But someone will say, "How are the dead raised up? And with what body do they come?"
1 Corinthians 15:35

First of all, the Resurrection is an essential doctrine of the faith. We are quick to say that Jesus died to pay the penalty for our sins. And this is true. But He also rose from the dead. Had He died and not risen, “our faith is futile; we are still in our sins!” (1 Corinthians 15:17). It is that important.

Also essential is the doctrine of the resurrection of the rest of us: The redeemed to eternal life with God in Heaven, and the reprobate to eternal torment in Hell (Revelation 21:1-22:6, & Revelation 20:12-15).

But 1 Corinthians 15:35-ff asks and answers yet another question about the resurrection of people. Paul tells us that our physical bodies are like seeds that, when planted, become like trees. The seeds bear little resemblance to the trees that come from them, yet they are related.

What will our resurrected bodies be like, then? (1) There will be some relationship between our current physical bodies and our glorified bodies—like acorns and oak trees. (2) There will also be vast differences between them, like acorns and oak trees. (3) The chief difference will be that our physical bodies are subject to death, and our glorified bodies will never be corrupted or die.

Let us rejoice in the assurance of glorified bodies, especially as we are increasingly aware that our current bodies wear out and eventually die.