35 But someone will say, “How are the dead raised up? And with what body do they come?” 36 Foolish one, what you sow is not made alive unless it dies. 37 And what you sow, you do not sow that body that shall be, but mere grain—perhaps wheat or some other grain. 38 But God gives it a body as He pleases, and to each seed its own body. 39 All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of animals, another of fish, and another of birds. 40 There are also celestial bodies and terrestrial bodies; but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. 41 There is one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for one star differs from another star in glory. 42 So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption. 43 It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. 44 It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. 45 And so it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. 46 However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, and afterward the spiritual. 47 The first man was of the earth, made of dust; the second Man is the Lord from heaven. 48 As was the man of dust, so also are those who are made of dust; and as is the heavenly Man, so also are those who are heavenly. 49 And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man.
Commentary
Vs. 35-38 35 But someone will say, “How are the dead raised up? And with what body do they come?” 36 Foolish one, what you sow is not made alive unless it dies. 37 And what you sow, you do not sow that body that shall be, but mere grain—perhaps wheat or some other grain. 38 But God gives it a body as He pleases, and to each seed its own body.
The Apostle Paul now asks two questions regarding the resurrection from the dead so that he may answer them. Obviously these questions have their roots in what the dissenters themselves had asked others in trying to refute the resurrection from the dead. The first question asks: "How are the dead raised up", while the second asks, "And with what body do they come?"
Now to the first, the Apostle Paul simply points to God's designs in creation itself. Citing the simple seed which itself must first die before it can be sown into the ground in one form, before it rises to life in a completely different form. So too then is the resurrection of dead. For it is God Himself who gives us all unique bodies in the physical realm, yet when we die we will be raised up together in another form, that is in a spiritual bodily form that itself though unique to each individual, will also be like Christ's own resurrection bodily form (Rom 6:5). All which the Apostle Paul will go onto demonstrate by drawing analogies from the various bodily forms in all of God's creation.
Vs. 39 "All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of animals, another of fish, and another of birds."
And so it is by God's design, not all flesh is the same flesh. For there is one kind of flesh for mankind, another for animals, another for fish, another for birds etc. Biologically there maybe similarities, but by God's design each is unique, and specifically designed for the person or creature He created it to be. The Apostle Paul's point then is that at the resurrection of the dead our bodies will not be in same form they were in this life, nor will they be exact duplicates of each other.
Vs. 40 "There are also celestial bodies and terrestrial bodies; but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another."
And so moving from the seed, to natural life, to now the celestial and terrestial, the Apostle Paul continues his analogies. Now there are celestial (i.e. heavenly) bodies, and there are terrestrial (earthly) bodies. The glory of the celestial bears one type of glory, while the glory of the terrestrial bears another. And so it is that whatever earthly glory our bodies bore (or did not bear) in this life, it will be far and away exceeded and excelled by the Supreme glory that we each will bear in heaven (Matt 13:43).
Vs. 41 "There is one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for one star differs from another star in glory."
Again as there is a distinction in the glory of the celestial bodies, so there is a distinction between the glory of our mortal bodies and the glory of our heavenly bodies. Whether or not this implies a distinction in the glory of our heavenly bodies amongst ourselves is up for debate (Daniel 12:3).
Vs. 42-44 42 So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption. 43 It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. 44 It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.
From corruption, that is our sinful flesh which came from the dust and returns to it, to the everlasting incorruption where our bodies will no more be subject to sin and death and all of the ravages of it. No more disease, old age, frailty, infirmity, weakness and our ongoing battles against the sinful nature of our flesh, for it all will done away with forever. And along with it the dishonor of our mortal bodies which only bore the reproach of Adam's sin will finially give way to glory of our new resurrection body, that will bear the glory of Christ's own resurrection body. And so all traces of Adam's sin (along with all our own sin/s and transgressions) will be done away with forever. Thus our bodies though sown in weakness and being subject to sin, disease, and death that marks this life will be raised in power, Christ's power, through which we now live, and will live for forever glorified with our Lord and Savior. And so the Apostle Paul returns to his seed metaphor (vs. 35-38) to describe the process by which we go from mortality to immortality (vs. 42-43); describing for us the two separate states we all will experience. The first is in our natural body, and the second is our spiritual bodies (vs. 44), which we shall have at the resurrection from dead (vs. 42).
Vs. 45 And so it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.
The first Adam ushered in mortal human life (Gen. 2:7), while the last Adam (Jesus Christ, see Romans 5:12-21) became a life-giving spirit. Here the contrast is stated so that we understand that Jesus Christ came to undo what Adam happened when he sinned and brought sin and death into the world to us all. Thus Jesus Christ is the life giving spirit in that through Him spiritual life, everlasting life, is given to us all who believe in Him (John 3:16), through His Holy Spirit in us (John 6:33, 35, 63), who is the seal of our inherintence with Himself forver (Eph 1:13-14).
Vs. 46 "However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, and afterward the spiritual."
The order of creation and redemption demands that the same order be followed in our passing from the natural body to the spiritual. Therefore Jesus Christ Himself also had to first put on flesh as a Man before He put on His own Resurrection Spiritual body. The same order thus follows in our redemption (or salvation). First we are born naturally, then we must be born again by the Spirit of the Lord in order to enter the Kingdom of heaven and then be raised up at the last Day in our spiritual bodies, where we will spend eternity with Christ in it (see John 3:3-5; 6:39, 40, 44 etc.).
Vs. 47 "The first man was of the earth, made of dust; the second Man is the Lord from heaven."
Adam, the first man, was made from the dust of the earth. He was nothing more than a natural being, incapable of redeeming himself from his own sin and transgression, just as we are also incapable of redeeming ourselves from ours. While the second Man (or Adam) Jesus Christ is the Lord from heaven, who came down to earth as a Man to redeem us all who believe in Him. And so it is that the Lord Jesus Christ first had to suffer Crucifixion death for all our sins and transgressions before rising from the dead three days later appearing forever in His Spiritual body, a spiritual body which we ourselves will also bear at the resurrection of dead. Thus Jesus Christ is the King of all of God's creation and He is the firstborn from the dead for us all who believe in Him (Col. 1:18; Rev. 1:5). The limitations then of Adam (the first man), and by default all of mankind is seen in Adam, and thus is being contrasted here with the Limitlessness of the Lord Jesus Christ who is from heaven.
Vs. 48-49 48 As was the man of dust, so also are those who are made of dust; and as is the heavenly Man, so also are those who are heavenly. 49 And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man.
Again because of our being descended from Adam, we all bear his image, that is not an exact physical representation of him, but we all, both male and female, have the same human flesh. So it is then just as we have borne the image of the the man of dust, so we shall bear the image of the heavenly Man Jesus Christ. Therefore though we do not know know what we be in our resurection bodily form, yet we know for certain that "we shall be like Him" (1 John 3:2).
Scripture Quotations
The New King James Version. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982.
Additional Resources Consulted
MacDonald, W. (1995). Believer’s Bible Commentary: Old and New Testaments. (A. Farstad, Ed.) (p. 1808). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
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