1 Corinthians 15
15
The Good News About Jesus Christ
1Now, brothers and sisters, I want you to remember the Good News I told you. You received that Good News message, and you continue to base your life on it. 2That Good News, the message you heard from me, is God’s way to save you. But you must continue believing it. If you don’t, you believed for nothing.
3I gave you the message that I received. I told you the most important truths: that Christ died for our sins, as the Scriptures say; 4that he was buried and was raised to life on the third day, as the Scriptures say; 5and that he appeared to Peter and then to the twelve apostles. 6After that Christ appeared to more than 500 other believers at the same time. Most of them are still living today, but some have died. 7Then he appeared to James and later to all the apostles. 8Last of all, he appeared to me. I was different, like a baby born before the normal time.
9All the other apostles are greater than I am. I say this because I persecuted the church of God. That is why I am not even good enough to be called an apostle. 10But, because of God’s grace, that is what I am. And his grace that he gave me was not wasted. I worked harder than all the other apostles. (But I was not really the one working. It was God’s grace that was with me.) 11So then it is not important if I told you God’s message or if it was the other apostles who told you—we all tell people the same message, and this is what you believed.
We Will Be Raised From Death
12We tell everyone that Christ was raised from death. So why do some of you say that people will not be raised from death? 13If no one will ever be raised from death, then Christ has never been raised. 14And if Christ has never been raised, then the message we tell is worth nothing. And your faith is worth nothing. 15And we will also be guilty of lying about God, because we have told people about him, saying that he raised Christ from death. And if no one is raised from death, then God never raised Christ from death. 16If those who have died are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. 17And if Christ has not been raised from death, then your faith is for nothing; you are still guilty of your sins. 18And those in Christ who have already died are lost. 19If our hope in Christ is only for this life here on earth, then people should feel more sorry for us than for anyone else.
20But Christ really has been raised from death—the first one of all those who will be raised. 21Death comes to people because of what one man did. But now there is resurrection from death because of another man. 22I mean that in Adam all of us die. And in the same way, in Christ all of us will be made alive again. 23But everyone will be raised to life in the right order. Christ was first to be raised. Then, when Christ comes again, those who belong to him will be raised to life. 24Then the end will come. Christ will destroy all rulers, authorities, and powers. Then he will give the kingdom to God the Father.
25Christ must rule until God puts all enemies under his control.#15:25 control Literally, “feet.” 26The last enemy to be destroyed will be death. 27As the Scriptures say, “God put everything under his control.”#Quote from Ps. 8:6. When it says that “everything” is put under him, it is clear that this does not include God himself. God is the one putting everything under Christ’s control. 28After everything has been put under Christ, then the Son himself will be put under God. God is the one who put everything under Christ. And Christ will be put under God so that God will be the complete ruler over everything.
29If no one will ever be raised from death, then what will the people do who are baptized for those who have died? If the dead are never raised, then why are people baptized for them?
30And what about us? Why do we put ourselves in danger every hour? 31I face death every day. That is true, brothers and sisters, just as it is true that I am proud of what you are because of Christ Jesus our Lord. 32I fought wild animals in Ephesus. If I did that only for human reasons, then I have gained nothing. If we are not raised from death, “Let us eat and drink, because tomorrow we die.”#Quote from Isa. 22:13; 56:12.
33Don’t be fooled: “Bad friends will ruin good habits.” 34Come back to your right way of thinking and stop sinning. Some of you don’t know God. I say this to shame you.
What Kind of Body Will We Have?
35But someone may ask, “How are the dead raised? What kind of body will they have?” 36These are stupid questions. When you plant something, it must die in the ground before it can live and grow. 37And when you plant something, what you plant does not have the same “body” that it will have later. What you plant is only a seed, maybe wheat or something else. 38But God gives it the body that he has planned for it, and he gives each kind of seed its own body. 39All things made of flesh are not the same: People have one kind of flesh, animals have another, birds have another, and fish have yet another kind. 40Also there are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies. But the beauty of the heavenly bodies is one kind, and the beauty of the earthly bodies is another. 41The sun has one kind of beauty, the moon has another kind, and the stars have another. And each star is different in its beauty.
42It will be the same when those who have died are raised to life. The body that is “planted” in the grave will ruin and decay, but it will be raised to a life that cannot be destroyed. 43When the body is “planted,” it is without honor. But when it is raised, it will be great and glorious. When the body is “planted,” it is weak. But when it is raised, it will be full of power. 44The body that is “planted” is a physical body. When it is raised, it will be a spiritual body.
There is a physical body. So there is also a spiritual body. 45As the Scriptures say, “The first man, Adam, became a living person.#15:45 person Literally, “soul.””#Quote from Gen. 2:7. But the last Adam#15:45 Adam The name Adam means “man.” Here, “the last Adam” refers to Christ, the “man of heaven.” is a life-giving spirit. 46The spiritual man did not come first. It was the physical man that came first; then came the spiritual. 47The first man came from the dust of the earth. The second man came from heaven. 48All people belong to the earth. They are like that first man of earth. But those who belong to heaven are like that man of heaven. 49We were made like that man of earth, so we will also be made like that man of heaven.
50I tell you this, brothers and sisters: Our bodies of flesh and blood cannot have a part in God’s kingdom. Something that will ruin cannot have a part in something that never ruins. 51But listen, I tell you this secret: We will not all die, but we will all be changed. 52It will only take the time of a second. We will be changed as quickly as an eye blinks. This will happen when the last trumpet blows. The trumpet will blow and those who have died will be raised to live forever. And we will all be changed. 53This body that ruins must clothe itself with something that will never ruin. And this body that dies must clothe itself with something that will never die. 54So this body that ruins will clothe itself with that which never ruins. And this body that dies will clothe itself with that which never dies. When this happens, the Scriptures will be made true:
“Death is swallowed in victory.” Isaiah 25:8
55“O death, where is your victory?
Where is your power to hurt?” Hosea 13:14
56Death’s power to hurt is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57But we thank God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!
58So, my dear brothers and sisters, stand strong. Don’t let anything change you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord. You know that your work in the Lord is never wasted.
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© 1987, 2004 Bible League International
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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