Reflection 2

When we moved to Fort Worth, one of the things I most looked forward to was planting a garden. Once we planted some strawberries and tomatoes, we carefully watered them each day. During that time, before the horrible day when little rolly-pollies ate through everything the second it became ripe, we watched the fruit grow with anticipation.

After eating a honeydew that we bought at the store, my son James wanted to plant the seeds. We took the seeds out of the melon and washed them and set them out to dry. We  had to wait for them to fully dry so they will also fully die. It was actually from the Bible - John 12:24 - that I learned a seed must fully die before it can come to life again.

What's really interesting is the Bible says we are like seeds. Our bodies must die like a seed before we come to life again.  The seed that dies are these weak bodies which can get sick, hurt, and tired. The "plants" that grow are strong, spiritual, imperishable bodies.

Paul said it like this: "That which you sow does not come to life unless it dies; and that which you sow, you do not sow the body which is to be, but a bare grain, perhaps of wheat or of something else. But God gives it a body just as He wished, and to each of the seeds a body of its own." 1 Corinthians 15:35-38

When we die, we are "planting a seed" that will come to life again in eternity as an eternal body that will never die again. Every person, whether they are going to heaven or not, will receive an imperishable body.

"It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. So also it is written, 'The first MAN, Adam, BECAME A LIVING SOUL.' The last Adam became a life-giving spirit." (1 Corinthians 15:44-45)

In other words, since Adam became a living being, he had to one day become a spiritual body. That's why Paul says, "If there is a natural body, there must also be a spiritual body." And he uses the verse in Genesis to help make his point, because God said Adam was a LIVING SOUL.

A soul was given to Adam that would be perpetually living. He goes on to say in vs. 45, "However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural; then the spiritual."

Just like you need a seed to grow an orange tree, you need a physical, natural body-which is the equivalent of a seed being planted- and that body needs to die, to produce a spiritual, imperishable body. Paul clearly explains this law in 1 Corinthians 15. He says that that whenever there is a natural body, there must also be a spiritual body that comes next!

After death there will be a resurrection. We will be raised from the dead and brought back to life with new, much better bodies. Our current perishable bodies will be raised as imperishable bodies. In other words, when we die, our bodies are "planted" like seeds which must die before they come to life again. The seeds we plant at death are our perishable bodies made for this earth and the resulting "plants" are our imperishable bodies, fitted for eternity.

"So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown a perishable body, it is raised an imperishable body; 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." 1 Corinthians 15:42-44