1 Corinthians 15:38 - Printer Friendly

ESV: But God gives it a body as he has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body.

NIV: But God gives it a body as he has determined, and to each kind of seed he gives its own body.

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

CSB: But God gives it a body as he wants, and to each of the seeds its own body.

NLT: Then God gives it the new body he wants it to have. A different plant grows from each kind of seed.

KJV: But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body.

NKJV: But God gives it a body as He pleases, and to each seed its own body.

This passage continues to show how the resurrection of a Christian's body after death is like the sowing of a seed that grows into a plant. The seed must die for the plant to live. The seed, our pre-death frame, is not the ultimate end God had in mind for us. The resurrected body that comes after physical death is the one God means for us to occupy forever.

Paul concludes the metaphor by stating that God gives life to the plant based on the seed that is planted. Wheat kernels grow wheat plants; corn kernels grow corn plants. In the same way, God somehow determines the "kind" of our resurrected body by the "kind" of seed, pre-death body, that comes from it. In other words, Paul will show, the resurrected body will fit or match the body that died in some way.

This explanation is being given to counter the bewilderment of critics. Some dismissed physical resurrection, unable to imagine how a rotted corpse or burnt ashes could live again.

First Corinthians 15:35–49 describes how the resurrected bodies of believers will be different from our current bodies. Resurrected bodies will not be reanimated corpses or some lesser version of our pre-death frame. The opposite is true. Our current, corrupt bodies are like seeds that are sown to bring to life the plant. These forms are temporary, dishonorable, and weak. Our transformed bodies will be eternal, glorified, and powerful, made from the materials of heaven, not earth, and built for an eternity with God.

Paul provides thorough teaching about the resurrection of Christians from the dead. This is a direct counter to some group of Corinthians who did not believe in such a resurrection. He shows that natural death is not the end of life for Christians; it is the last step before receiving a glorified, resurrected body like that of the risen Christ. That ''spiritual'' body will be as different from our current bodies as a star is from a fish. In that moment, for all who have believed in Christ, living and dead, death will be defeated for good.

In chapters 12, 13, and 14, Scripture focused on the concept of spiritual gifts and how best to use them. This follows several other ideas where Paul corrected errors in the Corinthians' thinking. Chapter 15 contains extensive teaching on one last issue about which some Corinthians were confused or misled. Apparently, they harbored some doubts about the physical resurrection of Christians from the dead. After clearing up these confusions, Paul will address various other items, of a less doctrinal nature, and close out his letter.

First Corinthians is one of the more practical books of the New Testament. Paul writes to a church immersed in a city associated with trade, but also with corruption and immorality. These believers are struggling to properly apply spiritual gifts and to resist the ungodly practices of the surrounding culture. Paul's letter gives instructions for real-life concerns such as marriage and spirituality. He also deals with the importance of unity and gives one of the Bible's more well-known descriptions of love in chapter 13.

Accessed 5/7/2024 10:30:44 PM