(You may want to use a display for this study)
The higher social, and wealthy, class in Jewish society were the Sadducees. They held strong religious beliefs and were responsible for the Temple building and upkeep. But their religious beliefs were contrary to the Gospel message. They believed that there was no afterlife and therefore no reward or penalty after death.
It is quite likely that there were some in the Church at Corinth who were actually Sadducees, or perhaps aspired to join their society, or who simply admired them and copied their beliefs.
So Paul now turns his attention to the subject of the resurrection. But before we follow his arguments we should look at his credentials v8-11 (but we’ll read from verse 1) :
1 Corinthians 15:1-11
1 Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand.
2 By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.
3 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,
4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,
5 and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve.
6 After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep.
7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles,
8 and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.
9 For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.
10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them— yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.
11 Whether, then, it was I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed.
Jesus appeared to Paul in a miraculous way (the story would have been well-known to the Corinthians) as if the timing of his birth was abnormal (v8). He was constantly persecuted for his faith (v9), but God’s grace had been powerfully evident in his life (v10), and the message he had preached to the Church at Corinth had been readily accepted by them (v11).
In order to teach about resurrection, Paul had firstly to explain again the fundamentals of the Gospel. V2: It is only by believing the gospel message that they are saved; if they can’t accept the basics then what they do believe is futile.
So what are the basics (verses 3-4)? (Display phrases as they are mentioned)
1 Christ died for our sins. (v3) (in accordance with scripture)
2 He was buried (v4)
3 He rose again (v4) (in accordance with scripture)
Only by believing all of these three statements can you be saved.
The Sadducees could not accept the third one, so what proofs does Paul give? (Verses 5-8)
He appeared to many people (v5-7)
He appeared to all the Apostles (v7)
He appeared to Paul (v8)
If they were happy with the message of the Apostles (and Paul), even favouring one over another (1 Corinthians 1:12), then they had to accept as true what each of these men had told them.
And what they had been told was that Christ has been raised from the dead.
So they were being totally inconsistent:
1 Corinthians 15:12-13
12 But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?
13 If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised.
Resurrection is either possible for all, or not possible for any.
1 Corinthians 15:14-19
14 And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.
15 More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised.
16 For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either.
17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.
18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost.
19 If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.
Why was that?
They had suffered persecution, even feared for their lives.
Their hopes were so high; to find that they were not true would be devastating.
What are our hopes for this resurrection life?
20 But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
Now it seems as if Paul is anxious to move on from such negative thoughts. Now he will state some facts: First, ‘Christ has indeed been raised from the dead’ – ‘I know, I’ve seen him!’
But what does ‘firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep’ mean?
- In a sense we are all the fruits of Christ’s labour. Those who trust in him will be his harvest, and he is the first sheaf to be harvested.
- By offering the firstfruits of the harvest to God, the whole was consecrated – made holy.
- If Christ, as head of the body, has risen, then the whole body will rise.
1 Corinthians 15:21-34
21 For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man.
22 For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.
In the same way that Adam introduced death into the world, so Jesus has brought the offer of life to all.
23 But each in his own turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him.
24 Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power.
25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.
Not only has Christ risen from death, but he also rose in power: power to bring all his own to glory, and those who reject him to judgement.
26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death.
27 For he has put everything under his feet. Now when it says that everything has been put under him, it is clear that this does not include God himself, who put everything under Christ.
28 When he has done this, then the Son himself will be made subject to him who put everything under him, so that God may be all in all.
When he has overcome all his enemies, and death itself, he will again sit down at the right hand of God (Hebrews 10:12-13).
29 Now if there is no resurrection, what will those do who are baptised for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptised for them?
I’m sorry. No one knows what this referred to so we can only speculate. It seems there may have been a group within the church at Corinth who rejected the resurrection and at the same time baptised people on behalf of the dead. How inconsistent says Paul!
30 And as for us, why do we endanger ourselves every hour?
31 I die every day— I mean that, brothers— just as surely as I glory over you in Christ Jesus our Lord.
32 If I fought wild beasts in Ephesus for merely human reasons, what have I gained? If the dead are not raised,
Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.
Paul just cannot imagine that people would think he would go through what he has had to go through if there was no resurrection. If that was truly the case we may as well just try to enjoy the few days of this life that were left.
33 Do not be misled: Bad company corrupts good character.
What effect can there be if we keep company with those who don’t believe as we do?
What is more likely:
Good people will influence bad people to become good — or
Bad people will influence good people to become bad ?
34 Come back to your senses as you ought, and stop sinning; for there are some who are ignorant of God— I say this to your shame.
Why is it a sin to deny the resurrection?
Because it is saying to God ‘You can’t do that’. Anyone who adopts that attitude puts himself higher than God – which is the ultimate sin.
Let’s move on. Read 1 Corinthians 15:35-43
35 But someone may ask, How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come?
36 How foolish! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies.
37 When you sow, you do not plant the body that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or of something else.
38 But God gives it a body as he has determined, and to each kind of seed he gives its own body.
39 All flesh is not the same: Men have one kind of flesh, animals have another, birds another and fish another.
40 There are also heavenly bodies and there are earthly bodies; but the splendour of the heavenly bodies is one kind, and the splendour of the earthly bodies is another.
41 The sun has one kind of splendour, the moon another and the stars another; and star differs from star in splendour.
42 So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable;
43 it is sown in dishonour, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power;
Paul now faces the question: If we are going to come back to life again, do we get our old body back? He answers the question by comparing our old body to a seed – nothing like the plant that will grow from it.
Read 1 Corinthians 15:44-50
44 it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.
45 So it is written: The first man Adam became a living being; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit.
46 The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual.
47 The first man was of the dust of the earth, the second man from heaven.
48 As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the man from heaven, so also are those who are of heaven.
49 And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we bear the likeness of the man from heaven.
50 I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.
Paul now explains that there is a physical body, and a spiritual body – but he does not say that our resurrection body will be a spiritual one, i.e. one having no physical substance; rather he says it will be ‘from heaven’ (verses 47, 48, 49) and will ‘bear the likeness of the man from heaven’ (v49) – our body will be like Christ’s resurrection body.
So what will it be like?
When Jesus appeared to the disciples he certainly looked human – Luke 24:39-43
39 Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.’
40 When he had said this, he showed them his hands and feet. 41 And while they still did not believe it because of joy and amazement, he asked them, ‘Do you have anything here to eat?’ 42 They gave him a piece of broiled fish, 43 and he took it and ate it in their presence.
But he was also able to come and go, and pass through locked doors – certainly not human!
I have a theory! And to explain we must first understand a little about particle physics. But only a little! Basically everything we can see around us is made of particles (or atoms), and they too can be broken down into subatomic particles – protons, electrons, and neutrons (which themselves can be further broken down). These fundamental particles are described as ‘excitations of quantum fields’ – energy to you and me! Fundamentally, everything that physically exists (matter) is a form of energy – or power, as Einstein explained in his equation – E=MC2 (and can be demonstrated when atoms are split!)
So if you had unlimited power you could create a physical universe.
Then, one day, you could withdraw that same power leaving nothing.
Whether you believe in creation or evolution, you probably agree that there was a time when the universe did not exist. Also, from Isaiah 34:4 (and Revelation 6:14) we are told that a time will come in the future when all the stars of the heavens will be dissolved and ‘the sky rolled up like a scroll’.
And Revelation 21:1 ‘Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away’.
So let me ask a question without an answer:
Before the universe existed, or later, when God has removed everything from Space, what and where is space? How can you describe it? (The intention is that people stretch their imaginations. The answers might include ‘Space is nothing so it can’t actually exist’ or ‘Space is an idea God had to build his universe in’ or ‘actually part of eternity’)
I can understand a finite, physical world, which is running down and would eventually stop; a world with a beginning and an end made of physical atoms.
And people, made of living cells, also made from atoms.
In fact a complete Universe made of atoms.
I can also understand that there is a spiritual world in which God exists, with no beginning or end. So what will the new heavens and earth be like? Spiritual? Or physical? – Or could it be something entirely different?
Can you describe something, not Spiritual, and not Physical; - people not made out of cells or atoms?
Because I am human and not God, I can’t describe another kind of world, a world not made from atoms and molecules. But I believe it could exist, whatever it may be like, because the Bible tells us: ‘No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him’ (1 Corinthians 2:9)
We are going to stop there. The next verse opens a whole topic which we will look at next time. Where do we go when we die? Are we in limbo? Some sort of waiting room?
