1 Corinthians 15
15
1Moreouer brethren, I declare vnto you the Gospel, which I preached vnto you, which ye haue also receiued, and wherein ye continue, 2And whereby ye are saued, if ye keepe in memorie, after what maner I preached it vnto you, except ye haue beleeued in vaine. 3For first of all, I deliuered vnto you that which I receiued, how that Christ died for our sinnes, according to the Scriptures, 4And that he was buried, and that he arose the third day, according to the Scriptures, 5And that he was seene of Cephas, then of the twelue. 6After that, he was seene of more then fiue hudreth brethren at once: whereof many remaine vnto this present, and some also are asleepe. 7After that, he was seene of Iames: then of all the Apostles. 8And last of all he was seene also of me, as of one borne out of due time. 9For I am the least of the Apostles, which am not meete to be called an Apostle, because I persecuted the Church of God. 10But by the grace of God, I am that I am: and his grace which is in me, was not in vaine: but I laboured more aboundantly then they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which is with me. 11Wherefore, whether it were I, or they, so we preach, and so haue ye beleeued. 12Now if it be preached, that Christ is risen from the dead, how say some among you, that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13For if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen: 14And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vaine, and your faith is also vaine. 15And we are found also false witnesses of God: for we haue testified of God, that he hath raised vp Christ: whome he hath not raised vp, if so be the dead be not raised. 16For if the dead be not raised, then is Christ not raised. 17And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vaine: ye are yet in your sinnes. 18And so they which are a sleepe in Christ, are perished. 19If in this life onely wee haue hope in Christ, we are of all men the most miserable. 20But nowe is Christ risen from the dead, and was made the first fruites of them that slept. 21For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. 22For as in Adam all die, euen so in Christ shall all be made aliue, 23But euery man in his owne order: the first fruites is Christ, afterward, they that are of Christ, at his comming shall rise againe. 24Then shalbe the end, when he hath deliuered vp the kingdome to God, euen the Father, when he hath put downe all rule, and all authoritie and power. 25For he must reigne till hee hath put all his enemies vnder his feete. 26The last enemie that shalbe destroyed, is death. 27For he hath put downe all things vnder his feete. (And when he saith that all things are subdued to him, it is manifest that he is excepted, which did put downe all things vnder him.) 28And when all things shalbe subdued vnto him, then shall the Sonne also himselfe be subiect vnto him, that did subdue all things vnder him, that God may be all in all. 29Els what shall they doe which are baptized for dead? if the dead rise not at all, why are they then baptized for dead? 30Why are wee also in ieopardie euery houre? 31By your reioycing which I haue in Christ Iesus our Lord, I die dayly. 32If I haue fought with beastes at Ephesus after ye maner of men, what aduantageth it me, if the dead be not raised vp? let vs eate and drinke: for to morowe we shall die. 33Be not deceiued: euill speakings corrupt good maners. 34Awake to liue righteously, and sinne not: for some haue not ye knowledge of God, I speake this to your shame. 35But some man will say, Howe are the dead raised vp? and with what body come they foorth? 36O foole, that which thou sowest, is not quickened, except it die. 37And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shalbe, but bare corne as it falleth, of wheat, or of some other. 38But God giueth it a body at his pleasure, euen to euery seede his owne body, 39All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one flesh of men, and another flesh of beastes, and another of fishes, and another of birdes. 40There are also heauenly bodies, and earthly bodies: but the glorie of the heauenly is one, and the glorie of the earthly is another. 41There is another glorie of the sunne, and another glorie of the moone, and another glorie of the starres: for one starre differeth from another starre in glorie. 42So also is the resurrection of the dead. The bodie is sowen in corruption, and is raysed in incorruption. 43It is sowen in dishonour, and is raysed in glory: it is sowen in weakenesse, and is raysed in power. 44It is sowen a naturall body, and is raysed a spirituall body: there is a naturall body, and there is a spirituall body. 45As it is also written, The first man Adam was made a liuing soule: and the last Adam was made a quickening Spirit. 46Howbeit that was not first which is spirituall: but that which is naturall, and afterward that which is spirituall. 47The first man is of the earth, earthly: the second man is the Lord from heauen. 48As is the earthly, such are they that are earthly: and as is the heauenly, such are they also that are heauenly. 49And as we haue borne the image of the earthly, so shall we beare the image of the heauenly. 50This say I, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherite the kingdome of God, neither doeth corruption inherite incorruption. 51Behold, I shewe you a secret thing, We shall not all sleepe, but we shall all be changed, 52In a moment, in the twinckling of an eye at the last trumpet: for the trumpet shall blow, and the dead shalbe raysed vp incorruptible, and we shalbe changed. 53For this corruptible must put on incorruption: and this mortall must put on immortalitie. 54So when this corruptible hath put on incorruption, and this mortall hath put on immortalitie, then shalbe brought to passe the saying that is written, Death is swallowed vp into victorie. 55O death where is thy sting? O graue where is thy victorie? 56The sting of death is sinne: and ye strength of sinne is the Lawe. 57But thankes be vnto God, which hath giuen vs victorie through our Lord Iesus Christ. 58Therefore my beloued brethren, be ye stedfast, vnmoueable, aboundant alwayes in the worke of the Lord, forasmuch as ye knowe that your labour is not in vaine in the Lord.
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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.