Sunday, November 4, 2007

1 Corinthians 15:35-43






1 Corinthians 15:35-43

The Resurrection Body


35 But someone may ask, “How will the dead be raised? What kind of bodies will they have?” 36 What a foolish question! When you put a seed into the ground, it doesn’t grow into a plant unless it dies first. 37 And what you put in the ground is not the plant that will grow, but only a bare seed of wheat or whatever you are planting. 38 Then God gives it the new body he wants it to have. A different plant grows from each kind of seed. 39 Similarly there are different kinds of flesh—one kind for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish.
40 There are also bodies in the heavens and bodies on the earth. The glory of the heavenly bodies is different from the glory of the earthly bodies. 41 The sun has one kind of glory, while the moon and stars each have another kind. And even the stars differ from each other in their glory.

42 It is the same way with the resurrection of the dead. Our earthly bodies are planted in the ground when we die, but they will be raised to live forever. 43 Our bodies are buried in brokenness, but they will be raised in glory. They are buried in weakness, but they will be raised in strength.



A friend of ours recently made the most beautiful illustration of death during our group Bible study last week. He's a crop consultant and has much experience with planting "seeds" and the "fruit" they produce.

He shared the passage above (that death brings LIFE) and he told some facts of the corn seed. See, When you plant a kernel of corn it dies. HOWEVER, in it's death a TREMENDOUS CHANGE HAPPENS! (WHEW.. NOW THIS gets me EXCITED!) The tiny little kernel of corn blooms into a stalk. From that ONE stalk you get 1 to 3 ears of corn. From those ears of corn you get 500-1,500 kernels. When using this illustration to make the comparison between our earthly bodies and our heavenly bodies, the difference between the two is TREMENDOUS! (And nothing we can imagine here even comes close to how GRAND & GLORIOUS it is in HEAVEN)

Our bodies are born into a sin stained world. They are only given to serve as "tents." We can STILL look forward to receiving our glorified bodies! Brent's weary, broken, and weak body will be raised in GLORY AND IN STRENGTH! Until then, we can rest in the promise that Brent IS IN THE PRESENCE of the LORD!


2 Corinthians 5:1-8

Assurance of the Resurrection

1 For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2 For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven, 3 if indeed, having been clothed, we shall not be found naked. 4 For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by life. 5 Now He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who also has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.
6 So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord. 7 For we walk by faith, not by sight. 8 We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.

We PRAISE GOD for HIS SON JESUS Who lived a sinless life so that HE could pay for ours. We PRAISE HIM that HE'S a RISEN SAVIOR - EVER LIVING to intercede for our sins! Because of CHRIST we're assured in the HOPE that we will be in Heaven with our LORD and with our loved ones who've gone on before us.

I guess it's easy to see why I was so blessed when our friend shared the parallel of the kernel of corn and the NEW LIFE it has once it dies! Our sweet Brent is experiencing JOY unimaginable. As much as we miss him, how can we not be happy for him? How can anyone EVER have peace in joyful times, much less in those of sorrow if they don't have CHRIST?

Okay.. I'm looking forward to Marriage Monday. (I think that's what it's called) Susan has been so sweet in helping me learn the ropes of blogging! I've really enjoyed meeting a new group of people and have been blessed by your words of encouragement! Oh, before I sign off I want to thank my friend Susan for blessing me with this blog. She led me to her friend Amy who designed it. It was her birthday gift to me... I have ANOTHER birthday coming up. ICK! Hehehe

I'd also like to say "Thank You" to Amy for her hard work!

Have a BLESSED WEEK!





2 comments:

Susan said...

Hi Tonya,

GREAT WORD, preach loud, preach it clear, you just keep preaching...

I've always loved that scripture and that promise you shared.

Many moons ago, (while you were playing with baby dolls, he he...) There was a famous musician named Keith Green. He was one of the most anointed song writers ever.

Well, he and his 3 young children and another family were killed in a plane crash riding over his ministry grounds. I think the whole Christian world was ROCKED to it's core.

How could such an anointed, God fearing, RADICAL godly man die so young, so tragically, and leave his wife a widow and lose 3 children all at once?

Well, that was the very scripture that God gave his wife, and it carried her through the shock, the grief and and answered her many questions.

Truly, we must die in order to truly LIVE!

I love when Paul said this, after going before the Lord and coming back to tell us,

"For me to Live is Christ, and to die is GAIN"!!! We all have so much to learn.

Love you,

Susan

PS You sure are catching on to blogging, and hey teaching me along the way, Go Tonya!

Jesus' Gal said...

Have a blessed week too!