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Reading 1 Corinthians 15:35-38 where the Apostle Paul makes an argument for the resurrection of the dead from general revelation. Visit wwutt.com for all our videos!
You might think that in order to prove there is something on the other side of death, I'd have to die first and see it in order to know what it is. But Paul says that we can see evidence for the resurrection of the dead in nature, when we understand the text.
Many of the Bible stories and verses we think we know, we don't. When we understand the text is committed to teaching sound doctrine and rebuking those who contradict it. Visit our website at www .utt .com.
Here once again is Pastor Gabe.
Thank you, Becky. We're back to our study in 1 Corinthians chapter 15. Such a wonderful chapter where Paul is laying out an argument for the resurrection of the dead. And that Christ being raised from the dead means that we also will be raised to life with him.
We're going to start reading today in verse 35. I'm going to go to verse 45 out of the Legacy Standard Bible. This is the word of the Lord through the Apostle Paul writing to the church in Corinth. All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one flesh of men and another flesh of beasts and another flesh of birds and another flesh of fish.
There are also heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is one and the glory of the earthly is another. There is one glory of the sun and another glory of the moon and another glory of the stars, for star differs from star in glory.
So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown a corruptible body. It is raised an incorruptible body. It is sown in dishonor. 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. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. So also it is written, the first man, Adam, became a living soul. The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.
So as Paul has been laying out this argument here, this apologetic for the resurrection of the dead, we have had various stages of this argument here. We started with an argument from Scripture. Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures.
He was buried and he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures. That was verses 3 and 4. Then he talked about eyewitness accounts, people who actually saw Christ died and risen again, hundreds of witnesses to the fact that this man died and was risen again from the dead.
Then Paul gave the negative argument. So if Christ hasn't really been raised from the dead, then what? And really the argument that was coming from the Corinthians or from the Greeks was that there is no resurrection of the dead.
So if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And what does that mean? Well, that means your faith is worthless. Like, why are we even Christians if Christ didn't die for our sins and rise again from the dead, conquering death, which is the wages of sin?
Romans 6 .23, the wages of sin is death. So if that's what we deserve for our sin, but Christ didn't die for our sins, then you're still in your sins and there's no point to Christianity. Paul says we've even been misrepresenting God.
We're calling God a liar. Because we bore witness against God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if in fact the dead are not raised. That was in verse 15. So there's no point to this faith that we have.
And Christianity is just all a lie if there is no resurrection of the dead and Christ himself has not been raised. That was the negative argument that Paul presented there. And then he gives the positive argument, verse 20.
But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. Meaning that Christ was the first, and then there are others who are going to come after him. So all who are in Christ, we can know certainly with confidence that because he has risen from the dead for us, that we likewise who are in Christ will be raised also.
And we will be part of that glorious kingdom. All things having been subjected to Christ, he gives the kingdom over to his father and we will be with father, son, and Holy Spirit forever in eternity. That was where Paul was making the positive argument.
Now we get to a new argument that Paul makes here. So we've had the scripture argument, the eyewitness accounts, we've had the negative argument, we've had the positive argument. Number five, this is the argument from general revelation.
Look again at verse 35. But someone will say, how are the dead raised? And with what kind of body do they come? You fool, Paul says. We'll come back to this. That which you sow does not come to life unless it dies.
And that which you sow you do not sow, the body which is to be, but a bare grain perhaps of wheat or of something else. So what's Paul talking about here? He's saying you can look at nature. You can look all around you at nature and you can see evidence for the resurrection of the dead.
That's what general revelation is. So God having revealed himself even in nature, special revelation is what we read out of the scriptures. This was given by God to his prophets and apostles who spoke on his behalf to the people.
We have these things written down for us. This was given by God. Second Peter chapter one, no prophecy ever came from man, but man was carried along by the Holy Spirit to write what the Holy Spirit wanted him to write.
So what we're reading here in the Bible is special revelation from God. General revelation is something everybody has. Only those who have the Holy Spirit can understand the things of God. Paul had made that argument back in 1 Corinthians chapter two.
So only those who have the Spirit can read the Bible and see the power of God in the gospel that is proclaimed in it. Not everybody has the Holy Spirit, but everyone is witness to general revelation. God having been revealed in all that has been made.
That's Romans 1 20. Even his eternal power and his divine nature are clearly perceived in all that has been made so that mankind is without excuse. Nobody is going to get to heaven on the day of judgment.
And when I say to heaven, I mean before the throne of judgment. Of course, not everybody goes to heaven, but everybody will stand before that throne of judgment. Nobody's going to stand before that throne and say, well, we just didn't know.
God, we didn't even know that you existed. They won't be able to say that. They know. We know in all that has been made, God has clearly demonstrated not just that he exists, but even his eternal power and his divine nature are perceived in all that has been made.
So we can know these things about God through general revelation, just the stuff that we can observe in nature. So Paul's argument here in 1 Corinthians 15 is we can even recognize the resurrection of the dead in the things that have been made.
Because just remember the approach to this by the Greeks. They think that this is absurd. The resurrection of the dead. It's the very thing that turned them away from the message that Paul was proclaiming at the Areopagus in Acts 17.
As soon as he started talking about a man who had been raised from the dead, all the Greeks there were just like, oh, yeah, no way, forget it. Yeah, that's ridiculous, the resurrection of the dead. There were some there, though, that said, we want to hear more from you about this.
And it's understood they became converts there in Athens. They listened to the apostle Paul. They believed the gospel that he proclaimed and put faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. But a Greek just did not believe in the resurrection of the dead.
And I've talked about this before. Even in their polytheism or their syncretism or anything else, they didn't believe that a person died. And then there was this wonderful, glorious paradise or afterlife that they went to.
They just became worm food. They died, went into the ground or became dust again. And that was it. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. Right. That was what the Greeks believed. But Paul is arguing here that he doesn't even have to lay down the scriptural evidence, although he does.
And that's where he begins, because that should be enough. But he continues to cement this point by even showing from general revelation that there's evidence of the resurrection of the dead. This is not just something that you have to die in order to experience, in order to witness.
We can't know anything about the resurrection of the dead until we die. And then when we see on the other side, then we'll go, oh, okay, well, there it is. And if we die and there's nothing after that, well, I mean, who's going to say told you so?
You just die. And that's all there is. But no, Paul is saying that from nature, you can see it. You can observe it. You even know it, that there is a resurrection of the dead. And where does he start?
What's the example that he gives, that he starts with? It's the example of the seed. When a seed goes into the ground, it dies and becomes something else, which is just the perfect metaphor, right? And, of course, this is not just Paul writing from his intelligence, although he is a very, very smart man.
Perhaps the most brilliant man on Earth at the time, really. And he's not just speaking from his own intelligence here. Of course, he's speaking from the Holy Spirit. But it's still a brilliant example.
The seed. Because when we die, where do we go? We go into the ground. Because Paul is saying, we go into the ground, we become something else. Your body dies, it becomes something else. In fact, you can't even inherit the imperishable unless your perishable body becomes imperishable.
We'll get to that as we go on here. But he's saying that the seed goes into the ground and dies and becomes something else. So it is the same with the human body. Now, I just love the response to this.
Looking at verse 35 again. But someone will say, how are the dead raised? And with what kind of body do they come? Now, this is an argument. This is an argument that Paul has heard, probably even from the people there in the church in Corinth.
This is how they have responded to this idea of the resurrection of the dead. Remember, Paul is rebuking this church for the fact that there are people in their midst that don't believe in the resurrection of the dead.
Why are they there? They're not even Christians. They either need to repent and come to faith in Christ or they need to be removed from your church. That was how we concluded last week. Verses 33 and 34.
Do not be deceived. Bad company corrupts good morals. Become righteously sober minded and stop sinning. For some, meaning some among you, have no knowledge of God. And I speak this to your shame. Why are there people in the church that don't believe in the resurrection of the dead or even that Christ has been raised from the dead?
So when Paul makes this argument here in verse 35, he's framing an argument that has come from somebody even in that congregation. How are the dead raised? This is an argument. This isn't somebody inquiring of or wanting to know the answer to this question.
It's, you know, it's a snarky retort. And how are the dead raised? Like you're saying the dead are raised. How are they raised? We don't see zombies walking around, right? How are they raised? And with what kind of body do they come?
That could have been, too, that, you know, maybe somebody was asked or raising the question that way because we don't really experience a resurrection of the dead. We just become spirits or ghosts or something like that.
And it could have been that somebody was making that kind of an argument. Now, how does Paul respond to that argument? This is what I love about it. Verse 36, you fool. You know, we're always taught that whenever somebody asks a question, you're supposed to answer politely, right?
Or there's no such thing as a stupid question. You've heard that your whole life. There's no such thing as a stupid question. Well, this question was apparently pretty stupid to Paul. That's why I just love the reply.
I love it. How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come? You moron. You know, that's kind of the way that he replies here. You fool is synonymous with you idiot or you're stupid. You know, all those words kind of go together.
I'm not just saying it for the sake of saying it, although it is kind of fun. Anyway, you fool. That which you sow does not come to life unless it dies. And again, the seed. That's exactly the correlation here is the seed because that's what you sow in the ground.
The seed, the seed, which you so doesn't come to life. You go out to a field. You sow seed expected to become wheat. It doesn't come up from the ground unless it dies. It goes into the ground and it dies.
And that which you so verse 37, you do not. So the body, which is to be, but a bare grain, perhaps of wheat or of something else. So whatever it is you're putting in the ground is not what comes back out.
Lest anybody's making this argument of like, well, why aren't there just zombies walking around? If there is a resurrection of the dead, we're putting dead in the ground. Why don't they come back that way?
Decayed corpses walking around. Well, if that were the case, then whatever comes out of the ground is what you stuck in the ground. That's what comes back up again. Paul's argument here is that what comes up is not what went down.
The thing that you put in the ground was a bare grain, wheat or something else. What comes out has been made into something new. Verse 38. But God gives it a body just as he wished. And to each of the seeds, a body of its own.
So each seed is unique. A tomato seed is different than a walnut seed, right? Or a walnut tree seed. You have a seed that you're going to put in the ground that's going to become a tomato plant. You know that was a tomato seed.
You got a seed that you put in the ground that comes up and becomes a walnut tree. Well, you know that was a different kind of seed. Two completely different seeds. So God gives to each seed its own body.
And what it rises up into is even its own body. So that argument there in verse 38 or that statement can go either way. Either Paul is referring to the seed itself or the thing it becomes. God gives it a body just as he wished.
And to each of the seeds, a body of its own. It's as God wills, not as we will. That's a theme that's been going on throughout this letter. It's not as we will, but as God wills. You go back to chapter 1.
It is by his doing that you are in Christ Jesus. 1 Corinthians 1 .30. Who became to us wisdom from God and righteousness and sanctification and redemption. So that just as it is written, let him who boasts, boast in the Lord.
That's the end of chapter 1. And then I've already mentioned to you chapter 2. Where no one can understand the things of God. The mind of God. Unless they have the Holy Spirit dwelling within them. Not anybody can just discern the thoughts of God.
Even according to what's written down for us in the Bible. The natural man cannot understand the spiritual things. For they are spiritually discerned. Verse 14. So all of this is by God. You have a church full of people that are full of themselves.
And Paul has been laying out over and over again. It's not about you. Get over yourself. Look out for the needs of others. Humble yourself before the Lord. Purge the evil person from among you. To this I say to your shame.
To this I do not praise you. Over and over again. We have the love rebuke in chapter 13. You're not loving. You are just noisy gongs and clanging cymbals. Love must be this. So when I was a child I spoke like a child.
I acted like a child. But when I became a man I put away childish things. So he's saying here to the church in Corinth. Grow up. Mature in Christ. And this is a work that is done in you. Not by your will.
But God's. This is all of God. It is the work that God does in his people. So that anyone who boasts, let it be in the Lord. God gives it a body just as he wished. And to each of the seeds a body of its own.
It has been God's will this entire time. So humble yourself before the Lord. You will be raised from the dead. You will be raised with Christ on that day of glory. Because God has willed it. Not because you have.
Not because you did anything great. But because God is great. God gives it a body just as he wished. The body that you have now. Let's talk about practical implications of this here, right? The body that you have now.
You have that body because it was God's will to give you that body. You may not like the body that you're in. Very few people do when you think about it. Even the best looking people in the world. Those that will cover People Magazine.
As like the sexiest man or woman alive. Or the best looking this, that, or the other. That make all these magazine covers. When you read interviews with those folks. Even they don't seem to like their bodies very much.
They get paid millions of dollars for their looks and for their appearance. But they don't really seem to care for their own bodies. But the body that you have was given to you by God. It was God's will that you would have this body.
You've got aches and pains in your body. Your body is getting older. It's dying. It's decaying. That's true for everybody. You're not unique. Everybody has aches and pains as they get older. Being reminded of the futility this world was subject to because of Adam's sin.
We're reminded in our bodies every day how fragile they are. We're reminded of the effects of sin on this world. That's what you're feeling in your body whenever you suffer. And not just physically but even physiologically.
Mentally. Emotionally. Some of the things that you will experience in your very persona. Are a result of sin that has afflicted this world. But even these things that you go through are to teach you to rely not on yourself but on God who raises the dead.
It was God's will to give you this body. Praise God for it. That you would at this moment have ears to hear the message of the gospel of Christ proclaimed to you. So that you would repent of your sin and put faith in Jesus Christ and have everlasting life.
That was God's will for you to hear that and put faith in that. Rejoice in that. And be looking forward to the day when this body that you're in will be made perfect. Incorruptible. In a place where there will be no more sickness.
Tears. Dying. No more temptation. All of the former things will have passed away. God will have made all things new. And we will be perfect in the presence of Christ forever. These aches and pains that you experience now, they're nothing.
They're nothing but a momentary light affliction as Paul describes it in 2 Corinthians chapter 4. This momentary light affliction does not even compare to the weight of glory that we will receive in Christ Jesus.
So these aches and pains you experience now, let it be something that is making you long for heaven all the more. As we see the day drawing near. So God has given you this body just as he willed. And he will raise you from the dead as he wills by faith in Jesus Christ.
Let us pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you for giving us your son who died for our sins and who rose again from the dead. So that by believing in him, we will not die, but we will have everlasting life.
And such was your gracious will, oh Father. So let us live in our bodies in submission to you today. Turning from sin, turning to righteousness, living for Christ and longing for that day when we will be with our God forever in glory.
Let us not be comfortable with this world. For this world is passing away and it's coming into judgment. Let us long and desire for the kingdom of God. And his righteousness and all the things that we need will be added to us as well.
Thank you for our lesson today as we read the scriptures. And may it continue to encourage our minds and hearts. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.
Thank you for listening to When We Understand The Text with Pastor Gabe Hughes. If you'd like to support this ministry, visit our website www .wutt .com and click on the Give tab in the top right corner of the page.
Join us again tomorrow as we continue our Bible study, When We Understand The Text.