(1 Corinthians 15:35–58)
There’s this question Paul is answering—
the kind of question people whisper at funerals
or think about at 2 a.m.
when the room is dark
and life feels a little too fragile.
“What will our bodies be like… then?”
And instead of giving us a chart,
a diagram,
a scientific explanation,
Paul gives us something better:
A story about seeds.
Death
(We All Have to Experience It)
Paul says death is defeated.
Done.
Broken.
Unraveled from the inside.
Jesus saw to that.
But then he says something that feels almost contradictory:
To experience resurrection,
you still have to die.
Not because death is in charge—
it’s not.
That power’s gone.
But because resurrection life
—the real, full, blazing-bright kind—
comes after you pass through the doorway of death.
Death isn’t the villain anymore.
It’s the hallway.
Seeds
Paul says,
“What you sow doesn’t come to life unless it dies.”
A seed.
Think about it.
You hold a tiny seed in your hand—
a little brown nothing,
dry, unimpressive, forgettable.
But inside that seed
is a tree
or a flower
or an entire forest of possibility.
To get there,
the seed doesn’t just improve.
It doesn’t upgrade.
It doesn’t get a makeover.
It dies.
It breaks open.
It surrenders its current form
so that its next form
can burst through.
Paul isn’t talking about the necessity of death
as much as he’s talking about
transformation.
Death isn’t an ending.
Death is change.
Death is the moment the seed says,
“Okay… now.”
And God—
the same God who assigns a body to every seed—
is the one who brings out something greater
from what was buried.
You plant one thing.
God raises another.
Different Kinds of Bodies
(Different Kinds of Existence)
Paul shifts gears and says,
“Not all flesh is the same.”
Birds have their thing.
Fish have their thing.
Humans have theirs.
Stars glow one way.
The sun glows another.
Heavenly bodies, earthly bodies—
each crafted for the world they’re meant to live in.
He’s not just giving examples.
He’s nudging us toward the obvious:
Your body now
is perfect for this life.
Your resurrection body
will be perfect for the next one.
A different reality
requires a different kind of body.
Just like a seed
could never imagine the oak
it’s destined to become—
you can’t imagine
what resurrected you
is going to look like.
But Paul wants you to know:
It’s going to be good.
Really good.
Stronger.
Brighter.
More alive than anything you’ve ever known.
So What Is Paul Really Saying?
He’s saying the story isn’t over.
Not with death.
Not with loss.
Not with the slow decay of the body you’re living in right now.
He’s saying there’s a future you—
real, physical, resurrected—
and that version of you
will step into a world remade by God.
He’s saying the seed isn’t the end.
It’s the beginning.
Because resurrection isn’t just an event.
It’s a promise.
A trajectory.
A direction the universe is moving.
And you—
yes, you—
are part of that story.
A story with no ending.
A story death can’t edit, interrupt, or conclude.
Because the Author of Life still holds the pen—
and the last page of your story
is nowhere to be found.
phillipbrande.com 