1 Corinthians 15
15
1But I make known to you, brethren, the glad tidings which I announced to you, which also ye received, in which also ye stand, 2by which also ye are saved, (if ye hold fast the word which I announced to you as the glad tidings,) unless indeed ye have believed in vain. 3For I delivered to you, in the first place, what also I had received, that Christ died for our sins, according to the scriptures; 4and that he was buried; and that he was raised the third day, according to the scriptures; 5and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6Then he appeared to above five hundred brethren at once, of whom the most remain until now, but some also have fallen asleep. 7Then he appeared to James; then to all the apostles; 8and last of all, as to an abortion, he appeared to me also. 9For I am the least of the apostles, who am not fit to be called apostle, because I have persecuted the assembly of God. 10But by God's grace I am what I am; and his grace, which was towards me, has not been vain; but I have laboured more abundantly than they all, but not I, but the grace of God which was with me. 11Whether, therefore, I or they, thus we preach, and thus ye have believed.
12Now if Christ is preached that he is raised from among the dead, how say some among you that there is not a resurrection of those that are dead? 13But if there is not a resurrection of those that are dead, neither is Christ raised: 14but if Christ is not raised, then, indeed, vain also is our preaching, and vain also your faith. 15And we are found also false witnesses of God; for we have witnessed concerning God that he raised the Christ, whom he has not raised if indeed those that are dead are not raised. 16For if those that are dead are not raised, neither is Christ raised; 17but if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. 18Then indeed also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are the most miserable of all men.
20(But now Christ is raised from among the dead, first-fruits of those fallen asleep. 21For since by man came death, by man also resurrection of those that are dead. 22For as in the Adam all die, thus also in the Christ all shall be made alive. 23But each in his own rank: the first-fruits, Christ; then those that are the Christ's at his coming. 24Then the end, when he gives up the kingdom to him who is God and Father; when he shall have annulled all rule and all authority and power. 25For he must reign until he put all enemies under his feet. 26The last enemy that is annulled is death. 27For he has put all things in subjection under his feet. But when he says that all things are put in subjection, it is evident that it is except him who put all things in subjection to him. 28But when all things shall have been brought into subjection to him, then the Son also himself shall be placed in subjection to him who put all things in subjection to him, that God may be all in all.) 29Since what shall the baptised for the dead do if those that are dead rise not at all? why also are they baptised for them? 30Why do we also endanger ourselves every hour? 31Daily I die, by your boasting which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord. 32If, to speak after the manner of man, I have fought with beasts in Ephesus, what is the profit to me if those that are dead do not rise? let us eat and drink; for to-morrow we die. 33Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners. 34Awake up righteously, and sin not; for some are ignorant of God: I speak to you as a matter of shame.
35But some one will say, How are the dead raised? and with what body do they come? 36Fool; what thou sowest is not quickened unless it die. 37And what thou sowest, thou sowest not the body that shall be, but a bare grain: it may be of wheat, or some one of the rest: 38and God gives to it a body as he has pleased, and to each of the seeds its own body. 39Every flesh is not the same flesh, but one is of men, and another flesh of beasts, and another flesh of birds, and another of fishes. 40And there are heavenly bodies, and earthly bodies: but different is the glory of the heavenly, different that of the earthly: 41one the sun's glory, and another the moon's glory, and another the stars' glory; for star differs from star in glory. 42Thus also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruptibility. 43It is sown in dishonour, 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: if there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual one. 45Thus also it is written, The first man Adam became a living soul; the last Adam a quickening spirit. 46But that which is spiritual was not first, but that which is natural, then that which is spiritual: 47the first man out of the earth, made of dust; the second man, out of heaven. 48Such as he made of dust, such also those made of dust; and such as the heavenly one, such also the heavenly ones. 49And as we have borne the image of the one made of dust, we shall bear also the image of the heavenly one. 50But this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit God's kingdom, nor does corruption inherit incorruptibility.
51Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all fall asleep, but we shall all be changed, 52in an instant, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 53For this corruptible must needs put on incorruptibility, and this mortal put on immortality. 54But when this corruptible shall have put on incorruptibility, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall come to pass the word written: Death has been swallowed up in victory. 55Where, O death, is thy sting? where, O death, thy victory? 56Now the sting of death is sin, and the power of sin the law; 57but thanks to God, who gives us the victory by our Lord Jesus Christ.
58So then, my beloved brethren, be firm, immovable, abounding always in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.
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1 Corinthians 15: DARBY
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First published in 1890. This edition is maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society.
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.