Day 11
Bible passage: 1 Corinthians 15:35–49 (ESVUK)
But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?” You foolish person! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. And what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare kernel, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain. But God gives it a body as he has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body. For not all flesh is the same, but there is one kind for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish. There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is of one kind, and the glory of the earthly is of another. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory. So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. It is sown in dishonour; 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. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual. The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.
Thinking about the new creation and prayer
The Bible talks about the new creation as a physical place, where we will have real bodies. Our view of the new creation can be tainted by false images from the TV of us floating like angels with harps on clouds. But this isn’t the biblical picture of the new creation.
- How does this passage describe our resurrection bodies? How does this passage help you consider what the new creation will be like?
- Think: about your journey home from work that you usually take. How might it be changed in the new creation? Imagine what it would be like in the physical new creation eg: which shops will be gone, which buildings will no longer be used, what will the people around you be doing?
- Pray: talk to God about how you honestly feel about the new creation. Do you struggle to believe it is a physical place? Ask for his help to believe it is a physical place. Ask him to help you look forward to the new creation.
Today
Imagine doing a days work in the physical new creation. How might a day of work be different in the new creation, with the curse of the fall lifted and Jesus’ rule restored? Think about what you normally feel and think, your colleagues, your frustrations, your worries. How will they be changed?
Thinking further if you want
As you think about your journey home or your day's work, you could include some of the ideas in your picture that we thought about from days 1–10. If you start to run out of ideas, picture a journey you regularly make and how that will be different.
If you find that hard, go onto Google Maps, go to your church or place of work and explore the streets around it. How might they be different in the new creation? Note: we aren’t saying these buildings or places will definitely be there in the new creation. But hopefully thinking about these places will help us appreciate what the new creation will be like.