1 Corinthians 15
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1 Corinthians 15
1 Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.
I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel:
Be reminded of the gospel.
Paul had already preached to the Corinthians as unbelievers (Acts 18:9-11 - year and six months).
Paul will now teach the Corinthians as believers.
He saw fit to declare, remind, and re-teach them the gospel message.
We must be reminded of the gospel message.
Paul wrote Romans - an in depth look at the gospel - to Christians.
We need continual teaching about our initial belief.
We will tend towards turning this into a “how to” manual - it’s about Jesus!
1-2 Interaction with the gospel:
1 Remind
2 Preached
3 Received
4 Stand in
5 Being saved
3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received:
3 Delivered / Received: Facts and events - not views or opinions.
This seems to be some type of early Christian creed.
3b that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures,
3 Christ died:
Jesus was 100% dead.
Professional Roman executioners.
Scourging.
Beating.
Crucifixion.
Public death.
Spear in side (Jn 19:33-34).
Centurion proclamation (Mt 27:54).
Enemies reported it to Pilate (Mt 27:62-63).
3 For our sins according to the Scriptures:
For our sins.
He will save His people from their sins (Mt 1:21).
This led to His greatest agony on the cross (Mt 27:46 - Why have you forsaken Me?).
Veil was torn in two (Mt 27:51).
The veil...His flesh..a new and living way He consecrated for us (Heb 10:20).
Animal sacrifices (shadows). Isaiah 53 (general). Psalm 22 (specific). His death becomes good news once you recognize it happened according to the Scriptures.
4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,
4 He was buried:
Jesus was 100% buried.
Approximately 100 lbs. of burial spices - like mummification.
Public tomb - of a wealthy man (Is 53:9).
Closed tomb - stone door.
Sealed tomb - tamper resistant.
Guarded tomb - by trained killers who would die if they failed their mission.
4 He rose again:
Jesus is 100% risen.
Main evidence - eyewitnesses, which we’ll see in a moment.
If His cross is the payment, His empty tomb is the receipt.
4 According to the Scriptures: Less obvious.
Implied - Second coming.
Foreshadowed - Abraham and Isaac (Gen 22), Jonah (Jnh 1-4).
Specified - Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption (Ps 16:10, Acts 2:27).
5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6 Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. 8 Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.
Four groups mentioned:
5 Cephas: Peter.
Peter was singled out by Jesus.
Angels: Go, tell His disciples - and Peter - that He is going before you into Galilee (Mk 16:7).
The Lord is risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon (Lk 24:34).
Feed My lambs / Tend My sheep / Feed My sheep (Jn 21:15-17).
It is evident that Peter saw Jesus.
Simply look at Peter’s life.
Before: Cowardly (denied Jesus), fearful (sank in water), blubbering (rebuked Jesus), prayerless (fell asleep often).
After: Led the prayer meeting, preached on Pentecost, healed the lame man, stood up to the religious leaders, rejoiced to be beaten, called out hypocrisy (Ananias, Simon), preached to the Gentiles, and ultimately crucified upside down.
5 The twelve: The disciples.
Their generic title. Each of them suffered for their belief in the gospel.
Critics: They made it up for personal gain.
Problem #1 - there was no personal gain.
Problem #2 - someone always eventually cracks.
Problem #3 - they never demonstrate the character traits of liars.
The critics have made this up for their own personal gain.
Eyewitnesses who had nothing to gain.
Critics 2K years later who have everything to gain.
6 Five hundred brothers at one time: Galilee meeting.
Likely His meeting in Galilee (Mt 28:10) - high profile, highly anticipated, advertised. These 500 would have spread the knowledge of His resurrection like wildfire throughout the region. This is a major reason for the rapid advancement of the gospel - they were literal witnesses!
7 James: Regarded as the brother of Jesus. He had become a fixture in the church.
Jesus’ brothers were skeptics until the resurrection.
They came to rescue Jesus at one point (Mk 3:31).
They mockingly challenged Him at another (Jn 7:3-5).
James and Jude chose to worship their brother.
They recognized His sinless perfection.
7 Apostles: Before ascension (Acts 1).
8 Also to me: Paul was a late bloomer.
9 For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy 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 was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. 11 Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.
9 I persecuted the church of God: These words haunted Paul (Stephen - Acts 7, Damascus - Acts 9).
Paul was unlikely to believe - unless it was really true.
He lost it all - status, wealth, comfort, future, family.
Some believe he was the rich young ruler who came to Jesus.
He had nothing to gain and everything to lose.
10 Grace / vain / worked harder: He knew grace produced in his life.
2 Corinthians 11 - labors more abundant. Stripes, prisons, deaths, flogging, beatings, stonings, shipwrecks, lost at sea, journeys, robbers, perils, false brethren, weariness, sleeplessness, hunger, thirst, cold, nakedness, and a deep concern for all the churches.
12 Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?
They denied the resurrection of the saints.
They didn’t deny the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
They did deny heaven and glorified bodies, instead preaching this life is all their is.
13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised.
13 Not even Christ has been raised: If this teaching is true, then it follows that Jesus never rose.
14 And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. 15 We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that 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 futile and you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19 If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.
If Christ is not risen, here are five results.
1 — 14 Preaching / Faith / Vain: Empty preaching and empty faith.
2 — 15 Misrepresenting God: We would be liars.
3 — 17 Faith / Futile / still in your sins: We would still be unforgiven sinners.
4 — 18 Perished: We would perish forever. Those who’d died as Christians would be gone forever. The rewards and commendations of God would never come.
5 — 19 Most to be pitied: We would be losers.
Coming to Christ solves many problems, but creates many others.
Persecution (2 Timothy 3:12).
20 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. 23 But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. 24 Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. 25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death.
Christ has risen, so here are five results.
1 — 20 Firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep: Great status.
Firstfruits: First offering of the larger crop (Lev 23:9-14).
He was the first one for us.
The priest would wave it before God.
This proclaimed - the rest is coming.
2 — 22 In Adam all die / in Christ shall all be made alive: New identification/family.
3 — 23 Own order: Hope of his coming.
4 — 25 Under his feet: A ruler who will put the rule of man and Satan to rest.
5 — 26 Death: A champion.
The pinnacle of his victory.
Pain, tears, war, murder, famine, poverty, sickness, disease, rape, incest, slavery, addictions, sex crimes, violence, hatred, and every injustice will all be removed.
27 For [Psalm 8:6] “God has put all things in subjection under his feet.” But when it says, “all things are put in subjection,” it is plain that he is excepted who put all things in subjection under him. 28 When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all.
28 That God may be all in all: A day comes when everything and everyone, including the Son himself, are subjected to God.
Ephesians 1:9–10 (ESV) — 9 making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ 10 as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.
Now That He Rose (29-34)
29 Otherwise, what do people mean by being baptized on behalf of the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized on their behalf?
29 Baptized for the dead: What is this? Over 30 different stabs at this. I don’t know.
It appears to be a strange Corinthian practice.
Perhaps a proxy baptism.
They had issues.
Paul did not own it, rebuke it, or approve it.
Very reckless interpretation principles would lead you to actually do this (Mormons).
29 For the dead: Some think he’s speaking of those who got saved when they saw a Christian loved one die. They are without all hope. We have HOPE because He rose.
We have hope!
POINT: Because Jesus rose, we have hope for the dead.
30 Why are we in danger every hour? 31 I protest, brothers, by my pride in you, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die every day!
30-31 Danger / I die every day: This is not spiritual talk, but the rigorous life of the apostle - danger.
Paul’s life would’ve changed had Jesus not risen.
Would yours?
32 What do I gain if, humanly speaking, I fought with beasts at Ephesus? If the dead are not raised, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.”
32 Beasts at Ephesus: The peril he faced in Ephesus.
32 Eat / Drink / Die: Epicurean philosophy. Ex. Egyptian party - wood coffin passed around to remind.
We have a purpose!
We have a POINT because He rose.
What are you living for?
33 Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.” 34 Wake up from your drunken stupor, as is right, and do not go on sinning. For some have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame.
We need encouragement!
33-34 Bad company / some have no knowledge of God: Spend time with others who embrace a resurrection.
35 But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?” 36 You foolish person! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies.
36 Foolish person: They imagined people rising from the dead in their same, old, tired earthly bodies. This would be especially impossible when cremation, decomposition, death in war, etc. was considered.
Paul will point out three examples from the universe that should have pointed them to God’s ability to create different types of bodies. - seeds, species, and space.
Example 1 — Seeds
37 And what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare kernel, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain. 38 But God gives it a body as he has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body.
38 Each kind of seed its own body: The seed looks nothing like the full grown plant, but there is a connection between the two.
Our resurrected bodies will look nothing like our bodies now, but there will be a connection.
John: recognized Jesus (one like the Son of Man - Rev 1:13).
The body: more glorious than the seed.
We will recognize each other in heaven.
You might be shocked at how good I look!
Example 2 — Species
39 For not all flesh is the same, but there is one kind for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish. 40 There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is of one kind, and the glory of the earthly is of another.
39 All flesh is not the same flesh: God is creative.
One look at the animal kingdom tells us that God has a wild imagination when it comes to bodies.
Fish: Live in the water.
Birds: Fly in the sky.
Animals: Do amazing things.
Cheetah - run 60-70 MPH / Marlin - swim 50 MPH / Falcon - dive 200 MPH / Whales - 188db loud (louder than a jet engine) / Blue Whale - 100-200 tons, over 100 feet long / Rhinoceros beetle - lift 850 times its own weight / Fleas - jumps 100 x’s its body height! / Giant squid - eyes are as big as the human head.
God is able to give us a new body with heavenly features.
40 Heavenly / Earthly: Celestial / Terrestrial.
Glory: They both have glory - opposable thumbs vs. walking through walls.
Example 3 — Space
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.
41 Sun / Moon / Stars: Different, especially between the sun and moon.
God created different levels of brightness.
God is able to give us a new body with greater glory.
42 So is it with the resurrection of the dead [varying levels of glory]. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable.
42 Imperishable: Literally - perpetuity, purity.
No sickness, decay, disease, cancers, hospitals, or work out videos.
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.
43 Dishonor / Glory:
Dishonor: Literally - public shame or disgrace.
We do bad things with these bodies.
Sin.
We do gross things with these bodies.
We don’t want others to see, hear, or smell much of what our bodies are and do.
Glory: Doxa. Literally - good opinion, honor, splendor, brightness, or majesty.
This will be mankind on the highest plane.
Sinless, harmless, perfect, unable to hurt others with our bodies.
43 Weakness / Power:
Weakness: Literally - lack of strength (in body and soul).
In Body: frail, sick, weak.
In Soul:
Inability to understand.
Inability to do the great and glorious.
Inability to restrain corrupt desires.
Inability to bear trials and troubles.
Power: Dunamis. Literally - strength, energy, ability.
We will receive bodies with physical, moral, and spiritual power.
It will be wonderful to master our soul.
44 Natural / Spiritual: Spiritual: Made for the heavenly conditions - able to handle God.
An Expansion On The Spiritual Body
45 Thus it is written [Genesis 2:7], “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. 46 But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual. 47 The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. 48 As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. 49 Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.
48 Bear the image of the man of heaven: Jesus will bring many sons to glory (Heb 2:10). We will be like Him! This is my main desire - to be like Jesus!
We’ve been like Adam - His tendencies, traits, and characteristics.
We’ll be like Jesus - His tendencies, traits, and characteristics.
Change Explained (50-57)
50 I tell you this [how it will happen!], brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.
50 Flesh and blood: We must receive new bodies in order to be able to handle God’s presence - no little space suits for us!
There is a line of thinking in the church today which teaches flesh and blood can inherit the kingdom.
Cultural mandate vs. Gospel mandate.
Romans 14:17 (ESV) — 17 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.
51 Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep [some will change without death], but we shall 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 shall be changed.
In the twinkling of an eye: Quickly and rapidly - the change will happen rapidly.
Paul is referencing the rapture of the church.
The trumpet of God.
1 Thessalonians 4:15–17 (ESV) — 15 For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.
Not the trumpet of angels (Revelation).
52 The dead will be raised: Are they in some kind of soul sleep? No. To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord (2 Cor 5:8). Paul longed to depart and be with Christ (Phil 1:23).
53 For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. 54 When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written [Isaiah 25:8]: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” 55 [Hosea 13:14] “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.
54 / 57 Then shall come to pass / Victory: Nikos. At our resurrection the sting of death - which is sin - and the victory of hell, and the strength of sin - which is the law - will all be destroyed.
58 Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.
58 Therefore: Because of our future we live differently in the present.
We endure corruption, weakness, and dishonor now because we know a new body is coming.
When sick, injured, or at the funeral of a loved one, remember this truth.