Resurrection is not an optional extra in the Christian story; it is the future God is actually preparing for His people. 

In this episode on 1 Corinthians 15:29–49, Krisan Marotta follows Paul as he exposes the contradictions of denying bodily resurrection and then answers a mocking question: How are the dead raised, and with what kind of body? Through vivid images of seeds, flesh, and heavenly glory, Paul insists that our perishable, natural bodies are destined to be raised imperishable and spiritual—fully transformed by the Spirit of God. 

In this week’s episode, we explore:

• How Paul uses puzzling practices like “baptism for the dead” and his own daily danger to show the absurdity of preaching, suffering, or ritual if there is no resurrection at all
• Why “If the dead are not raised, let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die” is not a clever slogan, but the logical outcome of a world without future resurrection
• Paul’s sharp warning that bad company corrupts good morals, and his call for the Corinthians to wake up, think clearly, and stop treating denial of resurrection as an acceptable Christian option
• The objection he hears—“How are the dead raised? With what kind of body?”—and why he calls it foolish, not because questions are wrong, but because this one is meant to ridicule the very idea of resurrection
• The seed analogy: how what is sown must die to become something both continuous with and different from what it was—showing that decay is no obstacle to God raising a new, glorified body
• The variety of bodies God has already made—human, animal, bird, fish, earthly and heavenly—and how their differing “glories” prepare us to expect a future body suited to resurrection life rather than mere repair of the old
• Paul’s four great contrasts: sown perishable, raised imperishable; sown in dishonor, raised in glory; sown in weakness, raised in power; sown a natural body, raised a spiritual body
• What Paul means by “natural” and “spiritual” bodies: not physical versus ghostly, but our present ordinary human life versus a body fully transformed and animated by the Spirit of God
• The two representative men—Adam, the man of dust, and Christ, the heavenly man—and the promise that just as we have borne Adam’s image, we will one day bear the image of the risen Christ
• How Paul’s teaching undercuts Corinthian claims to be already “super-spiritual” and instead sets an order: first our ordinary earthly life, then resurrection life in glory

After listening, you’ll come away with a clearer picture of what Paul actually claims about the resurrection body and why this hope matters for everyday life. You’ll be invited to see your present, fragile existence in light of the imperishable life to come, to recognize how your view of the future shapes your choices now, and to hold fast to the promise that those who belong to Christ will one day be raised to bear His image in glory.

Series: 1 Corinthians: Pride & Prejudice in the church

Start Strong: A New Believer’s Guide to Christianity is available now wherever books are sold.