1 Corinthians 15
In this chapter, Paul quells the doubts of those who wonder whether we will really be raised from the dead.
1 Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand,
2 by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain.
It is possible to believe in vain. That is, you can lose your salvation.
You are saved if you hold fast to the word. If you don’t hold fast to what you’ve believed then you have believed in vain.
3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,
4 and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,
The gospel is not just that Christ died for our sins, but that Christ died for our sins, and was buried and was raised.
5 and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.
6 After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep;
7 then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles;
8 and last of all, as to one untimely born, He appeared to me also.
Jesus appeared to many after He had died and was raised. Some of them were alive even at the time that Paul wrote this letter. Paul points this out so that people would really believe that Jesus was raised from the dead.
9 For I am the least of the apostles, and not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.
10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain; but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me.
God could have called Paul before he persecuted the church. However, God allowed Paul to persecute the church before He called him so that he would forever be humbled and not exalt himself after receiving such a grand ministry.
It is also the reason why we are sometimes allowed to do really, really stupid things before we come to Christ.
When God gives us a ministry it is good for us to consider ourselves as the least of those who do the same ministry, and not even fit to be doing that ministry.
11 Whether then {it was} I or they, so we preach and so you believed.
12 Now if Christ is preached, that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?
13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised;
Now pay careful attention to the argument that Paul is making. Paul is saying that because Christ was raised therefore it is possible for man to be raised from the dead. If Christ was any more than a man like you and I while on earth then this argument would be invalid.
It seems to me that Paul didn’t believe that Jesus was 100% God while on earth. He believed that Jesus was 100% man. Paul believed that Jesus was still God in identity while on earth. But his position was that Jesus emptied Himself of everything divine to become man (Phil 2:5-6). Even the writer to the Hebrews says that Jesus was made like His brethren in all things (Heb 2:17) – that is, Jesus was 100% man while on earth. And clearly, to be 100% man and 100% God is a contradiction. For example, God cannot be tempted but Jesus was tempted just like us (Heb 4:15).
14 and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain.
If Christ was not raised then we are not even saved and it is useless to believe in Him for our salvation.
15 Moreover we are even found {to be} false witnesses of God, because we testified against God that He raised Christ, whom He did not raise, if in fact the dead are not raised.
16 For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised;
17 and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins.
Paul continues with the implications of there being no resurrection – he would then be saying false things about God.
Paul repeats his earlier argument that if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised.
Paul clearly states that the resurrection of Christ is critical to our salvation. Why is the resurrection so important for our salvation? After all it was the death of Christ, and not the resurrection, that was the payment for our sins. Have you ever wondered about that?
The resurrection was proof that Christ lived a sinless life. God had to raise Christ because He was sinless. If Christ had committed even one sin the God would have not raised Him up. And if Jesus sinned then He couldn’t have paid the price for our sins. That is why the resurrection is critical for our salvation.
18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.
19 If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied.
Paul endured trials for his faith because of the hope of the resurrection. That is, Paul was willing to sacrifice everything on the earth so that he would be resurrected in a body that cannot be tempted, and for the reward that God would give him for his faithfulness. All these things would happen after death and resurrection. And if there was no resurrection then there was nothing to hope for, and nothing worth dying for.
Resurrection and reward are powerful motivators that we need to use in our own life to endure the trials of this world. We should keep that ever before us and not forget the hope of the gospel (Col 1:5,23).
20 But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep.
21 For since by a man {came} death, by a man also {came} the resurrection of the dead.
22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.
Christ was the first person to be raised from the dead (and to never die again). In that sense He was the first fruits of those who died.
The ‘all’ in verse 22 refers to ‘all who sin’ and ‘all who believe’.
Both, death and resurrection, came from a single person – death from Adam, and resurrection from Christ.
23 But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ's at His coming,
24 then {comes} the end, when He hands over the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power.
25 For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet.
Christ will abolish all rule and authority and power when He returns.
26 The last enemy that will be abolished is death.
27 For HE HAS PUT ALL THINGS IN SUBJECTION UNDER HIS FEET. But when He says, "All things are put in subjection," it is evident that He is excepted who put all things in subjection to Him.
28 When all things are subjected to Him, then the Son Himself also will be subjected to the One who subjected all things to Him, so that God may be all in all.
The Father will subject all things to Christ. Then Christ will subject Himself to the Father.
29 Otherwise, what will those do who are baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why then are they baptized for them?
Even cults that existed at that time believed in the resurrection.
30 Why are we also in danger every hour?
31 I affirm, brethren, by the boasting in you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.
32 If from human motives I fought with wild beasts at Ephesus, what does it profit me? If the dead are not raised, LET US EAT AND DRINK, FOR TOMORROW WE DIE.
If there is no resurrection then we should enjoy ourselves thoroughly until we die.
33 Do not be deceived: "Bad company corrupts good morals."
34 Become sober-minded as you ought, and stop sinning; for some have no knowledge of God. I speak {this} to your shame.
If you don’t know the power of God then, like the Sadducees, you too will believe that there is no resurrection.
35 But someone will say, "How are the dead raised? And with what kind of body do they come?"
36 You fool! That which you sow does not come to life unless it dies;
37 and that which you sow, you do not sow the body which is to be, but a bare grain, perhaps of wheat or of something else.
38 But God gives it a body just as He wished, and to each of the seeds a body of its own.
39 All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one {flesh} of men, and another flesh of beasts, and another flesh of birds, and another of fish.
40 There are also heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is one, and the {glory} of the earthly is 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.
42 So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown a perishable {body,} it is raised an imperishable {body;}
43 it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power;
44 it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual {body.}
45 So also it is written, "The first MAN, Adam, BECAME A LIVING SOUL." The last Adam {became} a life-giving spirit.
46 However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural; then the spiritual.
47 The first man is from the earth, earthy; the second man is from heaven.
48 As is the earthy, so also are those who are earthy; and as is the heavenly, so also are those who are heavenly.
49 Just as we have borne the image of the earthy, we will also bear the image of the heavenly.
50 Now I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.
In the resurrection we will have a new body just like how a seed transforms into a tree. The new body will be glorious, powerful and imperishable (i.e. it will not be tempted to sin).
These heavenly bodies will be spiritual i.e. they will benefit our spirit.
The glory of each person’s body will be different, just like how the stars in the sky differ in brightness.
51 Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed,
52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.
At the last trumpet this change will happen.
The change will be instantaneous.
Those who are alive will be changed without dying, and those who are dead will be raised in the new body.
53 For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality.
54 But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, "DEATH IS SWALLOWED UP in victory.
55 "O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR VICTORY? O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR STING?"
56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law;
57 but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
The last enemy is death, and the resurrection will be the way we conquer death through Christ.
58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not {in} vain in the Lord.
What is the secret of being steadfast and immovable in our faith and being ready to do whatever God asks of us? The secret is to know that soon Jesus will be back and that we will receive our new bodies.
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