I Think That I Shall Never See a Seed as Lovely as a Tree

Yes, I'm stealing badly from an old poem, but I think this fits the point the
Apostle Paul is making in 1 Corinthians chapter 15.

Paul was directing this passage of his letter to those Corinthians who
believed that there was no life after death. They did not believe in
eternal souls, they believed and taught that this life is the only reality that
people should be concerned with. Paul was trying to show this audience that
true reality is much, much more expansive than what is presently experienced on
earth. In this message, which is Christ's message, Paul was making it
clear that the Corinthians intellectual icons were just flat wrong.

Starting in verse 20 of this chapter Paul tells how someone can KNOW that
there is life after this one.

"But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those
who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the
resurrection of the dead also comes through a man. For just as in
Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. But, each
in his own order..."

Of course the life that we have because of Christ is contingent on how we view Him. Do we love him as our Savior, recognizing our desperate need to have our curse of death removed? If yes, then we will have the kind of LIFE after this one that Paul goes on to describe. If we don't think we need a Savior, or if we aren't sure about the Jesus thing, then the curse remains - death is our only future...but it will be a living death. Either way we will be changed into something different than what we are now.

All we know is what we know. OK, that sounds impossibly redundant, but the truth
is that our experiences in this life are all we know. But God, speaking through Paul lets us know what is beyond this world. God lets us see glimpses of life after death. In verses 35 - 46 we see
this:

"But now someone will say, 'How are the dead raised? What kind of body will
they have when they come?' Foolish one! What you sow does not come to life
unless it dies. And as for what you sow--you are not sowing the future
body, but only a seed, perhaps of wheat or another grain. But God gives it
a body as He wants, and to each of the seeds its own body. Not all flesh
is the same flesh; there is one flesh for humans, another for animals,
another for birds, and another for fish. There are heavenly bodies and
earthly bodies, but the splendor of the heavenly bodies is different from
that of the earthly ones. There is a splendor of the sun, another of the
moon, and another of the stars; for star differs from star in splendor. So it is with
the resurrection of the dead:

Sown in corruption, raised in incorruption; sown in
dishonor, raised in glory; sown
in weakness, raised in power; sown a natural
body, raised a spiritual body.

If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. 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; then the spiritual."

Wow, so right now, you and I are only seeds! All the awareness, abilities, or power that we think we may have in this life still add up to us just being seeds of what we will become. What will
that be?? How different will we be in the next life from what we are now? Think of how different a tomato seed is from a tomato plant; a sunflower seed from sunflower plant; or an acorn from an oak tree??

For someone who truly believes in Christ in that personal, thankful-for-forgiveness and want-to-follow-Him, sort of way, this passage of scripture ought to make you marvel. We are only seeds of what we will become. When our seed, the physical body, dies our true self will emerge. The seed is only a promise of the living, fruit producing plant to come. In the same way we are only a promise of the eternally living, God-glorifying person we will become.

Doesn't that grab you? Do you find this amazing? If we really do it ought to change everything we think about our temporary "seed" life here. Or are we like the people Paul originally wrote this letter to? Oh, we may say "sure I believe in life after death", but do we really live like we believe it?

I wonder...if I woke up everyday as sure of my upcoming future transformation as I was say of a great vacation I was looking forward to, would my focus be different? Would I maybe not obsess so much about the same "seed-bound" things? Would I experience more joy? Would I be more excited about what God intended for me? Would I think about Him more?

Would I be more in love with Him for what is to come?