Temple Baptist Church - 7-1-2026
1 Corinthians 15:35-51
Introduction:
A. In this “Resurrection Chapter” of 1 Corinthians, the Holy Spirit deals with our fleshly body and the change that must be made at His appearing and our departing to Heaven.
B. The question is asked, “With what body do they come?”
1. Though our heavenly body will resemble our earthy one, God is not going to give us a new body, He will change our body from earthy to heavenly. This is why we will recognize one another when we get to heaven.
2. Will all be like Him, but we will not all look alike. I will recognize everyone from Adam to the last soul that is redeemed. We shall know, even as we are known. Here is a prooftext: Moses and Elias were instantly recognized by a man who never saw a likeness of them. They died about 1,500 + years before Peter was born.
Matthew 17:3-4 And, behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with him. (4) Then answered Peter, and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here: if thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias.
C. In verse 36, Paul said “THOU FOOL” – why the strong words? They are foolish because of the ignorance or skepticism concerning the resurrection. Many believe that there will be no resurrection while others believe that it will only be a spiritual resurrection.
D. Why death? Because this body must die before it can resurrect or be changed before it can be raptured. He gives examples of the different earthly and heavenly bodies.
1. Earthly, our terrestrial bodies are different in their make-up. There are men, beasts, fishes, and birds.
2. Heavenly, or celestial bodies are different in their glory. There are the sun, moon, and stars.
E. Man’s flesh is unlike the flesh of any other of God’s creation. It is the greatest enemy that we face in our Christian life. An enemy within the walls of a fortress is much more dangerous than an enemy without the walls.
F. The wisest words Mr. Moody ever uttered were, "The worst man that ever crossed my path is D. L. Moody, the old man. I have had more trouble with him than with all the world beside." These two passages are both applied to a believing, regenerated man.
Romans 7:18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. (None but a regenerated man could know, or would admit the statement of this verse!)
Philippians 3:3 For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh. (And none but a regenerated man could obey the exhortation of this verse.)
G. Our earthly bodies cannot go to heaven because of:
1. The Composition Of The Flesh – Our new body will be heavenly in composition - 1 Corinthians 15:44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body.
1 Corinthians 15:47-49 The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven. (48) As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. (49) And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.
Genesis 2:7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. (Adam was formed of the “dust of the ground.” Dust to dust!)
a. God never cursed Adam. Adam cursed himself! Genesis 3:17a And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it:
b. God cursed the serpent, Satan’s proxy! Genesis 3:14 And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:
c. God cursed the ground (earth) for Adam’s sake! Genesis 3:17-19 cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life ... till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. (God did not curse Adam but rather the “ground.” The ground was cursed along with its components after the fall. Our flesh is earthy, of the ground!)
d. But God did curse Adam’s flesh. “Thou shalt surely die!” Genesis 5:5 And all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years: and he died.
Our earthly body cannot go to heaven because of composition.
2. The Corruption Of The Flesh – Our new body will be incorruptible in nature - 1 Corinthians 15:42 It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption. (By carefully reading the following passages we see the long line of sinfulness and wickedness that now flows through our own veins!)
The Progression of Corruption - Romans 5:12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:
Genesis 6:12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt (spoiled, wasted, ruined, destroyed); for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.
Genesis 5:1-3 This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him; 2 Male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created. 3 And (after sin and the fall, Adam’s children were corrupt) Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth
Genesis 6:5 And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
Psalms 53:3 Every one of them is gone back: they are altogether become filthy; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.
Isaiah 64:6 But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.
Jeremiah 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all thing, and desperately wicked: who can know it?
Our earthly body cannot go to heaven because of corruption.
3. The Connection Of The Flesh - Our new body will be disconnected from the curse of the earth - 1 Corinthians 15:49 As we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.
Romans 7:18-23 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. 19 For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. 20 Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. 21 I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. 22 For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: 23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.
- No matter how much you hate the world, you must live in it.
- No matter how far you separate from the world, you are surrounded by it.
c. You still have a connection to this world through the flesh in which you dwell.
Our earthly body cannot go to heaven because of connection.
4. The Continuation Of The Flesh - Our new body will be eternally changed - 1 Corinthians 15:53-54 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then (THEN AND THEN ONLY!) shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.
As long as we are in this flesh, the corruption of Adam along with our sinfulness will not end. Death and separation from this body can only be accomplished through death.
2 Corinthians 5:6-8 Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord: (7) (For we walk by faith, not by sight:) (8) We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.
Romans 7:24-25 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? 25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin. (Who shall deliver us? Jesus Christ our Lord! Deliver me FROM the body of this flesh, not IN!)
Romans 8:23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.
Our earthly body cannot go to heaven because of continuation.
Conclusion: Earthly and heavenly bodies differ in both composition and glory.
1. Our earthly body is sinful, corruptible, and mortal.
2. Our heavenly body will be sinless, incorruptible, and immortal.
1 John 3:2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
