West Loop Church UBF

Key Verse: 15:3-4

"For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, that he was buried that he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures."

The Importance of the Resurrection:

The Gospel Paul had preached in Corinth when he arrived there from Athens had not changed. But Paul feared that just as there had been a declension in the Church concerning the message of Christ crucified and it’s implication for believers, the same was happening with regard to the message of Christ Resurrected. So Paul in his first letter which he wrote to the Corinthian Church from Ephesus 250 miles away in Asia Minor, he tried to set the record straight to remind the Corinthians of the importance of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Let us read verses 3-4 . These verses, the heart of the gospel, were an early Christian confession which Paul described as of first importance.

It was a twofold confession:
1. Christ died for our sins
2. He was raised.

The reality of this was verified by the Scriptures for example Psalm 16:10 “For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine holy one to see corruption”. KJV. NIV says “…..because you will not abandon me to the grave; nor will you let your holy one see decay” Isaiah 53: 8-10. By oppression and judgment he was taken away and who can speak of his descendants? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgressions of my people he was stricken. He was assigned a grave with the wicked and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence nor was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer and though the Lord makes his life a guilt offering he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand. Verse 11 says, “After the suffering of his soul he will see the light of life and be satisfied, by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many and he will bear their iniquities.

The Message Paul preached could also be verified by historical evidence, by time in the grave and resurrection by credible witnesses. The fact that he was buried verified his death; the fact that he appeared to others verified his resurrection. Peter was the first male witness, then the other (11) disciples who composed the Lord’s immediate circle and a much larger company of believers numbering 500 brothers, many of them – 25 years later were still alive and could be consulted. These may be those who received the great commission in Matthew 28:18-20 (cf Acts 1:3-8). The Lord appeared also to his half unbelieving brother called James – who later became a great leader in the Jerusalem church and wrote the book of James in the New Testament (N.T.). He also appeared to Paul who was a persecutor of Christians and became a great Christian leader, and apostle, and wrote half of the N.T. Therefore Paul urged here the resurrection of Christ not only was verified by the scriptures (O.T.) but by history of those who witnessed the resurrected Christ.

The consequences of Denying the Resurrection 15:12-19

A. V. 12 Paul says “But if it is preached that Christ has been raised, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? Nothing in the Greek background of the gentile converts at Corinth, led them to believe in the resurrection of the dead. Generally the Greeks believed in the immortality of the soul, but not in the resurrection of the body. In fact they held that the soul was trapped in the body which was evil and at death the soul was liberate. And the thought of the soul being reunited with a resurrected body would mean enslaving of the soul again which to them would be absurd.

Therefore Paul considered this claim that there is no resurrection of the dead and pressed it to its logical consequences within the framework of the Christian faith (vv. 12-19) if Christ is not raised: (Slide for each point)

-Our preaching is useless and so is your faith.
-We are then found to be false witnesses about God
-Your faith is futile
-You are still in your sins
-Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost
-We are to be pitied more than all men.

The Christian Hope 15:20-28

A. Theological argument: 15:20-23 “But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own turn; Christ the firstfruits, then when he comes those who belong to him. In verse 12-19 Paul had explored the logical negatiations which resulted from denial of the bodily resurrection. In this section 15:20-28 He considered theological tenet that the destiny of Christians was bound up in the destiny of Christ and he set forth the positive association of Christ and Christians (his followers). He stressed Christ was indeed raised from the dead and was firstfruits of those who are dead. In the Old Testament [Exodus 23:16] for example the firstfruits was brought to the Lord in thanksgiving with expectation of more to come. In disobedience of one man Adam, sin and death came to all related to him by natural birth. In the obedience of Christ (another man) resurrection will come to all related to him by Spiritual birth, you must be born again. That is the hope of the Christian which no other religion can promise.

Look at verse 27-28 Also verse 57. It is by the power of God almighty that the incarnate Christ, victoriously mediates his authority (cf. Philippians 3:21). Therefore the work of the Son will find ultimate completion in the glory of the father (John 17: 4-5). That too is the ultimate goal of the church of Jesus Christ. When God is all in all (Rom 11:36) the new creation will be consummated and the resurrected Christ and his church will share in that experience in the glory of God (Rev 22:1 also Rev 21:1) 15:29-34 experiential argument. Paul here simply says though the Corinthian habit of baptizing people for the dead may not be biblically right but the Corinthians still believed in some kind of resurrection (afterlife) without knowing how. Secondly, Paul says the painful suffering he has gone through should point to the fact that he was convinced beyond any reasonable doubt that he believes in what he preached. The resurrection of Christ is the heart of the gospel.

The Resurrection of the Body 15:35-50

A. How are the dead raised? With what kind of body? Verses 35-50. In this section vv. 35-50, Paul deals with two common errors in regard to resurrection (1) that the same body that was laid in the grave will simply be reconstituted and (2) the new body will be unrelated to the old original one. Here Paul tells us the body which will be resurrected will be the body God will have chosen v38. It will be related to the former (v.36), yet it will be different (vv. 39-41). Paul says the seed planted dies, but then sprouts a new plant related to the seed, yet different. Secondly, he compared variety in all creation, and points to the animate creation men, animals, birds, fish, and the inanimate creation sun, moon, stars. And reminds us these creations give expression to the splendor of God and bring him praise cf Psalm 148:13. The differences in splendor between the earthly bodies and the heavenly bodies suggested to Paul the differences between a natural and a spiritual body. (Daniel 12:3 resurrected saints are compared to Stars). The first Adam is natural and earthly. The last Adam is spiritual and heavenly.

The Christian Victory through Christ. 15:51-58

A. Let’s read verses 51-53. Here Paul answers the question: What about those who are not dead at Christ’s coming”? The natural body must give way to the spiritual in order to enter the eternal state (vv. 24- 28) because the flesh and blood cannot inherit eternal life. As in 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17, Paul tells his readers that the rapture of the church is a mystery not known in the Old Testament but was now being revealed (other mysteries in N.T. Matt 13:11; Luke 8:10; Rom 11:25, 16:25; 1Cor 4:1; Eph 1:9, 3:3-4, 5:32; Col 1:26-27, 2:2, 4:3; 2Thess 2:7; 1Tim 3: 9,16; Rev 1:20, 10:7, 17:5). The dead in Christ will first be raised and then the living will be instantaneously transformed. Verse 53-54 the dead and the living will exchange the temporal and the imperfect for eternal and perfect.

15:58 A firm belief in the resurrection and a solid hope for the future gives incentive for holy living and good service in the presence for the Lord and He will reward all who are faithful to HIM handsomely.

Praise the Lord Jesus!