Lesson 484

(Lesson 484)(12-12-12) 1 Corinthians 15:33-44, "] Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners. Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame. But some man will say, How are the dead raised up? and with what body do they come? Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die: And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other grain: But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body. All flesh is not the same flesh: but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds. There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory. So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: It is sown in dishonour; 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. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body."

In this lesson Paul touches on an issue which has been grossly distorted by many "religious" faiths. Some even believe our souls are reincarnated and will occupy another physical body, at some point in the future. That notion, along with many others like it, is ludicrous and scripturally unfounded. In fact, the lesson concerning the resurrected bodies of the children of God, is very simple.
Hebrews 9:27 says, "And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:"

I used the above quote to establish that we are condemned by bible scripture to die the physical death, one way or another. Even if we are alive when Christ returns, we will experience the death of our physical bodies then be rejuvenated in our spiritual ones.

This lesson very clearly promises that those who die in Christ will be raised from that death in a new, "spiritual body". We will NOT occupy the same physical bodies we occupy today. Our new bodies will be stripped of the sinful nature it has been burdened by since the fall of Adam.

As Paul says, in order for a seed to be fertile, and ready to give life to a totally different plant, the plant from which it came must have first died, shedding the chaff and allowing the seed to mature, preparing it to generate a wholly new plant.

In short, the saved must die in order for the new, spiritual being to grow.

Those of us whom are saved can rest in the assurance that upon the death of our old sinful bodies, a new and perfect, spiritual form will appear to spend a blissful eternity with our Father in heaven.~