harvest is coming1

1 Cor 15:35-41

The

Harvest

is

Coming

WE GRIEVE IN HOPE.

• Death is not God‟s will.

• Death is not God‟s will: “Sin came

into the world through one man,

and death through sin, and so

death spread to all men because all

sinned” (Rm 5:12, ESV).

• Death is not God‟s will: Rm 5:12.

• Death is God‟s enemy.


• Death is God‟s enemy: Jesus “must

reign until he has put all his

enemies under his feet. The last

enemy to be destroyed is death” (1

Cor 15:25-26, ESV).


• Death is God‟s enemy: 1 Cor 15:25-

26.

• BUT, we grieve in hope.


• Death is God‟s enemy: 1 Cor 15:25-

26.

• BUT, we grieve in hope: “We do not

want you to be uninformed,

brothers, about those who are

asleep, that you may not grieve as

others do who have no hope” (1

Thess 4:13, ESV).

• The Corinthians didn‟t know what

to make of death.


to make of death.

• Some of them denied the

resurrection.


to make of death.


resurrection: “Some of you say that

there is no resurrection of the dead”

(1 Cor 15:12, ESV).


to make of death.


resurrection: 1 Cor 15:12.

• It seems that the MAJOR stumbling

block for the Corinthians was the

state of the resurrected body.


to make of death.






• “Someone will ask, „How are the

dead raised? With what kind of

body do they come?‟” (v 35, ESV).


to make of death.






• “Someone will ask, „How are the

dead raised? With what kind of

body do they come?‟” (v 35, ESV).

• Surely, they‟re all dust!

• To answer the Corinthians‟

questions, Paul uses an agricultural

analogy.

• To answer the Corinthians‟

questions, Paul uses an agricultural

analogy.

• Corinth wasn‟t as much an

agricultural community as were

other places in the ancient world.

LET’S THINK ABOUT PAUL'S ANSWERS TO THE CORINTHIANS' QUESTIONS.

HOW ARE THE DEAD RAISED?vv 36-38

• “You foolish person!”


• That‟s not very kind!



• “Whoever says, „You fool!‟ will be

liable to the hell of fire” (Mt 5:22,

ESV).





ESV).

• I wouldn‟t be happy if a teacher

called one of my sons a fool!





ESV).



• What should we make of Paul‟s

calling the Corinthians fools?





ESV).



• What should we make of Paul‟s

calling the Corinthians fools?

• “The FOOL says in his heart, „There is

no God‟” (Ps 14:1, ESV).

HOW ARE THE DEAD RAISED? GOD!

• The seed we sow does not come to

life unless it dies.



• This is a botanical absurdity.




• Paul isn‟t teaching botany; he‟s

teaching the resurrection.






• In the ancient world, people

believed seeds died before they

sprouted.






• In the ancient world, people

believed seeds died before they

sprouted.

• Paul takes that belief to teach about

the resurrection.

• Life follows death.


• We see this principle in medicine all

the time.



the time.

• This paradox works spiritually.



the time.


• “Whoever would save his life will

lose it, but whoever loses his life for

my sake will find it” (Mt 16:25, ESV).



the time.


• “Whoever would save his life will

lose it, but whoever loses his life for

my sake will find it” (Mt 16:25, ESV).

• Paul merges the two ideas here.

• But, what grows does not look like

what‟s planted.

Corn Seed vs. Corn Stalk

Sown Raised

Perishable Imperishable

Dishonor Glory

Weakness Power

Natural Spiritual

Earth Heaven

Sown vs. Raised Bodies (vv 42-49

WE DON’T NEED TO WORRY ABOUT THE STATE OF OUR BODIES PRIOR TO THE RESURRECTION.

• Rabbis in Paul‟s day said that we

would be raised from an

indestructible bone in the neck.




• It doesn‟t matter what physical

matter remains.




• It doesn‟t matter what physical

matter remains.

•GOD WILL

RAISE OUR

BODIES!

HOW IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE?

HOW IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE?

“God gives it a body as he has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body.”

• When God first made the world, he

decreed the way plants would

produce seed.

• When God first made the world, he

decreed the way plants would

produce seed.

• “God said, „Let the earth sprout

vegetation, plants yielding seed,

and fruit trees bearing fruit in which

is their seed, each according to its

kinds, on the earth” (Gn 1:11, ESV).

WHY DOES PAUL MENTION THAT EACH KIND OF SEED HAS ITS OWN BODY?

• Who here can make a seed grow?


• We can nurture a seed.



• But, only GOD can make it grow.



• But, only GOD can make it grow.

• Paul: “Look, folks, don‟t worry about

the resurrected body. The God who

made this world & causes all things

to grow is the One who will cause

our bodies to come forth at the Last

Day.”

OUR BODIES ARE GOING TO HAVE HAPPY ENDINGS!

WHAT KIND OF BODY WILL WE HAVE IN THE RESURRECTION?vv 39-41

• “Not all flesh is the same, but there

is one kind for humans, another for

animals, another for birds, and

another for fish. There are heavenly

bodies and earthly bodies, but the

glory of the heavenly is of one kind,

and the glory of the earthly of

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” (vv 39-

41, ESV).

WE’VE LIKELY ALL PONDERED ABOUT THE RESURRECTED BODY.

• That‟s fine.

• That‟s fine.

• But, in Corinth, because they

couldn‟t figure out everythingabout the resurrection, they said it

would not occur.

• To such people, Paul says, “Look

around you. You see that humans

are designed one way, animals are

designed another, & birds and fish

are different from humans and

animals.”

THINK ABOUT THE DIFFERENT KINDS OF FLESH ON THIS EARTH.

• Many physical differences between

men & women.


men & women.

• Females generally outlive males by

four to eight years in the United

States.


men & women.



States.

• A woman‟s metabolism is normally

lower than a man‟s.


men & women.



States.

• A woman‟s metabolism is normally

lower than a man‟s.

• Skeletal structure: woman have a

shorter head, broader face, less

protruding chin, shorter legs, &

longer trunk.

• Earthly & heavenly bodies also

differ from one another.



• There are different glories among

the heavenly bodies.





• The sun & moon are quite a bit

different from one another.





• The sun & moon are quite a bit

different from one another.

• Stars also differ from one another.

WHAT DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD?

• When Jesus comes again, heavenly

bodies will be burned up.


bodies will be burned up. “The

heavens will be set on fire and

dissolved, and the heavenly bodies

will melt as they burn!” (2 Pt 3:12,

ESV).


bodies will be burned up. 2 Pt 3:12.

• When Jesus comes again, there will

not be differences in men & women.


bodies will be burned up. 2 Pt 3:12.

• When Jesus comes again, there will

not be differences in men & women.

“In the resurrection they neither

marry nor are given in marriage, but

are like angels in heaven” (Mt 22:30,

ESV).

IF GOD CLOTHED BODIES AS HE CHOSE AT THE CREATION, CAN HE NOT DO THE SAME AT THE RESURRECTION?

GOD HAS TAKEN CARE OF OUR RESURRECTION BODIES!

WOULDN’T IT BE NICE TO KNOW WHAT WE’LL LOOK LIKE AT THE RESURRECTION?

WOULDN’T IT BE NICE TO KNOW WHAT WE’LL LOOK LIKE AT THE RESURRECTION?

We do!!!!

• “We are God‟s children now, and

what we will be has not yet

appeared; but we know that when

he appears we shall be like him,

because we shall see him as he is.

And everyone who thus hopes in

him purifies himself as he is pure” (1

Jn 3:2-3, ESV).








Jn 3:2-3, ESV).

• That‟s ALL I need to know!








Jn 3:2-3, ESV).


• I‟m going to be like Jesus!








Jn 3:2-3, ESV).


• I‟m going to be like Jesus!

• What a glorious thought!

IS THAT YOUR HOPE THIS MORNING?