Pastors Jim and Marie Watt
(From: 1 CORINTHIANS #22 - 15:35-58)
C. 15:35-58 THE NATURE AND ORDER OF THE RESURRECTION BODY
a. 15:35 But some one will say, How are the dead raised? and with what sort of body do they come?
AlLA eREI tis, Pos eGEIron-tai [1453] hoi neKROI [3498]? POIo de SOma-ti [4983] ERchon-tai?
b. 15:36-38 THE ORDER OF GRAIN TEACHES THE CHANGE IN RESURRECTION BODY
APHron [878], su ho SPEIreis [4687] ou zo-o-poiEItai [2227] eAN me a-poTHAne [599]:
Foolish one, what YOU sow is not made alive except it die:
kai ho SPEIreis, ou to SOma to ge-neSOme-non SPEIreis,
37 and what you sow, you sow not the body that shall be,
alLA gumNON [1131] KOKkon [2848], ei TUchoi SItou, E ti-nos ton loiPON;
but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some of the rest;
ho de TheOS DIdo-sin auTO SOma kaTHOS eTHEle-sen[2309],
38 but :God gives it a body even as he would,
kai heKASto ton sperMAton [4690] Idi-on SOma.
and to each of the seeds its own body.
c. 15:39 DIFFERENCES IN LIVING FLESH: ARGUES FOR RESURRECTION
ou PAsa sarx he auTE sarx, alLA ALle men anTHROpon,
All flesh is not the same flesh, but one is of men,
ALle de sarx kteNON [2934], ALle de sarx pteNON [4421], ALle de ichTHUon [2486].
and another flesh of beasts, and another flesh of birds, and another of fishes.
d. 15:40 HEAVENLY AND EARTHLY BODIES DIFFER
kai SOma-ta e-pouRAni-a, kai SOma-ta ePIgei-a [1919]:
There are also bodies heavenly, and bodies earthly:
alLA heTEra men he ton e-pou-raNIon DOxa [1391], heTEra de he ton e-piGEIon.
but the glory of the heavenly is one, and the glory of the earthly is another.
e. 15:41 HEAVENLY BODIES DIFFER AMONG THEMSELVES IN GLORY
ALle DOxa heLIou [2246], kai ALle DOxa seLEnes [4582], kai ALle DOxa asTEron [792];
One glory of sun, and another glory of moon, and another glory of stars;
asTER gar asTEros di-aPHErei [1308] en DOxe.
for star differs from star in glory.
f. 15:42a So also the resurection of he dead.
HOUtos kai he aNAsta-sis [386] ton NEkron.
g. 15:42b-44a THE ORDER OF OUR BODY: FROM LOWER TO HIGHER
SPEIre-tai en phthoRA [5356]; eGEIre-tai en aph-tharSIa [861]:
It is sown in corruption; raised in incorruption:
SPEIre-tai en a-tiMIa [819]; eGEIre-tai in DOxe: SPEIre-tai en as-theNEIa [769]; eGEIre-tai en duNAmei:
43 sown in dishonor; raised in glory: sown in weakness; raised in power:
SPEIre-tai SOma psu-chiKON [5591], eGEIre-tai SOma pneu-ma-tiKON [4152].
44a sown a natural body, raised a spiritual.
h. 15:44b If thereis a natural body, thereis also a spiritual.
Ei EStin SOma psu-chiKON, EStin kai pneu-ma-tiKON.
i. 15:45a. So also it is written, The first man Adam became a living soul.
HOUtos kai GEgrap-tai, E-GEne-to ho PROtos ANthro-pos A-DAM eis psuCHEN ZOsan [2198].
j. 15:45b The last Adam a lifegiving spirit.
ho EScha-tos A-DAM eis PNEUma zo-o-poiOUN [2227].
k. 15:46 Howbeit not the spiritual is first, but the natural; then the spiritual.
all' ou PROton to pneu-ma-tiKON, alLA to psu-chiKON; Epei-ta to pneu-ma-tiKON.
l. 15:47 The first man is of earth, of dust; the second man is of heaven.
ho PROtos ANthro-pos ek ges, cho-iKOS [5517]; ho DEUte-ros ANthro-pos ex ou-raNOU.
m. 15:48 EACH BODY PARTAKES OF THE NATURE OF ITS SOURCE
HOIos ho cho-iKOS, toiOUtoi kai hoi cho-iKOI:
As is the earthy, such are also the earthy ones:
kai HOIos ho e-pouRAni-os, toiOUtoi kai hoi e-pouRAni-oi.
and as is the heavenly, such are also the heavenly.
n. 15:49 And as we have borne the image of the dust, let us also bear the image of the heavenly.
kai kaTHOS e-phoREsa-men ten eiKOna tou cho-iKOU, phoREso-men kai ten eiKOna tou e-pou-raNIou.
o. 15:50 A TRUTH: NATURAL MAN SHALL NOT INHERIT GOD'S KINGDOM
TOUto DE phe-mi, a-delPHOI, HOti sarx kai HAIma ba-siLEIan TheOU kle-ro-noMEsai ou DUnan-tai;
Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit God's kingdom;
ouDE he phthoRA [5356] ten aph-tharSIan [861] kle-ro-noMEI [2816].
neither does corruption inherit incorruption.
p. 15:51-52 A MYSTERY: ALL BELIEVERS SHALL BE TRANSFORMED
iDOU, mus-teRIon [3466] huMIN LEgo:
Lo, I tell you a mystery:
PANtes ou koi-me-theSOme-tha [2837], PANtes de al-la-geSOme-tha [236],
We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
en aTOmo [823], en 'riPE [4493] oph-thalMOU, en te esCHAte salPIGgi [4536]:
52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump:
salPIsei [4537] gar, kai hoi neKROI e-gerTHEson-tai APHthar-toi [862], kai heMEIS al-la-geSOme-tha [236].
for a trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and WE shall be changed.
q. 15:53 A NECESSITY: TO PUT ON INCORRUPTION AND IMMORTALITY
dei gar to phtharTON TOUto enDUsas-thai aph-tharSIan [861],
For this :corruptible must put on incorruption,
kai to thneTON [2349]TOUto enDUsas-thai [1746]a-tha-naSIan [110].
and this :mortal must put on immortality.
r. 15:54 RESURRECTION SHALL DEFEAT DEATH
HOtan de to thneTON TOUto enDUse-tai ten a-tha-naSIan,
But when this :mortal shall have put on :immortality,
TOte geNEse-tai ho LOgos ho ge-gramMEnos, Ka-tePOthe [2666] ho THAna-tos eis NIkos [3534].
then shall come to pass the saying :written, :Death is swallowed up unto victory.
s. 15:55 Odeath, where isyour :victory? Odeath, where your :sting?
POU sou, THAna-te, to NIkos? POU sou, THAna-te, to KENtron [2759]?
t. 15:56-57 JESUS CHRIST GIVES VICTORY OVER SIN AND DEATH
to de KENtron tou thaNAtou heha-marTIa [266]; hede DUna-mis tes ha-marTIas ho NOmos [3551]:
Now the sting of :death is:sin; and the power of :sin isthe law:
tode TheOCHAris [5485], todiDONti heMIN to NIkos diA tou KuRIou heMON IeSOU ChrisTOU.
57 but thanks be to :God, who gives us the victory through our :Lord Jesus Christ.
u. 15:58 BECAUSE OF RESURRECTION, OUR PRESENT LABOR IS NOT IN VAIN
HOSte, a-delPHOI mou a-ga-peTOI, heDRAIoi [1476]GInes-the, a-me-taKIne-toi [277],
Wherefore, my beloved brethren, be stedfast, unmovable,
pe-risSEUon-tes [4052]en toERgo[2041]tou KuRIou PANto-te,
always abounding in the work of the Lord,
eiDOtes HOti ho KOpos [2873]huMON ouk EStin keNOS [2756]en KuRIo.
knowing that your :toil is not vain in theLord.
NOTE: The Holy Spirit through Paul is very careful to point out the order in resurrection: firstthe natural; thenthe spiritual. Gnostics and many others are notcareful at this point. Louis Markos in his biography of C. S. Lewis, “Lewis Agonistes”, notes with approval how clearly his hero sees the strong desire in mankind to eliminate God and Jesus Christ completely from its thinking. Just look at the nation of the U.S. today for an illustration of this! Persecution of Evangelicals and those like Joshua committed to meditation of and obedience to God's Word, the Bible, increasesyear by year in intensity.
Lewis points out the 4 leading thinkers of the past 200 years who have laid the foundation for this: Darwin, Freud, Marx and Nietzsche. “Mother Nature” has replaced God in their thinking. Modernism has entered and taken over much in the church through these four - not so much perhaps with Freud and Marx - but definitely with Darwin. I know. I took classes in one of Canada's leading Modernistic Seminaries, and with a number of professors - sometimes twice in one class - you would hear the thrown-out challenge - “Where does thatput your inspiration of Scripture?”
Anyone who truly desires truth in the areas of “Science”, “New Age” thinking; Evil and Suffering; the Arts: and “Heaven and Hell'; - will find that not only does Lewis meet these shallow thinkers on their own ground - but successfully undercuts their arguments point by point!
During World War II days in England, Lewis through “Mere Christianity” and Churchill through those fiery and positive speeches of his - put heart back into Britain and their allies - and overturned the weak and namby-pamby foolishness of the Chamberlains.
A “Wrestling Lewis” is needed again to overturn the foolish present day religionists concerning resurrection, and restore the “right thinking” of this passage to us once again!
I love especially the last verse of this passage: “Wherefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, unmovable, always aboundingin the work of the Lord!” Thank God for the apostle Paul! Thank God that He allowed the Lord through the Holy Spirit to saturate his thinking and possess him for their purposes! Thank God for this verse to close this marvelous passage on the nature and order of Resurrection! - J.A.W.