Book of Common Prayer

⁴¹ There is one kind of glory for the sun, another for the moon, and another for the stars, since the stars themselves vary, with different degrees of glory.

⁴² That’s what it’s like with the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown decaying, and raised undecaying. ⁴³ It is sown in shame, and raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, and raised in power. ⁴⁴ It is sown as the embodiment of ordinary nature, and raised as the embodiment of the spirit. If ordinary nature has its embodiment, then the spirit too has its embodiment. ⁴⁵ That’s what it means when the Bible says, “The first man, Adam, became a living natural being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.

⁴⁶ But you don’t get the spirit-animated body first; you get the nature-animated one, and you get the spirit-animated one later. ⁴⁷ The first man is from the ground, and is made of earth; the second man is from heaven. ⁴⁸ Earthly people are like the man of earth; heavenly people are like the man from heaven. ⁴⁹ We have borne the image of the man made of earth; we shall also bear the image of the man from heaven.

The mystery and the victory

⁵⁰ This is what I’m saying, my dear family. Flesh and blood can’t inherit God’s kingdom; decay can’t inherit undecaying life.

Jesus’ invitation

²⁵ At that time Jesus turned to God with this prayer: “I give you my praise, Father, Lord of heaven and earth! You hid these things from the wise and intelligent and revealed them to children! ²⁶ Yes, Father, that’s the way you decided to do it! ²⁷ My father gave me everything: nobody knows the son except the father, and nobody knows the father except the son—and anyone the son wants to reveal him to.

²⁸ “Are you having a real struggle? Come to me! Are you carrying a big load on your back? Come to me—I’ll give you a rest! ²⁹ Pick up my yoke and put it on; take lessons from me! My heart is gentle, not arrogant. You’ll find the rest you deeply need. ³⁰ My yoke is easy to wear, my load is easy to bear.”