1 Corinthians 15
15
The Question About Rising From the Dead
1Brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the good news that I preached to you. You received it, you belong to it, 2and you’re being saved by it. But you must hold firmly to the message I preached to you. Otherwise, you’ll have believed it for nothing.
3When I passed on to you what I received, I told you that the most important thing was that Christ died for our sins, just as Scripture said he would; 4that he was buried; and that he was raised from the dead on the third day, just as Scripture said he would be. 5He appeared to Peter, then he appeared to the 12 apostles, 6and after that, he appeared to more than 500 brothers and sisters at the same time. (Most of them are still living, although some have died.) 7He appeared to James, then he appeared to all the apostles, 8and last of all he also appeared to me, as if I’d been born almost too late to see him.
9I’m the least important of the apostles, and I’m not even fit to be called an apostle, because I tried to destroy God’s church. 10But by the grace of God, I am what I am, and his grace wasn’t wasted on me. No, I worked harder than all the other apostles—though it wasn’t me doing the work. God’s grace was with me. 11But whether it’s me or the other apostles, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed.
Believers Will Rise From the Dead
12But since we do preach that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that no one rises from the dead? 13If no one rises from the dead, then Christ hasn’t been raised. 14And if Christ hasn’t been raised, then what we preach doesn’t mean anything, and your faith doesn’t mean anything either. 15Even worse, that would make us false witnesses about God, because we testified that God raised Christ from the dead. But God didn’t do that if the dead aren’t really raised. 16If the dead aren’t raised, then Christ hasn’t been raised either. 17And if Christ hasn’t been raised, then your faith doesn’t mean anything. Your sins haven’t been forgiven, 18and those who have died believing in Christ are lost. 19If we have hope in Christ only for this life, then people should pity us more than anyone else.
20But Christ truly has been raised from the dead. He is the first of all those who will rise from the dead. 21Since death came because of what one man did, rising from the dead also comes because of what one man did. 22Because of Adam, all people die, and because of Christ, all will be made alive. 23But this will happen in a particular order. Christ is the first of those who rise from the dead. When he comes back, those who belong to him will be raised. 24And then the end will come, when he will hand the kingdom over to God the Father, after he has destroyed all other rulers, authorities, and powers. 25Christ must rule until he has put all his enemies under his control. 26The last enemy that will be destroyed is death. 27Scripture says that God “has put everything under his control.” (When it says that “everything” has been put under him, it’s clear that this doesn’t include God himself, who put everything under Christ.) 28When he has put everything under his control, the Son will then put himself under the rule of God, who put everything under him. In that way, God will be all in all.
29If no one rises from the dead, where does that leave people who are baptized for the dead? If the dead aren’t raised at all, why are people baptized for them? 30And why would we put ourselves in danger every hour? 31I face death every day, just as surely as I take pride in what Christ Jesus our Lord has done for you through my work. 32If I fought wild animals in Ephesus with nothing more than human hopes, then what did I gain by that? If the dead aren’t raised,
“Let us eat and drink,
because tomorrow we’ll die.”
33Don’t let anyone fool you. “Having bad friends turns a good person into a bad one.” 34Come back to your senses and stop sinning. Some of you don’t know anything about God. You should be ashamed of that!
The Body That Rises From the Dead
35But someone may ask, “How are the dead raised? What kind of body will they have?” 36How foolish! What you plant doesn’t come to life unless it dies. 37When you plant something, you don’t put a completely grown plant into the ground. You plant only a seed, maybe of wheat or something else. 38But God gives the seed a body just as he has planned, and to each kind of seed he gives its own body. 39Not all earthly creatures are the same. People have one kind of body, animals have another kind, birds another, and fish still another. 40There are also heavenly bodies as well as earthly bodies. Heavenly bodies have one kind of glory, and earthly bodies have a different kind. 41The sun has one kind of brightness, the moon has another kind, and stars have still another. And one star’s brightness is different from that of another star.
42It will be like that with bodies that are raised from the dead. The body that is planted doesn’t last forever; the body that is raised from the dead does. 43It is planted without honor, but it is raised in glory. It is planted in weakness, but it is raised in power. 44It is planted as a body made alive in the natural way, but it is raised as a body made alive by spirit.
Just as there is a naturally living body, there is also a spiritually living body. 45It is written, “The first man Adam became a living person.” But the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. 46What is animated by spirit didn’t come first; the natural came first. What is spiritual came after that. 47The first man came from the dust of the earth, but the second man came from heaven. 48Those who belong to the earth are like the one who came from the earth, and those who are spiritual are like the one who came from heaven. 49Right now we’re like the earthly man, but one day we’ll be like the heavenly man.
50Brothers and sisters, here’s what I’m telling you. Bodies made of flesh and blood can’t inherit the kingdom of God. Things that perish can’t share in what never perishes. 51Listen! I’m telling you a mystery. We’re not all going to die, but we will all be changed. 52That will happen in a flash, as quickly as you can blink an eye. It will happen at the blast of the last trumpet. Then the dead will be raised to live forever, and we will be changed. 53Our bodies that don’t last forever must be dressed with what does last forever. These bodies that perish must be dressed with what doesn’t perish, and these bodies that don’t last must be dressed with what lasts forever. 54And when our bodies that die are dressed with what doesn’t die, then the saying that is written will come true, “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”
55“Death, where is your victory?
Death, where is your sting?”
56The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
58My dear brothers and sisters, remain strong in the faith. Don’t let anything move you. Always give yourselves completely to the work of the Lord, because you know that in the Lord, your work isn’t for nothing.
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1 Corinthians 15
15
Jesus Came Back to Life
1Brothers and sisters, I’m making known to you the Good News which I already told you, which you received, and on which your faith is based. 2In addition, you are saved by this Good News if you hold on to the doctrine I taught you, unless you believed it without thinking it over. 3I passed on to you the most important points of doctrine that I had received:
Christ died to take away our sins as the Scriptures predicted.
4He was placed in a tomb.
He was brought back to life on the third day as the Scriptures predicted.
5He appeared to Cephas.#15:5 Cephas is the Aramaic name for the Apostle Peter. Next he appeared to the twelve apostles. 6Then he appeared to more than 500 believers at one time. (Most of these people are still living, but some have died.) 7Next he appeared to James. Then he appeared to all the apostles. 8Last of all, he also appeared to me.
I’m like an aborted child ⌞who was given life⌟. 9I’m the least of the apostles. I’m not even fit to be called an apostle because I persecuted God’s church. 10But God’s kindness #15:10 Or “grace.” made me what I am, and that kindness was not wasted on me. Instead, I worked harder than all the others. It was not I who did it, but God’s kindness was with me. 11So, whether it was I or someone else, this is the message we brought you, and this is what you believed.
We Will Come Back to Life
12If we have told you that Christ has been brought back to life, how can some of you say that coming back from the dead is impossible? 13If the dead can’t be brought back to life, then Christ hasn’t come back to life. 14If Christ hasn’t come back to life, our message has no meaning and your faith also has no meaning. 15In addition, we are obviously witnesses who lied about God because we testified that he brought Christ back to life. But if it’s true that the dead don’t come back to life, then God didn’t bring Christ back to life. 16Certainly, if the dead don’t come back to life, then Christ hasn’t come back to life either. 17If Christ hasn’t come back to life, your faith is worthless and sin still has you in its power. 18Then those who have died as believers in Christ no longer exist. 19If Christ is our hope in this life only, we deserve more pity than any other people.
20But now Christ has come back from the dead. He is the very first person of those who have died to come back to life. 21Since a man brought death, a man also brought life back from death. 22As everyone dies because of Adam, so also everyone will be made alive because of Christ. 23This will happen to each person in his own turn. Christ is the first, then at his coming, those who belong to him ⌞will be made alive⌟. 24Then the end will come. Christ will hand over the kingdom to God the Father as he destroys every ruler, authority, and power.
25Christ must rule until God has put every enemy under his control. 26The last enemy he will destroy is death. 27Clearly, God has put everything under Christ’s authority. When God says that everything has been put under Christ’s authority, this clearly excludes God, since God has put everything under Christ’s authority. 28But when God puts everything under Christ’s authority, the Son will put himself under God’s authority, since God had put everything under the Son’s authority. Then God will be in control of everything.
29However, people are baptized because the dead ⌞will come back to life⌟. What will they do? If the dead can’t come back to life, why do people get baptized as if they can ⌞come back to life⌟?
30Why are we constantly putting ourselves in danger? 31Brothers and sisters, I swear to you on my pride in you which Christ Jesus our Lord has given me: I face death every day. 32If I have fought with wild animals in Ephesus, what have I gained according to the way people look at things? If the dead are not brought back to life, “Let’s eat and drink because tomorrow we’re going to die!” 33Don’t let anyone deceive you. Associating with bad people will ruin decent people. 34Come back to the right point of view, and stop sinning. Some people don’t know anything about God. You should be ashamed of yourselves.
We Will Have Bodies That Will Not Decay
35But someone will ask, “How do the dead come back to life? With what kind of body will they come back?”
36You fool! The seed you plant doesn’t come to life unless it dies first. 37What you plant, whether it’s wheat or something else, is only a seed. It doesn’t have the form that the plant will have. 38God gives the plant the form he wants it to have. Each kind of seed grows into its own form. 39Not all flesh is the same. Humans have one kind of flesh, animals have another, birds have another, and fish have still another. 40There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies. Heavenly bodies don’t all have the same splendor, neither do earthly bodies. 41The sun has one kind of splendor, the moon has another kind of splendor, and the stars have still another kind of splendor. Even one star differs in splendor from another star.
42That is how it will be when the dead come back to life. When the body is planted, it decays. When it comes back to life, it cannot decay. 43When the body is planted, it doesn’t have any splendor and is weak. When it comes back to life, it has splendor and is strong. 44It is planted as a physical body. It comes back to life as a spiritual body. As there is a physical body, so there is also a spiritual body.
45This is what Scripture says: “The first man, Adam, became a living being.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. 46The spiritual does not come first, but the physical and then the spiritual. 47The first man was made from the dust of the earth. He came from the earth. The second man came from heaven. 48The people on earth are like the man who was made from the dust of the earth. The people in heaven are like the man who came from heaven. 49As we have worn the likeness of the man who was made from the dust of the earth, we will also wear the likeness of the man who came from heaven. 50Brothers and sisters, this is what I mean: Flesh and blood cannot inherit God’s kingdom. What decays cannot inherit what doesn’t decay.
51I’m telling you a mystery. Not all of us will die, but we will all be changed. 52It will happen in an instant, in a split second at the sound of the last trumpet. Indeed, that trumpet will sound, and then the dead will come back to life. They will be changed so that they can live forever. 53This body that decays must be changed into a body that cannot decay. This mortal body must be changed into a body that will live forever. 54When this body that decays is changed into a body that cannot decay, and this mortal body is changed into a body that will live forever, then the teaching of Scripture will come true:
“Death is turned into victory!
55Death, where is your victory?
Death, where is your sting?”
56Sin gives death its sting, and God’s standards give sin its power. 57Thank God that he gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
58So, then, brothers and sisters, don’t let anyone move you off the foundation ⌞of your faith⌟. Always excel in the work you do for the Lord. You know that the hard work you do for the Lord is not pointless.
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