THE GOSPEL OF THE RESURRECTION (1), Dr. Samuel Lee
SO SHALL WE BEAR THE IMAGE OF THE HEAVENLY MAN
Passage: 1_Corinthians 15:35~49  
Key verse: 49
The Resurrection Body
35 But someone will ask,(A) “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come?”(B) 36 How foolish!(C) What you sow does not come to life unless it dies.(D) 37 When you sow, you do not plant the body that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or of something else. 38 But God gives it a body as he has determined, and to each kind of seed he gives its own body.(E) 39 Not all flesh is the same: People have one kind of flesh, animals have another, birds another and fish another. 40 There are also heavenly bodies and there are earthly bodies; but the splendor of the heavenly bodies is one kind, and the splendor of the earthly bodies is another. 41 The sun has one kind of splendor,(F) the moon another and the stars another;(G) and star differs from star in splendor.
42 So will it be(H) with the resurrection of the dead.(I) The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable;(J) 43 it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory;(K) it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; 44 it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.(L)
If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. 45 So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being”[a];(M) the last Adam,(N) a life-giving spirit.(O) 46 The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual.(P) 47 The first man was of the dust of the earth;(Q) the second man is of heaven.(R) 48 As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the heavenly man, so also are those who are of heaven.(S) 49 And just as we have borne the image of the earthly man,(T) so shall we[b] bear the image of the heavenly man.(U)
Footnotes
- 1 Corinthians 15:45 Gen. 2:7
- 1 Corinthians 15:49 Some early manuscripts so let us
Cross references
- 1 Corinthians 15:35 : Ro 9:19
- 1 Corinthians 15:35 : Eze 37:3
- 1 Corinthians 15:36 : Lk 11:40; 12:20
- 1 Corinthians 15:36 : Jn 12:24
- 1 Corinthians 15:38 : Ge 1:11
- 1 Corinthians 15:41 : Ps 19:4-6
- 1 Corinthians 15:41 : Ps 8:1, 3
- 1 Corinthians 15:42 : Da 12:3; Mt 13:43
- 1 Corinthians 15:42 : ver 12
- 1 Corinthians 15:42 : ver 50, 53, 54
- 1 Corinthians 15:43 : Php 3:21; Col 3:4
- 1 Corinthians 15:44 : ver 50
- 1 Corinthians 15:45 : Ge 2:7
- 1 Corinthians 15:45 : Ro 5:14
- 1 Corinthians 15:45 : Jn 5:21; 6:57, 58; Ro 8:2
- 1 Corinthians 15:46 : ver 44
- 1 Corinthians 15:47 : Ge 2:7; 3:19; Ps 90:3
- 1 Corinthians 15:47 : Jn 3:13, 31
- 1 Corinthians 15:48 : Php 3:20, 21
- 1 Corinthians 15:49 : Ge 5:3
- 1 Corinthians 15:49 : S Ro 8:29
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Source:  BibleGateway
How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come? If we were raised like a zombie, no one would want to be resurrected. But there is a wonderful resurrection principle. We plant a seed, but God gives it a beautiful body. As God made earthly bodies so he made the heavenly bodies. As he gave different splendor to each body, so our resurrection body will have heavenly splendor: We now have a perishable, weak, dishonorable, natural body, but we will be raised with the imperishable, glorious, powerful and spiritual body. In Jesus, there is no more pain, sickness, tears, nor death.
2. We shall bear the image of Jesus (44b-49)
Adam came first, as a natural man from the dust of the earth and then returned to dust. But God sent Jesus, the last Adam, as a life-giving spirit. He came down with earthly body, but he was raised with a spiritual body. He ascended and will come again. As our natural body bore the image of Adam, so shall we bear the image of heavenly Jesus.
Prayer: Lord, we have a perishable, dishonorable, weak and earthly body. But we shall bear an honorable, strong, spiritual, eternal image like you.
One Word: We shall bear Jesus’ image!