1 Corinthians 15:41 Commentary - Dr Peter Masters

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1 Corinthians 15:41

Comments

The apostle goes on to speak, comparing the glory of the sun and the glory of the moon, and of the stars. They have a such different glory, a different appearance, a different beauty. There is huge variation in all of them. When God made them, he ‘made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also’ (Genesis 1:16). The glory of them was their brightness which was perfectly suited to the purpose which he gave to them. They have a luminous glory, and they have a glory because of their beauty and function given to them. Having spoken of the difference between the heavenly bodies and the earthly bodies he goes further and considers this difference in glory even between the heavenly bodies themselves. They are not all the same; these things should be obvious to us. This variation, which is all the creative handiwork of God, teaches us not to be surprised, not to be unbelieving at the doctrine of Scripture that there will be a resurrection body very different from the one that is sown.

Application

It is vital for the Christian to accept this, for he sees only too clearly that the miserable state to which the body is brought at the end of life. Belief in the resurrection requires him to accept that what is raised is very different to what is sown in the tomb. What sort of resurrection would it be if the body that came out of the grave was in the same corrupt condition as the body that was sown. All these pictures are designed to show us that God is able to raise up something very different from what was put in the ground.

Questions

Does all this imply that there will be differences between the bodies that we are given at the resurrection? Calvin says, ‘A mistake, however, is commonly fallen into in the application; for it is supposed that Paul mean to say, that, after the resurrection, the saints will have different degrees of honour and glory. This, indeed, is perfectly true, and is proved by other declarations of Scripture; but it has nothing to do with Paul’s object. For he is not arguing as to what difference of condition there will be among the saints after the resurrection, but in what respect our bodies at present differ from those that we will one day receive.’

Outline

Purpose

Introduction

1 Corinthians 15:41 Commentary and Bible Study