The Nature of the Resurrection Body

Transcript

GR 1369
02-03-08
The Nature of the Resurrection Body
I Corinthians 15:35-41
Gil Rugh

About the resurrection of the body of the believer in Jesus Christ, a subject of great interest to us all because every single one of us who have placed our faith in Jesus Christ are going to experience bodily resurrection or bodily transformation. And we're in I Corinthians 15. Now we've looked at the matter of the resurrection more broadly in a previous study. The Bible indicates there will be a resurrection of the righteous and a resurrection of the unrighteous. Every person who has ever died is going to experience bodily resurrection. Paul has chosen to limit his focus in I Corinthians 15 to just the resurrection of believers.

Before we move into that put something in I Corinthians 15 and come back to John 5. Even though we are focusing on the resurrection of believers only, I don't want you to lose sight of the fact that the scripture is clear—unbelievers will also be resurrected. Jesus spoke to that fact when He was on earth. In John 5:28 Christ is speaking, and He said, do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice and will come forth, those who did the good to a resurrection of life, those who committed evil to a resurrection of judgment. So you see both the righteous and the wicked will experience bodily resurrection. One is spoken of as a resurrection to life, the other is a resurrection to judgment, condemnation. In Revelation 20 we saw that the resurrection to life is called the first resurrection, the resurrection of judgment is in effect the last resurrection and will occur in the context of the Great White Throne judgment. So believer and unbeliever, righteous and unrighteous are going to be bodily raised from the dead.

But Paul's concern in writing to the church at Corinth in I Corinthians 15 is to address the matter of the bodily resurrection of believers. Some have infiltrated the church at Corinth and are teaching that there will be no bodily resurrection for God's people. In chapter 15 verse 12, now if Christ is preached that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? And that's the issue that Paul has been dealing with.

Through the first 34 verses of this chapter, which we have already looked into, Paul has shown the importance of the bodily resurrection of believers. In fact, without bodily resurrection for believers, Christianity has no validity. The resurrection of Jesus Christ would have to be a lie, and all those who placed their faith in Christ are wasting their time, they've been deluded, they are a pitiful group of people. But Paul has demonstrated that there will indeed be bodily resurrection for the believers. Christ's resurrection is an evidence of that.

In verses 29-34 Paul showed how this doctrine of the resurrection has an impact on how we live our lives. Knowing that someday we will be bodily raised from the dead is to shape the way that we conduct ourselves today. And if you don't believe in bodily resurrection, then the focus of your life should be get all the pleasure, all the enjoyment, all the satisfaction, everything you can get, get it now because this is all you'll get. Why waste your life suffering for Christ if there is no future resurrection? Why sacrifice? Why lead others to Christ if it's only for this life. Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow you die, and if there is no resurrection, that's it. So enjoy life to the fullest while you can. So our doctrine controls our behavior. So in verse 33 he told them, do not be deceived, bad company corrupts good morals. The bad company in this context is those who were denying bodily resurrection. And if you allow that teaching to continue and permeate the church at Corinth, it will corrupt your morals because pleasure will become your goal. We look around us and think, that's the way the world lives today, for immediate satisfaction, for immediate gratification, for all the enjoyment, all the pleasure, all the satisfaction they can get. That's the way the unbeliever ought to live his life. And if there is no resurrection, that's the way we all ought to live our lives, because what else is there.

So he gave them a stinging rebuke in verse 34, become sober minded. Sober up, clear your heads, this is what you ought to be doing, think like you ought to think. Stop sinning. For some have no knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame. It was sin for the church at Corinth to be tolerating this kind of teaching in their midst, To allow those who deny the bodily resurrection of the believer to be teaching and influencing the church was a sin for the church. It wasn't an indication of their breadth, their toleration, it was sin. And they ought to be ashamed. Those who have no knowledge of God are those who are denying the resurrection. And he's going to pick up this idea as we move on. At the foundation of this denial of bodily resurrection is no knowledge of the living God, a denial of who He is and of His sovereign power.

So Paul is going to turn his attention now, beginning with verse 35 and really now through the rest of the chapter, to focus on the nature of the resurrection body. He's talked about the fact of the resurrection, that it is an essential truth for Christianity. Now he's going to talk about the nature of the resurrection body, something of its character and characteristics. Then he'll conclude this chapter by talking about the transformation of body that will occur for believers who do not experience physical death but are alive at the return of the Lord for the church.

Key statement in this whole section is in verse 38, but God gives it a body just as He wished. The word body is going to become key through this entire discussion. He'll repeat it again and again and again, and he'll talk about different kinds of bodies. But key in this is the sovereignty of God—God gives it a body just as He wished, He desired, He determined. That's what those who denied the resurrection weren't taking into consideration—the awesome God who has determined the coming events.

Let's pick up with verse 35, but someone will say, how are the dead raised? And with what kind of body do they come? And really these questions feed off one another. How are the dead raised? How could that happen? You're going to take a body that has been dead for 500 years and turned to dust and maybe the bones have been scattered or whatever, and you're going to raise it from the dead. How could that happen? And then what kind of body would they have? Questions that people would ask today. How are you going to raise a body that was burned to ashes and all you have is those fine ashes and some have been scattered to the winds, some have been dropped out of airplanes, some have been spread over the ocean. I mean, what kind of body do you even have to raise? And then what kind of body would you have if you did raise it? What about those bodies that got buried at sea and the fish ate the body and now it's in the food chain. And on it goes. Then you have the wild animals that attack the body and consumed it and it's in the food chain in another way. Just think a little bit, is it rational to think that you could get this body raised again? I mean, what would you have? And do you think this body.......... Look at it, can you live in eternity in this body?

What was really going on is those who are denying the bodily resurrection are using human reason and logic. Let me just ask you a couple questions. How are the dead going to be raised? What kind of body would a dead person have? I mean you stop and think about it, it just doesn't make any sense, it's not logical. We might say, well, they seemed like good questions to me. They weren't good questions to Paul. You'll note his response to the questions. Verse 36, you fool. That gets right to the heart of the matter. How would you like to raise your question in an audience like this and say, I have a question? And when you get done I said, you fool. You say, I won't be back to this church. Paul is very blunt. He has no tolerance for this question or these kinds of questions because there is a foundation for the question and that is a rejection of the God who has made clear what He will do.

The background for the declaration here is the Old Testament. Come back to Psalm 14. Note how the psalm begins, the fool has said in his heart, there is no God. You see that's the foundation here. At the heart of these questions is a denial of the sovereign God and the exercising of His power in the realm of His creation. So such a question comes from a fool who begins be disallowing the reality of a personal God who can act to influence and determine the destiny of His creation. It's the fool who has said in His heart, there is no God. And you'll note how it goes on, they are corrupt, they have committed abominable deeds. There is no one who does good, and on those verses that awe are familiar with as they are quoted in Romans 3. And you see how this relates to what Paul has just talked about in I Corinthians 15:33-34, where bad company corrupts good morals. The bad company in the context being those who deny the resurrection, which at heart is a denial of the personal sovereign God who has revealed Himself in His Word. So their conduct is corrupted. Why? They have said in their heart, there is no God, and for that they are a fool. In the Greek translation of the Old Testament, the Septuagint, uses the same basic word as we have translated fool in I Corinthians 15.

Come over to Psalm 53, we'll just stop for a moment because it's basically a repeat of that psalm where God drives home the point again, same words. The fool has said in his heart, there is no God, they are corrupt, have committed abominable justice. There is no one who does good. Same basic psalm repeated. It's the fool who has said in his heart there is no God. That begins to shape conduct and behavior. Why do we live in such a wicked, vile world? Why are the people always trying, it seems, to push the boundaries of manifesting their vileness more openly? Because they have said in their heart, there is no God. And they are living accordingly. They are fools.

Come over to Psalm 92. Doesn't use the word fool, but expresses the same idea and uses related words. Psalm 92:5, how great are your works, oh Lord. Your thoughts or purposes are very deep. A senseless man has no knowledge, nor does a stupid man understand this. You see the senseless man, the stupid man, another way of talking about a fool, denies the greatness of God's works, the wonder of His purposes. They don't have any knowledge of God. Remember Paul said in I Corinthians 15:34, some have no knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame. They were tolerating in their midst those who were influencing the church, people who had no knowledge of God. Any wonder he says, you fool. Those who were trying to deny bodily resurrection by using these kinds of questions to confuse the church reveal they are in the line of the fools revealed in the Old Testament.

Come back to Luke in the New Testament, Luke 12:16. Jesus is speaking. He told them a parable saying, the land of a rich man was very productive. He began reasoning to himself saying, what shall I do since I have no place to store my crops? Then he said, this is what I will do. I will tear down my barns, build larger ones. There I will store all my grain and my goods. I will say to my soul, soul, you have many goods laid up for many years to come. Take your ease, eat, drink and be merry. You see that's how the world lives. We need to be careful that we don't adopt that lifestyle ourselves. You see they live without an understanding of the sovereign work and purposes of God. What does God say to this kind of man? God said to him, you fool, senseless man, devoid of wisdom, this very night your soul is required of you. Now who will own what you have prepared? So is the man who stores up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God. You see the fool is the man who tries to reason and think but does not take into consideration the sovereign God and the revelation He has given.

Stop one more place—Romans 1:21-22. For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks. They became futile, empty, in their speculations. Their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools. We have different words for fools here than we have in Corinthians, the same basic idea. Jeremiah 8:9 puts it this way, behold they have rejected the word of the Lord, what kind of wisdom do they have? They have rejected the word of the Lord, what kind of wisdom do they have? They have no wisdom.

Back in I Corinthians 15, that word translated fool is basically the word wisdom with negative on the front, no wisdom. Well no wisdom is a fool, a senseless person. You've rejected the Word of God, what kind of wisdom do you have? You have no wisdom, you're a fool, you're denying the resurrection of the body. Old Testament scriptures are clear on that, the teaching of the apostles is clear. You are rejecting God's Word. When you reject His Word, you reject Him, you are a fool. You know it's hard for us as believers even to get over this. We are so influenced by the thinking of the world and desire of the world to think well of us, desire of the world to respect us, like the world to think that we're intelligent, too. And we're constantly trying to make adjustments so the world will look at us positively. But they've rejected our God. When they do their science, they don't begin with the opening chapter of Genesis and the sovereign God who has brought all things into existence to accomplish His determined purposes. No, you have to begin where science does—God can't have a place in this, we have to begin excluding God and come up with answers. So now you understand you have the answer of fools who have no wisdom.

So that's where Paul is with this whole subject of those who deny the resurrection. He cannot prove the resurrection to unbelievers, he does not attempt to prove it to them. But he is going to offer evidence for believers that the concept of bodily resurrection shouldn't be so strange to them. God has given illustrations of it, if you will, throughout His creation. So it shouldn't be so difficult for us who have our faith in the living God who has brought all things into existence, to see that He could do what goes beyond what you could fathom just with finite, limited evaluation.

He's going to start with the plant world and move from the plant world to the fleshly world—humans, animals, birds, fish. He'll move from the fleshly world to the planet world, if I can use that, the world of the planets. In each of these realms we're going to see that there is a continuity and a connection to be made. And yet there is an amazing diversity that we have to recognize. So he begins with verse 36 when he says, you fool, that which you sow does not come to life unless it dies. Let's look at the plant world. A seed must be put in the ground so it can germinate, basically disintegrate, die. And then out of that comes life, a life far beyond what you can imagine. Verse 37, that which you sow, you do not sow the body which is to be, but a bare grain, perhaps of wheat or of something else. Important connections here. We've talked about God's sovereign power is behind all of this, verse 38 being the key emphasis that permeates the chapter, this section. God gives it a body just as He wished. In verse 36 when he says, that which you sow does not come to life. That's really a passive verb. That which you sow is not caused to come to life, is not given life unless it dies. The passive indicates God is bringing it about. That's not just something that happens. For the scriptural writers there is no such thing as just Mother Nature or the laws of nature. There is the sovereign work of an all-powerful God who has directed and determined what will take place. We would say, that's just the process of nature, you plant this seed and you get this plant. That happens because the sovereign God has determined that is what will happen. That is what is behind when it says, that which you sow is not given life, is not brought to life unless it dies. God's plan is determined, He will have that seed placed in the ground, disintegrate and die, if you will, so out of it He will give a life. And it's a life beyond what you would have imagined just looking at that little seed. That which you sow........ You do not sow the body which is to be, but a bare grain, perhaps of wheat or something else.

We live in corn country and you know I have no agricultural background. I pastored for a few years before I came to Indian Hills in a small, country church. And after three years in that country church, one of my dear elders said to me, Gil, you've been here three years and you do not know one more thing about farming than you did when you came. And he was right. I am dense when it comes to certain things. So I'm not going to give an agricultural lesson here because I don't want to have to be corrected. But I do know that you can plant a seed and out of that seed comes a spectacular plant that seems to have no connection to the seed. I mean, when I came they said about corn, knee high at the 4th of July. I look at corn and say, look how those things have grown. How do you get that out of that little seed? You can look at a tree and see how you get that mighty oak out of that small seed. You get something out of that little seed that is all out of proportion to the seed itself. I mean, can you imagine you take a little child who has not learned these things yet and you show them this little seed and you say, we're going to put this in the ground and then we're going to cover it with dirt. And that seed is going to disintegrate, come apart, break up. And you know what's going to come out of that? Big, tall stalk of corn, just like that. They say, that can't be. How would you get all that out of there? I don't see how that all could be in there.

We're so used to this all around us, it just becomes normal. But this is the point Paul is making. Where he's going is, as you know, how can you have a problem with something glorious, a glorified body coming out of this physical body? We see it all the time in the little seeds and something coming out. So the first example or illustration is the plant. Now there is that diversity, that the glory and splendor of that plant seems all out of proportion to that little nothing of a seed. But there is also an important connection. A corn seed produces a corn plant, a wheat seed produces a wheat plant, a tulip bulb or a tulip seed produces a tulip plant, a tomato .............. And on we go. So there is an inseparable connection that joins them. Out of that seed comes that kind of plant. So even though it is different in so many ways, and the body of the plant is so much more spectacular than the body of that seed, there is a direct connection. That particular seed, Paul says, perhaps of wheat, only produces a wheat plant. And even though someone like me might look at different seeds and I wouldn't know how to tell them apart. Some of you who are into this would say, I can tell that's a seed for this or that. But you know what happens. I could plant that seed and say, I'm planting a tomato plant here. Oh really? Then why did you put a corn seed in the ground? A seed is a seed, they all look the same to me. We'll get tomatoes, I planted it in my yard. Corn doesn't grown in my yard, tomatoes grow in my yard. So if I put it in my garden, I'll get tomatoes. You say, no, you have to have the right seed. So you see the connection. So this will permeate everything going through this chapter. There is wonderful diversity and difference, but there is an essential sameness—corn seed produced corn plant, wheat seed produces wheat plant and so on.

How does this happen? Verse 38, God gives it a body just as He wished, God gives it a body just as He wished. You don't say, well, nature takes its course. Nature doesn't take its course. God directs the course of nature, God determines what will happen in nature, God has sovereignly determined that out of that corn seed will come a marvelous corn plant and not with all of our knowledge could we ever push that and twist it and get it all back in the box again, so to speak, of the confines of the body of that seed. God gives it a body just as He wished. We need to be careful. Sometimes we use current terminology, the laws of nature. But we ought to be careful that we don't cross the mind in our thinking and forget that God is the one sovereign. Nothing happens outside His sovereign determination. Now certain things are going on, but they are going on because God determined they would go on. That's why our science gets reduced to silliness, foolishness, because they refuse to acknowledge God. So we're going constantly looking, there has to be something back there that brought this about, that brought this about. And God can't be in here. And so we determine that we will spend our lives in emptiness. They became futile in their thinking, as Romans 1 said. God gives it a body just as He wished. To each of the seeds a body of its own.

Come back to Genesis 1. This is when God established this, and again you find anytime the New Testament is referring to what happened in the Old Testament as well as the later Old Testament writers referred to the opening chapter of Genesis, it is always just to take it as it is written. So in Genesis 1:11, God said, let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, fruit trees on the earth bearing fruit after their kind with seed in them. It was so. The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed after their kind, trees bearing fruit with seed in them after their kind. God saw that it was good. God gives it a body just as He wished, just as He has sovereignly determined, and that each of these would reproduce after their kind. So the oak tree is produced from an oak seed, if you will, keep the picture. A stalk of corn is produced from a corn seed. And on it goes. How come that happens? Well, in the evolutionary process there must have been a ........... Forget it. It was that way from the beginning. God gave to each one what He determined, what seemed good to Him. So each of the seeds has a body of its own.

Now that becomes crucial. He's determined out of that seed will come this body. You know where he's going. Out of this physical body, which is just a seed in the comparison, is going to come a glorified body, suitable for the splendor of God's presence. Why would that be so hard to believe for one who believes in the God of the Bible, one who believes the word of God, one who believes the account of creation as unfolded in the opening chapters of Genesis? And Paul has no time for anyone else in the church, he doesn't tolerate fools with patience or kindness. He presents the gospel to unregenerate men, but the church at Corinth ought not to be tolerating the teaching of fools.

All right, that's the plant world. We have the picture. The diversity, one small seed, and out of it comes something with splendor that you couldn't have imagined just looking at the seed. And there is a connection. That seed always produces what God has determined in His creative act it would produce—something related to its kind. The connection is there.

All right, let's move from the plant world to the flesh world. And the word flesh here is used of body as well, but he changes the word because we're moving to a different realm. All flesh is not the same flesh. So we're moving from the plant world to the flesh world. There is one flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another flesh of birds, another of fish. You know where we are, we're back in the book of Genesis again, and the account of creation unfolded in the book of Genesis. God has done in the realm of fleshly creatures what He did in the realm of the plants—He has established an order. No blending, one flesh. One makeup for humans, another makeup for animals, another for birds, another for fish. And what he has done is taken Genesis 1:20-27 and gone in reverse order. In Genesis 1 we build from the fish to the birds to the animals to man, the pinnacle of God's creation and its complexity of man. Here he goes in reverse order and backs up from man and goes down the line. There is one kind of flesh for man, another kind of flesh for animals. I thought we evolved from the animals. Well, fools think that way, those who do not believe what God has revealed in His Word. They have rejected the Word of God, what kind of wisdom do they have? The Word of God says that God sovereignly, with the power and wisdom that belongs to God alone, created man as man. Not a man that He developed out of an animal, that He developed out of a bird, that He developed out of a fish. Nope. God gives each a body its flesh, if you will, as He wished, as He determined. There is one flesh for humans, one flesh for animals, one flesh for birds, one flesh for fish.

Now what you have is the diversity again. You have flesh, that's the connection here. So you have the diversity of the different kinds of flesh. But you also have the continuity within it. Why? Human flesh produces humans. Have you been to the maternity ward? You look in through the window, oh my goodness, it's a bald eagle. Yes, the lady in 12B had an eagle. Doesn't happen. Why? God gives it a body just as He wished, He's the creator, He determined the process. The salmon go upstream to produce what? Birds that don't have to do that every ................. No, other fish. On it goes. So you see God has established ............. So there is the diversity within the flesh, the kinds of flesh. But there is the connection—human flesh is always human flesh, human body. Animal flesh, animal flesh, animal flesh; birds, birds, birds; fish, fish, fish. You can see how the whole concept of evolution is a direct attack on the God of the Bible and His creation. How sad that there are some churches that tolerate the infiltration of teaching—we believe in theistic evolution. Well, I'm sorry, that's not biblical. I mean, there is only one kind of resurrection and can't fudge on that. There is only one kind of creation, can't fudge on that. This is what the Word of God says. So you have the sameness by diversity, sameness in that they're all flesh, diversity in that they are different kinds of flesh and they will function with that order. He's going to build to the fact that God has prepared us in a line for human flesh to ultimately end up with heavenly splendor and glory.

All right, we have one more realm to look at. Verses 40-41 carry us to the planets. So we've looked at plants, the plant world, if you will, vegetation. We've looked at the fleshly world. We can't call it the animal world because animal world is only one aspect of the flesh world. And the distinctions that God has created. There is human, birds, fish, as well as animals in the flesh world. But all the connection in this is the body, and flesh is used of bodies here, but the flesh makes it a little clearer we are talking about that realm.

Now we're going to go to heavenly bodies, the planets or the stars in verses 40-41. There are also heavenly bodies and earthly bodies. The glory of the heavenly is one, the glory of the earthly is another. There is one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, another glory of the stars. Star differs from star in glory. Paul is not talking about angels in verse 40. Some have said, well, heavenly bodies refer to angels. The whole point here is to bring examples to the fore that we can see, to illustrate the resurrection which we have not seen. Now some have seen the resurrection, but the people in the church at Corinth didn't see Christ's resurrected body. Paul gave testimony to it. So he's bringing illustrations here, examples from the material world. So giving an example of an angel's body doesn't help because I have not seen an angel. But the connection to verse 41 is clear, he's talking about the heavenly bodies and the earthly bodies. And there are the planets and the stars, and then you have the earth. The glory of the heavenly is one, the glory of the earthly is another. Think about it. We understand and appreciate this more fully than they could have in the days before the powerful telescopes and all that we have. We look now and see the sun and its splendor and fiery splendor and say, that's awesome. We land on the moon and we couldn't be more excited to land on that barren place where no life can live. This is amazing, it's wonderful, look at the beauty of this unique place. It has its own glory and splendor. But look around on the earth and compare it. Look at the trees, the vegetation, the rivers. It has its own glory. So there is variation. We look at the heavenly bodies, some shine brighter. We are told to look for the North Star, how do I know it's the North Star? Well it will be brighter. It has its own glory. That's what he's talking about.

There is one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon. I mean you appreciate the sun for its special splendor and magnificence, glory. You look at the moon, it has its own glory and splendor. And another glory of the stars. Star differs from star in glory. We appreciate the differences more now that we have been able to get up closer, if you will, than they could have, but it is true. God created them this way, He created them as they are to be different and unique. They are all hung in space, if you will, planetary bodies, heavenly bodies, earthly bodies. Earth being distinct from the others because we dwell here and we can draw the distinction between the earth and its characteristics and the other planets and stars out there. But then you even compare the stars one with another, and the planets one with another, and they have their own diversity. We talk about the rings of Saturn as we try to plumb all of that. You know what? God created it all. So you see within the planetary bodies there is a uniqueness, between the heavenly bodies and this earth there is a difference. So there are similarities in the realm, but there is diversity—everyone is unique. How would they have known, we not only have our universe and so on, but we have universes and galaxies. The magnificence of our God and the diversity that is there.

But you look at the stars and say, they are different than the fleshly realm. Of course, they are planets, they are stars, whatever. Well the fleshly realm is different than a plant. That's right, they are different. But in the realms there is a sameness. Where do we go? Verse 42, so also is the resurrection of the dead. You know man is always trying to undo the wonder of God's diversity. We saw this in I Corinthians 11, the differences between a man and a woman, and God established that at creation. What are we all occupied about? We have to make them as much the same, as much alike as we can. And don't imply any difference. Somehow if we can destroy the difference. And in the animal world and the human world, the flesh of the animal and the flesh of the human, we want to do away with any difference because that chimpanzee is just your ancestor. Well you go sit at the maternity ward and wait until you get a chimp. I mean, but we have to destroy the diversity. But God wants to emphasize that diversity, His multifaceted, multicolored grace displayed in so many ways.

So also is the resurrection of the dead. What do we have? Well there is diversity. I mean, there is going to be a difference between this physical body which is like the seed, and the splendid glory of the plants that came from that seed. Now hard to imagine. Hard to imagine that that seed you put into the ground comes out as something so beautiful. Most of you don't put seed as the centerpiece for your table, but you put the flower that came out of the seed. You don't discard the seed, nor do you deny the reality that comes. So this body, out of it is going to come something glorious with a splendor that we can only be told about now. It shouldn't be so hard to understand the factualness of it, because God has done it all around us. And the fleshly world, He's created diversity, but a connection within it. The planets, there is a connection. They are all planets, all stars, whatever we're talking about, but each has its own uniqueness.

So also is the resurrection of the dead, and then he'll go on to draw the contrasts which we're not going to draw. But He has intended that from these finite bodies of dust there will come bodies of glory that will be suitable for the presence of the God of glory for eternity. That's what the resurrection of the dead will bring about, the resurrection of the dead believer, remember, that we're talking about here. Well, how do you know beyond this? I take God at His word. He has demonstrated something of His awesome power to do it. The splendor of this body, we'll talk about the characteristics of the resurrected body of Christ in a future study, which will at least give us some insight into some of the characteristics of that body. But beyond that, God hasn't seen fit to tell us. I mean, you understand the beauty of the flower that comes from that seed when you see the flower. God created it that way, that's the point here. God created us this way, He created these bodies to manifest glory. Death will just be part of that process. In His sovereign plan He included death and the disintegration of this body so that in the resurrection we'd come to something splendid and glorious. It will be totally different, and yet it will be the same. It will be this body glorified.

I can't prove that to an unbeliever, I can't prove that to a person who does not believe the Word of God. We have apologetics where we're going to prove the scripture to someone. Forget it. He who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. And without faith it is impossible to please God. So the beginning point is God, I believe what you have said. I believe that you are God, that your Son is the Savior. I believe you sent Him to this earth to suffer and die to pay the penalty for sinful beings like me. And then as growing out from there, when I have entered into the wonder of His salvation, the other things fall into place. I believe He is the creating God, I believe He has created all things for His purposes. I believe He has created me to enjoy the glory and splendor of His purpose for eternity and His presence for eternity. That will be accomplished through resurrection or transformation.

Simple illustrations, but they are all around us. Do they prove the point? No. But for believers in the Word of God, they help us appreciate the power of our God to bring about the wonder of something glorious out of something insignificant. The diversity that will happen, that as all of us are glorified, each is glorified in his body. So the diversity won't disappear into a blandness, but through eternity that beauty of God's character will be revealed in and through us.

H hLet's pray together. Thank you, Lord, for your Word. Lord, these are truth that we can but take by faith. Lord, our faith has a concrete foundation, the truth of you the living God. You have spoken, you have told us how you have created all things, you have unfolded the wonder of your creation for us, and Lord, thousands of years after it took place we see that it holds true. Lord, to contemplate glorified bodies, not something our finite minds are truly able to grasp. And yet the reality of it is simple. We look around and observe, even the examples you've given. We have a God of awesome power. To think that out of these mortal bodies of dust you will bring bodies of glory suitable for the glory of your presence. It's something that we can only anticipate with eagerness. Lord, may in all of our lives we remain rooted and founded in an unshakable faith in you and the Word you've entrusted to us. We praise you in Christ's name, amen.