Church: Reformed Baptist Church of Franconia | Text: 1 Corinthians 15 | Date: March 17, 2019 | Speaker: Fred Zaspel

We are continuing our series on the death and life afterwards, and we’ve been looking now for the last several weeks at the doctrine of the resurrection. We’ve tried to trace it through the scriptures from the Old Testament to the New, and we’ve seen some significant progress in that, from a belief in the resurrection to the promise of the resurrection in the prophets, to the expectation of it in the Gospels and in Jesus. When we get to the epistles, we begin to find a little more detail filled in, and we’re going to see a significant degree of detail filled in now this evening in 1 Corinthians chapter 15.

I’d like to accomplish a minor miracle this evening and survey the entire chapter. This is the “resurrection chapter,” as it is called. We have the fullest—not all of the details, but the fullest—treatment of the doctrine of the resurrection, I think, anywhere in the Bible. So I would like to take the time to read through, beginning with verse one to the end:

“Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word that I preach to you, unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas and then to the Twelve. And then he appeared to more than 500 brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me, for I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.

But by the grace of God, I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. Whether then it was I or they, so we preach, and so you believed. Now, if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain, and your faith is in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise, if it is true that the dead are not raised.

For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised, and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile, and you are still in your sins. Then, those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied. But, in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order, Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ.

Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For God has put all things in subjection under his feet. But when it says, all things are put in subjection, it is plain that he has accepted who put all things in subjection under him. When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all.

Otherwise, what do people mean by being baptized on behalf of the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized on their behalf? Why am I in danger every hour? I protest, brothers, by my pride in you, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die every day. What do I gain if, humanly speaking, I fought with beasts at Ephesus? If the dead are not raised, let us eat, drink, and drink, for tomorrow we die. Do not be deceived. Bad company ruins good morals. Wake up from your drunken stupor, as is right, and do not go on sinning, for some have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame.

But someone will ask, ‘How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?’ You foolish person. What you sow does not come to life except it dies. And what you sow is not the body that is to be, but the bare kernel, perhaps of wheat or some other grain. But God gives it a body as he has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body. For not all flesh is the same, but there is one kind for humans, another for animals, another for birds, another for fish. There are heavenly bodies and there are earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is of one kind, and the glory of the earthly is another. There is one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, another glory of the stars, for star differs from star in glory.

So it is with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable. What is raised is imperishable. It is sown in dishonor. It is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness. It is raised in power. It is sown a natural body. It is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there’s also a spiritual body. Thus it is written, ‘The first man, Adam, became a living being.’ The last man became a life-giving spirit. But it is not the spiritual that is first, but the natural, and then the spiritual. The first man was from the earth, a man of dust. The second man is from heaven. As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust. And as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.

I tell you this, brothers. Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold, I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed in a moment in the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on an imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. And when the perishable puts on the imperishable and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written, ‘Death is swallowed up in victory.’ Oh, death, where is your victory? Oh, death, where is your sting? The sting of death is sin, the power of sin is the law, but thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.”

Let’s bow together for prayer. Our Father, what a wonderful passage of scripture this is. What a wonderful hope it has to tell us of. We’re grateful for the great work of our Savior. We’re grateful for the great hope that we have in him. We ask again now that you will give us a clear understanding of your word and give that to us so that we may rejoice more fully in all that you’ve given us to anticipate and to revel in the accomplished work of our Savior. We ask in his name, amen.

All right, to hurry through the whole chapter, I’ll have to speak in just broad swaths about some of these passages. You can keep an eye on the text. And please do that, and make sure that what I am saying is what you are seeing there.

The Essentials of the Gospel

In the first 11 verses of the chapter, Paul is rehearsing for us the essentials of the gospel, and that is the death and resurrection of Jesus. Now you’ll notice it is not just the death and resurrection of Jesus; that’s important. It is not just that he died, it’s that he died for our sins. In fact, it’s more than that, it’s that he died for our sins according to the scriptures. And that he was buried, and he rose again the third day according to the scriptures. And then he was seen of others, and he names all of these witnesses that could be called up to testify that Jesus, in fact, had risen from the dead.

So this is the gospel. Christ died for our sins, just as God had promised in the Old Testament scriptures. He rose from the dead, just as God had promised. And he says, “This is the gospel,” verses one and two. This is the gospel that I’ve preached. This is the gospel that you have believed. And it is standing in this gospel that we are saved before God. And so, verse 11, whether it was I or they who preached it, you’ve believed it, and this is the gospel in which we all stand.

The Consequences of Denying Christ’s Resurrection

Now, when we get to verse 12, we learn that Paul has rehearsed all of this, these gospel essentials, for a specific purpose. And that purpose is there were some false teachers in Corinth troubling the people there. Verse 12: “If Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?”

Now, Paul’s logic here is very simple. How can you claim that there’s no resurrection? How can you deny the resurrection? On the way into this thing, you’ve embraced that truth that Jesus rose from the dead. You can’t have it both ways. This is a truth that you’ve embraced already on the way in. And so in verses 13 and following then, Paul lists the consequences of denying Christ’s resurrection. If you deny the resurrection of the dead, you deny the resurrection of Jesus. If you deny the resurrection of Jesus, you deny the gospel itself. And if there is no gospel, there is no salvation. All of us are yet in our sins and we have no hope whatever. And all of this pretending of religion, verse 19, is just a big charade and we are a bunch of fools if Jesus has not been raised from the dead.

Now, before we move further, I want you to think about Paul’s reasoning here and try to understand it. In verse 12, the problem he is confronting is that some have denied the resurrection. Paul’s answer to that false teaching—that there will be no resurrection of the dead—Paul’s answer to that is, “How can you say that? Jesus has already been raised from the dead.”

Now the question is, how does Paul’s answer answer their false teaching? They might just as quickly say, “Oh wait, I’m not talking about Jesus’ resurrection. I’m talking about our resurrection later. That’s what I don’t believe in.” And so why does Paul begin here with Jesus’ resurrection and say, “You can’t deny that resurrection because you’ve already affirmed it. Jesus has been raised from the dead”?

Well, now the first step of the answer to that is what we’ve seen elsewhere. And that is that Jesus’ resurrection from the dead was that eschatological resurrection, the resurrection of the end times when we will be raised into the life of the eternal state. That is what Jesus himself has already experienced. That’s why, as we’ve seen before, in the Book of Acts, for example, you’ve got the Pharisees and the Sadducees fighting. There will be a resurrection of the dead; the Sadducees saying there won’t be a resurrection of the dead. And Paul says, “Look, guys, I got news for you. It’s already happened.” And that’s the significance, for example, in Acts chapter 4 and verse 2 where he says, “I’ve been preaching in Jesus the resurrection of the dead.” That it is in union with Christ that we will be raised. Christ himself has been raised to that resurrection and we’ll be joined with him in that, and that’s what he’ll pick up a little bit later here.

So, verses 19 and following then, Paul picks up on that and gives us the further significance of Jesus’ resurrection. And his whole teaching here is summed up in something like: Jesus’ resurrection was not an isolated event. And what I mean by that is, it was not just his resurrection, but his people will be caught up with him in his resurrection. And because we are joined to him, we will join him in that resurrection.

So notice verses 19 and 20—well, verse 20: “But, in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.” Now there’s that word “firstfruits” again. We saw it in Romans chapter 8 last time, that the Spirit is given to us, the firstfruits of the Spirit of the work that he’s doing now, and the final fruits will be what he does later in resurrection. Jesus now, picking up on the same Old Testament imagery—when the harvest was about to come, there’d be a sampling of the harvest brought into the priest, and this is a representative sampling and a promise of a more harvest to come. Jesus is spoken of as the firstfruits of the resurrection. He is the first sampling and the promise of a fuller resurrection to come.

And then verses 21 through 23, it is more than that. Christ is not just the first to be raised, he’s the head and the leader of a great company that will be raised. “For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order, Christ the firstfruits, and then at his coming, those who belong to him.”

So Paul explains his point in terms of what we’ve seen before in this series, Adam Christology. Just as we stood in Adam as our representative head, and in Adam through his sin, the consequences of the sin fell upon all of us—made sinners, subject to death, death passed upon all men because of Adam’s sin—and he’s our representative. Just as in Adam all die, so now Christ stands as the last Adam, the new Adam, the new representative of his people, and in him we have an undoing of all that happened in the first Adam. Christ has accomplished righteousness and brought us into life and into resurrection.

So he explains it all in these terms of these two heads. In Adam, we’ve lost it. In Adam, we die. But now because of our new representative head, we are brought into life. Christ then is the hinge. So not only is Christ the first one to be raised from the dead—now remember, others who were raised from the dead like Lazarus, they were not raised into that eschatological resurrection. They were resuscitated and the presumption is they finally died again. Jesus was brought into that life of the age to come through his resurrection. He is the first one to have done that, but more than the first, he is the representative head of his people, and because we are joined in union with him, we will be raised with him in his resurrection.

There is the “now,” and there is the “not yet.” We experience life in Christ now; the fullness of it will come in the day of resurrection that we must enjoy, we must experience because we are joined to Christ who himself has already passed into that resurrection. Now that’s the sense in verse 23, which speaks of “those who belong to him. Each in his own order. Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to him.” He is the first sampling, and then all of those who are his, precisely because they are his, and precisely because they are joined to him, will be caught up in his resurrection as well.

We saw a hint of this, you’ll remember, when we looked at John 11: “I am the resurrection and the life.” Jesus—it is in union with him that resurrection is experienced. It’s not just that he raises the dead. It is that in union with him, we will join him in resurrection. With only this difference, verse 23: “But each in his own order. Christ the firstfruits, and then at his coming, those who belong to him.” We’re joined with him because we are joined with him and because he has already passed into that resurrection state. We certainly must be joined with him in that resurrection, only in this order: Christ first, and then when he returns, those who are his will be caught up with him in the resurrection.

And that in a nutshell is Paul’s whole argument. We have this hope of resurrection precisely because we are united to Christ who himself has conquered death, has paid the penalty of sin, death is destroyed, he has been raised out of the dead himself, triumphing over it, and in his resurrection he has taken us with him. And we then will experience that resurrection at his return.

The Nature of the Resurrection Body

Now, when we come to verses 35 and following, he takes up the question of what will that resurrection body be like? And I’m not going to get into that now in any kind of detail. We’ll look at that later when we look at the final state. Just this, that the point of verses 35 through 44 then is to describe the nature of the resurrection body. And in a nutshell, his teaching here is that it will be the same body, but different.

Now, if that sounds like doublespeak—he will be the same body, but different—just remember the illustrations that he gives through this, particularly like the seed and the final fruit of it. What comes in the end is not what you have at the beginning. You plant the one, it dies, it sprouts, and you have a different body than you had at the first, and yet there’s continuity. And he expresses this idea in several different ways through this passage, that there will be the same body, but different. There will be continuity with the old body, and yet it will be different because flesh and blood does not inherit the kingdom of God. The body in resurrection will be made fitting to life in that state, just as the body that we have here is fitting to life in this world. And that is the long and short of verses 35 to 44.

In verses 45 and following then, he explains again in terms of the Adam-Christ contrast, verse 45: “Thus it is written, ‘The first man, Adam, became a living being,’ and the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.” He quotes Genesis 1; the first man, Adam, God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and he became a living being. So also the last Adam becomes a life-giving spirit that is in his resurrection. He has not only conquered death, but now he has the right, the authority, and the power to give life to his people who are joined to him, and he does that through the Spirit of God, and Paul describes it here as the last Adam himself becoming the life-giving Spirit.

And then verse 49: “Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.” That is, just as in this life we have the body that Adam the first gave us, so in that life we will have the body that the last Adam gives us. That is to say, what Jesus’ resurrection body was like, that is the kind of resurrection body we will have in the resurrection.

So what was Jesus’ resurrection body like? Well, on the one hand, they could see the scars, see the wounds. He sat down on the seashore with them and ate lunch. And yet, on the other hand, he passed through the grave clothes just leaving them there without disturbing them. He appeared in the upper room that was locked. Something supernatural going on. The resurrection body evidently is something very different. He has passed into that life of the eschaton; there’s continuity with the old body, and yet it’s a new body made, as he calls it here, a spiritual body, a powerful body for life suited in that world.

It might be good to take the time to just turn forward a few pages, a handful of pages, to Philippians chapter 3. Philippians chapter 3, verses 20 and 21: “Our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorified or glorious body by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.” Here again is the affirmation that we have in 1 Corinthians 15 verse 49, that our body in resurrection will be like Jesus’ resurrection body. We will be made like him.

We Shall Not All Sleep, but We Shall All Be Changed

Now then, in verses 51 to 53, we have a related question that comes up. All of this about the resurrection of the dead, all these believers have died, we have the assurance that Christ will come and bring them up, and they’ll have a glorified body just like his. The question now is, well, what about those of us who don’t die and are still living when Jesus comes? Will we miss out on something? And so he takes up that question in verses 51 to 53.

“Behold, I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep.” That is, we won’t all die, “but we shall all be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised imperishable and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable and this mortal body must put on immortality.”

So verse 51, we won’t all die, but we all will be transformed just the same. Just as those in resurrection, their body will be transformed, so also at Jesus’ coming, those who are alive and remain will be transformed as well, just like them. It’s just that we will experience, if we can put it this way, we will experience resurrection without having died. And then verse 52, this will happen in a moment, all at once, instantly at the last trumpet.

And that, I’m certain, has reference back to the Old Testament. In Joshua chapter 6, for example, the Israelites were to, you remember, march on Jericho, and there’s a series of trumpets, and then there’s the seventh day and the seventh trumpet that is blown, and when the seventh trumpet is blown, Israel’s troops march, and they move out, march around the city, and they go off to success in battle. More than that, I think it has reference pretty clearly back to some language of the prophets in the Old Testament. For example, Isaiah chapter 27, verses 13 and 14: “And in that day, in that day a great trumpet will be blown. And those who were lost in the land of Assyria and those who were driven out to the land of Egypt will come and worship the Lord on the holy mountain at Jerusalem.”

This is the announcement of the Day of the Lord. And you have several passages in the Old Testament where the Day of the Lord is announced with the blast of a trumpet. Joel chapter 2 verse 1: “Blow a trumpet in Zion, sound an alarm on my holy mountain. Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble for the day of the Lord is coming. It is near.” For those of you taking notes, you can mark down Zephaniah chapter 1 verses 14 to 16 as well, that the Day of the Lord is marked with the blowing of a trumpet announcing the coming of God, the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ to bring his work to consummation.

So he’s saying here then that one day the Lord Jesus will descend from heaven. It’ll be a noisy event. There’ll be the shout of the angel that we find as well, commanding the troops. There’ll be this great blast of the trumpet, and all at once the dead in Christ, those who have died believing in Jesus—all at once they will be raised from the dead and transformed with this glorified body like Jesus’ body. The corruptible body made incorruptible, this perishable body made imperishable; they’ll be raised to be like him. And then all who are alive still, remaining at that time, they’ll be caught up together with them and transformed as well, joining those who’ve been raised from the dead—and we’ll see this next time in 1 Thessalonians chapter four—joining those who’ve been raised from the dead to share in the glory of Christ.

Death Is Swallowed Up in Victory

Well, what then? Verse 54 through 57: “When the perishable puts on the imperishable and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written, ‘Death is swallowed up in victory.’ Oh, death, where is your victory? Oh, death, where is your sting? The sting of death is sin. The power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

When he says this will bring to pass the saying, “Death is swallowed up in victory,” he is quoting there a passage that we saw earlier in the series, Isaiah chapter 25 and verse eight: “He will swallow up death forever and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces and the reproach of his people he will take away from the earth for the Lord has spoken.” In that context, in Isaiah chapter 25, it is the Lord’s oracle, the prophecy of the final salvation that he will bring to his people. Explaining the fullness of it, he says, “I’ll swallow up death itself,” and death itself will be not only ended, but death will be reversed, and the earth will give birth to the dead.

And Paul is picking that up here, and he’s saying that that final salvation must entail—God’s final salvation that he’s promised must entail—the resurrection of the dead, the reversal of death, and God’s people must be raised and vindicated. This is an essential of the gospel that God bring his salvation to its fullness, and that includes the resurrection of the body at the return of Jesus Christ.

Sometimes at funerals we’ll hear this verse quoted, and it’s true enough to quote it at a time like that as though it has already been fulfilled. We Christians now can say, “Death is swallowed up in victory. Oh, death, where is your victory? Oh, death, where is your sting?” But any of you who have lost a loved one, you know that that’s not fulfilled yet. Death still stings. The pain is something else and there’s nothing like it. But what he is saying here is that one day, when Jesus comes, we will be able to say with the same mocking tone here, “Oh death, where is your victory? Where is your sting now?” I suppose the stinger is pulled in some degree now because we have this great hope and this anticipation in Christ, but one day it’ll be fulfilled in full. The glory of that day, he says, is that we’ll be raised with Christ, to be like Christ, to be with Christ, to share in the glory of Christ, and our salvation finally brought to completion.

And preacher that he is, verse 58: “Therefore…” There’s some entailments of this. “Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.” That is to say, this doctrine of the resurrection has profound impact for life today. It’s just part of life in a fallen world, part of being the weak creatures that we are, that we become tired and discouraged, even in the work of the Lord. And it’s all the more so when you lose a loved one. Paul says, “Hey, keep your eye on the goal. Your labor is not in vain in the Lord.” And there’s just a brief reflection then of Paul’s reward theology. Keep your eye on the goal. Learn to live for tomorrow today. This is a great hope and it ought to have impact in the way we serve the Lord Jesus today. Amen.

Next time we’ll look at a complimentary passage on this in 1 Thessalonians chapter four. Let’s stand then and be dismissed in prayer. Pastor Greg, would you pray for us please?