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An archive of Jacob Nannie's Sermons & Teachings
This sermon was preached at Enclave Community Church in Turlock, California on April 7, 2024.
The title of the message is Our Future Resurrection, and the text is 1 Corinthians 15, 35-49.
This was the Sunday after Resurrection Sunday, and this was actually the last sermon I preached
at Enclave.
About this time, I knew that my wife and I were moving to Kansas City to start a pastoral
residency program with Christ Community.
And so, yeah, apologies ahead of time for the audio quality.
I have no idea what happened to this.
Enjoy.
Good morning, everyone.
How are you?
Today is the Sunday after Resurrection.
Last week was Resurrection Sunday.
Pastor Andrew gave a really good message on Resurrection hope, and I kind of want to continue
with that theme today.
We're going to look at 1 Corinthians chapter 15, so if you have your Bible, go ahead and turn
there.
We're going to read that in just a second.
But I want us to look at this passage because the resurrection really means something for us,
and not just for Jesus.
And I want us to know that our future resurrection gives us hope, and it also energizes us as
we live as followers of Christ.
So, if you are willing and able, please stand with me as we read 1 Corinthians chapter 15,
verses 35 through 49.
But someone will ask, how are the dead raised?
With what kind of body do they come?
You foolish person!
What you sow does not come to life unless 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, 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 the stars differ from star and 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.
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, a 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.
Let's pray.
Lord, thank you for passages like this that explain to us, God, the hope we have in the resurrection.
God, it gives us in some detail what our resurrection will look like.
And as we look at this passage this morning, God, help us to understand the hope we have
and energize us as we live in this world awaiting our future resurrection.
In Jesus' name, amen.
You may be seated.
So, like I said, I want to dive into the resurrection and what it means for us today.
And I want to do this by first looking at Jesus very briefly and how he is the first type of resurrection,
a model, if you will.
Secondly, I want us to consider this passage in detail, what Paul is saying.
And finally, I want us to look at how this thing that is holy future can be applied to today.
So, in chapter 15 in Corinthians, Paul is setting out to defend the bodily resurrection of Jesus.
I wish I had a couple Sundays to go through chapter 15.
It's quite long and detailed, but it's so good.
And he wants his audience to know that Jesus physically raised from the dead, right?
He stood up in his tomb and walked out.
He didn't turn into a disembodied spirit and ascend into heaven, right?
People saw him.
They touched him.
They were with him.
Jesus physically raised from the dead.
And many resources have exhausted this topic, right?
To intricate details.
But the point I want to emphasize is not the intricate details of his physical resurrection,
but that his resurrection means something for us.
It impacts us.
It has a reality for us.
His resurrection is a prototype.
It's a first type, a first model, if you will.
Now, it's not a model that's supposed to be improved upon in future models.
Rather, it's a model that stands as the standard for all future models, right?
So, it's not like Jesus was a first try, right?
He is the model of resurrection.
So, when we have a resurrected body, it won't look like a different type than what Jesus had.
It will be much like Jesus's.
Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15, verses 12 and 13,
Now, if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead,
how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?
But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised from the dead.
He says that it's because Christ is raised from the dead that there is the resurrection of the dead.
And if there's no resurrection of the dead, there's no Christ rising from the dead, and vice versa.
He says later in verses 20 and 21 of the same chapter,
But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead.
The first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.
For as by a man came death, by a man comes also the resurrection of the dead.
So, when we look to the resurrection of Christ, not only do we see Jesus's victory over sin, death, and the devil,
But we also see literally and physically what will happen to us one day.
Our bodies will rise from the dead, and we will be with Christ.
N.T. Wright in his book, The Resurrection of the Son of God, says,
The good news which emerges from this is that Jesus has pioneered the way into the long-awaited future,
the new age which the Creator has planned.
All right, this is what Paul is defending, that Christ Jesus rose from the dead,
and that he is the first fruits of what our life will look like in the future.
So, let's dig into verse 35 and following.
He says in verse 35,
But some will ask, how are the dead raised?
With what kind of body do they come?
Paul often does this where he kind of sets up a debate.
Like, I don't think anyone's, like, in his face, rises, riding, asking this question.
He's setting up rhetorical questions that he might be challenged with.
He's anticipating the questions of the crowds.
And so, here he anticipates, within the context of Corinthians, or the church in Corinth,
what they might say.
How are the dead raised?
What kind of body will they have?
So, these two questions.
And the summation of Paul's argument is the answer that
they are raised by the sovereign power of God
with new and different bodies.
A different body than what was buried.
Now, here in the West, we are somewhat Gnostic.
Okay, now, I understand I'm introducing probably a new term to most of us.
What that means is we, some of our ideas are default ideas.
We don't really work to get these ideas.
They just are kind of ingrained in us as we grow up here in the West
and in the American church.
Our default ideas sometimes line up more with this belief called Gnosticism
than they do with Christianity.
And that, to boil down Gnosticism,
it's the belief that the body or matter is bad
and true life is Holy Spirit.
Meaning, W-H-O-L-L-Y.
Not Holy Spirit, but entirely Spirit.
And so they have beliefs like, well, Jesus only appeared to be physical.
He didn't actually have a physical body.
That's Gnosticism.
And that kind of creeps into our culture, Christian culture,
as we talk about things that are unfamiliar to us
or maybe even mysterious to us.
And so when we think about our resurrection bodies
or we think about the future in heaven,
we might ask ourselves questions like,
what will my future body be like?
And oftentimes we say, well, it'll be perfect.
And we kind of try to nail down the details of what that means.
What does it mean to have a perfect body?
Right?
And we think, well, maybe we won't have a perfect body.
We'll just have a perfect existence.
But that's not what Paul is saying.
Paul is saying, you're going to have a physical body.
Why?
Because Christ was raised from the dead as a physical being.
So for Paul, life after death is not spirit clouds floating around out there.
Right?
It's very physical.
And when we ask the question, what does a perfect body look like?
Well, what is the ideal weight?
What is the ideal hair length?
What's the ideal height?
What am I going to look like?
I think when we ask those questions, they're fun to entertain.
And I ask myself the same thing.
But I think we're missing something.
I think our bodies are even more different than what we're thinking of.
So the life after death is physical.
And Paul does this kind of by alluding to the Genesis account, the creation account.
As he's talking about new creation, he kind of looks back at Genesis.
In verses 38 through 41, here's what he says.
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, another for fish.
There are heavenly bodies, earthly bodies, and the glory of the heavenly is of one kind, and
the glory of the earthly is of another kind.
There's one glory for the sun, one glory for the moon, and another glory for the stars.
For stars differ from stars and glory.
So we see a little bit of creation, right?
We see animals, fish, birds.
We see the heavens, the stars, the sun, the moon.
Paul's alluding to Genesis that there's a new creation.
And the first creation, is it spiritual?
Right?
Do we have, are we actually here right now physically?
Yes, we are.
So the new creation will be an even better image of what is here now.
He says that each seed has a body that God and his sovereign power gives it.
Right?
That answers the first question.
How are the dead raised?
By God's sovereign power.
And this seed metaphor is quite important in understanding that the body we will receive at the resurrection
is different than the one we have now.
Think of a seed.
When you plant a seed, are you expecting that seed to just get prettier?
And you're expecting it to grow something.
Right?
In fact, if you were to take a seed and bury it in the ground, only to find out that it just
gets brighter and shinier and a little more hardy on the ground, you'd be probably pretty
upset.
Like, I'm planting a strawberry seed, and I just get more strawberry seeds in the ground.
I'd be like, what the heck?
I want strawberries.
And so, seeds don't produce more seeds.
Okay, they do, right, in a sense.
But they don't give off the exact seed.
They die.
They're put in the ground.
They die, in a sense, and they sprout a new plant.
Seeds, ultimately, in some sense, are designed to put out their potential.
And their potential is a new plant that will bear fruit and have more seeds.
All right, this is how our present body works, Paul says.
In verse 36, he says, you foolish person.
All right, that's a very strong word in the Greek language, right?
He's not saying, like, oh, you're being silly.
He's using very emphatic language to say, you fool.
What you sow does not come to life unless it dies, right?
We're not going to be just ascended into heaven in this exact state forever.
Our body must be sown first.
And so, you have to sow a seed to get the plant.
Each year at harvest, I farm almonds each year.
Nuts don't always make it to the final process, right?
You don't get to cash in on every single one.
Wish we could.
But some of them get left in the tree, right?
You shake.
You can shake as hard as you want.
Sometimes they just stay up there.
Some of them fall to the ground, and they don't quite make it into the pickup machine or the
trucks that leave the orchard.
And so, they're on the ground in the orchard.
And over the winter, they turn into what we call mummies because they turn black and they have the appearance of being dead.
And if we let them sit in the orchard, they'll get rained on.
They'll kind of sink in some.
And what happens is they'll sprout something.
They'll sprout a new almond tree.
And if we let it grow, it will grow into a full-blown tree.
That is a perfect example of our bodies and our resurrection.
What is sown is not the same thing as what is sprouted, right?
If I were to show you, I took a picture for this very purpose, and I couldn't find it this morning to put on the slides.
But there's a picture.
It's a black almond shell, whole seed.
I mean, it's black.
It's as black as it can get.
And out of it is a single green new shoot, a new plant.
That's what the resurrection is.
The shoot, the plant, the greenness is not the same as the almond.
It's different.
And so, our resurrection bodies will look different and be different.
What is contained in an almond seed is all the potential of an almond tree.
What is contained in our physical bodies is all the potential of our resurrection bodies.
Here's what Paul says in verses 42 through 44.
So it is written with the resurrection of the dead.
So it is, I'm sorry, with the resurrection of the dead.
What is sown is perishable.
What is raised is imperishable.
It's 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.
And this is a powerful, powerful passage.
Sometimes I read passages like this and I move to tears because of the hope that's in them.
As I read passages like this, I think of our own family.
Each of us, some of us here have suffered a great, great loss.
I think specifically of, and I asked the Viss family if I could share this, but the Viss family,
they suffered a couple losses before they had Dottie.
And I spoke with Elan.
And I said, Elan, do you ever think that one day you're going to get to meet multiple of your children?
And not just as they were when they were here, but as new people, maybe as big as you,
with personalities of their own, distinct from you.
You get to have a life with them.
And that's a conversation I have with him sometimes.
I think of, when I read passages like this, I think of great loss and I have great hope for the future.
The future that I will get to meet those who pass one day.
Because what is sown is so different than what will come about at the resurrection.
And I also get excited at the sheer power of God.
Like, are you afraid of death in life?
You don't have to be because the power of God that raised Christ from the dead will also raise you from the dead.
And it sustains you even now.
This is not some power you have to wait to experience someday.
You can experience it now.
And you'll experience it at the greatest degree at the resurrection.
Another way to read that is what is sown, what is sown, I think another version says corruptible, is raised incorruptible.
All right, so we experience decay of our bodies on this side of glory, right?
Anyone not experience decay?
Last year I had, and I hope it doesn't continue this year, had the worst health year I've ever had.
I had a, I got strep throat I think more than once.
I broke my ribs twice, the same one.
All these different weird, like, joint pains and eye troubles.
It was the worst.
And I'm all safe and sound, right?
Nothing's wrong.
But I was like, man, your body really doesn't last forever.
And I'm only 28, right?
And I'm like, this is, I got years to go.
This can't be happening every year.
I have a body that decays over time.
And in those times where, you know, I have intense joint pain, I can look at passages like this and hope for and expect a body that will never have joint pain.
Ribs that will never break.
Because I'll be as strong as I'll get out.
So, what is decaying will no longer decay.
Right?
What is decaying will no longer decay.
And I don't even think we have a frame of reference for this.
Like, our bodies will live forever.
And not just live.
They'll live in an undecaying manner.
Some of us have physical ailments that are chronic.
What you have to hope for is a body that will never decay.
As you suffer here now, and you really do suffer, no one's taking that away.
Suffering is hard, it's real, it's present.
And there will be a day where that suffering no longer exists.
Because what is sown as corruptible is raised incorruptible.
Second, Paul says, what is sown in dishonor is raised in glory.
Another way to think of dishonor is maybe exchange that word for humility or humiliation.
Jesus was a humble servant.
Right?
So, he condescended to us, came in the form of a servant, and he suffered that way.
We, in life, suffer.
Right?
So, dishonor, I'm going to sum it up into saying, the body that is sown here is one that suffers.
Suffers mentally.
And it suffers emotionally.
Suffers spiritually.
And one day, it will be raised in glory.
Right?
Perhaps, for me, this is the most important part.
I have a will, mind, and emotions that are bent towards sin.
And some days, that sin feels incredibly strong.
Some days, that sin feels like there's no way out of it.
I'm sure some of us might have felt the same way at some point in life.
And when I'm in the depths of my sin, feeling like I'm about to be crushed to literal death,
I can think on passages like this that say, one day, I will live in glory.
In a state that no longer has to contend with sin.
Not only do I not have to contend with it, I won't even be in the presence of it.
Because I'll be with my Lord in glory.
Some of us have mental troubles and worries.
Those things will pass away.
Some of us are just sheer suffering.
In any form, all of that passes away.
Because what is sown in dishonor will be raised in glory.
Third, Paul says that what is sown in weakness is raised in power.
Again, this body that we have.
And actually, our spirit, mind, and emotions, they're very, very weak.
Compared to what will be experienced in future glory.
One commentator notes that this power of the new body is what will energize us and sustain us
as we live with this corruptible, incorruptible body and new glory in the presence of God.
It's almost the energy.
It's almost the energy.
We receive all the energy that we need to live a life in the full presence of God.
Finally, Paul says what is sown a natural body is raised a spiritual body.
Now, this might sound confusing.
This does not mean that we die with a physical body and rise as a spirit.
That's kind of what it seems like when you read it on the surface.
The best way to, I think, sum this up is, again, N.T. Wright, who wrote this awesome book.
He says that the adjectives describe not what something is composed of, but what it's animated by.
Right now, we, our bodies, they house a natural being, a soul that has fallen and corrupted.
And so, when we die, what is sown will be raised as a new body that houses a new spirit that is in Christ Jesus.
All right, so it's not as if you die and, again, you're into the spirit world.
No, you're raised with a physical body that houses a new, almost like a new being, a new spirit.
Paul is saying that our current bodies house something different than what our future bodies will house at the resurrection.
Our natural bodies carry a decaying, weak, and humiliated soul.
The resurrection body will carry an incorruptible, powerful, and glorious spirit.
So, here, then, we have the answers to our two questions.
How are the dead raised?
By the sovereign power of God.
And take great joy and satisfaction in that comfort, in that reality.
You have no more fear, you should not have any more fear of sin, death, and the devil.
Because God, in his power, first has atoned for your sin, and is raising you up to new life.
With a power that will not decay, and will not wear out.
Second question, what kind of body will the resurrection body be?
One that never decays, that never struggles against sin, death, or the devil.
One that has all energy and power to be, to be in and remain in a glorious state.
And one that can house this new creation that we are in Christ.
So, as I was prepping this sermon, all of what I've just told you, I really struggled with.
It's a lot of details, and sometimes it sounds like a running commentary of this new body.
And the struggle is, okay, this is really cool.
I'm really looking forward to this body I'm going to receive one day.
The problem is, it's one day.
Future of me.
In fact, I have to die to receive it.
And so, the question I had, as I'm studying this, as I'm talking with Carlton and Elin,
is, what is the physical reality now, or how does this give me help in the physical reality right now?
As I think about the resurrection of Christ, and the resurrection of my own body one day,
how does that help me today?
As I'm even sitting here speaking to you.
And I believe the answer is in Colossians 3.
If you have your Bible, turn to Colossians 3.
And we're going to read verses 1 through 10.
What does a future resurrection mean for us today?
It means Colossians 3.
Where Paul says,
If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is,
seated at the right hand of God.
Set your minds on the things that are above, not on things that are on earth.
For you have died.
He says,
For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you will also appear with him in glory.
Put to death, therefore, what is earthly in you, sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness,
which is idolatry.
On account of these, the wrath of God is coming.
In these you too once walked when you were living in them.
But now you must put them all away.
Anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth.
Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices,
and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.
The answer to the question, what does the future hope of a fully resurrected body have to do with me here and now today,
is this passage, where Paul says, you have died.
You were, in baptism, what are we symbolizing?
Being buried with Christ and risen to new life.
All right, that new life takes place on the inside.
And it's not, it's not a cop-out for what will happen in the future.
Because of the resurrection of Christ, we are new creatures, right?
You have died, you have been raised with him,
and while we await our physical bodies, we ought to walk as new creation.
There's a, our coaches in high school and football,
if you were like me and you didn't play much,
and you got the chance to score a touchdown,
they would say, act like you've been here before, right?
And I did score a touchdown one time, and I acted just like that.
I should have celebrated a little more, actually.
But I think we can apply the same principle, right?
A little bit.
Right, you're not in heaven now.
You don't have a glorified body now.
You're not fully with Christ now.
But you're transformed enough to start acting like it.
Are you dead in your sin?
That's the question, right?
If you are risen with Christ, you are not.
So don't act like you're dead in sin.
Put sin to death.
Put to death the deeds of the flesh.
Though we live in a body that is decaying,
we ought to live as those who never die.
Though we live in a world where we suffer all kinds of ways,
we ought to live with a forward vision of glory.
Though our present bodies, wills, and emotions are weak,
we ought to live by the life-giving, energizing power of the Holy Spirit.
Now, what I don't mean is that we should fake it until we make it, right?
These things are realities for us.
You don't have the idea of a power that helps you through life as you grow closer to God.
You have the power of God that helps you through life as you grow closer to God.
We ought to diligently seek to actualize these things in our lives.
And by the sovereign power of God, we will.
So the hope of our future resurrection is a hope that we look forward to,
and it's a hope that should energize us as we live here and now as Christians in the world.
You ought to live like you are a resurrected being in Christ because you are.
The body you will receive is a glorious thing that will happen at the resurrection,
but it's not something that negates what is happening here and now,
which is your life in Christ.
Let's pray.
God, I thank you for this difficult idea of already and not yet.
I thank you for it, God, because it's fun to dig into and to study and to learn about.
But I also thank you that you give us tastes of what the future with you will look like.
And, Lord, as we get excited about resurrected bodies, as we think about them,
we have fun discussions about what we'll look like or what life will be like with you.
I pray, God, that that will energize us to work here and now.
God, I pray that as we think about the resurrection,
that we start to do the work of putting to death the deeds of the flesh here.
And on those days where it gets really, really difficult, God,
I pray that you give us that energizing, life-giving spirit that will power us through.
As Paul says that, we would toil with Christ's energy and not our own.
Help these things to become real to us.
Help us to practice this.
In Jesus' name, amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.