1 Corinthians 15:39-41: For not all flesh is the same, but there is one kind for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish. 40 There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is of one kind, and the glory of the earthly is of another. 41 There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory.
Paul uses another form of analogy for what the resurrected body will be like. The basic idea is that each body is unique. The body of humans, animals, birds, and fish are all different. There are some similarities between all life on earth. Paul may not have been a scientists as such, nor had the ancient world developed extensive scientific study of biological taxonomy with kingdoms, genus, species, and so forth. Simple observation can determine the difference between creatures. Paul extends the comparison to heavenly and earthly bodies, possibly referring to the stars and what is found on the earth. The sun and moon are different as are the stars. The use of the world “glory” in these verses recalls how God pronounced creation as “good.” All creation contains evidence of God’s glory. This glory is passed on in the uniqueness of each part of creation. Even the billions of stars are all unique. From Paul’s perspective, he may have seen how stars have different intensity of light. Creation is awesome because it was made by our awesome God. All of these thoughts prepare for the uniqueness of the new body that will result from our resurrection.
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