Lesson 32 – 1 Corinthians Chapter 15:15-33
Paul has been instructing us on the resurrection of Jesus. He’s given us facts along with the witness accounts, the details telling us that all the disciples saw Jesus, and also that over 500 people saw Jesus as well.
When we read and study the Scriptures about the resurrection of Christ, our faith can’t help but grow in these truths. But in our last message, we ended with Paul saying “if Christ has not been raised, then all our preaching is useless, and your faith is useless.” Without the resurrection of Christ there is nothing for us to believe in!
1 Cor. 15:15:
“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.”
The picture we get here is that Paul and all the apostles are nothing but a bunch of charlatans and deceivers… Paul refers to himself and the other apostles as false witnesses. For this to be true, it would have been a huge undertaking to make sure within a conspiracy that everyone was on the same page, and all telling the exact same lies.
In history past, there have been many conspiracies refuting the resurrection, but Paul and the apostles were in no way a part of that.
1 Cor. 15:16-17
“For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins.”
If Jesus is still dead all bets are off… everybody go home and burn your Bibles. If Jesus is dead, that means satan won the lottery, and all hope is lost because satan owns your soul.
Paul goes on…
1 Cor. 15:18-19:
“Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied.”
Those also who have fallen asleep in Christ… is a euphemism for death, and not “soul sleep.” “Soul sleep” is a belief that after a person dies, his or her soul “sleeps” until the resurrection and final judgment… this is not biblical.
If we have hoped in Christ in this life only…
If Christ is still in His grave, then He not only cannot help us in regard to the life to come, but He cannot help us now. All power would be gone, and the Spirit is gone… so we should be pitied.
SPOILER ALERT! None of this is true!
1 Cor. 15:20:
“But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep.”
Christ has been raised from the dead…
The resurrection is the ultimate proof that Jesus triumphed, and not satan, making Jesus the Cornerstone of our faith. Everything is built upon Jesus, because He is the only way we get reconciled with God.
Eph. 2:19-20:
“So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone,”
Without the resurrection there is no salvation. When Jesus died on the cross, sin was indeed defeated, but it didn’t end there. In the resurrection, the Father declared the Son to be innocent. Jesus took on our sins, He became sin on our behalf, and now, through the resurrection, He is declared free from sin.
As the result of Jesus’ victory, all believers are also set free from sin.
The first fruits of those who are asleep…
The concept of first fruits is very cool, and we need to go back to the Old Testament to find out just what it means.
Lev. 23:10 (NLT):
“Give the following instructions to the people of Israel. When you enter the land I am giving you and you harvest its first crops, bring the priest a bundle of grain from the first cutting of your grain harvest.”
Before the Israelites could harvest the entirety of their crops, they needed to bring a sample to the priests as an offering to the Lord. This offering was the first step before the main harvest, and it’s referred to as the first fruits. We can say it was a preliminary installment of an example and a guarantee of what was to come.
Romans 8:22-23:
“For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body.”
When God saved us and gave us eternal life, He canceled out the curse of sin in our lives. The change that took place in our life is a “harbinger” of a bigger change coming, because God will one day cancel out the curse of sin on all of creation, restoring nature to its former glory.
2 Thess. 2:13 (NIV):
“But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters loved by the Lord, because God chose you as first fruits to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth.”
Jesus is the first fruits of the resurrection… He is the guarantee of what is to come. Just as Israel offered the first fruits of their crops to God as a sacrifice, Jesus offered Himself to the Father on our behalf. We can say that Jesus’ resurrection requires our resurrection, because His resurrection was part of the larger resurrection of all those who are saved.
Are you getting what I’m laying down? In other words, we are from the same crop as Jesus.
1 Cor. 15:21-22:
“For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.”
This verse is a reflection of Jesus’ humanness.
By a man came death… this refers back to Adam. Because of his disobedience, sin and death entered the world.
Romans 5:12:
“Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned.”
By a man also came the resurrection of the dead…
Because of the obedience of Jesus, resurrection will come to all those who have surrendered by becoming born again.
Phil. 2:8:
“Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”
It is because Jesus died and rose from the dead as a man, that He would become the first fruits of all believers, who will one day be raised to glory with Him.
For as in Adam all die…
Every single person identifies with Adam, whether they like it or not!
Romans 3:23, 6:23a:
“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”
“For the wages of sin is death,“
In Adam, we have all inherited a sin nature, and therefore we will all die.
But wait, there’s more…
So also in Christ all will be made alive… what a beautiful truth for us to absorb.
1 Tim. 2:5:
“For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,”
In the man/God Jesus Christ, everyone who believes in Him will inherit eternal life… they are made alive.
Romans 5:12-19 (NLT):
“When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned.
Yes, people sinned even before the law was given. But it was not counted as sin because there was not yet any law to break.
Still, everyone died… from the time of Adam to the time of Moses… even those who did not disobey an explicit commandment of God, as Adam did. Now Adam is a symbol, a representation of Christ, who was yet to come.
But there is a great difference between Adam’s sin and God’s gracious gift. For the sin of this one man, Adam, brought death to many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and His gift of forgiveness to many through this other man, Jesus Christ.
And the result of God’s gracious gift is very different from the result of that one man’s sin. For Adam’s sin led to condemnation, but God’s free gift leads to our being made right with God, even though we are guilty of many sins.
For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and His gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one man, Jesus Christ.
Yes, Adam’s one sin brings condemnation for everyone, but Christ’s one act of righteousness brings a right relationship with God and new life for everyone.
Because one person disobeyed God, many became sinners. But because one other person obeyed God, many will be made righteous.”
The answer to life is always found in Jesus Christ, He is the way, the truth, and the life. In Christ we are made alive.
Col. 2:13-14:
“When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.”
Our life is in Christ, our very existence is in Him, Jesus canceled the debt we could never pay!
John 10:9:
“I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”
When Paul says all will be made alive, the “all” he’s talking about pertains only to believers.
Gal. 3:26-27:
“For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.”
John MacArthur, “Through Adam’s sin, man died spiritually and became subject to death bodily. Likewise, through Christ believers are given life spiritually and will be raised bodily. But our spirits, because they go to be with the Lord at death, will not wait to be resurrected. Only our bodies will be resurrected.”
1 Cor. 15:23:
“But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ’s at His coming,”
But each in his own order…
The word order is a military term “tah-gma;” it means that which has been arranged, a thing placed in order, or a body of soldiers. This has to do with order and not rank.
There is an order to the resurrection. Christ the first fruits as we covered earlier, along with “the church” or all believing saints are part of the first resurrection with Jesus. This isn’t like the grain harvest, where the full harvest begins right after the offering. We have been waiting ever since the day of Pentecost, which is now over 2,000 years. We don’t know the day of the harvest.
Matthew 24:36:
“But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.”
Right now, we’re all waiting for the rapture of the church (the Great Harvest).
1 Thess 4:16-17:
“For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord.”
Those believers who have died get to go first, and then all other living believers will follow… it doesn’t matter too much because it all happens in the twinkle of an eye. 😉 We all get brand new bodies… Yahoo!
Next comes the Tribulation saints. During the Tribulation there will be many who after seeing the judgment of God, will give their lives to Christ… yes, there will many more saved at this time. Great numbers of Tribulation saints will be martyred by the hands of the antichrist.
Rev. 20:4:
“Then I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand; and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.”
These saints will be resurrected at Jesus’ second coming, to join Him and the one’s who were raptured, and then enter into the Millennial Kingdom.
Right on the heals of that, the Old Testament saints will be resurrected as well. Many think this will all happen simultaneously.
One Bible commentary writes, “During the Millennial Kingdom there will be of necessity, the resurrection of those who die during that time. It is interesting to think that they may be raised as soon as they die, with no burial necessary.”
Personally, I don’t think anyone dies during the Millennial Kingdom, except those born in the Kingdom and refuse to give their life to Christ. We’ll see when we get there.
Last in the order is the second resurrection.
Rev. 20:12-13:
“And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds.”
The first resurrection is for the people of God; the second resurrection is for the judgment of unbelievers. This is also known as the White Throne Judgment, which is the final judgment where those not found in the Book of Life are cast into the lake of fire. The difference between these two groups is based on one’s relationship with God through Jesus Christ.
1 Cor. 15:24:
“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.”
Then comes the end… “tel’-os” which speaks of something that is final, and also that which is completed, consummated, or fulfilled. The end is a good thing.
When He hands over the kingdom to the God and Father…
After every enemy of God is brought into judgement and disposed of, then Jesus will present this perfect kingdom to the Father… this is without a doubt, the glory of God!
Matthew 13:41-43:
“The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness, and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.”
All things will be restored as they were and meant to be all along. In other words, in the end it will be as it was in the beginning. The perfection we have always longed for will become a reality.
And so in the beginning… God is the great “I am.”
There was one government, and in the end there will be once again, one government of God throughout the whole universe. Christ will take back to Himself the earth that He created and that is rightfully His. The really cool part is, we’ll have a front row seat.
Rev. 5:13:
“And every created thing which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all things in them, I heard saying, ‘To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever.’”
1 Cor. 15:25:
“For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet.”
It is not only right that Jesus should reign, but necessary.
His enemies under His feet… comes from the common practice in ancient times of kings and emperors always sitting enthroned above their subjects, so that when the subjects bowed before them, they were literally under, or lower, than the sovereign’s feet.
Also, when kingdoms engaged in battle, the conquering king or general would put their foot on the neck of the king they just defeated, symbolizing the enemy’s total subjection to them. I’m not sure if Jesus will put His foot on satan’s neck, but I know satan will be tossed into the lake of fire.
Rev. 20:10:
“And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.”
1 Cor. 15:26:
“The last enemy that will be abolished is death.”
Death is often seen as the ultimate adversary. It’s something we try to delay, defy, and make sense of, but it’s also the thing that gives life meaning; it makes time precious and pushes us to seek purpose, connection, and joy.
Throughout history, people have tackled the idea of death in different ways… philosophers, scientists, religious thinkers, and artists have all tried to make sense of mortality. Some focus on legacy, others on personal fulfillment, and some even dream of ways to defeat death entirely.
The only way to give life true purpose and meaning, separated from death, is to make Jesus Christ Lord and Savior of your life… anything else is void of truth and reason.
Hebrews 2:14-15 (NLT):
“Because God’s children are human beings… made of flesh and blood… the Son also became flesh and blood. For only as a human being could He die, and only by dying could He break the power of the devil, who had the power of death. Only in this way could He set free all who have lived their lives as slaves to the fear of dying.”
There is no need for a Christian to fear death. Death is seen not as an end, but as a transition to eternal life with God. The Bible teaches us that as believers, we have the hope of resurrection through Jesus Christ… He is the One who conquered death and promised eternal life to all those who follow Him.
The day is coming when death will be abolished, never again to harass any of God’s children. The victory was won at Calvary, but we must endure and persevere until Christ’s victory can be fully realized.
1 Cor. 15:27:
“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.”
Paul is stating the obvious to us. The only one who isn’t in subjection to the Son is the Father. It is the Father who gives Jesus all authority…
Matthew 28:18:
“And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.’”
John 5:26-27:
“For just as the Father has life in Himself, even so He gave to the Son also to have life in Himself; and He gave Him authority to execute judgment, because He is the Son of Man.
From the time of His incarnation until the time when Jesus presents the kingdom to the Father, Jesus has always been the perfect servant, doing all that the Father asked of Him. Jesus has full authority over all that exists.
Phil. 3:21:
It is Jesus “Who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself.”
1 Cor. 15:28:
“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.”
Try to focus on the last part of this verse… so that God may be all in all.
Rom. 11:36:
“For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.”
Ultimately, all in all is an expression of the rightful authority that God possesses. In the future, when evil has been wiped out forever, God will reign as the unopposed Sovereign and Supreme over all the universe. He will be the One and only Ruler of all hearts and lives, and the only desire of His creation. When God is all in all, our salvation will be fully accomplished, and God’s glory will fill all creation.
Psalm 72:19:
“And blessed be His glorious name forever; and may the whole earth be filled with His glory. Amen, and Amen.”
In the beginning God made man perfect, but disobedience found its way into man’s heart, and ever since then sin, death and evil have been present throughout the generations. The time is coming, and is very near, when the perfect will return and God will be fully glorified.
1 Cor. 15:29:
“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?”
There are perhaps over 200 explanations for this verse. The Mormons use this verse to teach that a person can be baptized in place of relatives who died generations ago.
Hebrews 9:27:
“And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment,”
Paul has never taught anywhere in Scripture that a person who has died can be saved. Another doctrine to know is that baptism does not save a person… and there are churches out there that teach salvation by baptism.
With this in mind, if a person cannot save himself by being baptized, he certainly can’t save anyone else by being baptized for them. Baptism is simply an act of obedient faith that proclaims a person’s identity in Christ.
What will those do who are baptized for the dead?
We need to focus on the word “for” (hoo-pair’) it means: “in behalf of,” or “for the sake of.”
So an easier rendering of this verse might be; What will those do who are baptized because of the dead?
This points to the witness of those who have died believing in Christ. Paul might be referring to the fact that people were being saved because of the way others had lived their lives.
One pastor writes, “Baptism is a symbol of death, burial, and resurrection. To paraphrase Paul, he might say, “If Jesus is not risen, why would you be baptized?”
The underlying thought in this passage is “the resurrection,” and we know the Corinthians had a hard time wrapping their minds around that.
If the dead are not raised at all, why then are they baptized because of them?
For those who don’t believe in the resurrection, there’s no real reason to be baptized. For those who believe in Jesus Christ, the grave for them is DEFINITELY not the end!
2 Cor. 5:8 (NLT):
“Yes, we are fully confident, and we would rather be away from these earthly bodies, for then we will be at home with the Lord.”
None of us really wants to die, but as believers, we’re not afraid to die… at least we shouldn’t be afraid. It’s the assurance of an eternal life with Christ that gives us a peace in our soul, and we long for the day when we will be with Him.
When our friend Diane was near the end of her race, she just wanted the Lord to come for her… you could see a peace that came over her. Diane’s faith left each of us with a strong witness, that a life with Christ is the only way to go.
The dead in Christ are resurrected, and by their witness we are baptized.
1 Cor. 15:30-31:
“Why are we also in danger every hour? I affirm, brethren, by the boasting in you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.”
Paul and the apostles would put their lives in jeopardy for the cause of Christ. “For the cause of Christ” is a phrase that appears in Christian songs and refers to the dedication of one’s life to Christ and spreading the message of Christ.
Romans 8:18 (NLT):
“Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later.”
It is about suffering for Christ and living for righteousness. This is what Paul and the other disciples did every day, they were willing to put their lives on the line for Jesus, even if it meant certain death. They did this because the certainty of the resurrection was at the core of their beliefs.
1 Cor. 15:32:
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.”
We don’t know for certain that Paul fought any wild animals, but some old traditions support this. There’s a good chance this is metaphorical from Paul’s experience with the crazed crowd of the Ephesians, where Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of the goddess Artemis stirred up the people.
The point is, Paul was ready to give his own life, as long as the gospel was being spread.
If the dead are not raised, Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die…
If there is no resurrection, all bets are off… we are just fools. So, let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die… let’s raise a cup to the Epicurean life style, looking only for pleasure, comfort, and high living. Let’s join the Democrat party 😊 …only kidding!
We’ll close with this…
The Greek historian Herodotus tells of an interesting custom of the Egyptians. In social gatherings among the rich, when the banquet was over, a servant would carry around among the guests a coffin, in which was a wooden image of a corpse carved and painted to look like a dead person.
The servant would show it to each of the guests and would say, ‘Gaze here and drink and be merry, for when you die such you shall be.’
If this life is all there is, and when we die, we just evaporate into nothingness, into a lost blackness… then we should grab all the gusto we can… party on dude!
But this isn’t all there is…
John 3:16:
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”
God loves us, He sacrificed for us, He wants us to be one with Him! Take heart Christian, the resurrection is real and could happen any moment.