billy-brown 2

What follows now is a fairly complete review of Paul's points in I Cor. 15--along with some additional related observations and so on.

And so, here is the first portion of the text:

I Cor. 15
1Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand,
2by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain.

OK. Paul is indicating what the Gospel is--and what it consists of. Here it is below:

I Cor. 15
3For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,
4and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,
5and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.
6After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep;
7then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles;
8and last of all, as to one untimely born, He appeared to me also.
9For I am the least of the apostles, and not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.
10But 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.
11Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.

Yep.

And so, the summary on this above is as follows: Christ died physically for our sins, was buried physically, and rose from the dead physically; subsequently, He appeared to men.

Thus, Paul asked a question in verse 12 that is a bombshell question:

I Cor. 15
12Now 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?

Yep.

Paul indicates in no uncertain terms that Christ is preached that He has been raised from the dead; this should not be controversial.

And so, the disposition of our Lord Jesus Christ of Nazareth is absolutely foundational to Paul's dialectic in I Cor. 15. Thus, the question that must be asked so far is this: How did Jesus rise from the dead? In other words, did the body of Jesus Christ rise from the dead physically at all? Paul thought so, and so did Matthew:

Matt. 28
1Now after the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to look at the grave.
2And behold, a severe earthquake had occurred, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled away the stone and sat upon it.
3And his appearance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow.
4The guards shook for fear of him and became like dead men.
5The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid; for I know that you are looking for Jesus who has been crucified.
6“He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said. Come, see the place where He was lying.
7“Go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead; and behold, He is going ahead of you into Galilee, there you will see Him; behold, I have told you.”
8And they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy and ran to report it to His disciples.
9And behold, Jesus met them and greeted them. And they came up and took hold of His feet and worshiped Him.
10Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and take word to My brethren to leave for Galilee, and there they will see Me.”

Next, we go to the next portion of Paul's argument:

I Cor. 15
13But if there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised;
14and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain.
15Moreover 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.
16For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised;
17and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins.
18Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.
19If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied.

OK.

For the first 19 verses of I Cor. 15, Paul is laying down the gauntlet over whether there is physical, bodily resurrection from the dead. How?

Well, he is indicating that our faith is Christ is worthless if there is no physical bodily resurrection from the dead--because this would mean that Christ Himself did not rise from the dead bodily. And of course, this would call into question the truth of the Gospel itself.

And so, this is truth that all the saints have the privilege of getting right. Also, it is truth the Paul fought for:

Eph. 6
10Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might.
11Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil.

17And take THE HELMET OF SALVATION, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

I Tim. 6
12Fight the good fight of faith; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called, and you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

Of course, the "armor" here is the Gospel itself that Paul preached--even the Word of God.

Next, we have a passage that affirms the truth: that Christ has risen from the dead bodily--and in context with the previous 19 verses of I Cor. 15:

I Cor.15
20But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep.

Yep.

In other words, Paul is affirming truth--that the Gospel is true. However, when Paul indicates that Christ is the "first fruits" of those who are asleep, he is indicating that there are many who are still dead physically--and that those that are still dead physically (i. e., are "asleep") will rise physically from the dead just as Christ Jesus did. That's all that Paul is indicating.

Yep.

And so, the question is when?

Well, this is what Paul is explaining in the next set of verses from I Cor. 15:

Cor. 15
21For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead.
22For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.
23But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ’s at His coming, . . .

Yep. (Did you see it?)

Those who are dead physically will be made alive physically at the Coming of Jesus Christ. And so, when is the Coming of Jesus Christ? Indeed, His coming is at the end:

I Cor. 15
24a then comes the end, . . .

Yep. And when is the end?

Well, the end is when . . .

I Cor. 15
24b . . . He hands over the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power.
25For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet.
26The last enemy that will be abolished is death.

Yep.

In other words, the reign of Christ is required so that all rule, all authority, and all power is abolished. And the "abolishment" of death requires resurrection from the dead of the physical body when Christ comes again. After all, Paul indicates that only Christ has immortality physically:

I Tim. 6
13I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who testified the good confession before Pontius Pilate,
14that you keep the commandment without stain or reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ,
15which He will bring about at the proper time—He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords,
16who alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see. To Him be honor and eternal dominion! Amen.

And so, a question is required here: when did Christ become immortal only? Well, He was not immortal while He was on earth as the Lamb of God; that body was subject to death:

Heb. 2
14Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil,
15and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives.

Thus, the only time that Christ could have been made immortal physically was when Christ rose from the dead in the 1st century. And when Christ comes back the second time, those who are dead physically will be made immortal physically as well.

And so, Paul finished this portion of his dialectic of I Cor. 15 by indicating that the Son Jesus will be subject to the Father after all thing have been made subject to Him--even at the end of this present age:

I Cor. 15
27For 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.
28When 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.

OK. So far, we have investigated 28 verses from I Cor. 15 which affirm what Christ did indeed bodily. Thus, Paul makes an additional dialectic--and in accordance with his usual manner:

I Cor. 15
29Otherwise, 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?
30Why are we also in danger every hour?
31I affirm, brethren, by the boasting in you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.
32If 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.
33Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good morals.”
34Become sober-minded as you ought, and stop sinning; for some have no knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame.

Yep.

Then Paul asks another bombshell question:

I Cor. 15
35But someone will say, “How are the dead raised? And with what kind of body do they come?”

Thus, at this point we have experienced 34 verses of I Cor. 15 which focuses on the physical, bodily resurrection of Christ--and there should be no opportunity for misunderstanding of what this question is referring to below:

“How are the dead raised? And with what kind of body do they come?”

In other words, Paul is indicating that someone might ask the following:

“How are the dead raised (physically)? And with what kind of (physical) body do they come?”

Yep.

After all, Paul spent the first 34 verses of I Cor. 15 describing the Gospel message of the physical, bodily resurrection of Christ--and that there will be a physical, bodily resurrection of those who have died at the coming of Christ.

Indeed, there are no major side issues than that.

Yep.

Also, Paul concludes this dialectic below thusly:

I Cor. 15
36You fool! That which you sow does not come to life unless it dies;
37and 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.
38But God gives it a body just as He wished, and to each of the seeds a body of its own.
39All 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.
40There are also heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is one, and the glory of the earthly is another.
41There 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.

42So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown a perishable body, it is raised an imperishable body;
43it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power;
44it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.
45So also it is written, “The first MAN, Adam, BECAME A LIVING SOUL.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.
46However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural; then the spiritual.
47The first man is from the earth, earthy; the second man is from heaven.
48As is the earthy, so also are those who are earthy; and as is the heavenly, so also are those who are heavenly.
49Just as we have borne the image of the earthy, we will also bear the image of the heavenly.

Yep.

Indeed, the body of Jesus Christ was sown a perishable body, and after three days, it was raised an imperishable body. In other words, it was raised without corruption or decay--as Paul preached elsewhere:

Acts 13 (Paul is preaching)
32“And we preach to you the good news of the promise made to the fathers,
33that God has fulfilled this promise to our children in that He raised up Jesus, as it is also written in the second Psalm, ‘YOU ARE MY SON; TODAY I HAVE BEGOTTEN YOU.’
34“As for the fact that He raised Him up from the dead, no longer to return to decay, He has spoken in this way: ‘I WILL GIVE YOU THE HOLY and SURE blessings OF DAVID.’
35“Therefore He also says in another Psalm, ‘YOU WILL NOT ALLOW YOUR HOLY ONE TO UNDERGO DECAY.’
36“For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep, and was laid among his fathers and underwent decay;
37but He whom God raised did not undergo decay.

And Paul affirms the same here below from the last portion of I Cor. 15:

I Cor. 15
50Now I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.
51Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed,
52in 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.
53For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality.
54But 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?”
56The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law;
57but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

58Therefore, 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.

And so, Paul's teaching on resurrection in I Cor. 15 is a teaching which starts with Christ and the Gospel and ends with it.

Yep.

Finally, we go to a letter of Paul helps us in summarizing aspects of the dialectic of I Cor. 15:

Col. 1
9For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form,
10and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority;
11and in Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ;
12having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.

Now, Paul is indicating here that Jesus is God. Thus, he is making the same statement the the writer of Hebrews is making:

Heb. 1
1God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways,
2in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world.
3And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,
4having become as much better than the angels, as He has inherited a more excellent name than they.

However, notice that the writer of Hebrews is indicating that the Son Jesus sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. And so, when did this happen? This happened after Jesus made purification of sins. Indeed, this has happened already:

Heb. 12
1Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,
2fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Yep.

And so, if Jesus is seated at the right hand of the Majesty, then He is King--even the King of Kings. Of course, this means that He is immortal physically as well:

I Tim. 6
13I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who testified the good confession before Pontius Pilate,
14that you keep the commandment without stain or reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ,
15which He will bring about at the proper time—He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords,
16who alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see. To Him be honor and eternal dominion! Amen.

Thus, no man is immortal at all right now--only Jesus; after all, He is King of Kings and so on. And this must be a physical glorified body type of immortality, because Paul indicates the following:

Phil. 3
20For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ;
21who 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.

Yep.

Indeed, Paul indicates that "we are" waiting eagerly for our Saviour Jesus to return from Heaven--even to COME AGAIN.

And what will Jesus do when He comes again?

Well, He will (among other things) transform our bodies to conform with His body according to Paul in Phil. 3; you know, the one He has already right now. Indeed, His body is immortal at the right hand of the Father--it is the very body that allows Paul to indicate that He "alone possesses immortality" and so on in I Tim. 6. Thus, the "hope" of the church is Christ Himself:

Col. 1
3We give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you,
4since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the love which you have for all the saints;
5because of the hope laid up for you in heaven, of which you previously heard in the word of truth, the gospel
6which has come to you, just as in all the world also it is constantly bearing fruit and increasing, even as it has been doing in you also since the day you heard of it and understood the grace of God in truth;
7just as you learned it from Epaphras, our beloved fellow bond-servant, who is a faithful servant of Christ on our behalf,
8and he also informed us of your love in the Spirit.

Col. 1
15He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.
16For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him.
17He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.
18He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything.

Col. 1
25Of this church I was made a minister according to the stewardship from God bestowed on me for your benefit, so that I might fully carry out the preaching of the word of God,
26that is, the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His saints,
27to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
28We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ.