What does "what you sow does not come to life" teach us? A Seed Illustration Packed with Resurrection Truth • Paul confronts skepticism about the resurrection by pointing to something every farmer knows: seed must be buried before it sprouts. • 1 Corinthians 15:36–37 – “You fool! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. And what you sow is not the body that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or something else.” • The everyday act of planting becomes a living parable: death precedes life; the present form vanishes so a richer form can emerge. Death Is the Necessary Doorway • No seed “comes to life” while clinging to its original state. Burial in the soil is essential. • For believers, physical death functions the same way: it is not an end but a passage to resurrection life. • Romans 6:4 – “Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead… we too may walk in newness of life.” • Our union with Christ guarantees that what was sown in weakness will rise in power. Continuity and Transformation • 1 Corinthians 15:38 – “But God gives it a body as He has designed, and to each kind of seed its own body.” • Continuity: the seed and the plant share identity; the same is true of our bodies now and then. • Transformation: the sprouted plant is vastly superior in glory and usefulness; our resurrection bodies will be “imperishable… glorious… powerful… spiritual” (vv. 42-44). • 2 Corinthians 5:1 – earthly tents replaced by eternal dwellings. A Pattern Jesus Claimed for Himself • John 12:24 – “Unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a seed; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” • Christ is the firstfruits (1 Corinthians 15:20); His bodily resurrection proves the principle and secures ours. Certainty and Details of Our Future Bodies • Philippians 3:20-21 – the Lord “will transform our lowly bodies to be like His glorious body.” • 1 Thessalonians 4:14-17 – the dead in Christ rise first; we who are alive are caught up together with them. • 1 Corinthians 15:51-52 – “We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed… the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.” • God Himself “gives” the new body; resurrection is His creative act, not human effort. Everyday Encouragement from the Sowing Principle • Hope conquers fear of death; the grave is a planting, not a wasting. • Suffering now is temporary, producing “an eternal weight of glory” (2 Corinthians 4:17). • Motivation for holiness—what we do in the body matters because the body itself has an eternal future (1 Corinthians 6:13-20). • Steadfastness in ministry—“your labor in the Lord is not in vain” (1 Corinthians 15:58) since resurrection crowns faithful service. Summary: What “What You Sow Does Not Come to Life” Teaches Us • Death precedes life; burial is the prelude to resurrection. • God guarantees both continuity and radical transformation. • Jesus embodies the pattern; His empty tomb secures ours. • The principle fuels hope, holiness, and perseverance until the day every planted saint springs up in resurrection glory. |
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