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First Corinthians 15:35-49

In the Corinthian assembly, Paul has made the point that there are some who do not have the knowledge of
God. These men are ignorant of God, meaning they do not know Him; they are not believers. Elsewhere in
our letter, we have learned that these ignorant ones are in danger of Gods judgment (1 Cor 3:16-20, 10:112).
These are the ones the Corinthian believers have been following back into the deception of Greek
philosophy, with its thinking that there is no resurrection - which these ignorant ones have brazenly mixed
with the gospel of Christ, to make it palatable for the Corinthian believers.
But Paul has made it clear that this robs the gospel of Christ of all of its power - and validity (1 Cor 1:17).
And having presented all of the infallible proofs for Christs resurrection, which guarantees the believers
resurrection, Paul now proceeds to confront the Greek thinking head-on, to show just how ignorant such
thinking is.
Well read the passage now, beginning in verse 35.
[First Corinthians 15:35-49]
Paul records two questions in verse 35, and then proceeds to write of seed, and sowing, and bodies - all as a
means of answering these questions.
So Paul begins his answer with analogies. Paul draws on Gods natural creation, to make certain points
about how the dead are raised up, and in what bodies. This leads to Pauls direct answer to the questions.
But who has posed these questions? In verse 35, Paul just writes, someone will say; hes posing the
questions hypothetically, on the part of a certain someone.
The word for someone is the exact same word for some in the preceding verse, 34 - the some who do
not have the knowledge of God - the ignorant ones; the unbelievers, in the assembly in Corinth - the ones
who think resurrection is ridiculous.
Paul brings up questions they would be likely to pose, in their efforts to dispel belief in resurrection.
Skeptically they ask, How are the dead raised up? A person dies, and they stop breathing; their heart
stops pumping; their cells begin to decay; their flesh begins to rot; and eventually, even their bones
completely disintegrate; and the dust scatters all over the earth.
The second question then expresses their incredulity. How can that body ever come back to life? How
can it ever be resuscitated? How can the corruption of a corpse possibly be reversed? Thats absurd! So
with what body do they come?
And how does Paul begin his answer? What does he call one with such thinking? A foolish one. Actually,
in the Greek, its just fool - one without understanding.
What does the fool say in his heart, according to the Psalmist? The fool has said in his heart, there is no
God (Ps 53:1). In their ignorance, these fools have forgotten all about God; they have overlooked His
involvement, in the whole process - His design; His power; His will.

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Ignorant people need to learn, in order for them to have knowledge. So Paul begins by giving the fools in
Corinth - and the believers who are following them - a lesson from the natural order of creation.
The first lesson concerns seed: What you sow is not made alive unless it dies (v. 36).
Paul is saying, think of seed. If you have seed, and you leave it in a bag in the barn for a year, what will
happen? Nothing much. You have to sow the seed, in order to produce a crop.
Now when you sow the seed, what happens to it? It germinates; the seed coat swells, and bursts open, and
the seed disintegrates. The seed is no more; in effect, it dies; it ceases to exist. And this is essential, in
order to release the life that is contained within the seed - which comes forth, as a living plant - by the
power of God.
Paul is saying to the fools, and to the others listening, Youve got it all wrong. You think the flesh and
blood body is alive, but from Gods perspective, its dead, like the seed; it needs to be made alive. And you
think death is the end - at least for the body - but from Gods perspective, death is in reality the means of
the body being made alive - forever.
Of course, only a seed that contains the germ of life will germinate - just as only the body that has received
eternal life through faith in Christ will live forever - and it will do so by the power of God.
Notice that Pauls analogy of seed also carries the idea of continuity. Following germination, the decaying
endosperm of the seed becomes food for the living plant that emerges from it.
In this sense, the seed becomes the plant; we could say that the plant is the seed, in a new form. Likewise,
the believing dead are not given a completely new body in resurrection; it is still their body, but it has been
completely transformed.
Lets continue with Pauls analogy of seed - and the bodies that come from them.
v. 37-38 Paul is saying, when you sow for a crop, you dont take the mature plants, and bury them back
under the ground. The mature plants are intended for other purposes - mainly food. So when another crop
is desired, what do you plant? Seed - what Paul calls mere grain here. This literally means, naked
grain.
In Second Corinthians chapter 5, Paul uses the term naked to describe a soul in a flesh and blood body.
Paul calls this naked because such a body does not fit us for the presence of God - its as if we were
unclothed, before God (2 Cor 5:1-5). So in Pauls analogy here also, the naked grain that is planted is
referring to the flesh and blood body.
What is Pauls point, here? That a seed doesnt look like what comes forth from it - and indeed, it is
nothing like it. Yet it is the seed, completely transformed - by Gods design.
Likewise, the flesh and blood body, sown in the ground in death, is nothing like the resurrection body that
will come forth from it. The resurrected body is not a resuscitated corpse. Yet it is still the same body completely transformed - for thats how God designed it to be.
Gods design, His order, is reflected throughout His creation. For the purpose of reproduction - the
bringing forth of life - He created various kinds of seeds, each containing the pattern of the body - the life
form - within that seed, whether plant, animal or human.

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Each seed reproduces after its kind, according to the DNA the seed contains - Gods instructions, for the
life form. Can a carrot seed bring forth celery? No. A carrot seed brings forth carrots, in accordance with
the will of God; with what God determined that seed would bring forth.
There are many different varieties of seeds, each of which reproduce after their kind. But Paul also notes
that, according to Gods design, each individual seed reproduces - one seed, producing one body - a plant,
an animal, a human. According to Gods will for His creation, one seed brings forth one plant, with the one
effectively transformed into the other.
By analogy, this is Gods will for the new creation, as well. God gives men a body as He pleases. To those
men who believe into His Christ, God is pleased to give eternal life for a glorified body (Jn 6:39-40). Their
flesh and blood body then becomes the seed coat, which contains that life, which will be released in
glorified form when they are raised - according to Gods timing.
In all of their reasoning about resurrection, the ignorant ones never considered God. They never considered
that He has the power to raise a dead body, and the power to transform it. They never contemplated the
pattern of His design for life, evident throughout His creation.
The ignorant ones never came to the realization that everything that happens is in accordance with Gods
will - and according to His timing. And the Fathers will for His creation of mankind is that nothing is lost
(Jn 6:39) - that all who believe in His Son will be preserved completely - spirit, soul, and body (1 Th 5:23).
Pauls point about each seed being given its own body would have had great significance to those
embracing the Greek philosophy of Stoicism, in Corinth. The Stoics shared with the Epicureans the belief
that the body was destroyed at death, but the Stoics believed the soul continued on after death, and that then
it was absorbed into Deity - resulting in the destruction of the person, as an individual.
In contrast to these dismal theories, Pauls illustration with seed reflects the bright reality - that Gods will
is that the individual be preserved, in his own body.
Now Paul will shift his illustration, to teach a new lesson.
v. 39 So Paul has left the illustration of seed behind, for now. He transitions from his discussion in verse
38 of bodies, each given according to Gods will, to a discussion of the flesh of bodies - living flesh. The
emphasis here is therefore not on form, but on substance; various different kinds of flesh, of which bodies
are composed.
And what kinds of flesh does Paul mention? Human; animals, more specifically in the Greek, domesticated
beasts; then fish; and finally birds. All of them have different flesh. In every cell of its body, a fish has fish
DNA; Gods instructions for the flesh of fish.
The categories that Paul mentions hint at what he was thinking about. The flesh of men and beasts is
adapted to land. How about fish? Water. And birds? Air. The idea is that God designed the kind of flesh a
creature would have, based on the environment in which the creature would live. By analogy, God has
purposed the body in resurrection to be adapted to its environment - a heavenly environment.
Paul then shifts the illustration again, to elevate the lesson to the heavens.
v. 40-41 Notice that Paul has shifted from the word flesh back to the word body now, for this next
illustration. Pauls use of the word body here will be in terms of it being a receptacle.

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Paul points out that in the natural order, there are celestial bodies - that is, heavenly bodies. Heavenly
bodies are receptacles; what do they hold? Light; theyre light holders.
And then, Paul says, there are terrestrial bodies - earthly bodies - like those whose flesh he just mentioned,
in the previous verse. What do earthly bodies, such as those in verse 39, hold? Beings; living beings. Can
you see actual light? No. Nor can you see beings. Both are ordinarily invisible.
Paul indicates that the glory of celestial and terrestrial bodies differs. Here Paul intends the term glory in
terms of an outshining; the revelation of what is within; its brilliance, brightness, beauty, splendor, dignity.
A celestial body would reveal its unseeable light; a terrestrial body would reveal its unseeable being. The
body, then, is the receptacle that allows them to be seen; to be manifest.
And so it is for the flesh and blood body, and the glorified body. Those bodies allow what is contained
within them to be seen. On earth, the human body shows forth the person inside; and if that person is a
believer, Christ is seen - as the believer submits to God. So to the extent that the believer submits, there is a
manifestation of the glory of God, through his human body - and therefore limited glory to be seen, in the
earthly realm.
But when the believers human body is raised in glory, all that is not of God in his being, that he has built
into his life, will be consumed in the fire of Gods holiness (1 Cor 3:13-15). Then the believer will be
completely sanctified - holy as God is holy. The glory of God alone will be shine forth from his ever-living
body - with the purity of radiant light. Thats the glory of the heavenly body - as befitting the heavenly
realm of God.
But as Paul continues in verse 41, he makes it clear that although this glory is pure, it will not be the same,
for every believer. To understand what Paul had in mind as he wrote this verse, we need to go back to the
beginning. Turn to Genesis chapter 1 - the record of Moses, concerning creation.
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth (Gen 1:1) God brought the entire universe into
existence out of nothing, in a single act of creation. Then God began to form and to fill His creation. On
the first day, God formed light, and separated it from the darkness. Then on the fourth day, God formed
lights in the firmament of the heaven - the light holders.
[Genesis 1:14-19]
v. 14-15 Not only would these light holders give light on the earth; not only would they be used for
marking time - days and years. These light holders would also be used by God to illuminate mens
minds.
Signs here refers to prophetic indicators. And seasons are appointed times - when the prophecies
would come to pass. God created the light holders and named them (Ps 147:4), to give mankind a record in
the heavens - a revelation of the Coming Christ (Ps 19:1-6) - His faithful witness, in the sky (Ps 89:37).
But Paul is focused on what Moses recorded next.
v. 16-19 Here is where Pauls mind was focused - on the relative glory of the sun, moon, and stars. The
sun, the greater light, gives the most brilliant light to the earth; it is said to rule the day, as that is when it is
seen. The moon is the lesser light, reflecting the light of the sun, during the night; the time of its rule.

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In verse 18, the stars are included with the others as giving light on the earth, ruling over the day and night,
dividing the light from the darkness - that is, the light holders do this, together.
[Return to First Corinthians 15]
Now, you might have noticed that Paul adds to the thoughts of the creation record, here - specifically,
regarding the stars. Paul points out that one star differs from another star in glory; more literally, for star
differs from star in glory.
This can be discerned in the night sky, with the naked eye. From the earth, stars appear to differ in size, in
brilliance, in color, and in constancy. And they are different, arent they? Its not just a difference in
appearance, but in substance.
But why does Paul mention this? Because he is using it as an analogy for the glorified body. We have
learned earlier in this letter that although all believers will be saved, their reward will not all be the same (1
Cor 3:8).
What the believer does in this life matters. Has he built his life on the wisdom of God, or of man? Only
that which is of God can endure the fire of Gods holiness. The fire will transmute the wisdom of God that
the believer took in during his life into glory, which will shine out from His ever-living body, for eternity (1
Cor 3:11-15).
That outshining pertains to the future role of the believer - giving light on the earth, ruling over the day and
night, dividing the light from the darkness - that is, the church, ruling and reigning with Christ, over the
earth (Rev 2:26-27, 3:21). How much - or how little - will each one of us be participating in that glorious
role?
As Paul continues, he collects his observations from the natural world, and brings them to bear on the
world to come.
v. 42-44 Like the seed, the earthly body of the believer is sown in corruption - it dies, decomposes, returns
to the dust. But it is raised in incorruption - the same body, but completely changed; transformed into a
forever-living body.
The earthly body is sown in dishonor - in disgrace, as the body in which sin was carried out (Rm 6:19-21,
9:21). But it is raised in glory - the same body, now free from even the presence of sin, undefiled - a pure
radiant reflection, of the glory of God.
And the earthly body is sown in weakness - incapable of staving off Death. But that body is then raised in
the power of Christs resurrection; Death no longer has dominion, over it (Rm 6:9) - the body will have
been freed from Death, forever.
In verse 44, Paul again draws from the analogy of creation, and the different kinds of bodies to be found.
The human body is sown a natural body, but raised a spiritual body. Paul repeats this for emphasis: There
is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.
But what exactly does Paul mean? Natural is a word in the Greek that literally means, of soul. Clearly,
this is what Paul is calling the flesh and blood body, as part of the original creation, with its soul of spirit
life. This is the body that is sown in the ground, which, for the believer, had received eternal life for the
body.

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This body is raised a spiritual body - of spirit - not in the sense that this body is immaterial - a mere spirit
- for then, it wouldnt be a body. Instead, it is a body that it is enlifed with spirit life - the spirit of life, in
Christ Jesus (Rm 8:2) - eternal life, for the body. Its a genuinely super-natural body; and as such, it is not
subject to the laws that rule over natural bodies.
It doesnt need nourishment to be sustained; it doesnt need sleep, to be restored. And its not liable to pain,
to disease, to fatigue, or age, or deterioration - and it is completely free of Death. It is a glorified body, like
unto our Lords.
But why does Paul use these difficult terms - natural body and spiritual body - instead of just saying, for
example, flesh and blood body and glorified body? Paul has a very good reason. He is showing that these
bodies are fitted to the realms for which God has purposed them; the natural body, for the natural realm;
and the spiritual body, for the spiritual realm.
This is a most important point for the Corinthian skeptics, who view the body as vile or worthless, to be left
behind on earth when one dies - if one continues, at all! But Paul is making it clear that the body is
essential for the believer continuing into the heavenly realm - only in a different form; a body of spirit life.
As he continues, Paul makes it clear that this is what God had in mind, all along.
v. 45 Paul is supporting what he has just said, in verse 44 - the body is sown a natural body, and it is raised
a spiritual body. Pauls support comes from the Word of God - the ultimate authority.
Notice that Paul is quoting from the account of Gods creation of mankind, in Genesis 2:7 - And the LORD
God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became
a living being. But Paul only quotes the last four words of the verse: became a living being - and he
leads into it with some words of his own: The first man, Adam.
Why does Paul do this - besides the fact that he was inspired by the Holy Spirit? Because he is once again
directing the Corinthians to Gods plan, for His creation of mankind (1 Cor 15:21-22) - to have men, in His
image, according to His likeness (Gen 1:26-27).
To accomplish His plan, God began by creating the first man, Adam. When God breathed the breath of life
into that body He had formed of the dust of the ground, Adam became a living being; a soul of life. By this
first man, God would bring other souls of life into the world - in natural bodies, suited for such a world.
Adam was the progenitor of men in natural bodies.
Paul then says, the Last Adam became a life-giving spirit. Who is Paul referring to? To Christ. But why
does Paul call him the Last Adam? By calling him Adam, Paul is defining Christ also as a progenitor of
men - of men is spiritual bodies - suited for the spiritual realm. By calling Him the Last Adam, Paul
shows that Christ represents the completion of the plan of God - to have sons.
The Last Adam became a life-giving spirit. As spirit being of Deity, the Son came to the earth in a human
body. God, with eternal life in Himself (Jn 5:26), now inhabited a body of flesh (Col 2:9) - a mortal body,
capable of dying.
Jesus Himself made it clear shortly before His hour that it was absolutely necessary for Him to die, in order
to give eternal life to all mankind. Turn to John chapter 12 - where Jesus spoke of His own body, as a seed.
[John 12:24]

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The body of Jesus was that grain of wheat, that must fall into the ground and die, in order to bring forth
eternal life for the body - glorified life. The glorified body of Jesus then became the Seed Grain for all of
the sons of God; and as many as received Him, to them He gave the authority to become children of God
(Jn 1:12) - through the power of His resurrection. As the Seed Grain, Jesus is the life-giving spirit.
[Return to First Corinthians 15]
As Paul continues, he qualifies what he has said.
v. 46 Paul is saying the natural body had to come first, then afterward, the spiritual body. Why? Because
as created, God knew that men would exercise their freedom of choice and sin. Men had to become
righteous in Christ, before they could receive an ever-living spiritual body for the heavenly realm.
Paul then sees Gods plan through to its conclusion.
v. 47-49 I think that the NKJV translation of dust misses the heart of the comparison, here - which is
between the natural and the spiritual, the earthly and the heavenly. So well stick with the KJV, earth and
earthy.
Paul has in view the two progenitors, and is showing the remarkable balance and order, in the plan of God,
between the two of them.
In verse 47, Paul is not intending to point to the second man as coming from heaven - though that is true.
He is saying that, just as the first man was of the earth, earthy - a product of that realm - so the second Man
is the Lord of heaven - same word. He is of the heavenly realm. Notice Paul referring to Adam and Christ
as the first man, the second Man - the only two men that were needed, for God to realize His plan.
Each reproduces after its kind. All men are born into this world, a son of Adam, by natural birth - born of
corruptible seed - dust as he was dust. We received a finite life from Adam, for a temporary existence, in
the temporal realm.
But believers have been born again, of the Incorruptible Seed, Christ - born from above, by a heavenly
birth; from Christ, we received eternal life, to live forever, in the heavenly realm.
Notice in verse 49 that Paul is beginning to speak in terms of we - we believers, in the Body of Christ.
This marks his transition into the next section, in which he will write of the special case of the church being
raised (1 Cor 15:50-58).
In verse 49, the word image is to be taken as the body, the visible representation and manifestation of the
life. We have all borne the image of the earthly - a flesh and blood body, frail, mortal.
But Paul reassures, with the certainty that we already possess the life of the Lord from heaven - God will
finish what He started; He always does. One day soon, He will transform our lowly body that it may be
conformed to His glorious body - according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to
Himself (Phil 3:21). We will bear the image of the heavenly. We have Gods Word on it!
Reading:
1 Th 1:8-10, 4:13-18, 5:1-11; 2 Th 2:1-8; Rev 3:7-13, Rev 4, Rev 5.