Useful Bible Studies > 1 Corinthians Commentary > chapter 15
Paul taught that the bodies (and not just the spirits) of God’s people will live again.
That belief causes a problem for many people. Few people die when their bodies are still strong and well. Nobody would want to live again with a body that will always be weak and ill.
In addition, Paul believed that Christians must wait for their bodies to become alive again. At death, their spirits are immediately alive with God in heaven. However, their bodies will not become alive again until Christ’s return.
In the grave, a dead body does not last. Tiny animals, for example worms and maggots, soon begin to eat the soft parts of the body. Soon, only the bones remain. In the end, even the bones disappear. The whole body returns to the earth.
This was not a problem for Job. He knew what would happen to his body after death. But Job believed in the power of God more than he (Job) believed in the power of death. Nothing – not even death – could ever make it impossible for God to do what is right (Job 19:25-27).
Paul’s own answer was to show people that God already works in this manner. When someone places a seed in the soil, that seed seems dead. It remains in the ground, as if dead, perhaps for several weeks. Then something wonderful happens. God gives life to that seed. It grows, but not in the form that it had before. God has changed it completely.
It is God’s plan to change his people completely (Romans 8:18-25). They will live always with him, and they will never again know illness or death (Revelation 21:1-4). However, like the seed, they must die first. God’s plan is to bring life to bodies that are dead.
Next part: God’s love for variety (1 Corinthians 15:37-41)
Please use the links at the top of the page to find our other articles in this series. You can download all our articles if you go to the download page for our free 450 page course book.
© 2014, Keith Simons.