Why We Should Prepare for Paradise

“He is seeking to make the resurrection of the dead seem appealing rather than appalling to the Corinthians.” –Richard B. Hays “He is seeking to make the resurrection of the dead seem appealing rather than appalling to the Corinthians.” –Richard B. Hays Why We Should Prepare for Paradise

Our physical bodies will be raised imperishable Why We Should Prepare for Paradise

35 But someone will say, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come?” 36 Fool! What you sow will not come to life unless it dies. 37 And what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare seed – perhaps of wheat or something else. 38 But God gives it a body just as he planned, and to each of the seeds a body of its own. 1 Corinthians 15:35-44 (NET Bible)

39 All flesh is not the same: People have one flesh, animals have another, birds and fish another. 40 And there are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies. The glory of the heavenly body is one sort and the earthly 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 It is the same with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable, what is raised is imperishable. 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. 1 Corinthians 15:35-44 (NET Bible)

14 But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. 15 But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no one. 1 Corinthians 2:14-15 (NASB)

“Through ‘dying,’ a seed gives birth by God’s power to a new and different ‘body,” though one related to the seed it came from.” –Frank E. Gaebelein “Through ‘dying,’ a seed gives birth by God’s power to a new and different ‘body,” though one related to the seed it came from.” –Frank E. Gaebelein Why We Should Prepare for Paradise

“With what kind of body? As with Christ, the same yet not the same; this body, but adapted to the new conditions of heavenly existence; sown one way, it is raised another, but the same body is sown and raised.” –Gordon Fee “With what kind of body? As with Christ, the same yet not the same; this body, but adapted to the new conditions of heavenly existence; sown one way, it is raised another, but the same body is sown and raised.” –Gordon Fee Why We Should Prepare for Paradise

Imperishable Glorified Powerful Spiritual Imperishable Glorified Powerful Spiritual Why We Should Prepare for Paradise

Our physical bodies will be raised imperishable Why We Should Prepare for Paradise

Our physical bodies will be raised imperishable Jesus’ body serves as our prototype Our physical bodies will be raised imperishable Jesus’ body serves as our prototype Why We Should Prepare for Paradise

45 So also it is written, “The first man, Adam, became a living person”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. 46 However, the spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and then the spiritual. 47 The first man is from the earth, made of dust; the second man is from heaven. 48 Like the one made of dust, so too are those made of dust, and like the one from heaven, so too those who are heavenly. 49 And just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, let us also bear the image of the man of heaven. 1 Corinthians 15:45-49 (NET Bible)

20 But our citizenship is in heaven – and we also await a savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who will transform these humble bodies of ours into the likeness of his glorious body by means of that power by which he is able to subject all things to himself. Philippians 3:20-21 (NET Bible)

“Just as believers have shared the earthly body of the first man, so also will they bear the heavenly body of the second man.” –Gordon Fee “Just as believers have shared the earthly body of the first man, so also will they bear the heavenly body of the second man.” –Gordon Fee Why We Should Prepare for Paradise

Your body is not a shell; it is you. Why We Should Prepare for Paradise

“We are not ethereal souls imprisoned in bodies. Rather, our identity is bound up inextricably with our bodily existence. If we are to be saved, we must be saved as embodied persons, whatever that may mean.” –Richard B. Hays “We are not ethereal souls imprisoned in bodies. Rather, our identity is bound up inextricably with our bodily existence. If we are to be saved, we must be saved as embodied persons, whatever that may mean.” –Richard B. Hays Why We Should Prepare for Paradise

Our physical bodies will be raised imperishable Jesus’ body serves as our prototype Our physical bodies will be raised imperishable Jesus’ body serves as our prototype Why We Should Prepare for Paradise

Our physical bodies will be raised imperishable Jesus’ body serves as our prototype Following our transformation, we’ll witness the death of death Our physical bodies will be raised imperishable Jesus’ body serves as our prototype Following our transformation, we’ll witness the death of death Why We Should Prepare for Paradise

50 Now this is what I am saying, brothers and sisters: Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51 Listen, I will tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed – 52 in a moment, in the blinking 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 body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. 1 Corinthians 15:50-58 (NET Bible)

54 Now when this perishable puts on the imperishable, and this mortal puts on immortality, then the saying that is written will happen, “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” 55 “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, 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 So then, dear brothers and sisters, be firm. Do not be moved! Always be outstanding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. 1 Corinthians 15:50-58 (NET Bible)

15 For we tell you this by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will surely not go ahead of those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a shout of command, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be suddenly caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will always be with the Lord. 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17 (NET Bible)

If a believer dies today, her soul and body are separated (her soul goes to a temporary, non- physical heaven in the presence of the Lord, and her body is buried). When Christ returns, the dead in Christ will rise with their soul and body reunited (body will be transformed imperishable). Those who are alive will be transformed without dying and given imperishable bodies. If a believer dies today, her soul and body are separated (her soul goes to a temporary, non- physical heaven in the presence of the Lord, and her body is buried). When Christ returns, the dead in Christ will rise with their soul and body reunited (body will be transformed imperishable). Those who are alive will be transformed without dying and given imperishable bodies. Why We Should Prepare for Paradise

1 Corinthians Applications: Read/study 1 Corinthians 16:1-24. [ Consider your body as part of your identity. Know that neglecting your body or doing active violence to it is sin. Examine your eschatology. Thank God for a future that is compellingly better than our present. Applications: Read/study 1 Corinthians 16:1-24. [ Consider your body as part of your identity. Know that neglecting your body or doing active violence to it is sin. Examine your eschatology. Thank God for a future that is compellingly better than our present.