We look for the resurrection of the dead, and life everlasting

I've been studying Pauline literature recently and found 1 Corinthians particularly meditative for me over the past month or so. Paul not only tries to describe for us the difference between resurrected bodies and our current natural ones, but he informs us that the change will happen at a designated time. Chapter 15 of the letter answered at least two questions:

1. Is the resurrection of the dead for real? 
2. What's it going to be like? 

I really enjoyed 1 Co 15:35-54. Paul had just finished explaining the significance of Christ's resurrection from the dead with regard to our own resurrection (15:12-34). The first half of the passage (15:35-49) explains the difference between our current mortal, corruptible bodies and the resurrected body. Paul tells us that what we sow is not the body to be, but a kernel of another kind. He also tells us there is an order to the resurrection - first earthly, then heavenly; first death, then life again. I've highlighted the terms and phrases that stood out most for me (I'm using the NAB translation). 

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35  But someone may say, "How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come back?"

36  You fool! What you sow is not brought to life unless it dies.

37  And what you sow is
         not the body that is to be
            but a bare kernel of wheat, perhaps, or of some other kind;

38  but God gives it a body as he chooses,
         and to each of the seeds its own body.

39  Not all flesh is the same,
         but there is one kind for human beings,
         another kind of flesh for animals,
         another kind of flesh for birds,
         and another for fish.

40  There are both heavenly bodies and earthly bodies,
         but the brightness of the heavenly is one kind
            and that of the earthly another.

41     The brightness of the sun is one kind,
            the brightness of the moon another,
            and the brightness of the stars another.
      For star differs from star in brightness.

42  So also is the resurrection of the dead. 
         It is sown corruptible; it is raised incorruptible.

43     It is sown dishonorable; it is raised glorious.
         It is sown weak; it is raised powerful.

44     It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body.
         If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual one.

45  So, too, it is written,
         "The first man, Adam, became a living being,"
           the last Adam a life-giving spirit.

46  But the spiritual was not first; 
         rather the natural and then the spiritual.

47  The first man was from the earth, earthly;
         the second man, from heaven.

48  As was the earthly one, so also are the earthly,
      and as is the heavenly one, so also are the heavenly.

49  Just as we have borne the image of the earthly one, 
         we shall also bear the image of the heavenly one.

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He doesn't stop there, though. Paul then throws us for a loop to remind us that the resurrection is also a mystery. Not all of us will die, he says, but all of us will be changed. We don't know much about the change except that which is corruptible must clothe itself with incorruptibility and that which is mortal must clothe itself with immortality. The term ενδυω (put on, clothe oneself) appears throughout the Pauline literature in reference to one concept: the things of God. We put on Christ, our new selves, the armor of light, the breastplate of faith and love, and so on. In the same vein, Paul tells us what is corruptible and mortal (in other words, our broken and sinful nature) must clothe itself with incorruptibility and immortality (those attributes that belong to God). We also know that the change will happen at a specified time: at the last trumpet.  He provides us with the ultimate answer to our fears about death's power over our existence: death will be defeated. Quite an event to hope for, yes?  May you glimpse God in your everyday life, and especially in Scripture.

1 Co 15:50-54
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50  This I declare, brothers:
      flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God,
         nor does corruption inherit incorruption.
51  Behold, I tell you a mystery. 

      We shall not all fall asleep, 
         but we will all be changed,

52       in an instant, in the blink of an eye,
           at the last trumpet. 
           For the trumpet will sound,
       the dead will be raised incorruptible, 
         and we shall be changed.

53  For that which is corruptible must clothe itself with incorruptibility,
      and that which is mortal must clothe itself with immortality.

54     And when this which is corruptible clothes itself with incorruptibility
         and this which is mortal clothes itself with immortality,
             then the word that is written shall come about:
     "Death is swallowed up in victory."
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