So, open with me to 1 Corinthians 15, and in the Pew Bibles, that is on page 1142, 1 Corinthians 15. And we will look a little bit at all of the chapter, but we're going to read starting at verse 42. Actually, sorry, verse 35. We'll start reading at verse 35. So hear the word of the Lord. But someone will say, how are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come? You foolish person, what you sow does not come to life until it dies. And what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare kernel, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain. But God gives it a body as he has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body. For 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 is of another. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon and another glory of the stars. For stars differ from star in glory. So it is with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable. What is raised is 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. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. Thus it is written, the first man, Adam, became a living being, and the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. But it is not the spiritual that is first, but the natural and then the spiritual. The first man was from the earth, the man of dust. The second man is from heaven. As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust. And as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven. I tell you this, brothers, flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold, I tell you a mystery, we shall not all asleep, but we shall all be changed. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised imperishable and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Thus reads, ends the reading of God's Word. Death seems very final to our outward senses. our eyes our ears our touch when someone stops breathing when their heart stops beating we don't expect them to start moving again to speak to get up they are dead and the world around us would tell us that death is the end that life is all we have Death is but that final step in our journey. Live life to the fullest because death is permanent. But the Bible paints a different picture. Death is not natural. It is not how we were created. Instead, it's sin. It's a result of sin, man's rebellion against God. Death is an enemy. But for those who believe the gospel, for those who are saved, death is not final. It has been conquered. There has been a resurrection, that of our Lord Jesus Christ. And there will be a resurrection, that of all those who trust in him when he returns. And 1 Corinthians 15 has often been called this chapter on the resurrection since it most clearly sets forth our hope. Our hope amidst what one of our forms says is this life that is nothing but a constant death. Our text, as we read, is from the latter part of the chapter, but we'll highlight some of Paul's comments earlier to set the context. And we'll let God's Word minister to us, to our troubled souls. 1 Corinthians 15, for background, Paul begins right at the beginning, if you look at verse 1, with one of the great summaries of the Gospel. He says, Now I would remind you, brothers, of the Gospel I preached to you, which you received, and in which you stand, and in which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you, as of first importance, what I also received, that Christ died for our sins, in accordance with the scriptures, that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day, in accordance with the scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve, then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. Paul starts with this summary because the Corinthians were denying one of the key elements. Jesus' resurrection. There were those that were teaching wrong ideas about the death of the body. They were saying there is no physical resurrection, so of course there's no physical resurrection of Jesus. And we don't know exactly what they were being influenced by. There's various things out there, proto-Gnosticism, Philo, Hellenized platonic dislike of the body. But what it seems clear is that for them, this physical resurrection that Paul talked about was a stumbling block. That it was foolishness. It wasn't spiritual enough for those enthralled with the wisdom and mysteries seen in the religions at that time. For them, a physical resurrection wasn't a step forward, but in many ways backward, leaving man still stuck in the corporeal, in the physical. Instead, for them, progression, salvation, consummation should involve a separation, a separation of freeing from the body. And we still see similar things in religions our day, even in America. But Paul says no. Paul says that they are wrong. And one assumption that undergirds all of his argument is the nature that the Bible says of how God made us. That we are both body and spirit. That our physical bodies are an essential part of who we are as humans, as image bearers of God. Not a part to discard, to leave behind. God created us with physical bodies and they are a key part, as he says, of our future hope. In Paul's summary of the gospel, he emphasized that Jesus both died, according to the scriptures, and was raised, according to the scripture. Both fulfill what God had promised in the Old Testament. And in Paul's further arguments, there's a focus on Christ's resurrection as the pattern, as the proof, as the down payment, if you will, of our future resurrection. He says in verses 20 through 23, But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead also comes through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive, but each in his own turn. Christ, the firstfruits. Then when He comes, those who belong to Him. Christ's resurrection, Paul says, is the proof. It is this firstfruits that shows what will happen to all who believe. The first fruits were what were gathered so that then they knew the rest, the rest of the harvest would come. And so Christ in His resurrection is reversing the effect of sin brought by Adam. And so death, this enemy, is to be subdued by Christ. And it is at that final day that it will be destroyed in full at his return. And so Paul continues in verse 26. He says, the last enemy to be destroyed is death and then the consummation. And so, in his resurrection, Jesus showed us already what will be fully shown at his return. Death did not hold him. He rose never to die again. And that is what we wait for. That our bodies, they may fail our minds, they may fail death, eventually overtakes all of us. But as Christians, death as our enemy, we do not need to fear. We may die, but death cannot hold us, because Christ rose. His resurrection shows what will happen at his return, as we will all be raised. Our death will not be the end, but it will be defeated forever. And as we think on that, and we'll explore more as we say going into the second part, but it shows us how crucial the resurrection is. It proves the extent of the salvation preached to us. Many in our society would want to turn Christianity into a nice moral system. It's a way to a happy life now. It's a good way to raise children so that they become upstanding citizens. It's a good way to promote social justice in this world. And all of those things can be good, but they fall short of the gospel. The gospel is much more radical, much more cosmic. It not only addresses this life here and now, but it speaks of a life to come. We have been saved unto life, a life that doesn't end on this earth. As John says in famous John 3.16, For God so loved the world that He gave His only one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. Well, now we get to the passage that we read. Paul, in verse 35, he starts a new section. And based on the question there, many commentators have said it's this question of how the resurrection. So verse 35, Paul says, but someone will ask, how are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come? And so in this section, Paul is rebuking, correcting those who would doubt the resurrection because they can't conceive of it. They can't conceive of a physical resurrected body. They know what happens when a body goes into the ground. It returns to dust. How can that body be raised? What can the resurrected body be like? and maybe you've wondered and asked similar questions. And Paul, he seeks to lead them along, to show them their lack of insight. They've missed a key. The resurrected body is not the same, but it's something greater. There is a progression, a progression that involves a change, as he says, A change from the pre-resurrection body, but also shows this continuity with us. Our bodies at the resurrection will not be the same as they are now. And he also says the Corinthians, in their doubt, they're forgetting another key. They forget that the one who will bring about the resurrection is also the one who made the creation. And so the one who created all is certainly, certainly capable of bringing about this change, bringing about these new bodies in the resurrection. and so in the first section there starting with verse 37 Paul makes an analogy to a seed and he says there's a progression and yet a connection what you plant in the ground is not what comes up in the flower or in the tree or in whatever it is that grows and he says it's so it will be with our bodies. And then he goes on in the verses and he focuses on God as that creator. And he says we look around and we see all types of bodies, all types of bodies that are appropriate for where God has placed them. We see the fish in the sea. We see the birds in the heavens. We see the sun, the moon, and the stars. Each has its own proper place. Each has its own splendor. And it was God who created this cosmos, and so we can have faith that God can bring about this resurrection body, that He will provide for us a body fitting for the world that it will inherit, the kingdom of God, the new heavens, and the new earth, what we often call the consummation. And that is what Paul continues to draw out. But now starting in verse 42, we get a whole series of contrasts. And he seeks to provide us comfort, but in a somewhat surprising way as he contrasts this resurrected body and shows what it will be, how it will be better, how it will be greater. Now, in verse 42 through 43, we read what we might expect. And so see there, so is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable, what is raised is imperishable. It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory, it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. You can see these differences that we would expect with that greater body. But then verse 44 is a little surprising. He says, it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. What does Paul mean here by a spiritual body. Well, from the context, we know that he can't be contrasting spiritual and physical because that's been his whole argument. The body that will be raised is a physical body, a physical resurrection. Instead, he contrasted here with the natural, the natural versus the spiritual. So what is he getting at? What is that distinction? Well, as we read on, I think it becomes more clear. And verse 45 is very central to this. So look with me. Thus it is written, the first man Adam became a living being. The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. Now note that Paul here is contrasting creation and consummation. Because he quotes, he quotes from Genesis 2-7. Genesis 2-7 that describes God's initial creation of Adam in the garden from the dust of the ground that he'll allude to in a moment. And we should remember this is before sin into the world. And so he's contrasting God's work at creation. Adam, a living being, that's what this natural body is. And so we see there's nothing bad about a natural body. It's not an ethical category because we know that God made Adam good, very good, as it says. But what Paul is getting at is that that natural body was not meant to be final. It wasn't meant to be internal, eternal. Instead, as he goes on there, he says the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. The last Adam, this is used throughout Scripture. Jesus as the second Adam, as this last Adam. Paul picks that up here. And so what does this mean? Well, this life-giving spirit is in parallel with that spiritual body that was spoken of. It's a reference to Jesus at his resurrection. Because Jesus, as we know, he was born with a natural body as he was born of Mary in that incarnation. And he died, but he was also raised. He was raised with this spiritual body, this spiritual body that is still physical. But what is it fit for, as we said? What is it destined for? Well, it's now this final body, this one fit for eternity, the one we often called the glorified body. And Paul, he continues to explain this in verses 46 and 47. Note he says, But it is not the spiritual that is first, but the natural and then the spiritual. The first man was from the earth, a man of dust. The second man is from heaven. So we're dealing with two past historical events. Two works of God bringing about two bodies at the creation of man and then at the resurrection of Christ. And we know the story of the creation of man that God took of the dust and he formed man and he breathed into him that breath of life. And that's very much what Paul alludes to here. He is this man of the dust. But then it says this second man is from heaven. And we might hear that first and think of that as the incarnation. Jesus came down from heaven into flesh to be our Savior. But as we said, in the incarnation, his body was in line with Adam's body. it was this natural body. Instead, what Paul is getting at here is what he said earlier. What does it mean that he's from heaven? Well, he said that Jesus was the first fruits. He was the beginning of the harvest, this whole harvest that would come in later. Jesus is already the new heavens and the new earth breaking in. He is already that consummation. He is already glorified. That's what it means in his resurrected body, that he is from heaven. And Paul then goes on and says this is really what anchors our hope. So look at verses 48 through 49. As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of dust. And as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven. The bodies, as he's described them, the natural, and the spiritual, they not only define Adam and Christ, but they define all who are in them. We are each and every one of us sons and daughters of Adam. We bear the likeness to that natural body, that dusty body. But he says, for all of you who believe, who believe in that gospel, you're united with Christ. You're now also of heaven, as he was of heaven. And your future is sure. Just as we all presently bear the likeness to Adam, we on that final day will all bear a likeness to Christ in His spiritual body, in that glorified body. And Paul, he continues in verses 50 through 53 to tell us even more of a mystery, he says. Now back in verse 44, Paul had said, if there's a natural, then there's also a spiritual. And then he goes on and says, but the natural comes first and then the spiritual. Well, what is he getting at with that? Well, I think it's explained more fully in these following verses, 50 through 53. I tell you, brothers, flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold, I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet, for the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. We all look forward to the resurrected body, but Paul says that is true even if you never die. For there will be those who are still alive when Christ returns, and he says at that day even they will be changed. There will be this change. They will now have that glorified body because what he's showing us, what he's telling these Corinthians is that this changed, this glorified, this consummated body that will come about by the resurrection, it's really what God had planned from the beginning. So if you remember Adam created in the garden, he has two trees put before him That testing tree in which he fails and that tree of reward, the tree of life that was put before him. And yet in his failure and his sin, he was cut off from it. Cut off from that end. But as we then move all the way to the end of the Bible, to the book of Revelation, we find that same tree in the new heavens and the new earth. The New Jerusalem, there is the tree of life. And because of God's work through Christ, because of Christ, because of the gospel, we will have the right to eat of it. Revelation 22, 14 says, Blessed are those who wash their robes so that they may have the right to the tree of life and that they may enter the city by the gates. What we look forward to is what Adam looked forward to. But now, because of sin, it has come to us through Christ. And we have confidence in it. And what Paul has been saying here is very well summarized in our own catechism. Heidelberg, question and answer, 57, says, How does the resurrection of the body comfort you? Not only will my soul be taken immediately after this life to Christ its head, but also my very flesh, raised by the power of Christ, will be reunited with my soul and made like Christ's glorious body. Well, Paul turns at the end of the passage we read back to the Gospel. Look at verses 55 through 57. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. He quotes here from the Old Testament a taunt against death. It's a taunt that we can raise against death, our constant enemy, because of that gospel of Christ. Where death is your victory, where death is your sting, well, death is something to be feared where there's punishment for sin, as Paul says, and where the law is condemning us. But, as he had said, the Gospel tells us Christ died for our sins. And so death is not something we are to fear. Again, as our Catechism says, question and answer 42, since Christ has died for us, why do we still have to die? Our death is not a payment for our sins, but only a dying to sins and an entering into eternal life. And yet, while we do not fear death, we know that dying can be painful. And more so, we know that the death of a loved one causes us much grief and sorrow. As we're separated, separated from their companionship, from their fellowship. And as we said, death isn't natural. It's not the way that God created us, not the way that he had set before. It comes about because of sin. And so we yearn, we yearn for that time when Christ will return and death will be no more. But until that day, we mourn with those who mourn. We provide comfort to one another in times of grief. And may we, in all of our distress, turn to our Savior, to our God, placing our hope in Him as the one who can give us strength. On this day, as on all days, we need the gospel of the resurrection. Those who have placed their hope in Christ, who have trusted in him for forgiveness of sin, will be victorious over death. Our bodies may die, but they will be raised never to die again. This is the gospel promise that we profess. This is what we pray that our children, our grandchildren, our great-grandchildren will believe and profess. It was the message, it's the message that we seek to spread to a dying world. The world still under the power and dread of death. And so we cry out with Paul, as in verse 57, Thanks be to God, He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Let us pray. Dear Heavenly Father, may our hope be on You and Your work in us now and Your work in that future. May we view everything in light of eternity, but we do pray for Your consoling, for Your comfort, for Your uplifting, in this time as we wait, as we wait eagerly for Christ to return and make all things new. Come, Lord Jesus, quickly we pray. In Jesus' name, Amen.