Sown In Weakness, Raised In Power

Then one of the criminals, who were hanged, blasphemed Him, saying, “If YOU are The Christ, save Yourself and us.”  But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, “Do YOU NOT even fear God, seeing YOU, are under the same condemnation?  And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man, has done nothing wrong.”  Then he said to Jesus, “Lord, remember me, when YOU come into Your Kingdom.”  And Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to YOU, Today, YOU will be with Me, in Paradise.”

Jesus answered and said to them, “The sons of this age marry, and are given in marriage.  For in The Resurrection from The Dead, they neither marry, nor are given in marriage; nor can they die anymore, for they are equal to The Angels of God in Heaven, and are Sons of God, being Sons of The Resurrection.  But concerning The Resurrection of The Dead, have YOU NOT read, what was spoken to YOU, by God, saying, ‘I Am The God of Abraham, The God of Isaac, and The God of Jacob’?  God is NOT, the God of the dead, but God of The Living, for All Live to Him”

 

But someone will say, “How are The Dead, Raised Up?  And with what body do They come?”  Foolish one, what YOU sow is NOT made Alive, unless it dies.  And what YOU sow, YOU do NOT sow, that body that shall be, but mere grain, perhaps wheat or some other grain.  But God gives it a Body, as He Pleases, and to each seed, its own body.  All flesh is NOT the same flesh, but there is One Kind of Flesh of Men, another flesh of animals, another of fish, and another of birds.  There are also Celestial Bodies and Terrestrial Bodies; but The Glory of The Celestial is One, and The Glory of The Terrestrial is another.  There is one glory of the Sun, another glory of the Moon, and another glory of the Stars; for one star differs from another star in glory.  So also is The Resurrection of The Dead.  The Body is sown in corruption (Natural/Earthly Body), It is Raised in Incorruption (Spiritual Body).  It is sown in dishonor (Natural/Earthly Body), It is Raised in Glory (Spiritual Body).  It is sown in weakness (Natural/Earthly Body), It is Raised in Power (Spiritual Body).  It is sown a Natural Body, It is Raised a Spiritual Body.  There is a Natural Body, and there is a Spiritual Body.  And so it is written, “The First Man, Adam, became a Living Being.”  The last Adam, became a Life-Giving Spirit.  However, The Spiritual is NOT first, but The Natural, and afterward The Spiritual.  The First Man was of the Earth, made of dust; The Second Man, is The Lord from Heaven.  As was the man of dust, so also are those, who are made of dust; and as is The Heavenly Man, so also are those, who are Heavenly.  And as We have borne the image of the man of dust (Natural/Earthly Body), We shall also bear The Image of The Heavenly Man (Spiritual Body).

Now this I say, Brethren, that flesh and blood (Natural/Earthly Body) cannot Inherit The Kingdom of God; nor does corruption (Natural/Earthly Body) inherit Incorruption (Spiritual Body).  Behold, I tell YOU a Mystery: We shall NOT all sleep, but We shall all be Changed (Spiritual Body), in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at The Last Trumpet.  For The Trumpet will sound, and The Dead will be Raised Incorruptible (Spiritual Body), and We shall be Changed (Spiritual Body).  For this, corruptible (Natural/Earthly Body) must put on Incorruption (Spiritual Body), and this mortal (Natural/Earthly Body), must put on Immortality (Spiritual Body).  So, when this corruptible (Natural/Earthly Body), has put on Incorruption (Spiritual Body), and this mortal (Natural/Earthly Body), has put on Immortality (Spiritual Body), then shall be brought to pass, the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in Victory.”  “O Death, where is your sting?  O Hades, where is your victory?”  The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law.  But thanks be to God, Who gives Us, The Victory, through Our Lord Jesus Christ.  Therefore, My Beloved Brethren, be Steadfast, Immovable, always Abounding in The Work of The Lord, knowing that your labor is NOT in vain, in The Lord.

For We know, that if Our Earthly House (Natural/Earthly Body), this Tent (Natural/Earthly Body), is destroyed, We have a Building (Spiritual Body) from God, a House (Spiritual Body) NOT made with hands, Eternal in The Heavens.  For in this, We groan, earnestly desiring to be Clothed (Spiritual Body) with Our Habitation (Spiritual Body), which is from Heaven, if indeed, having been Clothed (Spiritual Body), We shall NOT be found naked.  For We, who are in this Tent (Natural/Earthly Body) groan, being burdened, NOT because We want to be unclothed, but further Clothed, that mortality (Natural/Earthly Body), may be swallowed up by Life (Spiritual Body).  Now He, Who has Prepared Us, for this very thing (Spiritual Body), is God, who also has given Us, The Spirit as a Guarantee.  So, We are always confident, knowing that while We are at home, in the body (Natural/Earthly Body), We are absent from The Lord.  For We walk by Faith, NOT by sight.  We are confident, yes, well pleased rather, to be absent from the body (Natural/Earthly Body), and to be Present (Spiritual Body) with The Lord.

But I do NOT want YOU to be ignorant, Brethren, concerning those who have Fallen Asleep (those who Sleep in Jesus), lest YOU sorrow, as others, who have no hope.  For if We Believe that Jesus died and Rose Again, even so, God will bring with Him (Jesus Christ), those who Sleep in Jesus.  For this, We say to YOU, by The Word of The Lord (Jesus Christ), that We who are alive and remain, until The Coming of The Lord (Jesus Christ), will by no means precede, those who are Asleep (those who Sleep in Jesus).  For The Lord (Jesus Christ) Himself will Descend from Heaven, with a Shout, with The Voice of an Archangel, and with The Trumpet of God.  And The Dead in Christ (those who Sleep in Jesus), will Rise first.  Then We, who are alive and remain, shall be Caught Up, Together with Them (those who Sleep in Jesus) in The Clouds, to meet The Lord (Jesus Christ) in the air.  And thus, We shall always be with The Lord (Jesus Christ).  Therefore, comfort one another with these words.