DA I LY D E V O T I O N A L S T U D I E S IN THE N EW T E S T A M E N T FOR INDIVIDUAL MEDITATION AND FAMILY WORSHIP By R. A. TORREY ’ f '
forth as the sun” (Matt. 13:43) ; but each o f us with our own peculiar glory. It is wonderful. Wednesday, January 2 . 1 Cor. 15 : 42 - 44 . The burial o f the body is here compared to the sowing of the seed : a beautiful and significant figure. When we lay the bodies o f our loved ones in the earth we are only planting them in order that a more glorious harvest may spring therefrom (cf. John 12:24). The form that we plant may be exceeding fair, but the form that will grow therefrom will be fairer still. God will give it a body as it pleases Him (v. 38), and what pleases Him is perfect beauty. “It is sown in corruption” : this refers not merely to the fact that the body, now that it is dead, is to decay, but to the fact that our present body is all the time liable to decay, indeed, it is decaying every day (2 Cor. 4:16, R. V .; 5:2-4; Rom. 8 :2 3 ): but when it is raised it will be “raised in incorruption.” It Will be no ,longer liable to corruption, it will not- be subject to, decay, it will be absolutely “incorruptible.” As it is incorruptible it will not be subject to either sickness or pain, which are both a result.of decay o f tissue. It will have imperishable beauty: its glory will never fade. There will be no growing old. “ It is sown in dishonor” : our present body is a body o f humiliation (Phil. 3:21, R. V .), it is a hindrance oftentimes to our highest and holiest ambitions. W e do not honor it as we do the spirit that inhabits it. But it will be “ raised in glory.” The redeemed body will itself have a glory that is the counterpart to and expression of the glory o f the redeemed spirit that inhabits it (cf. Rom. 8:21-23, R. V .). The glory o f the resurrection body will be like the glory o f the resurrection body o f Christ—such was
Tuesday, January i. i Cor. 15 : 39 - 41 .
The new body which springs from the seed that is sown in the ground and dies, is different from the seed that was sown. New particles, richer in form and fullness, and yet recognizable as to what kind o f a seed it grew from, and preserving its identity and individuality, form the new Seed, or new body. So will it be with our resurrection bodies: they will be very dif ferent from, and immeasurably more glori ous than, the bodies which we now have, the bodies which are put in the grave (vs. 43 - 45 ), but their idenity and individuality will not be lost, and we will recognize our old friends in spite o f our glorious change. There are many distinct and distinguish able kinds o f flesh, yet they are all flesh (v. 39). So there are distinct kinds of bodies, yet they are all bodies. There are the" “terrestrial bodies,” that is, bodies belonging to the earth and the earthly life, and there are also “celestial bodies,” i. e., bodies belonging to the heavens and the heavenly life, which we shall have after the resurrection o f our bodies. Each body will have its own glory, but! the glory of one body will differ from the glory of another, and we shall see further on that the glory o f the celestial body- is immeas urably beyond the glory o f the terrestrial body (cf. Matt. 6 :28, 29; 1 Peter 1 :24). The fairest face and form that were ever seen on earth are nothing to what the faces and forms o f us all shall be in the resurrection (Matt. 22:30; 17:2; Phil. 3:21). Sun, moon and stars are all glori- dus, yet their glory is different from one another, yea, even one star differeth from another in glory. So will it be with u s: we all shall “ shine as the stars for ever and ever” (Dan. 12:3), yea, we shall “shine
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