1 Cor 15:1-16:24

1 Cor 15:1-8 (NIV) 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.

• This section starts out differently than most of the previous sections. What is different and what does that tell us?
  
  • It does not start with "now concerning," so it is not referencing their previous letter
    
  • Either this is an observation that Paul has concerning some, or some others have provided this information, or it would be natural to think this way based on the Corinthian culture
    
• An interesting question, what are the minimal requirements for belief leading to salvation versus belief in vain?
  
  • Minimal:
    
    • Christ died for our sins
      
    • Burial emphasizes the fact that Christ died
      
  • Not necessary for salvation, but salvation is worthless without:
    
    • Christ rose from the dead on the third day conquering death
      
      • "Though the resurrection is part of the gospel message, it is not part of the saving work of Christ on the cross. The resurrection is stated as proof of the efficacy of Christ's death. Having accomplished redemption by His death, Jesus Christ was 'raised because of our justification' (Rom. 4:25). The fact that Jesus Christ is alive is part of the Christian's good news, but individuals are saved by His death, not by His resurrection." [1]
        
    • Knowledge of who and how many saw him after the resurrection
      
• While it is not necessary for salvation to know who and how many saw him after the resurrection, Paul emphasizes this point -- for what reason?
  
  • The resurrection is an established verified historical fact. At the time of the letter, you could talk to eye-witnesses of the event
    
  • Paul's experience as an eye-witness, although in more unusual circumstances, and much later, established his credentials as an apostle
    
• Paul calls himself "the abortion"
  
  • Unusual phrase, since it includes the article "the"
    
  • Some think that it may have been a derogatory term used by the Corinthians and others
    
  • Others have suggested it is a play on Paul's name -- Paulus, "the little one" or "dwarf" [2]
    

  1 Cor 15:9-11 (NIV) 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.
  

• How does Paul view himself?
  
  • Very undeserving (grace), but still an apostle
    
• Verse 10, is interesting. The verse begins and ends with the word "grace," but in between, Paul says he worked harder …. How does that fit together?
  
  • Grace means we are undeserving
    
  • Work in not done alone or in our own strength
    
  • Grace provides what we don't have, but does not dismiss the need for work. This is a really hard concept. I'm not accepted on the basis of anything I did. Jesus did it all. Not only was I undeserving, I was deserving death. God provides the himself, in the person of the Holy Spirit to come along side and help me. I do not deserve to be a temple of His presence. But I still have to choose to work. And as I choose, he provides what is necessary to succeed -- something that I also don't deserve. It really is an issue of a mindset of understanding ...
    
• In the final analysis, who preached the message is irrelevant. There is only one message to believe (the point of verse 11)
  

  1 Cor 15:12-24 (NIV) 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. 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.
  

  20 But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 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. 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.
  

• Part of the problem is that the typical Greek accepted the immortality of the soul, they would have never dreamed of the resurrection of the body [3]
  
• Paul starts out arguing from the negative point of view. What are his negative points?
  
  • If no resurrection
    
    • Christ did not raised from the dead
      
    • Paul's preaching is useless (so is their faith)
      
    • Apostles are false witnesses about God
      
    • Faith is futile
      
    • We are still in our sins
      
    • The dead are lost forever
      
    • We ought to be the most pitied group among men
      
• What are the arguments for the resurrection?
  
  • It happened
    
  • Jesus is the firstfruits of all who ever died
    
    • The use of the firstfruits is a reference to a Jewish concept. The Jews offered a sacrifice of firstfruits the day after Passover (Saturday). The then feast of firstfruits occurs 50 days later (Pentecost)
      
    • Jesus was the firstfruit, a spiritual firstfruit
      
    • The disciples were firstfruits of a new kind of person
      
  • Adam, a man, brought death. Jesus, a man, brings life
    
  • Adam, all die. Jesus, all will live (actually, all people will be resurrected, even the ungodly. The difference is so will go onto eternal punishment)
    

  1 Cor 15:35-49 (NIV) 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 splendor of the heavenly bodies is one kind, and the splendor of the earthly bodies is another. 41 The sun has one kind of splendor, the moon another and the stars another; and star differs from star in splendor.
  

  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 dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; 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.
  

• What is another way of asking the question in verse 35, a way a skeptic might ask it?
  
  • Are they raised looking like their age? What happens if a fish eats them? What if they die in a house fire?
    
  • Paul describes these arguments as foolish, probably because they ignore God and look at things from a human perspective
    
• So what will our body look like?
  
  • Whatever God has determined (verse 38)
    
  • Rarely does the grown plant look like the seed
    
  • The splendor of spiritual is different from the splendor of the earthly
    
  • It will be imperishable (suggests an immaterial form)
    
  • Jesus' resurrection seems to provide some hints (also we will bear the likeness of the man from heaven -- Jesus)
    
    • It was and it wasn't completely recognizable
      
    • It was full grown
      
    • It was material and immaterial
      
    • It could experience food (don't know if it required food)
      

  1 Cor 15:50-58 (NIV) I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51 Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— 52 in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53 For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. 54 When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: "Death has been swallowed up in victory."
  

  55 "Where, O death, is your victory?
  

  Where, O death, is your sting?"
  

  56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
  

  58 Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.
  

• Paul mentions "a mystery" -- one of 8 mysteries in the NT
  
  • A mystery is something revealed in the NT that was hidden or unknown in the OT
    
• Rapture is a mystery
  
  • Occurs at the last trumpet -- 2 views of the last trumpet
    
    • The first is the mid-trib view which views the term as the last of the seven trumpet judgments in Revelation
      
      • I don't think this view is consistent with other verses of scripture and requires too much adjustments to make work
        
      • Also, Revelation was not written nor revealed yet, so few readers would have made that assumption
        
    • The second view is the more common to moving an Army out into battle. Everyone and thing steps out with the last trumpet blast
      
  • The rapture occurs as follows
    
    • Jesus descends and meets believers in the air (which is why it is not the second return, since Jesus never comes to earth, as mentioned at the end of Revelation)
      
      • The dead (perishable) in Christ rise first and are change to imperishable bodies
        
      • The alive or mortal in Christ rise next and are given immortal bodies
        
    • Not clear if there is a distinction between imperishable and immortal
      
  • At that point, at least for believers, death has lost its sting, which is sin. Our new bodies, free from the flesh, are not subject to temptations of the flesh (for me, this is hard to imagine, since I see my flesh so intertwined with everything I do)
    

  [1] Thomas L. Constable, "The Gospel Message," in Walvoord: A Tribute, p. 203
  

  [2] Fee, The First …, P.733
  

  [3] Barclay, The Letter …, p.156