コリントの信徒への手紙一15:45-49 1 Corinthians 15:45-49,

最初に霊の体があったのではありません。自然の命の体があり、次いで霊の体があるのです。最初の人は土ででき、地に属する者であり、第二の人は天に属する者です。

（一コリント15:46-47）

これは、人類の先祖アダムは「自然の命の体」をもっており、「土ででき」ており、「地に属する者」であるということです。それに対して、人類の救い主キリストは「霊の体」をもっており、「天に属する者」であるということです。人類の先祖アダムは命の源である神様に背いたために、神様との正しい交わりを失って「塵にすぎないお前は塵に返る」（創世3:19）という厳しい裁きを宣告されました。「自然の命の体」しかもたない人間は、自然の命が死んで終われば「塵に返る」しかないはかない存在であるということです。ところが、人類の救い主キリストは十字架上で死んだにもかかわらず、「塵に返る」ことなく「霊の体」に復活して、永遠に生きるものとなったのでした。

パウロはこのアダムとキリストの対比をさらに推し進めて、アダムの子孫として「塵に返る」者たちと、キリストに結ばれてキリストと同じように「霊の体」に復活する者たちとを対比しています。すなわち、48節と49節には「土からできた者たちはすべて、土からできたその人に等しく、天に属する者たちはすべて、天に属するその人に等しいのです。わたしたちは、土からできたその人の似姿となっているように、天に属するその人の似姿にもなるのです」とあります。ここで、パウロは「土からできた者たち」「天に属する者たち」というように、「者たち」という複数の言葉を使っています。つまり、全人類は「土からできた」アダムに等しい「土からできた者たち」であって、死んで土に返るしかない者たちだということです。ところが、「天に属する」キリストと信仰によって結ばれたならば、土に返るしかない者たちが「天に属する者たち」となって、復活の「霊の体」をいただけるということです。そして、私たち人類は「土からできた」アダムと同じような「似姿」になったように、「天に属する」キリストと信仰によって結ばれることによって、将来、キリストと同じような「似姿」にもなることができるだろうということです。それは、キリストと同じような「霊の体」をもって復活するであろうということです。　　　　　　　　（5月12日の説教より）

In the history of this world in which we live, various disasters occur repeatedly. And when disasters occur and the world changes, what comes to our mind is the sense of impermanence that the state of this world is passing away. A well-known classic of Japanese literature depicting this sense of impermanence is the essay Hojo-ki (A Description of My Hut), written by KAMO no Chomei at the beginning of the Kamakura period (1185-1333). KAMO no Chomei was born into a family of priests at Shimogamo Shrine in Kyoto, but after experiencing various hardships in his life, he became a monk and lived in a small hut. The hut was called Hojo because it was about 10 feet square. The essays he wrote there were named Hojo-ki. The Hojo-ki is well known for the following beginning.

The water incessantly changes as the stream glides calmly on; the spray that hangs over a cataract appears for a moment only to vanish away. Such is the fate of mankind on this earth and of the houses in which they dwell. (Translated by J. M. Dixon in 1892.)

In easy words, this would mean: “The river flows on and on, but the water is not the water it was before. The bubbles on the surface of stagnant water disappear and arise, never remaining in their original form for long. The same is true of people and dwellings in the world.” In the capital of Kyoto during the period of KAMO no Chomei, various disasters occurred, including large-scale fires, tornadoes, famines and major earthquakes. Moreover, it was a time of great change, when the Heike clan was defeated and destroyed in battle and the shogunate was opened in Kamakura by the Minamoto clan. I think it is understandable that KAMO no Chomei strongly felt the impermanence of this world. And those of us living in the 21st century also feel that the world is undergoing great changes. We are being reminded once again of the weakness and fragility of human beings. Therefore, now is the time to rethink what it means to be human again, based on the Bible.

In the Corinthian church in New Testament times, there were believers who denied the resurrection of the dead. They thought that they had already been transferred to a new world beyond this world by having received God’s Holy Spirit. And they thought they were transcended from this world, spiritually fulfilled and rich. Not only that, but they argued that as they were already spiritually fulfilled, there was no need for a bodily resurrection on the Last Day. Moreover, it also resulted in a denial that Christ had actually risen. Such false confidence was certainly a reason for denying the resurrection of the dead, but it must also have been a reason that the resurrection of the dead was an impossibility in human experience.

So Paul anticipates the question of the believers who deny the resurrection by writing in verse 35: “But someone will ask, ‘How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?’” Then, in verses 36-41, he explains the diversity of bodies by using the metaphor of the bodies of seeds and plants, the bodies of living creatures and the glories of the heavenly bodies. Then, in verses 42 and 43, he describes how the body sown on earth as “perishable,” “in dishonor” and “in weakness” will be resurrected as “imperishable,” “in glory” and “in power.” Furthermore, in verse 44 he concludes: “It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.”

Today’s Scripture passage is a further elaboration of the “natural body” and the “spiritual body” based on the Old Testament. First, in verse 45: “Thus it is written, ‘The first man Adam became a living being’; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.” “The first man Adam became a living being” is a quote from the Old Testament, Genesis 2:7. This may come as a surprise to some. If you look at Genesis 2:7, you will see as follows. “Then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.” Paul is quoting the end of Genesis 2:7. Some may think that the words are different from a quotation. One reason for this is that Paul is quoting from the Greek version of the Old Testament. In New Testament times, the Old Testament, known as the “Septuagint,” which was translated from Hebrew into Greek in the third century BC, was widely read. Another reason is that Paul quotes it, adding the words. The words “first” and “Adam” in the sentence “The first man Adam became a living being,” are not found in the Greek version of the Old Testament, so it is likely that Paul added these words when quoting it.

I mention these details because I want you to understand Paul’s intention in this passage. In this passage Paul is trying to convey how important the resurrection of Christ is for the salvation of mankind by contrasting the “first man Adam,” the ancestor of mankind, with Christ, the Saviour of mankind and “the last Adam.” In other words, Adam, the ancestor of mankind, was created from the dust of the ground and “became a living being,” while Christ, “the last Adam,” resurrected with a body of eternal life and “became a life-giving spirit.” Christ may be called “the last Adam” because he was the true man who was ultimately sent to save mankind.

The words “became a life-giving spirit” have a very important meaning. It means that Adam, the ancestor of mankind, only “became a living being,” while Christ, the Saviour of mankind, not only had life himself, but also became “life-giving” to others. Adam disobeyed God and lost right fellowship with God, the source of life, and not only became mortal himself, but also made his descendants, the entire human beings, mortal. However, after Christ died on the cross for the sins of human beings, he was resurrected in the body of “a life-giving spirit.” In other words, the resurrected body of Christ is “a spiritual body” and one that can “give life” to others.

This contrast between Adam and Christ is repeatedly taught by Paul to the believers of the Corinthian church in the verses 46 and 47 as follows. “But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual. The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven.” This means that mankind’s ancestor Adam had the “natural” body, and was “from the earth, a man of dust.” In contrast, Christ, the Saviour of mankind, has the “spiritual” body and “is from heaven.” Adam, mankind’s ancestor, disobeyed God, the source of life, and lost right fellowship with God and was condemned to severe judgment: “for you are dust, and to dust you shall return” (Gen. 3:19). Man, who has only the “natural body,” is a fragile being who “shall return to dust” when natural life ends in death. However, Christ, the Saviour of mankind, died on the cross, did not “return to dust,” but was resurrected in the “spiritual body” and became eternally alive.

Paul takes this contrast between Adam and Christ further, contrasting those who “return to dust” as descendants of Adam with those who are united to Christ and resurrected in “a spiritual body” like Christ. verses 48 and 49 state as follows.

As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.

Here, Paul uses the plural words, as in “those who are of the dust” and “those who are of heaven.” This means that all human beings are “of the dust,” equal to Adam, who was “the man of dust” and who can only die and return to the dust. However, if we are united by faith to Christ, who “is the man of heaven,” then those who can only “return to the dust” become “those who are of heaven” and receive the “spiritual body” of the resurrection. And just as we, human beings, “have borne the image of Adam,” who was “of the dust,” so, by being united by faith to Christ, who is “the man of heaven,” we “shall also bear the image” of Christ in the future. This means that we will be resurrected with the “spiritual body” like Christ.

It was only in the past, at the beginning of human history, that all human beings became like Adam, who had to return to the dust. But it is in the future, on the Last Day of the world’s history, that those who are united to Christ by faith will be resurrected with the “spiritual body” like Christ. This is not clearly expressed in the Japanese Bible, but the original Greek text uses two different tenses, one for the past and one for the future in verse 49. Thus, Paul is contrasting Adam with Christ, emphasising that human beings, which have become like Adam, made of the dust, will be resurrected in the future with the “spiritual body” like Christ, if they are united with Christ. This must surely have been what Paul wanted to convey to the Corinthian Church’s resurrection-denying believers.

As I mentioned earlier, the Corinthian believers who denied the resurrection of the dead thought that they had received God’s Holy Spirit and had already been transferred to a new world beyond this world. They thought that they were transcended from this world and that they were spiritually fulfilled and rich. Not only that, but they also argued that as they were already spiritually fulfilled, there was no need for a bodily resurrection on the Last Day. Paul, on the other hand, was trying to warn them, “If there is no bodily resurrection, then you are dead and will return to the dust!” In other words, he was trying to warn them, “You are not already transcended from the world, but you are still dead and have no choice but to return to the dust. So let us believe in the resurrection of Christ, and believe that on the Last Day you will be resurrected in the ‘spiritual body’ just like Christ!”

At the beginning of my sermon today, I introduced a Japanese classic and spoke about the impermanence and the changing state of the human world. Some of you may wonder why a Japanese classic is mentioned in a sermon from the Bible. However, impermanence is also at the root of the Bible’s teachings. One such example is the verse quoted earlier in Genesis 3:19: “For you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” The apostle Peter also quotes the Old Testament book of Isaiah as follows.

All flesh is like grass

and all its glory like the flower of grass.

The grass withers,

and the flower falls,

but the word of the Lord remains forever.” (1 Peter 1:24-25).

 

This is another really clear passage about the impermanence of the human world. We are reminded by these biblical words that man is but of the dust of the earth. We are reminded once again that man is but dust of the earth, and grass of the field. But the Bible’s teaching does not end there. The words of Isaiah, which Peter quotes, continue, “But the word of the Lord remains forever.” The words proclaiming the cross and resurrection of Christ are forever unchanging, promising those who accept them and believe in them that there will be resurrection beyond death.

Today, some people may assume that human beings have become god-like beings, powered by nuclear energy, able to manipulate life through genetic engineering, and able to know many things through information technology. However, this is not the case. We human beings are nothing more than the dust, and we are as fragile as grass. I would like to remind you of these. I would like to humbly accept the impermanence of the human world and believe in the Gospel of Christ, who promises us spiritual bodies of eternal life.