Bulbs or Beauties

What are these? Right…flower bulbs! What kind of flowers?
Daffodils
Tulips
Iris?
If you are a master gardener, you might be able to tell from the bulb, but mostly we have to plant them to find out what kind of flower will grow and bloom. I’m not sure which will bloom, but I do know it will look beautiful.

The bulbs contain a lesson about our future body, as explained in I Corinthians 15. One version paraphrases it… 35-38Some skeptic is sure to ask, "Show me how resurrection works. Give me a diagram; draw me a picture. What does this 'resurrection body' look like?" If you look at this question closely, you realize how absurd it is. There are no diagrams for this kind of thing. We do have a parallel experience in gardening. You plant a "dead" seed; soon there is a flourishing plant. There is no visual likeness between seed and plant. You could never guess what a tomato would look like by looking at a tomato seed. What we plant in the soil and what grows out of it don't look anything alike. The dead body that we bury in the ground and the resurrection body that comes from it will be dramatically different.
39-41You will notice that the variety of bodies is stunning. Just as there are different kinds of seeds, there are different kinds of bodies—humans, animals, birds, fish—each unprecedented in its form. You get a hint at the diversity of resurrection glory by looking at the diversity of bodies not only on earth but in the skies—sun, moon, stars—all these varieties of beauty and brightness. And we're only looking at pre-resurrection "seeds"—who can imagine what the resurrection "plants" will be like!
42-44This image of planting a dead seed and raising a live plant is a mere sketch at best, but perhaps it will help in approaching the mystery of the resurrection body—but only if you keep in mind that when we're raised, we're raised for good, alive forever! The corpse that's planted is no beauty, but when it's raised, it's glorious. Put in the ground weak, it comes up powerful. The seed sown is natural; the seed grown is supernatural—same seed, same body, but what a difference from when it goes down in physical mortality to when it is raised up in spiritual immortality! (MB)

We don’t actually know now what our body will look like in heaven when God raises us. However, we do know it will be something like the tulip. Like the Tulips in Skagit Valley, there is something that has grown inside the Tulip bulb that will produce a beautiful bloom. The earthly body is like the bulb. What we are doing in this body, before we die, determines what kind of flower we will be forever…for what goes on inside of us will come out in our heavenly body…developing in kindness, patience, goodness, peace, joy, thankful spirit…it will show up forever. Most of the time now we can’t tell character by our physical appearance. But we will in eternity because our heavenly body will be a perfect container for the character we are developing this side of eternity. That’s the whole idea of resurrection…what we do now, what kind of “seed” we are becoming, will determine what kind of bloom we will be forever.
So, are you a bulb or a beauty? Only eternity will tell!