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35 But someone will say, “How are the dead raised? And with what kind of body do they come?”

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Paul just finished establishing that the dead are in fact raised. Now he anticipates the next question from these thinking Greeks: How does this happen, and what is a resurrected body like?

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36 You fool! That which you sow does not come to life unless it dies;

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Paul calls the question foolish, but it seems reasonable to me.

If I die at 80, will my body in heaven look like I’m 80? Can I have my hair back and get rid of these bags under my eyes, or I do I have to put up with those for eternity? Will a “spiritual body,” will it look something like Hollywood’s depiction of ghosts?

Am I supposed to believe that all of the stuff a man is made of who was burnt to ashes at the stake and scattered in the ocean will be brought back together so he can go to heaven at the resurrection? What if part of his decomposition eventually became carbon used to build a building? What if his dead body was eaten by an animal and became dung that fertilized a tree?

The answer: The body that is raised will be different than the body that was buried.

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37 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. 38 But God gives it a body just as He wished, and to each of the seeds a body of its own.

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It’s not that difficult for us to understand. As he wrote, a plant is different from its seed.

I’ll add that butterflies barely resemble caterpillars, and frogs seem nothing like tadpoles. We will undergo the greatest metamorphosis when Christ comes to take His people home!

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39 All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one flesh of men, and another flesh of beasts, and another flesh of birds, and another of fish. 40 There are also heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is one, and the glory of the earthly is another. 41 There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory. 42 So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown a perishable body, it is raised an imperishable body; 43 it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; 44 it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. 45 So also it is written, “The first man, Adam, became a living soul.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.

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There are many kinds of bodies, all with different kinds of glory. The resurrection will be like that too. Our planted bodies are perishable, dishonorable, weak, and natural. But our resurrected bodies will be imperishable, glorified, powerful, and spiritual.

Based upon my understanding of Genesis 3 and many other passages, I believe Adam and Eve were created with imperishable spiritual bodies, were given perishable physical bodies as a result of sin (cf. Genesis 3:21, “clothed with skin”), and that once sin and death are fully conquered we will be restored to God’s original creation at our resurrection, enabling us to have unencumbered fellowship with Him.

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46 However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural; then the spiritual. 47 The first man is from the earth, earthy; the second man is from heaven. 48 As is the earthy, so also are those who are earthy; and as is the heavenly, so also are those who are heavenly. 49 Just as we have borne the image of the earthy, we will also bear the image of the heavenly.

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God originally created man in His image (Genesis 1:27). But mankind lost God’s image when sin entered the world through Adam. Right now we bear an earthy image rather than a heavenly image. But at our resurrection, in our new spiritual bodies, we will again bear the image of God (See Colossians 3:10; 2 Corinthians 3:8).

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50 Now I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.

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We cannot inherit God’s kingdom without our bodies being transformed in this way from physical to spiritual.

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51 Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53 For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality. 54 But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, “Death is swallowed up in victory. 55 O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” 56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; 57 but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.

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The writer of Hebrews considers the teachings about resurrection and judgment to be the “elementary teachings about Christ” (Heb 6:1-3). They may seem complicated, but we need to understand them. They are intended to be the baby food we eat before we grow in maturity (Hebrews 5:12-14).

So let’s look at this.

Fortunately, we are given a straightforward chronology here that is consistent with every other end times chronology in the New Testament (Matthew 24-25, Revelation, et al). There are actually two chronologies offered in chapter 15 (the other was in vv.20-28). Here’s how they fit together:

1. Jesus comes again (v.23)
2. Jesus reigns (v.25)
3. The last trumpet sounds (v.52)
4. The dead are raised and we are all changed (vv.52-53)
5. Christians are resurrected (v.23)
6. Perishable (dead) Christians are made imperishable vv.52-53
7. Mortal (living) Christians are made immortal (vv.52-53)
8. DEATH IS DESTROYED! (vv. 26 and 54)
9. The end comes. The kingdom is handed over to the Father (vv.15:24)
10. Jesus is made subject to the Father (vv.15:28