Daily Bible Reading: 1 Corinthians 15:35-58 (GNT)

God’s Life-Giving Word of Hope

Introduction

1 Corinthians 15:35-58: The Corinthians had sent a letter to Paul asking him a number of questions. In this passage, Paul responds to the questions, “How can the dead be raised to life? What kind of body will they have?” (15:35). Paul says that our earthly bodies will be changed into eternal or spiritual bodies.

Today's Scripture: 1 Corinthians 15:52b

For when the trumpet sounds, the dead will be raised, never to die again, and we shall all be changed.

Today's Reading

The Resurrection Body

35Someone will ask, “How can the dead be raised to life? What kind of body will they have?” 36You fool! When you plant a seed in the ground, it does not sprout to life unless it dies. 37And what you plant is a bare seed, perhaps a grain of wheat or some other grain, not the full-bodied plant that will later grow up. 38God provides that seed with the body he wishes; he gives each seed its own proper body.

39And the flesh of living beings is not all the same kind of flesh; human beings have one kind of flesh, animals another, birds another, and fish another.

40And there are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies; the beauty that belongs to heavenly bodies is different from the beauty that belongs to earthly bodies. 41The sun has its own beauty, the moon another beauty, and the stars a different beauty; and even among stars there are different kinds of beauty.

42This is how it will be when the dead are raised to life. When the body is buried, it is mortal; when raised, it will be immortal. 43When buried, it is ugly and weak; when raised, it will be beautiful and strong. 44When buried, it is a physical body; when raised, it will be a spiritual body. There is, of course, a physical body, so there has to be a spiritual body. 45 For the scripture says, “The first man, Adam, was created a living being”; but the last Adam is the life-giving Spirit. 46It is not the spiritual that comes first, but the physical, and then the spiritual. 47The first Adam, made of earth, came from the earth; the second Adam came from heaven. 48Those who belong to the earth are like the one who was made of earth; those who are of heaven are like the one who came from heaven. 49Just as we wear the likeness of the man made of earth, so we will wear the likeness of the Man from heaven.

50What I mean, friends, is that what is made of flesh and blood cannot share in God's Kingdom, and what is mortal cannot possess immortality.

51-52 Listen to this secret truth: we shall not all die, but when the last trumpet sounds, we shall all be changed in an instant, as quickly as the blinking of an eye. For when the trumpet sounds, the dead will be raised, never to die again, and we shall all be changed. 53For what is mortal must be changed into what is immortal; what will die must be changed into what cannot die. 54 So when this takes place, and the mortal has been changed into the immortal, then the scripture will come true: “Death is destroyed; victory is complete!”

55 “Where, Death, is your victory?

Where, Death, is your power to hurt?”

56Death gets its power to hurt from sin, and sin gets its power from the Law. 57But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!

58So then, my dear friends, stand firm and steady. Keep busy always in your work for the Lord, since you know that nothing you do in the Lord's service is ever useless.

Reflect

Paul teaches that those who are raised to life from death will have a completely new body. How can the hope of being raised to new life with Christ and living with God forever make a difference for people living today? What is the victory that God has given us (verse 57)?

Pray

Holy God, we yearn to experience a taste of your realm here on earth, even as we look toward eternal life with you. May my words and actions this day help to bring a glimpse of heaven to this present world even as I wait for your future glory. Amen.

Prayer Concern

Those keeping vigil over a loved one