1 Corinthians 15:42 (ESV)

42 So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable.

Paul comes back to his first analogy, that of the seed and its plant. He now applies this analogy directly to the questions of 1 Corinthians 15:35.

When a believer’s dead body is buried, it is as if a seed is sown into the ground. Building on this metaphor, Paul lists four differences between the buried body and the new, resurrected body. The first difference is that the old body is perishable, while the resurrected body will be imperishable.

On account of Adam’s sin, God has subjected creation to death and decay (Genesis 3:17–19; Romans 8:20). Even believers’ bodies are not spared from illness, pain, and death. But when Christ comes, creation will be delivered from its bondage (Romans 8:21). Our bodies will be raised imperishable, never again to experience destruction and death.