1 Corinthians 15:35-49 - Jesus: The Source of Our Work

We’re in part seven of our series, Work and Our Labor in the Lord. All along, we’ve been answering one question: Does my daily work really matter?

Over the last six weeks, we’ve seen that our work is meaningful because it images God, it’s marked by toil because of sin, we work from rest, Jesus dignifies all work, work is worship, and work is witness.

Today, in 1 Corinthians 15:35–49, we’ll see that Jesus is the Source of our work. As the risen Lord, He breathes His resurrection life into all we do…even our work.

Like some of the Corinthians in the early 50s AD, we often struggle to see lasting meaning in our daily labor. Because some of them doubted the resurrection, how could their work be anything more than dust?

Though we may not deny the resurrection as they did, we often live as though our work is dust—treating our jobs as temporary or letting their toil whisper, ‘What’s the point?’

Paul’s words to them are relevant to us because, like them, we need to know the point of our labor.

Today I want you to see what the Spirit showed me when I studied this passage: that Jesus is the risen, life-giving Spirit who gives His Spirit to us, so that everything we do to, for, and in Him is not made of dust but of gold—glorified, lasting, and marked with eternity.

So rather than viewing our labor of building, teaching, and cleaning as temporary, tiring, and terrible toil that fades into dust, we can know that in the Lord, our labor is touched by eternity. Nothing we do is wasted, because Jesus, the eternal One, works in and through us.

The opportunity before us today—and next week—is to know and trust that our work is not wasted but will last, as we see Jesus this week as the Source of our work, and next week as the One who makes it not in vain.

Let’s read 1 Corinthians 15:35–49 with anticipation.

1 Corinthians 15:35–49 ESV

But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?” You foolish person! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. And what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare kernel, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain. But God gives it a body as he has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body. For not all flesh is the same, but there is one kind for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish. 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. 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. So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. It is sown in dishonor; 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. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. 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. 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.

The first thing we see in this passage is that…

Jesus, the Risen Lord, became the Life-Giving Spirit

1. R. R. Tolkien once wrote a short story called Leaf by Niggle. It tells of a man who dreamed of painting a magnificent tree but because of life’s many distractions, finished only a single leaf. After death, he awakes to see the entire tree—his small, faithful work—now complete and alive in glory.

Many readers see in it a reflection of Christian hope, that no faithful work done under God’s hand is wasted. What seems small, a failure, and unfinished here will one day be revealed in full beauty because of Christ’s resurrection.

That’s Paul’s point in the crescendo of this chapter in verse 58: “Therefore…your labor in the Lord is not in vain.” But before we reach that “therefore,” next week, Paul wants us to see how God can make this true.

Look again with me at verse 42: “So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable.”

Paul uses the image of a seed to show us that what dies is not replaced but transformed. The seed that decays eventually becomes the plant that lives.

Then in verse 45 he shows us how this transformation happens: “Thus it is written, ‘The first man Adam became a living being’; the last Adam became a life-giving Spirit.”

Adam received life; Christ gives life. Adam inhaled the breath of God; Christ exhales the Spirit of God into His people, giving them life, as He did literally in John 20:19-23 to His apostles.

This doesn’t mean Jesus became the Holy Spirit; rather, in His resurrection He fully possesses the Spirit and, having been exalted by the Father and receiving from Him the authority to pour out the Spirit, He now breathes His resurrection life into us.

That’s why Paul calls Him the “life-giving Spirit.” The resurrected Christ breathes into us—animating our lives, and even our work—with His own imperishable life.

You understand the idea of animation, don’t you? Someone draws a picture…beautiful, but lifeless. When they animate it, suddenly it moves. It’s no longer static; it’s alive. That’s what Christ does to our life, and even our work…He gives it life, meaning, and purpose.

But let’s be honest, instead of working with the animation of Christ…

We work from our life

We see our work like a single picture…still and lifeless.

Because we work from our own dust-bound life, we don’t see how what we do connects to something, or better said, someone, greater and truly significant. Our work becomes a picture of one person—us—doing one thing—for ourselves—from our own life.

This is why Paul says in verse 47, ‘The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven.’ He’s drawing a vivid contrast between Adam and Jesus.

Though Adam was alive, he was made of dust—and so everything done in himself would perish with him. But the second man, Jesus, came from heaven, and because He is eternal, everything done in Him lives on forever.

That’s the struggle we face every day. We’re made from dust, and our work often turns to dust, so we see ourselves and our work as if it is dust and dust is all it will be.

Like a painter who paints a still image, we labor in ourselves, for ourselves, and by ourselves, painting a picture without animation. And so…

• We work for approval—striving to prove our work is worth something and won’t turn to dust. And when we’re criticized or overlooked, we feel crushed.
• We work for comfort—chasing relief from toil, longing for our work to last. And so we push ourselves to the breaking point just to reach an easier life.
• We work for recognition—hoping someone will notice that our work will outlast us when we are dust. And when they don’t, we grow bitter and dream of going somewhere “we’ll be appreciated.”

And though the world applauds when we do this sort of thing—or at least agrees with it—it still leaves us empty.

Why? Because work done from our own life—apart from Christ—is tied to what is temporary, fading, and dying: ourselves.

We might succeed for a moment, and what we do might even look alive, like a moving picture, when the dust settles, it’s still dust—earthy and dead.

That’s what it means to work in Adam, from our life: living as though the breath of God has never entered our lungs.

Let’s be honest, living like that is miserable. Life feels pointless. We become discouraged, disengaged, even desperate to feel alive—trying one thing after another to feel alive, whether through rebellion or self-reliance.

But the good news is…we don’t have to stay there…

Jesus Breathes Resurrection Life into Dust

Jesus, the One from heaven, didn’t just have life in Himself with the Father and the Spirit from all eternity—He is Life.

As John 1:4 says, “In Him was life, and that life was the light of men.”

Yet this Life willingly took on our dust-life and became death for us—so that we might not only escape eternal death but have His resurrection life breathed into us.

Look with me at verse 49: “Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.”

Isn’t that astounding? We bore the image of the man of dust—dead and lifeless, like a non-animated picture. What is it a picture of? A man without God and without hope in the world, lying lifeless in the dust.

And yet Jesus—the eternal God, who was not made of dust, fully and eternally alive—took dust-made humanity into Himself, becoming man, so that He might fill us with His Spirit and remake us after His own image. How?

• By living our life of toil.
• By bearing our weakness and dishonor on the cross.
• By dying and being buried in the earth with the dust, tasting death’s sting and the curse of the law, so that we would not have to.

Yet, on the third day, after lying in that grave, the dust did not consume Him…He rose from the dead.

And when He did, He brought our humanity into glory. How?

Through the Holy Spirit whom He has received from the Father without measure, He now breathes His resurrection life into us.

You see, the same Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in us, making Jesus and His life alive in us so that even our labor radiants with eternal life.

Because Jesus—the Life—is in us, we are fully alive. Our whole being shines with His light.

Because Jesus, the life-giving Spirit, lives in you, your work—your parenting, your designing, your teaching, your serving—is no longer simply dust or returning to the dust. It’s Spirit-breathed. It carries His eternal life in it because He is doing it through you.

And so, your hands, like the rest of you, now animated by His Spirit, have become instruments of resurrection.

And now, by Jesus’ Spirit in us…

We do all our work from Jesus’ life-giving breath

If Jesus truly breathes His life into us, then our whole way of working, our very way of being changes. It’s no longer a lifeless, still picture—it’s animated by Him and through Him.

The One who formed Adam from dust and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life has breathed again…this time into His new creation, the church, you and me!

When the risen Jesus appeared to His disciples, He said, “Peace be with you,” and then, “He breathed on them and said, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’” This was a foretaste for the apostles of what Jesus would do at Pentecost to all His people from that point on.

Pentecost was a new-creation outpouring—a new Genesis type moment. The second Adam was and continues to create a new humanity, men and women alive with the very breath of God.

So how does this affect me tomorrow at work?

You aren’t alone. The same Spirit who hovered over the waters of creation and raised Jesus from the dead is with you, hovering over your desk, your classroom, your kitchen, your project, your conversation.

And because of this, every act of faithfulness, every word spoken in love, every task done with integrity, is an act of Jesus’ resurrection, because the life-giving Spirit of Christ dwells in you.

What does Christ’s life in you look like?

Well, it might look like a gentle word when others are speaking harshly, or offering help when coworkers are only competing.

It might look like finishing a report with excellence even when no one notices, or caring for a child or an aging parent when you feel unseen and overwhelmed.

It might look like praying before you start your day, and throughout your day, simply saying, “Jesus, breathe through my work.”

These small, hidden acts are seeds of resurrection life which have eternal value.

So you can sweep the floor with joy, bear a heavy load with patience, endure criticism without despair, and risk failure without fear, because the breath of Christ is in you breathing out of you.

The Spirit may not remove the toil of your work, but He can fill the toil with life. He can turn the monotony and dread of Monday into a song of worship and let you see eternity shining from the dust.

If you don’t yet know Jesus, come to the One who is Life itself. He died for your lifelessness and rose to breathe His Spirit into you. All you must do is open your heart and receive Him.

And if you already belong to Him…breathe. He will keep breathing into you and through you. He will keep renewing. He will keep reviving.

You are no longer a still picture, you are a living image of the living Christ. So breathe deeply and work with joy.

Your work, done in Him and by His Spirit, is no longer just labor…it’s life.

Your work to, for, and in Him carries the oxygen of eternity. The risen Christ has made your dust His dwelling place for the glory of the Father through the Spirit.

This is the heartbeat of a biblical theology of work: The risen Christ, the life-giving Spirit, has already breathed new life into us.

But that’s not all. The seed that lives now will one day bloom in full.

Next week, we’ll see how this same resurrection life not only fills our labor with the life of Christ now, but triumphs over death itself, so that nothing done in the Lord is ever in vain….ever wasted

Until next Sunday, remember this: The Spirit of the risen Christ breathes through your work. Every act done to, for, and in Him carries the fragrance of eternity. So breathe deeply, and work with joy.