Paul makes two distinctions about our bodies in these verses—a distinction of kind and a distinction of glory.

God has made more than one kind of body.
God has made different bodies that are designed for living in different environments. For example, fish have bodies for life under water. Birds have bodies for life in the air. Animals have bodies for life on the ground. They all have bodies of flesh, but their flesh is of different kinds. God has given us bodies suited to our short lives in this world. They wear out over time, and God will give us bodies that are suited to eternal life in the world that is to come.

God has made some bodies more glorious than others.
God’s glory is reflected in all that He has made, but God has made some things more glorious than others. The sun is more glorious than the moon. Some stars are brighter than others. And Paul says, “So is it with the resurrection of the dead” (15:42). The bodies God will give us in the resurrection will be far more glorious than the bodies we have now.

This is really important. The bodies we have now are the only ones we have ever known. So, it is natural for us to live with the sneaking suspicion that the bodies we will have in the resurrection will be something less, or that life beyond this world will be a shadow of what we enjoy now. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Do you tend to think of your resurrection body as less or more?

It seems that the false teachers at Corinth were asking these questions cynically. That may be why Paul's first response is, “You foolish person!” (15:36). It’s not foolish to ask questions; it’s foolish to ridicule God’s truth (Gal. 6:7). But having rebuked the cynics for pouring scorn on the resurrection, Paul offers an answer.

Q: “How are the dead raised?”
A: “What you sow does not come to life unless it dies” (15:36).

God said, “You are dust, and to dust you shall return” (Gen. 3:19). How could a body that has returned to the dust be raised again? Suppose you plant a sunflower seed in the ground. The seed disintegrates. It dies. But when the seed dies, a new life begins. Paul says, “Look at the world of seeds and plants, and you will see that this happens all the time.” For a person who is in Christ, death is how we get into the glorious new life God has promised.

Q: “With what kind of body do they come?”
A: “What you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare kernel” (15:37).

The life of the seed that disintegrates in the ground continues in the plant. But the two are very different. What comes out of the ground is not a giant seed. It is a sunflower, and it is far more beautiful than the seed from which it came. The sunflower is not the seed put back together. And the resurrection body is not the recomposing of the bodies we have now. “God gives… to each kind of seed its own body” (15:38). In the same way, God will give us new bodies that will be far more glorious than the ones we have right now.

Do you think about the resurrection with more cynicism or wonder? What is your response to Paul’s analogy and explanation?

The theme of 1 Corinthians 15 is the glorious truth of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the resurrection life that all who believe will share with Him.

If our hope is limited to what we can do or become in this world, we will be disappointed. But Jesus has risen to a glorious new life, and He is the firstfruits! A glorious new life lies ahead of all who belong to Him, and in this chapter, Paul is giving us a little glimpse of the resurrection life that we will share with Christ.

Earlier in his letter, Paul said, “But, as it is written, ‘What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him’—these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit” (1 Cor. 2:9-10).

God has prepared a resurrection life that every Christian will one day share with Jesus. But we are told here that no one has ever seen or heard of the things that God has prepared for us. In fact, no one has ever even imagined what God has prepared for us. So, no Christian should expect to read about the resurrection life and say, “Ah, I get it now. It’s all perfectly clear to me.”

What Jesus has prepared for us is so great that it is beyond our capacity to grasp. We can’t take in the full brightness of the sun. But we can all see something of its brilliance and enjoy living in its heat and its light.

Make it your prayer that you will see enough of the glory and joy of your future life to gain strength and anticipation as you press on in following and serving the Lord Jesus Christ.