new creation for his glory.

Fourth, our new bodies will be so superior to our old one that C.S. Lewis indicated if we would encounter our future self we would be tempted to bow in worship. Jesus transfiguration described in Matthew 17, Mark 9, and Luke 9 reveals Jesus transfigured and talking with Moses and Elijah. Their presence was so impressive that Peter thought it only appropriate to build three tabernacles for them. Jesus resurrection body was identifiable to the Apostles and yet it does not seem to have been bound by the same restrictions as our earthly bodies. In John 20 the disciples were hiding in a locked room when suddenly Jesus was there and yet his body was one that could eat, speak, and be touched. We do not know exactly what our resurrection bodies will be like, but they will be spectacular.

The pandemic called Covid-19 has thrown the world into a panic. Let me encourage you, if you are not a believer in Jesus Christ, to consider him. Reach out to someone you know is a believer and ask them to share their hope and their faith with you. Trust Jesus. For those of us who are believers, do not give in to the fear. We need to take rational precautions. But we must not allow fear to keep us from ministering to others. Neither should it fill us with the panic of the world. If we do catch the virus our future is in God’s hands. If we live through it, we live for a purpose. If we do not live through it, we die with hope. That is the power of the resurrection. Because of our hope in a resurrected Lord, let me leave you with his words found in John 14:27,
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.


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