A Brand New Body
by Joey Carroll Corinth Missionary Baptist Church
Spiritual realities are difficult to understand, and for the unbelieving, they are impossible to grasp (1 Corinthians 2). While He was on earth, the Lord had a way of communicating spiritual truths by using earthly analogies.
His Word does the same for us now.
We know that if seeds remain in that little brown packet we buy at the farm store, we will not enjoy the harvest when late summer arrives.
Those seeds require planting in the ground before they will ever bear their fruit upward.
Some argued in the church at Corinth that the idea of resurrection is illogical.
We all know what happens to the physical body in the grave.
And so the thought that a body could ever be raised from the dead seems like a rather scary proposition.
Once you abandon the reality that God created all things, you really descend into foolishness rather quickly.
But if someone is grounded in creation, it is rather easy for them to look up and realize that not everything was created the same.
There is a tremendous difference between the things in the heavens and the things that are on the earth.
And there is a difference among the things in the heavens.
All the planets are physical objects that are round and orbit a star due to gravitational pull.
And their makeup is similar.
Each planet is believed to have a core and is made up of several layers of different materials.
But all of them are very different than the stars.
All that we know of stars is pretty fascinating.
Physically, they are plasma bodies that are made up of hydrogen and helium primarily.
And it is the mixture of these two elements that is thought to create nuclear fusion, which makes the stars glow.
And because of this process, each star has its own lifespan (1 Corinthians 15:40-41).
There is nothing quite like the planets and the stars, but even they are not as impressive as human beings.
From a physiological perspective, all the processes and ways the human body functions are mind-blowing.
The human brain is absolutely unmatched in its makeup and abilities.
And it remains a great mystery even with all of the strides we have made in science and medicine.
But the human body has this in common with the stars:
it has an expiration date.
The body, the brain, and all the stuff of it is physical matter, and that matter is slowly decaying.
But the One who designed the planets, the stars, the human body, and every other physical thing is not Himself physical.
“God is spirit” (John 4:24, NASB).
And when God, in His grace, causes a man to be born again, that man is born of the Spirit.
He is not what he once was.
He remains a physical being, and that physical body continues to decay, but the spirit that now dwells within him is continually being renewed.
And when Christ returns, what was once a physical body cursed by sin and death is raised a glorious physical body.
One that is fit to dwell with and enjoy God forever.
The key word there is “forever.”
We have no concept of that, but God in all His glory has promised to do that very thing for all those who are His… make us in a way that will live with Him forever.
“So also is the resurrection of the dead.
It is sown a perishable body, it is raised an imperishable body; 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, NAS 95).
