1 Corinthians 15
15
The Resurrection of Christ
1#Ro 5:2; 2Co 1:24Now, brothers, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which you have received, and in which you stand. 2#Gal 3:4; Ro 1:16Through it you are saved, if you keep in memory what I preached to you, unless you have believed in vain.
3#1Pe 2:24; 1Co 11:23; Gal 1:4For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: how Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4#Ps 16:10–11; Hos 6:2was buried, rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, 5#Mk 16:14; Ac 10:41and was seen by Cephas, and then by the twelve. 6#Ac 7:60; 1Co 15:18Then He was seen by over five hundred brothers at once, of whom the greater part remain to this present time, though some have passed away. 7#Lk 24:50Then He was seen by James and then by all the apostles. 8#1Co 9:1; Ac 9:17Last of all, He was seen by me also, as by one born at the wrong time.
9#Ac 8:3; 2Co 12:11For I am the least of the apostles and am not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10#Php 2:13; 2Co 3:5But by the grace of God I am what I am. And His grace toward me was not in vain. I labored more abundantly than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. 11Therefore, whether it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.
The Resurrection of the Dead
12#Ac 23:8; 2Ti 2:18Now if Christ is preached that He rose from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13#1Th 4:14If there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not risen. 14If Christ has not risen, then our preaching is vain, and your faith is also vain. 15#Ac 2:24Yes, and we would then be found false witnesses of God, because we have testified that God raised up Christ, whom He did not raise up, if in fact the dead do not rise. 16For if the dead do not rise, then Christ has not been raised. 17#Ro 4:25If Christ is not raised, your faith is vain; you are still in your sins. 18#Rev 14:13; 1Co 15:6Then they also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19#2Ti 3:12If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.
20#Ac 26:23; 1Co 15:23But now is Christ risen from the dead and become the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21#Jn 11:25; Ro 6:23For since death came by man, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. 22For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. 23#1Co 15:20; 15:52But every man in his own order: Christ the first fruits; afterward, those who are Christ’s at His coming. 24#Da 7:27; 7:14; Isa 9:7Then comes the end when He will deliver up the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power. 25#Ps 110:1; Mt 22:44For He will reign until He has put all enemies under His feet. 26#2Ti 1:10; Rev 20:14The last enemy that will be destroyed is death. 27#Ps 8:6; Mt 28:18For He “has put all things under His feet.”#Ps 8:6. But when He says, “all things are put under Him,” it is revealed that He, who has put all things under Him, is the exception. 28#1Co 3:23; Php 3:21When all things are subjected to Him, then the Son Himself will also be subject to Him who put all things under Him, that God may be all in all.
29Otherwise, what will they do who are baptized for the dead, if the dead do not rise at all? Why are they then baptized for the dead? 30And why do we stand in danger every hour? 31#Ro 8:36; 1Th 2:19I affirm, by the boasting in you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily. 32#Isa 22:13; Lk 12:19If, in the manner of men, I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantage is it to me if the dead do not rise?
“Let us eat and drink,
for tomorrow we die.”#Isa 22:13.
33#1Co 5:6; 6:9Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good morals.” 34#Ro 13:11; 1Co 6:5Awake to righteousness and do not sin, for some do not have the knowledge of God. I say this to your shame.
The Resurrection Body
35#Eze 37:3But someone will say, “How are the dead raised up? With what body do they come?” 36#Jn 12:24You fool! What you sow is not made alive unless it dies. 37When you sow, you do not sow the body that shall be, but a bare kernel, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain. 38Then God gives it a body as He pleases, and to each seed its own body. 39All flesh is not the same flesh. There is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fish, and another of birds. 40There are also celestial bodies and terrestrial bodies. The glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. 41There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars. One star differs from another star in glory.
42#Da 12:3; Mt 13:43So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption. 43#Col 3:4It 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.
There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. 45#Ge 2:7; Ro 8:2; Jn 5:21So it is written, “The first man Adam was made a living soul.”#Ge 2:7. The last Adam was made a life-giving spirit. 46However, that which is spiritual is not first, but the natural, and then the spiritual. 47#Jn 3:31; Ge 2:7; 3:19The first man was of the earth, made of dust; the second man was the Lord from heaven. 48#Php 3:20–21As was the man of dust, so are those who are of dust; and as is the man of heaven, so are those who are of heaven. 49#Ge 5:3; Ro 8:29As we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.
50#Mt 16:17Now this I say, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does corruption inherit incorruption. 51#1Co 13:2; Php 3:21Listen, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed. 52#Mt 24:31; Jn 5:25; Isa 27:13In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet, for the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 53#2Co 5:2–4; 1Jn 3:2For this corruptible will put on incorruption, and this mortal will put on immortality. 54#Isa 25:8; Rev 20:14When this corruptible will have put on incorruption, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then the saying that is written shall come to pass: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”#Isa 25:8.
55#Hos 13:14 “O death, where is your sting?
O grave, where is your victory?”#Hos 13:14.
56#Ro 4:15The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. 57#Ro 8:37; 2Co 2:14But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!
58#1Co 16:10; 2Pe 3:14Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.
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Military Bible Association
1 Corinthians 15
15
Resurrection
1-2Friends, let me go over the Message with you one final time—this Message that I proclaimed and that you made your own; this Message on which you took your stand and by which your life has been saved. (I’m assuming, now, that your belief was the real thing and not a passing fancy, that you’re in this for good and holding fast.)
3-9The first thing I did was place before you what was placed so emphatically before me: that the Messiah died for our sins, exactly as Scripture tells it; that he was buried; that he was raised from death on the third day, again exactly as Scripture says; that he presented himself alive to Peter, then to his closest followers, and later to more than five hundred of his followers all at the same time, most of them still around (although a few have since died); that he then spent time with James and the rest of those he commissioned to represent him; and that he finally presented himself alive to me. It was fitting that I bring up the rear. I don’t deserve to be included in that inner circle, as you well know, having spent all those early years trying my best to stamp God’s church right out of existence.
10-11But because God was so gracious, so very generous, here I am. And I’m not about to let his grace go to waste. Haven’t I worked hard trying to do more than any of the others? Even then, my work didn’t amount to all that much. It was God giving me the work to do, God giving me the energy to do it. So whether you heard it from me or from those others, it’s all the same: We spoke God’s truth and you entrusted your lives.
12-15Now, let me ask you something profound yet troubling. If you became believers because you trusted the proclamation that Christ is alive, risen from the dead, how can you let people say that there is no such thing as a resurrection? If there’s no resurrection, there’s no living Christ. And face it—if there’s no resurrection for Christ, everything we’ve told you is smoke and mirrors, and everything you’ve staked your life on is smoke and mirrors. Not only that, but we would be guilty of telling a string of barefaced lies about God, all these affidavits we passed on to you verifying that God raised up Christ—sheer fabrications, if there’s no resurrection.
16-20If corpses can’t be raised, then Christ wasn’t, because he was indeed dead. And if Christ weren’t raised, then all you’re doing is wandering about in the dark, as lost as ever. It’s even worse for those who died hoping in Christ and resurrection, because they’re already in their graves. If all we get out of Christ is a little inspiration for a few short years, we’re a pretty sorry lot. But the truth is that Christ has been raised up, the first in a long legacy of those who are going to leave the cemeteries.
21-28There is a nice symmetry in this: Death initially came by a man, and resurrection from death came by a man. Everybody dies in Adam; everybody comes alive in Christ. But we have to wait our turn: Christ is first, then those with him at his Coming, the grand consummation when, after crushing the opposition, he hands over his kingdom to God the Father. He won’t let up until the last enemy is down—and the very last enemy is death! As the psalmist said, “He laid them low, one and all; he walked all over them.” When Scripture says that “he walked all over them,” it’s obvious that he couldn’t at the same time be walked on. When everything and everyone is finally under God’s rule, the Son will step down, taking his place with everyone else, showing that God’s rule is absolutely comprehensive—a perfect ending!
29Why do you think people offer themselves to be baptized for those already in the grave? If there’s no chance of resurrection for a corpse, if God’s power stops at the cemetery gates, why do we keep doing things that suggest he’s going to clean the place out someday, pulling everyone up on their feet alive?
30-33And why do you think I keep risking my neck in this dangerous work? I look death in the face practically every day I live. Do you think I’d do this if I wasn’t convinced of your resurrection and mine as guaranteed by the resurrected Messiah Jesus? Do you think I was just trying to act heroic when I fought the wild beasts at Ephesus, hoping it wouldn’t be the end of me? Not on your life! It’s resurrection, resurrection, always resurrection, that undergirds what I do and say, the way I live. If there’s no resurrection, “We eat, we drink, the next day we die,” and that’s all there is to it. But don’t fool yourselves. Don’t let yourselves be poisoned by this anti-resurrection loose talk. “Bad company ruins good manners.”
34Think straight. Awaken to the holiness of life. No more playing fast and loose with resurrection facts. Ignorance of God is a luxury you can’t afford in times like these. Aren’t you embarrassed that you’ve let this kind of thing go on as long as you have?
35-38Some skeptic is sure to ask, “Show me how resurrection works. Give me a diagram; draw me a picture. What does this ‘resurrection body’ look like?” If you look at this question closely, you realize how absurd it is. There are no diagrams for this kind of thing. We do have a parallel experience in gardening. You plant a “dead” seed; soon there is a flourishing plant. There is no visual likeness between seed and plant. You could never guess what a tomato would look like by looking at a tomato seed. What we plant in the soil and what grows out of it don’t look anything alike. The dead body that we bury in the ground and the resurrection body that comes from it will be dramatically different.
39-41You will notice that the variety of bodies is stunning. Just as there are different kinds of seeds, there are different kinds of bodies—humans, animals, birds, fish—each unprecedented in its form. You get a hint at the diversity of resurrection glory by looking at the diversity of bodies not only on earth but in the skies—sun, moon, stars—all these varieties of beauty and brightness. And we’re only looking at pre-resurrection “seeds”—who can imagine what the resurrection “plants” will be like!
42-44This image of planting a dead seed and raising a live plant is a mere sketch at best, but perhaps it will help in approaching the mystery of the resurrection body—but only if you keep in mind that when we’re raised, we’re raised for good, alive forever! The corpse that’s planted is no beauty, but when it’s raised, it’s glorious. Put in the ground weak, it comes up powerful. The seed sown is natural; the seed grown is supernatural—same seed, same body, but what a difference from when it goes down in physical mortality to when it is raised up in spiritual immortality!
45-49We follow this sequence in Scripture: The First Adam received life, the Last Adam is a life-giving Spirit. Physical life comes first, then spiritual—a firm base shaped from the earth, a final completion coming out of heaven. The First Man was made out of earth, and people since then are earthy; the Second Man was made out of heaven, and people now can be heavenly. In the same way that we’ve worked from our earthy origins, let’s embrace our heavenly ends.
50I need to emphasize, friends, that our natural, earthy lives don’t in themselves lead us by their very nature into the kingdom of God. Their very “nature” is to die, so how could they “naturally” end up in the Life kingdom?
51-57But let me tell you something wonderful, a mystery I’ll probably never fully understand. We’re not all going to die—but we are all going to be changed. You hear a blast to end all blasts from a trumpet, and in the time that you look up and blink your eyes—it’s over. On signal from that trumpet from heaven, the dead will be up and out of their graves, beyond the reach of death, never to die again. At the same moment and in the same way, we’ll all be changed. In the resurrection scheme of things, this has to happen: everything perishable taken off the shelves and replaced by the imperishable, this mortal replaced by the immortal. Then the saying will come true:
Death swallowed by triumphant Life!
Who got the last word, oh, Death?
Oh, Death, who’s afraid of you now?
It was sin that made death so frightening and law-code guilt that gave sin its leverage, its destructive power. But now in a single victorious stroke of Life, all three—sin, guilt, death—are gone, the gift of our Master, Jesus Christ. Thank God!
58With all this going for us, my dear, dear friends, stand your ground. And don’t hold back. Throw yourselves into the work of the Master, confident that nothing you do for him is a waste of time or effort.
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THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved. Used by permission of NavPress. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.