The Earthly Creation (I Corinthians 15:35-39)

(Class Notes)

• QUESTION: "How are the dead raised up?" (I Corinthians 15:35)
  • Paul declares that SOME may ASK the QUESTION: "HOW are the DEAD RAISED up?" (I Corinthians 15:35)
    • Paul makes it previously clear that the SOME who would ASK this QUESTION are the SOME who "HAVE NOT the KNOWLEDGE of God" (I Corinthians 15:34)
    • WITHOUT the aid of Divine REVELATION FROM ABOVE, i.e. ONLY that which may be OBSERVED "UNDER THE SUN" (Ecclesiastes 1:3):
      • DEATH is the END FOR ALL (Ecclesiastes 9:3-5):
      • This "ONE EVENT (DEATH)" (Ecclesiastes 2:14-16) MAKES ALL earthly LABOR to be VANITY (Ecclesiastes 2:11)

• ANSWER: "Not quickened, except it die" (I Corinthians 15:36)
  • Paul's ANSWER to the QUESTION, "HOW are the DEAD RAISED up?" (I Corinthians 15:35):
    • "THOU FOOL, that which thou sowest is NOT QUICKENED, EXCEPT it DIE" (I Corinthians 15:36)
  • In reference to HIS OWN DEATH - the Lord gives the SAME ANSWER concerning HIS SUBSEQUENT RESURRECTION (John 12:23-24)

• QUESTION: "With what body do they come?" (I Corinthians 15:35)
  • GIVEN that the DEAD are RAISED up - then Paul proceeds with a logical FOLLOW-UP QUESTION, "with WHAT BODY do they come?" (I Corinthians 15:35)
    • Nicodemus betrayed his LACK OF KNOWLEDGE concerning the RESURRECTION BODY (Ezekiel 37:11-12) when he ASKED the Lord, "can he ENTER the SECOND TIME INTO his mother's WOMB?" (John 3:4)

• ANSWER: "Thou sowest not that body that shall be" (I Corinthians 15:37)
  • Paul's ANSWER to the QUESTION, "With WHAT BODY do they come?" (I Corinthians 15:35):
    • "And that which thou sowest, THOU SOWEST NOT THAT BODY that shall be, BUT BARE GRAIN" (I Corinthians 15:37)
    • The BODY that shall be = "it may chance of WHEAT, or of some OTHER GRAIN" (I Corinthians 15:37)
      • There are TWO GRAIN HARVESTS mentioned in the LAW (Ruth 2:23)
    • There are TWO DISTINCT TIMES of EARTHLY SEED PLANTING (BEFORE the COLD of WINTER) and EARTHLY HARVEST REAPING (AFTER the HEAT of SUMMER) - Genesis 8:22
      • There are TWO DISTINCT TIMES of SPIRITUAL SEED PLANTING (NOW in HOPE) and SPIRITUAL HARVEST REAPING (LATER in RESURRECTION) - Galatians 6:7-9 cf. Romans 8:22-25

• EXPLANATION: "God giveth it a body" (I Corinthians 15:38)
  • It is GOD Who CAUSED the EARTH to "BRING FORTH" the "HERB yielding SEED after his KIND, and the TREE yielding FRUIT, whose SEED was in ITSELF, after his KIND" (Genesis 1:11-12)
  • It is GOD Who CAUSED the EARTH to "BRING FORTH" the "LIVING CREATURE after his KIND, and the CREEPING THING ... after his KIND" (Genesis 1:24-25)
  • It is GOD Who PREPARED the BODY of the Lord Jesus Christ to accomplish man's REDEMPTION (Hebrews 10:5-7 cf. Psalms 40:6-7)
  • It is the Lord Jesus Christ "WHO shall CHANGE OUR VILE BODY", so "that is may be FASHIONED LIKE UNTO HIS GLORIOUS BODY" (Philippians 3:20-21)

• ILLUSTRATION: "All flesh is not the same flesh" (I Corinthians 15:39)
  • GOD CREATED the FLESH of EACH after its OWN KIND (I Corinthians 15:39):
    • GOD CREATED MAN (in His OWN IMAGE and LIKENESS), the FISH of the SEA, the FOWL of the AIR, the CATTLE and the CREEPING THING upon the EARTH (Genesis 1:26)
    • "GOD SAW EVERY THING THAT HE HAD MADE, and, BEHOLD, IT WAS VERY GOOD" (Genesis 1:31)

Study Outline

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