No.11. “We must all be changed”
From Earthly to Heavenly and
from glory to glory.
We now pass on to the consideration of three connected references that, taken together, give light upon the ways, means and end in connection with the ‘image’ and ‘the goal of God’. “We must all be changed.”
(1) The Change. Earthly and Heavenly Image (I Cor. xv. 49).
(2) The Change. From glory to glory (II Cor. iii. 18; iv. 4).
(3) The Change. Conformed to the Image of His Son (Rom. viii. 29).
Before we can understand any particular passage, something more has to be done than merely collecting words even though they may be key words. The doctrine is decided by the scope of the passage and the scope is exhibited by the structure. In the case of I Cor. xv., the most casual reader would agree that the one great theme of the chapter is “Resurrection”. This is made very evident by the structure.
I Corinthians xv.
A1 | 1-11. Resurrection. EVIDENCE and EVANGEL.
A2 | 12-34. Resurrection. The FACT. “How?”
A3 | 35-58. Resurrection. The MANNER. “How?”
It is impossible to cover all the ground indicated by this structure, and so we must pass over the first member A1 | 1-11 and give our attention to the two sections dealing with the fact and the manner of resurrection.
I Corinthians xv. 12 - 58.
A | 12. FACT. “How?”
B | 13-33. ADAM. Death destroyed by CHRIST.
C | 34. Practical exhortation. “AWAKE.”
A | 35. MANNER. “How?”
B | 36-57. FIRST and SECOND MAN. Death swallowed up.
C | 58. Practical exhortation. “BE STEDFAST.”
The reference to the ‘image’ is found in verse 49, and is in the section which raises the question “How are the dead raised up, and with what body do they come?” The reference to the image in verse 49 is a part of a larger section which constitutes the Apostle’s answer to this great problem.
“And as we have borne the image of the earthly, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly” (I Cor. xv. 49).
We can range practically I Cor. xv. 35-57 under the two headings “earthly image” and “heavenly image”.
“That which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be . . . . . but God giveth it a body as it hath pleased Him.”
That which is sown is ‘the earthly’, that body which ‘shall be’ is ‘the heavenly’.
When Paul goes on to say “To every seed its own body” and to differentiate between the flesh of men, beasts, fishes and birds, and the difference between ‘bodies celestial’ and bodies terrestrial’, he still thinks of the ‘earthly’ and the ‘heavenly’ image. So also in verse 42, the contrasts indicated there are but the differences between the ‘earthly’ and the ‘heavenly’.
“It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption:
It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory:
It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power:
It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body” (I Cor. xv. 42-44).
“The first man Adam was made a living soul;
the last Adam was made a quickening spirit” (I Cor. xv. 45).
The earthly image is that which is ‘natural’ and which comes first, the heavenly image is that which is ‘spiritual’. We, who have borne the image of the earthly, with its corruption, its dishonour and its weakness. (O the glory of it), shall bear the image of the heavenly with its incorruption, its glory and its power. We shall exchange the ‘natural body’ for the ‘spiritual body’; we shall be changed into the likeness of the ‘last Adam’ and of ‘the second Man’ the Lord from heaven.
“We shall all be changed” (I Cor. xv. 51).
Here is the first step towards the goal of God. We now turn to the references in II Cor. iii. and iv. to learn something of the atmosphere in which this change will be made. Here again ‘change’ meets us, for II Cor. iii. 18 contain the words:
“We all . . . . . beholding . . . . . are changed into the same image.”
The theme we are considering is the goal of God, seen in relation to the idea of the “Image” commencing with Creation (Gen. i. 26) and ending with satisfaction (Psa. xvii. 15); commencing with predestination (Rom. viii. 29) and ending with transfiguration (II Cor. iii. 18).
“That was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual” (I Cor. xv. 46).
According to I John iii., this ‘change’ is associated with seeing Him:
“It does not yet appear what we shall be; but we know that when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; FOR WE SHALL SEE HIM AS HE IS” (I John iii. 2).
In like manner, the passage before us (II Cor. iii. 18; iv. 6) is most intimately connected with ‘beholding with unveiled face’, and ‘the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ’.
The change is ‘into the same image’ and ‘from glory to glory’. This latter phrase emphasizes the fact that this change operates in grace and not in law. There are two kinds of ‘glory’ in the context. The fading glory of the law, as exemplified by the face of Moses, and the lasting glory of grace as seen in the face of Jesus Christ.
In II Cor. iii. and iv. the Apostle is comparing the two covenants, and does so by a series of striking contrasts, culminating in the passing glory associated with the face of Moses, as contrasted with the abiding and transfiguring glory that pertains to the face of Jesus Christ. In order that these contrasts may be the better appreciated we set out some of them in two columns, thus:
The A.V. has somewhat ‘veiled’ the truth by translating in verse 18 ‘open face’ instead of ‘unveiled face’ and ‘hid’ in iv. 3 instead of ‘veiled’. The transfiguration of this passage is ‘from glory to glory’, that is from the glory of the law which was done away, to the glory of the new covenant which excelleth. What is here seen in the change from law to grace, is but a shadow of that change which will be accomplished when the Saviour:
“shall change the body of our humiliation that it may be fashioned like unto the body of His glory” (Phil. iii. 21).
In the context of II Cor. iii. 18, we meet with the passage that says:
“Where the spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty” (17).
Moreover, we learn from Heb. iii. that Moses was a ‘servant’ but that Christ was a ‘Son’. These words ‘spirit’, ‘son’, ‘liberty’, are key words of Rom. viii., the next passage to which we must turn.
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