What Kind of Body Is Raised? Seed, Glory, and the Two Adams

Paul answers the objection “How are the dead raised up? and with what body do they come?” by using the image of seed. What is sown dies and God gives it a body suited to his purpose. Continuity and transformation belong together: the future body is truly the person God raises, yet it is not merely the present mortal condition restarted.

Paul contrasts corruption/incorruption, dishonor/glory, weakness/power, and a “natural” body with a “spiritual” body. “Spiritual” does not mean nonphysical; it describes a body animated and transformed by God’s Spirit. Paul then quotes Genesis 2:7—Adam became a living soul—and contrasts the first Adam with the “last Adam,” Christ, who is life-giving.