³⁵ But someone may ask, “How will the dead be raised? What kind of bodies will they have?” ³⁶ What a foolish question! When you put a seed into the ground, it doesn’t grow into a plant unless it dies first. ³⁷ And what you put in the ground is not the plant that will grow, but only a bare seed of wheat or whatever you are planting. ³⁸ Then God gives it the new body he wants it to have. A different plant grows from each kind of seed. ³⁹ Similarly there are different kinds of flesh—one kind for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish.

⁴⁰ There are also bodies in the heavens and bodies on the earth. The glory of the heavenly bodies is different from the glory of the earthly bodies. ⁴¹ The sun has one kind of glory, while the moon and stars each have another kind. And even the stars differ from each other in their glory.

⁴² It is the same way with the resurrection of the dead. Our earthly bodies are planted in the ground when we die, but they will be raised to live forever. ⁴³ Our bodies are buried in brokenness, but they will be raised in glory. They are buried in weakness, but they will be raised in strength. ⁴⁴ They are buried as natural human bodies, but they will be raised as spiritual bodies. For just as there are natural bodies, there are also spiritual bodies.

⁴⁵ The Scriptures tell us, “The first man, Adam, became a living person.” But the last Adam—that is, Christ—is a life-giving Spirit. ⁴⁶ What comes first is the natural body, then the spiritual body comes later. ⁴⁷ Adam, the first man, was made from the dust of the earth, while Christ, the second man, came from heaven. ⁴⁸ Earthly people are like the earthly man, and heavenly people are like the heavenly man. ⁴⁹ Just as we are now like the earthly man, we will someday be like the heavenly man.

1 Corinthians 15:35-49

Dear God, I was at a funeral Friday, and the woman had been cremated. My in-laws were both cremated. My in-laws were Anglican. The funeral Friday was Catholic. It’s important in both traditions that, while cremation is seen as acceptable in your sight, the ashes must be kept together and not scattered. Frankly, this seems like a very small technicality to me since all that “ashes” are are literally ground up bones and everything else has gone into the air. But perhaps all you need is a rib.

The idea of an afterlife and what to expect is an interesting one. Some envision walking streets of gold, only worshipping all day, every day, and being liesurely. No sadness. No tears. No toil. No suffering. And some are afraid of this because it sounds like it will get old after a while. Just this, day after day with no end? Yuck.

Others think we will have jobs to do in the New Earth and that the New Earth will actually be here. Redeemed. Made perfect. After all, you gave Adam work to do, even before the fall. It seems we were created to work. Are there any of your creation who don’t work? I feel like even the angels are given jobs to do.

Personally, I have my theories, but I wouldn’t presume to type them here or send them out into the world because I believe that, at the end of the day, they don’t matter. We will all find out what life after death is like soon enough. I know what I’m hoping for, but I’m not letting myself get distracted by it. I want to focus on today and what you have for me now.

Father, I love you. I’m grateful for you. I worship you. I was in church this morning and really trying to focus on loving you. You are my God. Jesus, you are God and you did it all. Holy Spirit, you are God with me now. I give all of this day to you.

I pray all of this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen