“But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?”… God gives it a body as he has chosen.” 1 Cor. 15:35, 38a,
Thomas Stearns Eliot, an American-English poet, was perhaps best known for his work Four Quartets which is a series of four poems, published individually from 1936 to 1942. In these poems Eliot weaves the ever-present cycle of change in all that we see, but also the ideas of renewal and restoration, even to that of a “new heaven and a new earth” (Rev. 21:1). A famous line from this work is, “In my end is my beginning.”
The apostle Paul raises a hypothetical question that many grieving believers may well have asked concerning their loved ones: “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?” No detailed answer is provided, except to say that the plant yields a far greater glory than the seed! God can pack a 10 foot corn stalk inside a simple kernel. He can compress a majestic oak tree inside an acorn. The human body that is laid in the ground is but the seed. The imperishable body which the Lord raises from the grave, has a resplendent glory all its own! Although we do not know the details, we trust the Lord with the details of our eternal future, as well as with the details of our daily lives!
In considering these truths, Natalie Sleeth wrote the following hymn in 1985, which she eventually dedicated to her husband who passed away from cancer.
In the bulb there is a flower; in the seed, an apple tree;
In cocoons, a hidden promise: butterflies will soon be free! In the cold and snow of winter there’s a spring that waits to be, Unrevealed until its season, something God alone can see.
There’s a song in every silence, seeking word and melody; There’s a dawn in every darkness, bringing hope to you and me. From the past will come the future; what it holds, a mystery, Unrevealed until its season, something God alone can see.
In our end is our beginning; in our time, infinity; In our doubt there is believing; in our life, eternity, In our death, a resurrection; at the last, a victory,
Unrevealed until its season, something God alone can see. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thxogkC6KV4