If we have hope in Christ only in this life, we are the most pitiable of all human beings. ·But now Christ is raised from the dead and becomes the first fruits of those who have died. ·Since death came by a human being, resurrection of the dead also came by a human being. ·Just as in Adam all die, even so in the Messiah all shall be made alive, ·but everyone in unique order: Christ the first fruits; afterwards those belonging to the Messiah at his coming. ·Then comes the end: when he will have given over the kingdom to God, even the Father—when he will have abolished every primal chiefdom and every authority and power. ·For he must reign until he has put all enemies under his feet. ·The final enemy destroyed will be Death, ·for: “He has subjected all things under his feet” [Psalm 8:6b]. Now when it says ‘all things’ are ‘subjected’, this clearly excludes the One who subjected (these) to him. ·And when all things have become subordinate to him, then the Son himself will also be subordinate to the One who put all things under him, so that God may be all in all. (1 Corinthians 15:19-28 PH)

“But” someone will say, “How are the dead raised up?” and “In what sort of body do they come?” ·How brainless! What you sow doesn't come to life unless it dies. ·And what you sow isn't the body that comes from what you sow, only a bare kernel—perhaps of wheat or of some other grain. ·God gives…to each (kind of) seed its own body. ·…Human flesh is different from animal flesh… ·Also with celestial bodies and terrestrial bodies: the glory of the celestial is different from the glory of the terrestrial…

There is a natural body and there is a spiritual body. ·And so it is written: “the first human, ‘Adam’, became a living soul” [Genesis 2:7b], the last ‘Adam’ a life-giving spirit. ·Indeed, it was not the spiritual first but the natural, and thereafter the spiritual. (1 Cor.15:35-40,42b-46 PH)

Now I say this…because flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God—no more than a perishable form can ‘inherit’ an imperishable form. ·Look! I am showing YOU a mystery. Not all of us will ‘fall asleep’, but all of us will be changed, ·instantly, in the blink of an eye at the last trumpet. ·For the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised imperishable ones, and we will be changed. ·For this the perishable must put on an imperishable form and this the mortal must put on immortality. ·And when this the perishable puts on an imperishable form, and this the mortal puts on immortality, then that word which is written will come to pass: “Death is swallowed up in victory” [Isa.25:8a]… ·Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord, Jesus Christ! ·Therefore my dear brothers and sisters, become steadfast, unmovable, always excelling more and more in the work of the Lord, for YOU know that YOUR effort in the Lord is not in vain. (1 Cor.15:47-54,57-58 PH)

Toward the end of this letter to the Corinthian church, Paul answers a question about the resurrection of our bodies. For him the resurrection is about more than just Christ's victory over Death. It is about a bigger hope, for it reveals some surprising things about the fulfillment of God's eternal plan for human beings. What he writes, though, may challenge some of your theological presuppositions, even as it did some of mine.

To describe the resurrection body that God plans to give us when Jesus returns, Paul uses a farming analogy. The ‘natural’ body that God gave to Adam—formed from the dust of the ground—was like a seed. And just as ‘seeds’ are transformed into specific plants, so God planned that human beings would ultimately have a different body—a human ‘spiritual body’. For the ‘flesh and blood’ bodies we ‘inherit’ from Adam cannot inherit our Father's kingdom because they are perishable. They must first be transformed (‘changed’) into bodies that are ‘imperishable’—like the one Jesus received following his resurrection. For although Paul believed that Death became part of 'the human experience as a result of sin (Med.#48), he also believed that Adam and Eve were created with mortal bodies that could die. From my church's teaching, I had assumed that Adam and Eve's bodies must have somehow been changed from immortal ones to mortal ones after they disobeyed God. Yet Paul is implying here that if Adam and Eve had not sinned, their ‘natural’ mortal bodies would at a later point have had to undergo a ‘change’—into becoming immortal ‘spiritual’ bodies, without having to experience death. This is what will happen to believers in Christ who are still alive when he returns.

Paul refers to this ‘change’ as a ‘mystery’, and so connects it with his revelation of the Father's mysterious plan for us that was described in Chapter 1 of these meditations—for believers of all nations to become ‘heirs-together’ in Christ (Med.#6). The second stage of this previously hidden plan began with us, by faith, receiving the Holy Spirit as our predestined ‘placement of sons’ (Med.#4 & Med.#8)—as the ‘first fruits’ of being ‘heirs’ of the Father—along with our redemption in Christ. Yet this new intimate relationship with our ‘Abba Father’ as co-heirs with Jesus, and the accompanying freedom in the Spirit, would eventually include the ‘redemption of our body’ as well (Med.#5). So the transformation of our bodies at Christ's second coming—from a mortal natural body to an immortal spiritual body—is the fulfillment of God's pre-determined purposes for human beings, not as a return to the pre-fall ‘perfection’ imagined by certain human theological systems. God's creation was indeed ‘very good’ (Gen.1:31), but it was not ‘perfect’ in the sense of being fully developed.[i]

The other challenging thing Paul says in this text involves the following text, ‘He has subjected all things under his feet’. While Paul only cites one line, he like other rabbis has the whole passage in mind (Ps.8:4-6)—which begins with a question about how God (‘He’) relates to human beings—to ‘man…and the son of man’ (‘him’).[ii] When the author to the Hebrews cites this prophetic passage, he expands on the theme of God's relationship with humans—in contrast to his relationship with angels. The author then shows how the coming of Jesus, as ‘the son of man’, fulfills this text and reframes the way we think about how God relates to us. He does this by focusing on how Jesus made atonement for sin and destroyed the ‘power of Death’—by his incarnation and death on the cross—so that he could unashamedly begin bringing many (human) ‘brothers and sisters’ to glory with him (Med.#7). Paul, in another place, cites this same passage to show how it began to be fulfilled when the resurrected and ascended Jesus was made ‘head’ over ‘every primal chiefdom, authority, power and lordship’…’for the church’ (Med.#44). As a result, we no longer need to be intimidated by the ongoing power of these ‘primal chiefs and authorities’, because his death on the cross has ‘disarmed’ them (Col.2:15 ESV, Med.#31).

When Jesus returns, however, God will go further. He will totally ‘abolish every primal chiefdom, authority and power’ that still opposes him, and totally destroy Death. Yet even this won't completely fulfill Psalm 8:4-6. For ‘the end’ will only come when the Son—himself a resurrected human being—turns the kingdom over to the Father and takes a place of subordination to him next to us, his resurrected brothers and sisters. When Jesus does this, everything that has been made subject to Jesus (‘the son of man’) is now—by association—put under ‘the feet’ of humanity (‘man’) as well, so that God our Father will be ‘all in all’. If you are amazed by the humility of Jesus—God's divine Word from before all time—because he became human and submitted to the shameful death of a common criminal to save us (Med.#56), then marvel again at his final act of humility! Yet it only demonstrates something Jesus already told us—that his ascension and the coming of the Spirit would be advantageous for us, and should make us glad, since ‘The Father is greater than I’ (Med.#51 & Med.#57).

Everything Jesus has done and will do is about restoring human beings to a relationship with their Father. And Paul has written all this to help us now—to remain ‘steadfast, unmovable’ and full of desire to ‘excel’ even more in whatever ‘work of the Lord’ that our Dad (‘Abba Father’) calls us to do with him—through Jesus and the Holy Spirit (Med.#26). If you still have difficulty grasping the importance of relating to your heavenly Father in this way, I urge you again to ask him to reveal himself more fully to you by the Spirit (Med.#14), as you reflect on all that he has told us about himself in his Word. It's about knowing who you truly are!

Glorious Father, give me the Spirit of revelation so that I may come to know You more fully—towards knowing: the hope of Your calling, as well as the riches of Your glorious inheritance and the exceeding greatness of Your resurrection power which are also for us in Christ. (Eph.1:17-21)

Father from whom all fatherhood in heaven and on earth derives its name, to you be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus, towards all generations of the ages of ages. How rich the depth of Your wisdom and knowledge! How inscrutable Your judgments and untraceable Your ways; for who has known Your mind or been Your counselor? For all things are from You, and through You and to You! Amen! (Rom.11:33-34,36, Eph.3:14-15,21)

[i] According to the Scriptures, God also made the nations (Ps.86:9; Act.17:26), but this only began happening after the fall (Gen.10). See Med.#C.

[ii] Paul probably has in mind the version of Psalm 8:4-6 that is cited in Hebrews: ‘What is man, that You* are mindful of him, or the son of man, that You care for him? You made him for a little while lower than the angels; You have crowned him with glory and honor, {and put} everything in subjection under his feet.’ [Heb.2:6b-8a ESV {NIV}]. *Note that the Psalm is addressed to Yahweh [Ps.8:1 Hbr.].