Commentaries:
<< 1 Corinthians 15:34 1 Corinthians 15:36 >>
1 Corinthians 15:35-37
When a person sows a seed, a seed does not pop right back out of the ground. What comes out of the ground—a living plant—is different from what is put into it. This becomes the illustration to describe the resurrection from the dead: What goes into the coffin—or into the ground—is not what comes out.
John W. Ritenbaugh
The Covenants, Grace, and Law (Part Thirteen)Related Topics: Resurrection | Resurrection to Immortal Life | Seed as Metaphor | Sowing and Reaping | Spirit Beings | Spiritual Body
1 Corinthians 15:35
Do things ever change, or do the same questions keep coming around all the time? This sounds as modern as last year—God has no body. So people in the first century were questioning what kinds of body the sons of God will have in the resurrection. Why were they questioning that? Because there were undoubtedly people, most likely of the Gnostic persuasion, who were saying that God does not have a body. And, they argued, since we are to be made in the image of God, we will not have a body either.
John W. Ritenbaugh
Image and Likeness of God (Part One)Related Topics: Gnostic Dualism | Gnosticism | God's Body | God's Image | Image and Likeness of God | Image of God | Spirit Beings | Spiritual BodyOther Forerunner Commentary entries containing 1 Corinthians 15:35:
Genesis 1:26-27
Hosea 14:6-7
Luke 1:26-30
Luke 1:41-42
<< 1 Corinthians 15:34 1 Corinthians 15:36 >>
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What Does 1 Corinthians 15:35 Mean?
First-century questioning about the body in the resurrection likely arose from Gnostic teaching that God has no body, and that since humanity is made in God's image, believers would also lack a body. This question is as modern as ever. The illustration of sowing answers it: a seed does not pop back out unchanged; what emerges as a living plant differs from what was planted. Likewise, what goes into the coffin or ground is not what comes out. Believers are the seed, called Abraham's seed, and what arises depends on what was put into the ground. The seed must be good, having put to death the self and produced the fruit of God's Spirit, so it rises in the resurrection to life.