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New Testament Reading - The Resurrection of the Dead

³⁵But someone may ask, “How will the dead be brought back to life again? What kind of bodies will they have?” ³⁶What a foolish question! You will find the answer in your own garden! When you put a seed into the ground it doesn’t grow into a plant unless it “dies” first. ³⁷And when the green shoot comes up out of the seed, it is very different from the seed you first planted. For all you put into the ground is a dry little seed of wheat or whatever it is you are planting.

⁴²In the same way, our earthly bodies which die and decay are different from the bodies we shall have when we come back to life again, for they will never die. ⁴³The bodies we have now embarrass us, for they become sick and die; but they will be full of glory when we come back to life again. Yes, they are weak, dying bodies now, but when we live again they will be full of strength. ⁴⁴They are just human bodies at death, but when they come back to life they will be superhuman bodies. For just as there are natural, human bodies, there are also supernatural, spiritual bodies.

⁴⁵The Scriptures tell us that the first man, Adam, was given a natural, human body^a but Christ* is more* than that, for he was life-giving Spirit.

⁴⁶First, then, we have these human bodies, and later on God gives us spiritual, heavenly bodies. ⁴⁷Adam was made from the dust of the earth, but Christ came from heaven above. ⁴⁸Every human being has a body just like Adam’s, made of dust, but all who become Christ’s will have the same kind of body as his — a body from heaven. ⁴⁹Just as each of us now has a body like Adam’s, so we shall some day have a body like Christ’s.

1. Literally, “was made a living soul.” but Christ, literally, “the last Adam.” is more, implied.