1 Corinthians 15:42–44

Here we have the same picture again, used in a different way. A seed is sown in the earth. It keeps its identity, yet it comes up with a very different body. The acorn is buried, but the oak springs up. The point is plain. The dead body of the believer is laid in the grave. At the resurrection it will come up very different, yet it will still be the same body.

Scripture is careful to show that resurrection is real. It stresses that the very thing sown is the thing raised, though it is raised in new conditions. So we read, "It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption." The identity stays, because the it that is sown is the it that is raised. Corruption is where man in the flesh ends up, and the body is in that state when it goes into the grave.

We must not conceive of our future glorified bodies as though they were a new and improved suit of clothes, already existing somewhere in heaven, and coming to us straight out of heaven. So thinking, we should find ourselves in collision with 1 Corinthians 15:42-44, where a certain identity is preserved between the body of humiliation which is put down into the ground and the body of glory that is raised up.

The body of the believer is sown in corruption, but raised in incorruption. Sown in dishonour, it is raised in glory. "Sown" is a word of triumph. It reminds us of the farmer, who sows to get a fitting harvest. The summoning shout of our Lord is still to come, and it will show His mighty triumph. Then what was sown in corruption, dishonour and weakness will rise in incorruption, glory and power. "Sown" is indeed a word of triumph when we lay our loved ones in the cold grave.

"It is sown in corruption." That is where the activity of natural life ends. Being mortal is only death put off. Ever since the first sin, the body of man has been doomed to return to dust. But the Lawgiver can make alive as well as kill... Judgment has sown what mercy is to reap... It is a sinful body, and decay is its badge of shame. But the Lord has bought it in righteousness, and He now entrusts it for a while to the safe keeping of the earth, which once was His own grave.

This is the state that the bodies of the dead in Christ will have at the resurrection. Their bodies are decaying in their graves now. When the resurrection happens, and what is mortal has put on immortality, death will be swallowed up in victory! In Romans 2:7 and 2 Timothy 1:10 the same Greek word is used, and it should be translated 'incorruption' instead of 'immortality.'

It is raised in incorruption, glory, and power. It is not a thin, airy body, as Chrysostom and Origen each said. It is a body filled with spirit life, as it once had animal life from the soul. It is not a spirit, but a spiritual body. It is not held in by earthly limits. It can pass through a closed door, or be touched. It can take food, though it needs none. We judge this from Him who rose as the great Head, pattern and power, and who said that a spirit does not have flesh and bones, as they saw He had.

Look for a moment at 1 Corinthians 15. To show how clearly it is God's people and no one else who are raised here, we read, "It is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption; it is sown in dishonour, it is raised in glory." How can you apply that to a general resurrection? "Raised in glory" — can you say that of the wicked? You cannot read one sentence about the resurrection here without seeing that it speaks of the resurrection of God's people. That is not to say others will never be raised. But these are in view, because they are redeemed and have life in Christ.

The word "sown" is a triumphant word. It reminds us of the farmer, who sows to get a suitable harvest. We still wait for the summoning shout of our Lord to show His mighty triumph. Then what was sown in corruption, dishonour and weakness will rise to a condition of incorruption, glory and power. The word "sown" is indeed a triumphant word when we commit our loved ones to the cold grave.

The body of the Christian is sown in dishonour, for all man's glory is brought down into dishonour in the dust of death. What has a man to boast of when his body lies in corruption in the grave? This is the end of all man's pride and distinctions among men.

If corruption expresses the effect of a mortal condition, dishonour is a confession of its moral degradation. Our bodies are bodies of humiliation, and the grave is their hiding-place of shame. Human pride may refuse to admit this. Princes who had gold try in vain to keep up a shadow of their rank in the grand tombs they build for themselves. But the worm is still their brother.

But if sown in dishonour, it is raised in glory. The death of a believer is the seal of his lifelong confession as a sinner and a worm. His resurrection will be the completion of his hope as a partaker, in Christ, of the righteousness of God. Glory is the natural ornament of righteousness, as dishonour is the inseparable consequence of sin.

The way the body shows itself is completely changed — from dishonour, decline and humiliation, to "glory," a dignity and beauty impossible in our present bodily state. And the weakness of the vessel, which often sinks into utter helplessness in old age, will give place to a "power" we have not yet imagined. Christ was "crucified in weakness." He had taken a place lower than angels, who are mighty in strength. But God raised Him by His power, and gave Him in Manhood a place above angels. His bodily condition is now no barrier to the use of this marvellous power. So the capacity of our bodies will also be wonderfully changed.

The identity stays the same. The words show it, repeated four times: "It is sown … it is raised." Still, the condition it is in is of an entirely different order. This answers the question, "With what kind of body do they come?"

The body of the believer is sown in dishonour, corruption, and weakness: so all can see. What do we believe? It is raised in incorruption, glory, and power. It is not a merely airy body, but a body alive with spirit life, as it once was with animal life from the soul. It is not a spirit, but a spiritual body, not limited by earthly conditions.

If we are believers, we are raised in glory. What is more, Christ Himself will come to bring us to Himself: "who will transform our lowly body to be like His glorious body." If Christ comes to fetch us and puts us in glory, what room is left to raise any question about our sins?

The body sown in the grave bears the marks of corruption, dishonour, weakness and soulishness. We coin that last word because "natural" here is more literally "soulish" — something fitted for the animal soul rather than the spirit. It is raised in incorruption, glory, power, and a spiritual body rather than a soulish one. The body keeps its identity, as the words repeated four times show: "It is sown… it is raised." Yet its condition is of a different order altogether. This answers the question, "With what body do they come?"

The adjective translated "natural" — more exactly, "animal" — may present some difficulty when applied in this way, whether to a man's moral condition or to his body. So we think it well to note what the word points to. It points to that which, like the first Adam, lives because it has a soul, and not by the mighty energy of the Holy Spirit.

The soul-life now is, no doubt, a needed discipline for the spirit… The spiritual body changes this relation between spirit and soul. It puts the spirit fully in the governing place, and makes all conditions work in perfect subjection to it. That is the meaning of a spiritual body — not a body made of spirit, but a body marked by the spirit that dwells in it.

The body of the believer is sown in dishonour, corruption, and weakness: everyone sees that. What do we believe? It is raised in incorruption, glory, and power. It is not a thin or airy body, as Chrysostom and Origen each said. It is a body alive with spirit life, as it once was with animal life from the soul. It is not a spirit, but a spiritual body. It is not limited by earthly conditions. It can pass through a closed door, or be touched. It can take food, though it needs none. So at least we may judge from Him who rose as the great Head and pattern and power. He declared that a spirit does not have flesh and bones, as they saw He had.

Once we know what "a spiritual body" means, many wrong guesses about it fall away. It is not the opposite of a material body. It is still material, for it comes — by divine power — from what is "sown" in the dust. But it is a body fitted, as never before, to be the servant of the spirit. It no longer ties the spirit to slow gains of knowledge through the senses. It no longer burdens the spirit with a frame that wears itself out and needs rest and repair. It can go with the spirit through the endless activities of a scene where there is no night, and no need of one.

What is sown will never reappear in its original name and condition. Yet it keeps its identity. It is still the body of the man who occupied it when alive… The first of these two statements is a truism, and makes no real call on our faith. The second is a revelation which only faith can receive. It contradicts all natural experience and is as yet among the things not seen.

The word "sown" is a triumphant word. It reminds us of the farmer, who sows to get a suitable harvest. One thing remains: the summoning shout of our Lord will display His mighty triumph. Then what is sown in corruption, dishonour and weakness will rise to a condition of incorruption, glory and power. The word "sown" is indeed a triumphant word when we commit our loved ones to the cold grave.