MONDAY October 5, 2026 “What Resurrection Body?” (1 Cor. 15:35-57)

Good MONDAY to you my “Walking with Jesus” friends,

Have you ever spent much time in a large Zoological Park, or walked through a modern, Ocean Aquarium, or even a Space Observatory? These places awaken awe in us for the grandeur of our universe, while at the same time the breath-taking complexity and distinctiveness of each species or category of created things, from earth animals to galaxies, right?

Psalm 19:1 declares boldly: “The heavens declare the glory of God, the skies proclaim the work of His hands…” When I look up into the sky, day or night, from anywhere on the face of this planet, I stand in awe, do you? Psalm 139:16 echoes with this declaration: “You, O God, created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful, I know that…” When we hold a newborn baby in our hands, we should be equally awed at the magnificent design and creative power of God in giving life to all living things, right?

But the sad truth is that EVERYTHING that exists, including ALL that God has created, is decaying and all living things will eventually die. That sad reality is the result of what happened in the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve rejected God’s perfection and invited Satan’s evil into our world. (Genesis 3:14-24)

As we saw this past weekend in our study of 1 Corinthians 15 & Revelation 20, this sad reality will continue until King Jesus Himself finally sends sin, Satan and death into the lake of fire for all time future.

This Monday may I bring you a good word of encouragement that again affirms the uniqueness of the human species made in the image of God? Our species is designed by God for immortality…all of us, each of us, every person who has ever been conceived through all time! The apostle Paul dedicated the last part of his 15th chapter of his first letter to the Corinthian Christians to clarify this wonderful, hopeful reality!

From vs. 35-41 Paul calls us to recognize the uniqueness of the God designed, God created human species, from everything else which exists. Then from vs. 42-49 Paul calls us to celebrate the miracle of bodily resurrection, which we’ve seen in our study, will be the future experience of EVERY human being who has ever lived! While we inherited our earthly body from Adam, we inherit our immortal soul and spirit from God Himself who gives LIFE to each of us.

Do you see Paul wrote something very important about us, the human species, in 1 Cor. 15:44? “If there is a natural [human] body, there is also a spiritual body. So it is written: ‘The first man Adam became a living being, the last Adam, a life-giving spirit’… The first man was of the dust of the earth; the second man is of heaven. 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. And just as we have borne the image of the earthly man, so shall we bear the image of the heavenly man.” (1 Cor. 15:44-49) Oh my friends that is both profound and very exciting, can I show you why?

First… we all understand that our human body is a species God designed and created with Adam & Eve as the first prototype and we’re all descendants of their human DNA. Adam, you’ll recall was formed from the dust of the earth and to dust our bodies will all eventually return, in the decaying process long after death. That dust formed first body became a man as God breathed LIFE into it! (Gen. 2:7)

Second… As baby Jesus was conceived in Mary’s womb and born in Bethlehem, we understand God declared Him to be the eternal God the Son, incarnate… the Divine wrapped in human flesh! (Luke 1:30-35; John 1:1-14) Thus the first man Adam was of the earth, but the second Man, Jesus, was God from heaven, come to earth, taking on human flesh to live among us.

Third… In our human death, we follow in the footsteps of Adam’s sin and death. And in our future resurrection, we will follow in the footsteps of Jesus Christ’s resurrection to immortality.

Fourth… Did you notice this statement from Paul? It is very significant: “And just as we have borne the image of the earthly man, so shall we bear the image of the heavenly man.” (1 Cor. 15:49) It means our resurrected body will be similar to the resurrected body of Jesus Christ.

In fact, Paul wrote these specific, descriptive statements about our future resurrected, immortal body: “So it is with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown perishable, will be raised imperishable; 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.” (1 Cor. 15:42-44)

It means that no matter HOW our dead, human bodies are disposed of, including cremation or destruction in an explosion or burial at sea, or embalming and burial; ALL deceased human bodies will be resurrected by the power of God as imperishable, glorified, spiritual bodies, as Jesus Christ received in His resurrection!

And that’s why Paul wrote this summary statement: “I declare to you brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable…for the perishable must clothe itself with imperishable and the mortal with immortality...then the saying that is written will come true: ‘Death has been swallowed up in victory’…thanks be to God HE gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Cor. 15:50-57) All glory to God, for HE will resurrect EACH human being to immortality, because Jesus Christ defeated death in His crucifixion and His resurrection!

But wait… there’s one more important piece for us to see here, and tomorrow we’ll do that! For today, oh my, there’s plenty of wonderful truth for us to celebrate here, do you agree? That’s why we are delighted to produce the “lessons learned” study notes for further study, and oh my I found a wonderful, joyful, southern gospel praise song of celebration! And I’ll meet you here tomorrow.