REDEEMED: Bodies & Desires

[Read 1 Corinthians 15:35-49]

There’s been a relatively recent cultural phenomenon that has made me do a lot of thinking. I don’t have all of the answers, or even a solid understanding why it’s a thing, but I wanted to bring it up anyway. The recent phenomenon is an obsession with zombies. I suppose it’s settling down a little bit now, but a couple years ago every new television show had something to do with zombies and it caused me to wonder why. Why is our culture so obsessed with zombies? Why this curiosity with the un-dead? 

As I’ve been asking those questions, I’ve had some interesting realizations. One of those realizations is that zombies—the walking dead—are a corrupted version of resurrection. Zombies are the world’s picture of resurrection—someone who died and has come back to life. Yet, when they come back to life they are destroyed, rotting, corrupted, evil, and unhuman in many ways. When you turn away from the true God, this is the only picture of resurrection you have. 

Interestingly enough, people were asking these same questions a couple thousand years ago: “But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?”” (1 Corinthians 15:35, ESV). Can the dead be raised? How can they be raised? If the dead are raised, what will their bodies look like? Isn’t that the essence of these zombie movies? They are trying to answer these questions in certain ways. Not that I think they are trying to answer these questions in realistic ways. I actually think they are trying to answer these questions in ways that will provide entertainment. However, they are also answering these questions in ways that mock the true resurrection from the dead. They don’t actually believe in resurrection from the dead, but as Christians, we do. 

That’s why Paul responds so strongly to these skeptical questions: “You foolish person! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies.” (1 Corinthians 15:36, ESV). He calls these skeptics fools, which may sound extremely harsh. But he calls them fools because we’re living in a world of resurrection. We’re surrounded by resurrection on a daily basis. We experience resurrection every year as the world around us dies and comes to life again and again and again. So, he calls them fools for not recognizing the clear teaching of the world around us. 

Then he goes on to lay out some principles around resurrection that he sees in the world—using the analogy of a seed. He says that a seed must die before it can produce life. That’s necessary. That’s resurrection. 

Then he goes on to remind us of the next step: “And what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare kernel, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain.” (1 Corinthians 15:37, ESV). The seed that is planted in the ground is not what it will be. It is much less than it will be. One kernel of corn planted in the ground will produce a plant that reaches into the heavens and produces many more kernels of corn. The simple seed planted into the ground becomes something much greater after it dies. 

Then he says something I don’t want us to miss. He says, “But God gives it a body as he has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body.” (1 Corinthians 15:38, ESV). Yes, each seed has its own kind of body—which is important for us to remember. However, I want to make sure we don’t pass over the beginning of this verse. Who gives each seed its body? God gives each seed the body he has chosen. This isn’t just some random act, but the work of our Heavenly Gardener. So, when the seed dies and is resurrected into something greater, that happens because God is at work in the life of that seed. God is at work giving that seed a greater body according to its kind. 

We’re told one more principle that we need to keep in mind: “There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory.” (1 Corinthians 15:41, ESV). There are differing glories throughout creation. Yes, the moon is glorious, but the sun is a differing glory. Yes, a stalk of corn is glorious, but a rose is a differing glory. And, to be closer to the point being made, a kernel of corn is glorious, but the finished stalk that produces many kernels, is a different glory. 

Once we recognize these things from the world around us, we are then taught how they apply to our own resurrection—the resurrection of our bodies. Just like the seeds, our bodies must die before we will truly experience the fullness of our redemption. Our life and our bodies are seeds that will be planted in the ground once we die, so that we can be raised to new life again.

When we are raised to new life through the resurrection, our bodies will be transformed into something greater—a greater glory. We will not rise like zombies—half rotten, decaying, wicked, and stumbling around. We will rise from the dead into something glorious and majestic. Our passage gives us explicit details: “So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. 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. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.” (1 Corinthians 15:42–44, ESV). Our body is planted as a body that can fade away and die, but is raised as a body that will never fade and can never die. Let that sink in. Our body was planted in dishonor, but will be raised in glory and honor. Our body was planted in weakness, but will be raised in power. Our body was planted a natural body, but will be raised a spiritual body. 

That last one needs a little explanation because I think many misunderstand what it’s saying. As I’ve been saying throughout this series, the Christian church has made a mistake of downplaying the importance of the body and over-emphasizing the importance of the soul/spirit. So, when we read a passage like this, we assume that our resurrection will be “spiritual” and that we will not have bodies. We miss the fact that it is called a spiritual body. It’s a body—a physical, material body—that will be raised from the dead—just like Jesus Christ. 

So, why is it called a spiritual body, rather than a natural body? The natural body is our body that needs food, drink, sleep, etc to live. We need these things because we are weak and our bodies are falling apart. Yet, that will no longer be the case when we’re raised from the dead. Remember, we are raised imperishable, in glory and power. Our spiritual body means that we will be fully empowered by the life-giving Holy Spirit. We will be completely empowered and overcome by Him for the rest of eternity. His life will be our life, fully and completely forever. Isn’t that amazing?

Here’s why this is so exciting. We’ve spent a long time in this series focused on everything that’s broken with our sexuality. That was important because we’re surrounded by sexual brokenness. We need to understand it and understand how to interact with it and how to minister to those who are struggling with their sexual brokenness. However, the beauty of this passage—and the picture being painted of the resurrection—is the reminder that it will not always be this way. One day, the sexual brokenness of this world will be completely redeemed and restored. One day, our own personal sexual brokenness—sometimes brokenness we will struggle with our entire lives—one day that brokenness will be planted in the ground, will die, and rise again into something glorious and powerful that will never fade away. Isn’t that amazing? There will come a time when pornography and adultery and divorce and gender struggles and disordered orientations will not longer be a struggle. They will die and rise again into something greater and more glorious. 

Once again, this is a reminder that the way things are now are not the way they will always be. The struggles we have now are not the struggles we will have for eternity. The brokenness we experience now, will eventually die and we will rise again into something greater and more glorious. This is a reminder that we must never allow ourselves to be defined by the brokenness we experience right now. We must look beyond our current brokenness to the future glory that is waiting for us in our bodily resurrection. 

Here’s one aspect of that glorious resurrection that I want us to focus on for a bit. At the beginning of this series I showed how we were created body and soul, to be in relationship, and to have desires. Then, we spent a decent amount of time talking about how each of those areas were broken—how our bodies and souls were broken, how our relationships have been broken, and how our desires have been broken. But, do you know the best part of all this? All of that will eventually be fully redeemed through Jesus Christ. Our broken bodies will eventually be reunited with our souls in the resurrection and will be glorious. Our broken relationships will be healed and restored in the resurrection. 

Our broken desires will also be healed in the resurrection. That’s part of what it means to be completely empowered and overcome by the Holy Spirit—to have a spiritual body. In the resurrection, our desires will be reordered so that we will never desire anything that is wrongful or hurtful, but will only desire what is true and good and beautiful. And then, do you know what will happen? We will receive everything we desire in measures beyond anything we could ever comprehend. We will desire good things and God will spend eternity filling us and meeting our desires. And that will repeat over and over and over again for eternity. It’s incredible. 

A famous theologian named Jonathan Edwards once described heaven this way—but from a more intellectual perspective. Have you ever had one of those moments when your mind was “blown”? One of those moments when your eyes were opened to see the beauty and glory of something that you’ve never seen before? Jonathan Edwards described heaven in that way. When we’re in heaven, God will expand our minds to see Him and understand Him in ways we could never see and understand Him on earth—our minds will be blown. But then, he will do it again, expanding our minds to understand him even more fully. And then He’ll do it again and again and again for the rest of eternity, constantly increasing our capacity to understand Him more fully. 

I think that is right, but I also think it applies to more than just our intellect. I think it applies to our heart as well. Once our desires are in order, and we’re desiring all of the right things at the right times in the right ways, God will increase our desire for those things, then immediately and fully satisfy those desires. Then, he’ll increase our desire for those things and satisfy them again. And he’ll do that again and again and again and again for the rest of eternity. I don’t know about you, but that sounds a lot more amazing than floating around on a cloud with a harp. 

Yet, in the midst of this glorious picture, there’s a sober reminder for us: “But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual.” (1 Corinthians 15:46, ESV). We don’t experience this first. We only experience this after we’ve experienced the natural—the struggle and the brokenness. We must struggle for a while and die before we can experience the fullness of our redemption and resurrection. It’s sobering because we want to quickly escape the pain and brokenness and immediately get to the power and glory, but that’s not the way it works. We must first struggle and suffer and die before resurrection comes. But when that resurrection comes, it will be a glorious day!

That’s why it’s so important for us to keep our eyes on Jesus in the midst of this life—in the midst of the struggle and brokenness and death. On the one hand, apart from Jesus Christ, we won’t get to experience any of the glory we’ve just spoken of. Apart from Jesus Christ, we will experience a resurrection to eternal death, not to eternal joy and life. Jesus Christ is the only one who can truly deliver us from our sinfulness and our brokenness and provide redemption for us. We must look to him—and his life, death, and resurrection—to forgive us and restore us. 

We must also look to Jesus Christ to make it through the struggles of this life. Yes, we will struggle and experience brokenness in this life. Yes, we will long for the fullness of redemption that will come at the resurrection. However, through Jesus Christ, we can get tastes of that redemption and glory in this life. Through Jesus Christ, we can begin to experience restoration and renewal and redemption in this life. Through Jesus Christ we are beginning to be made new in this life, even as we look forward to the fullness of renewal that will come at the resurrection. I know many of you have experienced powerful transformation and renewal through Jesus Christ in this life—that’s amazing—but just take a moment to realize the transformation and renewal you’ve experienced in this life is nothing compared to the transformation and renewal that will come at the resurrection. 

So, we continue to live each day by faith in Jesus Christ. We live by faith as we struggle with our own brokenness, looking to Jesus Christ for forgiveness and renewal in this life. We live by faith as we groan because of our own brokenness, but continue to look forward to the day when our bodies will be resurrected from the dead in power and glory and honor. We live by faith as we long for the day when all of our desires will be toward what is true, good, and beautiful, and God will spend the rest of eternity expanding our capacity for desire, then filling it beyond measure.