His Resurrection Guarantees Ours – 1 Corinthians 15

Joy: You’re listening to the Lifting Her Voice podcast, Episode #148.  Today we’ll read 1st Corinthians chapter 15 together:  It’s all about Christ’s resurrection; it’s essential to the Gospel, essential to our faith, and His resurrection guarantees ours.

Welcome to the Lifting Her Voice podcast.  I’m your host, Joy Miller, and I invite you to grab your Bible and join me as we simply read God’s word together.  Some things require discipline and sometimes that’s just not easy to muster by yourself, no matter how badly you want to do it or how much you know you should.  It’s just easier to do it with a friend.  So refill your coffee or tea, get comfortable in your favorite chair and follow along as I read aloud.  I’m so glad you’re here!

Welcome

It was supposed to be hot Sunday; really hot.  Like 108 degrees.  I have this little denim shirt that’s slightly off the shoulder and it seemed like a great shirt for crazy hot weather.  What I hesitated about was whether it was a great shirt for church.  I hem-hawed back and forth and finally Mitch said he liked it and off we went.  That was the first tug of war in my spirit.  

The second came during worship when I realized that my focus on Jesus was distracted by my self-consciousness!  I didn’t want to be thinking about me or my shirt…I wanted to be thinking about Him!  But all that paled the moment Hans started his sermon.  I kid you not, he says, “How should Christians dress?”  I’m not kidding, that’s what he said!  

As I tried to physically become part of the upholstery, and barring that, make my escape, I thought, “The one time – one time! – I bare my shoulders, Hans decides to preach on Christian modest dress.  You know, this is also why I don’t lie.  I will always get caught.  Always.  In my younger days, when I had one foot in heaven but insisted on maintaining one foot in the world, I was bitter about that.  Everybody else could get away with stuff.  But not me.  

Protected from My Own Foolishness

Now, I’m grateful.  I realize that the Holy Spirit’s giving me a little poke and saying, “I don’t think that’s a very good idea.”  It makes me feel protected…yes, even protected from my own foolishness.  Have I ever told you my favorite verse in Isaiah?  Isaiah 35:8?  I’m reminded of it here.  It’s best in the New King James Version:  

A highway shall be there, and a road,
And it shall be called the Highway of Holiness.
The unclean shall not pass over it,
But it shall be for others.
Whoever walks the road, although a fool,
Shall not go astray.

It’s comforting to know that even though I act the fool sometimes, He still won’t let me go astray.  

By the way, you should definitely go to Hans’ sermon on our church website.  Look under Sermons and Blogs.  The link is in the show notes.  His text was from Ephesians and he actually talked about taking off the old self (once and for all) and putting on the new self.  It was an excellent sermon.  But I still won’t be wearing anything off the shoulder to church ever again!

1 Corinthians Chapter 15

Resurrection Essential to the Gospel

Now I want to make clear for you, brothers and sisters, the gospel I preached to you, which you received, on which you have taken your stand and by which you are being saved, if you hold to the message I preached to you — unless you believed in vain. For I passed on to you as most important what I also received: 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, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve. Then he appeared to over five hundred brothers and sisters at one time; most of them are still alive, but some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one born at the wrong time, he also appeared to me.

For I am the least of the apostles, not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 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, yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. Whether then, it is I or they, so we proclaim and so you have believed.

Resurrection Essential to the Faith

Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say, “There is no resurrection of the dead”? If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation is in vain, and so is your faith. Moreover, we are found to be false witnesses about God, because we have testified wrongly about God that he raised up Christ — whom he did not raise up, if in fact the dead are not raised.

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. Those, then, who have fallen asleep in Christ have also perished. If we have put our hope in Christ for this life only, we should be pitied more than anyone.

Christ’s Resurrection Guarantees Ours

But as it is, Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead also comes through a man. For just as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.

But each in his own order: Christ, the first fruits; afterward, at his coming, those who belong to Christ. Then comes the end, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father, when he abolishes all rule and all authority and power. For he must reign until he puts all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be abolished is death. For God has put everything under his feet. Now when it says “everything” is put under him, it is obvious that he who puts everything under him is the exception. When everything is subject to Christ, then the Son himself will also be subject to the one who subjected everything to him, so that God may be all in all.

Resurrection Supported by Christian Experience

Otherwise what will they do who are being baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, then why are people baptized for them? Why are we in danger every hour? I face death every day, as surely as I may boast about you, brothers and sisters, in Christ Jesus our Lord. If I fought wild beasts in Ephesus as a mere man, what good did that do me? If the dead are not raised, Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die. Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good morals.” Come to your senses and stop sinning; for some people are ignorant about God. I say this to your shame.

The Nature of the Resurrection Body

But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? What kind of body will they have when they come?” You fool! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. And as for what you sow — you are not sowing the body that will be, but only a seed, perhaps of wheat or another grain. But God gives it a body as he wants, and to each of the seeds its own body. Not all flesh is the same flesh; there is one flesh for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish. There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the splendor of the heavenly bodies is different from that of the earthly ones.

There is a splendor of the sun, another of the moon, and another of the stars; in fact, one star differs from another star in splendor. So it is with the resurrection of the dead: Sown in corruption, raised in incorruption; sown in dishonor, raised in glory; sown in weakness, raised in power; sown a natural body, raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. So it is written, The first man Adam became a living being; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, then the spiritual.

The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. Like the man of dust, so are those who are of the dust; like the man of heaven, so are those who are of heaven. And just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we will also bear the image of the man of heaven.

Victorious Resurrection

What I am saying, brothers and sisters, is this: Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor can corruption inherit incorruption. Listen, I am telling you a mystery: We will not all fall asleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we will be changed. For this corruptible body must be clothed with incorruptibility, and this mortal body must be clothed with immortality. When this corruptible body is clothed with incorruptibility, and this mortal body is clothed with immortality, then the saying that is written will take place:

Death has been swallowed up in victory.

Where, death, is your victory?

Where, death, is your sting?

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!

Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the Lord’s work, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

Closing Thoughts

What a powerful chapter!  I feel like everything we need to know about Christ being raised from the dead is here.  And don’t miss what Paul is saying:  Our faith is in vain if Christ wasn’t raised from the dead.   That’s where the rubber meets the road.  Jesus overcame death, and as Paul puts it, death is the final enemy.  

We get a first glimpse at Paul’s deep shame over his old life of persecuting Christians and his gratefulness for being saved and called as an apostle.  He is absolutely aware that his apostleship was based on a different kind of encounter than the other apostles.  So he worked all the harder in order to be called worthy of the station.  But he quickly gives the glory to God knowing that all of his strength – and any good in him – comes from his God and Savior.

This chapter also explains clearly how Christ is the antithesis to Adam.  In all ways Adam fell short, Jesus overcame.  He was in all ways equal yet superior.  It’s such a beautiful picture and irrefutable explanation of this intentional plan of redemption our God crafted for us.  

Finally, Paul uses the illustration of the seed to tell us that we all must give up our natural bodies in order to take on spiritual bodies.  And God gets to decide what they’re going to look like.  But we can trust that they will be raised in incorruption, glory and power.  Let’s pray.  

Prayer

Oh, Father, this is yet another passage that leaves me breathless as I can only imagine what eternal life with You will be like.  What a gift!  What a hope!  To think that in the twinkling of an eye, we will all be changed.  It’s beyond imagination.  May we be found doing Your work when You come.  Amen.

Thank you for joining me here today.  I pray God will grow in you what has been planted and watered here.  In this time of unprecedented struggle worldwide, we can look to God for guidance and comfort.  Be sensitive to those in your circle of influence who need a word of encouragement and invite them to join us.  If you like this show, it would be great if you give it a five-star review.  Don’t forget to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.  See you right here tomorrow.  Be well!

Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Christian Standard Bible(r), Copyright (c) 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible(r) and CSB(r) are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.