Key Texts: 1 Corinthians 15:42-44
So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.
I have always thought it is one of the Apostle Paul’s most eloquent bits of writing.
In describing the indescribable, Paul does the best he can to speak of this ultimate mystery: life after death. He turns to an example from the natural world to beautifully describe this process. He speaks of a seed being planted and of the miracle that then occurs.
The words leap off the page:
- Imperishable
- Glory
- Power
- Spiritual
Two thousand years later, theologians, philosophers, scientists, poets still try to make sense of the mystery.
Yet in some ways it is still describing the indescribable.
So, all we can do is accept it on faith. We accept it as “holy mystery” and take comfort in that acceptance.
We take comfort from this embracing of the mysterious at the time of death – either of our loved ones – or on our own death bed.
Ultimately, no matter how many books are written, how many sermons are preached, we have to accept that we will, as Paul also said, only be “fully known” when we step through that passageway ourselves into the eternal.
For now, we must be content to see only partially, “through a glass darkly,” is how Paul described it.
For now, we must simply trust that one day we will be imperishable, experience the glory of heaven, bow at awe before the glory of God, and finally know what spiritual really means.
IGW3 - In God's Word, In God's Will, In God's Work 
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