In that chapter, Paul uses the image of a seed becoming a plant. A wheat kernel begins small, buried in the ground, but it rises into something that feeds life and produces many more seeds. It is the same in kind, yet far more glorious in form. So it will be with us. What is sown in weakness will be raised in power. What is sown perishable will be raised imperishable (cf. 1 Corinthians 15:42–44). This world is broken. Our bodies are broken. Our minds are broken. Sin has touched everything—our hearts and our neighbors alike.

The dream of most 16-year-olds in America is the chance to hit the open road in a car that’s new—at least to them. It’s the freedom to go where you want and the joy of getting yourself there.

Imagine this.

Your 16-year-old gets his license that morning, and you come home that evening for a small family celebration. You hand him a tiny box. He unwraps it and, in jubilation, pulls out a set of keys on a keychain. He embraces you and shouts, “Thank you, thank you so much! I love you. I’ve always wanted a set of keys to play with.”

Confused, you slowly pull away from the embrace.

“Son, those go with the car outside.”

“That’s cool,” he says, disinterested, as he runs up to his room and hangs them on a hook. “I’ve always dreamed of having these keys here with me. Thanks again, Dad.”

At that point, you’d probably reconsider the car—and wonder whether your son has lost his sanity.

As ridiculous as this sounds, many of us have done something similar with the promises of God. We have longed for the keys—and even their place on a hook—when the real prize is the car.

The Scriptures tell us that we have eternal life even now, and that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord (cf. 2 Corinthians 5:8). These truths are beautiful and absolutely true. But they are, in a sense, the space between receiving the keys at the party and actually driving the car.

The Bible is clear that our hope is not to remain disembodied forever, but to await something greater: the redemption of our bodies (cf. Romans 8:23), the return of Christ, and the resurrection of the dead (cf. 1 Thessalonians 4:16–17).

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