1 Corinthians 15:12-58 - From Death to Victory
Marc Minter
1 Corinthians • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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· 22 viewsMain Point: Jesus Christ (who was dead) is now raised and reigning over all creation, and all who trust in Him shall be raised in the end, therefore, live and work for Christ with the time you have, keeping your eyes on the coming resurrection.
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
If you’ve ever endured the pain of loss, the grief that comes when a loved one dies, then you will know how urgent it becomes to find some place to set your feet back on solid ground. It’s usually during that season around death – that time when we are more struck by it than ever we have been before – it’s usually then that people are most interested to grab hold of something hopeful.
Hope does not eliminate the grief… Grief (to one degree or another) stays with us for a lifetime… but hope helps us to cope with, to deal with, to make it through the grief.
It is a shame that many people wait until grief has thrown them into the dark prison cell (like Giant Despair in the story of Pilgrim’s Progress) before they show any real interest in learning what they need to know in order to cope with grief. As John Bunyan wrote the story, Christian was given a key of promise long before he found himself tormented and confined in the dungeon of Doubting Castle. But, it seems to me, many people face grief and despair with the additional dread of surprise… They seem to have thought this could not happen… but, here they are.
Today, we are going to read a passage that speaks directly to the pain of death, but we ought to remember that this text is part of an overall letter from the Apostle Paul to a local church that was out of order, confused about basic Christian living, and apparently in error on some of the most important doctrines of the faith.
Here, at the end of this letter, Paul is teaching on the resurrection of Christ and the resurrection of all those who turn from sin and trust in Christ as a way of calling the Christians in Corinth to repent (stop thinking and speaking and living wrongly) and to persevere (get back on track with believing and living for Christ).
What is it that the Bible tells Christians to remember in order to keep them from turning aside or giving up?
How can a Christian make war against sin and endure all the way to the end?
The world will tell you that the key to happiness is getting what you want right now. A lot of American Evangelicalism will tell you that the right mixture of prayer and faith can get God to make things go your way. But the Bible calls Christians to live lives of self-discipline, sacrifice, and perseverance… waiting with eager anticipation for the completion of the salvation God has promised to all those in Christ… not merely spiritual presence with Christ somewhere… but physical resurrection… in a totally renewed creation.
I pray that the Lord will use our time this morning to convict us of sin, to draw us to Himself, to help us persevere in faith, and to encourage our hearts thoroughly with the glorious hope of Christian resurrection.
Let’s stand together, and I will read our passage aloud.
Scripture Reading
Scripture Reading
1 Corinthians 15:12–58 (ESV)
1 Corinthians 15:12–58 (ESV)
12 Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?
13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14 And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. 15 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.
16 For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19 If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.
20 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. 23 But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. 24 Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. 25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death. 27 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 is excepted who put all things in subjection under him. 28 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.
29 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? 30 Why are we in danger every hour? 31 I protest, brothers, by my pride in you, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die every day! 32 What do I gain if, humanly speaking, I fought with beasts at Ephesus? If the dead are not raised, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.”
33 Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.” 34 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.
35 But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?” 36 You foolish person! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. 37 And what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare kernel, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain. 38 But God gives it a body as he has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body.
39 For not all flesh is the same, but there is one kind for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish. 40 There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is of one kind, and the glory of the earthly is of another. 41 There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory.
42 So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is 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 Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.
46 But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual. 47 The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. 48 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. 49 Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.
50 I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.
51 Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52 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. 53 For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. 54 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.” 55 “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”
56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
58 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.
Main Idea:
Main Idea:
Jesus Christ (who was dead) is now raised and reigning over all creation, and all who trust in Him shall be raised in the end, therefore, live and work for Christ with the time you have, keeping your eyes on the coming resurrection.
Sermon
Sermon
1. Signposts for the Road
1. Signposts for the Road
The structure of our passage helps us stay on track today.
There are two major questions in our passage.
“Is there a resurrection?” (v12)
If there is, the “how are the dead raised?” (v35)
There are two main arguments to provide answers.
The first is more heavily theological (v12-34), focusing on the centrality of Christ’s resurrection (1) to the Bible’s whole storyline and (2) also to the everyday lives of individual Christians.
The second is more rational or deductive (v35-50), focusing on the common experience of sowing and reaping, and especially using that as an analogy to describe how both the “first Adam” and the “last Adam” (v45) are representative of “those” who “bear” their “image” (v49).
All three sections conclude with some application and the first two also each have a call to repentance.
Question – argument/answer – application – call to repent – repeat – application
2. Yes! Christ is Raised! (v12-34)
2. Yes! Christ is Raised! (v12-34)
I told you our first section is heavily theological, so buckle up.
The first major question: “Is there a resurrection?” (v12)
Paul says, “Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?” (v12).
The resurrection of Christ was the key ingredient of Paul’s “gospel” in Corinth (1 Cor. 15:1) or the “word” he had “preached” to them (v2)… and that of “first importance” (v3).
Christ’s resurrection was “in accordance with the Scriptures” (v4).
It was witnessed by “all the apostles” (v5, 7) and also by “more than five hundred brothers at one time” (v6).
Paul argues in our passage today that to deny the resurrection of Christ results in vanity, futility, eternal death, and extreme pity.
Paul says in v14, “if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.”
Friends, if the key ingredient of Paul’s preaching was the resurrection of Christ, and if there is no resurrection, then Paul’s preaching was “empty” or “useless” indeed!
But so too was the faith of the Corinthians “vain” or “empty”!
What are they faithing or believing in?!
Paul also says that denying Christ’s resurrection results in futility.
“And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins” (v17).
The word “futile” here is very similar to “vain,” but they each have a slightly different nuance.
κενη or κενος – “vain” or empty-handed (there’s nothing in it)
ματαια or ματαιος – “futile” or fruitless (it doesn’t do or produce anything)
And you can see what Paul means when he says, “you are still in your sins” (v17).
If Christ is not raised, then Jesus died and stayed dead like every other descendant of Adam before Him.
Jesus was not the Messiah, He was not the perfect High Priest, and He did not die in the place of sinners… He just died!
This leads us into the next implication… Paul says, “if Christ has not been raised… Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished” [i.e., died forever] (v18).
To deny Christ’s resurrection means that all who have died are utterly “lost” or “destroyed.” There is no coming back.
And, finally, Paul says all that is left is extreme pity.
“If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied” (v19).
Friends, the unbeliever who ignores or rejects the risen Christ will be punished, not pitied…
But if we are clinging to a dead Savior, believing He will raise us when He has not the power to raise Himself, then we are to be pitied as hopeless and helpless fools.
But there is a turn in v20!
So, “Is there a resurrection?” You bet, there is! “Christ has been raised” (v20)!
And here in v20-28, Paul offers a counterpoint to each of the negative results we’ve already discussed.
The preaching of the gospel and our faith in it is not in vain!
“in fact Christ has been raised from the dead” (v20).
This good news is not empty; it’s full!
And faith or belief in Christ is not futile!
Though “death” came “by a man” (v21), and all who follow after him are condemned by God, “by [another] man has come also the resurrection of the dead” (v21), which is a reversal of God’s curse for all who believe!
So too, there is hope for those who have “fallen asleep” (v20).
They have not “perished” or suffered total destruction (v18)… because “in Christ shall all be made alive” (v22)!
And, therefore, not only are those who believe or trust in Christ not to be pitied…
Their Savior reigns now!
Christ “must reign” (in other words, He is reigning) over all the cosmos at this very moment (v25)!
Even before He ascended to the right hand of the Father, Jesus said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me” (Matt. 28:18).
And their Savior will finally destroy death itself!
Christ is “destroying every rule and every authority and power” at war against Him in this world (v24), and “The last enemy to be destroyed is death” (v26).
Then, Paul concludes this section with three applications.
This hope of resurrection is whyChristians are “baptized” (v29).
I can’t give a fuller explanation now, but I believe Paul here is talking about Christian baptism… not baptism in the place of dead people, but baptism with the hope of being reunited with dead believers who have gone on before.
This hope of resurrection is whyChristians can remain faithful even through “dangers every hour” (v30).
Paul says that he is able to “gain” if he “fought with the beasts at Ephesus” (v32). In other words, if he suffered the penalty of death for following and preaching Christ.
Persecution of the worst kind can’t even steal our hope, because (as Paul says elsewhere) “I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed” (Rom. 8:18).
And the hope of resurrection is whyPaul can give his life away to serving Christ and serving others… he can “die every day” (v31).
Paul knows that nothing lost in this world in service to Christ will go unrewarded in the life to come!
And then comes the call to repentance.
If the resurrection is not true, then “let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die” (v32).
But if the resurrection is true, then Christians must “wake up from [their] drunken stupor… and… not go on sinning” (v34).
Friends, here we have basically two ways to live.
One, we can indulge ourselves today, believing that there is nothing to wait for… no forgiveness, no glory, no nothing.
We can be lazy, self-seeking, compromising, aggressive to get what we want, led around by our passions and desires.
Two, we can embrace self-denial and self-control.
We can beware of the temptation to get what we want right now, stop listening to those who might tell us (by their words or actions) that “You only live once,” and look ahead to that coming day when we shall face God Himself, who will distribute rewards and penalties that will last forever.
Friends, Christ has been raised, and He is reigning right now over all creation… and we are no fool to live in keeping with that reality.
One day (very soon) all who trust and follow and obey Christ will be vindicated… and we shall know better than ever that the life lived (or even given away) for Christ was good and noble… and life itself (everlasting life) will be our reward.
“Is there a resurrection?” You bet, there is! “Christ has been raised” (v20)!
3. We Shall Be Raised (v35-50)
3. We Shall Be Raised (v35-50)
This section follows the same pattern as the first, and the question here is about logistics… If there is a resurrection, then “how are the dead raised?” (v35).
Paul uses the analogy of planting and growing to compare two of the main characters of the Bible’s storyline – Adam and Christ.
It’s notable that the first answer Paul gives to the question is one of rebuke.
He writes, “But someone will ask, ‘How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?’” (v35).
Then Paul says, “You foolish person!” (v36).
This implies that Paul’s hypothetical questioner is not a sincere one, but a challenger to the whole idea.
“Paul, the resurrection is foolish, because we know that bodies decay… some are lost completely.”
But Paul thinks it’s the challenger who is “foolish” and not the idea of resurrection (v36).
For the sake of instruction, Paul offers an argument and an explanation.
In planting and growing, we know that “what you sow does not come to life unless it dies” (v36).
For example, “what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare kernel, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain” (v37).
“But God gives it a body as he has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body” (v38).
Then Paul describes the various “kinds” of “bodies” and “glory” that we see in creation in order to show that God is able to create a wide variety of “bodies,” each with different degrees of “glory” (v40-41)… and then Paul says, “so is it with the resurrection of the dead” (v42).
Paul, then, offers us a wonderful series of contrasts between the temporal body that is “sown” and the eternal or glorified body that will be “raised” (v42-44):
“perishable” and “imperishable” (v42)
“dishonorable” and “glorious” (v43)
“weak” and “powerful” (v43)
“natural” and “spiritual” (v44)
Topping off this contrast, Paul points to the “first Adam” and the “last Adam” (v45).
“The first man Adam became a living being” when God “breathed into his nostrils the breath of life” (v45; cf. Gen. 2:7).
And “the last Adam became a life-giving spirit” (v45).
Friends, this taps into a major theme of the whole biblical story and the concept of representation.
Just as God “breathed life” into Adam at the beginning, He will “breath life” into believers in Christ on the last day.
All descendants of Adam are “from the earth” (v47), and “of the dust” (v48), and under God’s curse which culminates in “death” (Rom. 5:12).
But all those who trust in Jesus are “of heaven” (v48), and “born of the Spirit” (Jn. 3:3-8), and recipients of “life” (v45).
All people everywhere bear “the image of the man of dust” (v49), but those who are in Christ “shall also bear the image of the man of heaven” (v49).
This is the purpose or end goal of Christian salvation!
The Scripture says, “we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom [God] foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers” (Rom. 8:28-29).
And this section ends with a call to repentance yet again.
“I tell you this, brothers, flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable” (v50).
No doubt, this is a particular call to the Corinthian Christians to stop looking at those things that are “flesh and blood” or “perishable” to measure their spiritual health or success.
Remember how Paul warned them, “do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes” (1 Cor. 4:5), since Christ Himself will “bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart” (1 Cor. 4:5).
And think of how Paul phrased it to the church in Ephesus, “we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against rulers, against authorities, against cosmic powers of this present darkness…” (Eph. 6:12). “Therefore, take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm” (Eph. 6:13).
In the context of the contrast between Adam and Christ, it seems to me that Paul is calling the Corinthian Christians to understand that being “in Adam” or bearing “the image of Adam” does not land you a place in God’s kingdom but being “in Christ” or bearing “the image of Christ” does.
This is a call to persevere “in” or “with” Christ.
This “justification by [true] faith,” not “justification by death.”
Once again, there is a call to turn away from sin, to trust in Christ, and to live in keeping with obedience.
“Is there a resurrection?” You bet, there is! “Christ has been raised” (v20)!
So, “wake up… and… do not go on sinning” (v34).
“how are the dead raised?” (v35)
Don’t you worry about it!
The same God who created humanity from the dust of the earth is fully capable of recreating you… and Christ Himself has already been raised before us, and God has promised that all those in Christ shall be like Him in the end.
So, keep on trusting Jesus, and don’t worry so much about what everything might look like right now.
4. (Hang in there) We’re Almost Home! (v51-58)
4. (Hang in there) We’re Almost Home! (v51-58)
The two major questions have been asked and answered.
The two main arguments have been made.
Two applications and two calls for repentance have been offered.
And now, Paul concludes like a coach might do with his team just before the game is over.
It’s the 2:00 minute warning… And the coach huddles his team.
Some players are injured, some have done well, and others are discouraged… but everybody is tired.
Victory is within reach, but the other team is dangerous… and they didn’t come to lose.
If our team is going to win, we cannot give up now… we must find whatever we’ve got left in the tank, and we must spend it… so that all of this won’t be for nothing.
Paul helps them to see the finish line.
He says, “Behold! I tell you a mystery” (v51).
This is Paul’s way of saying, “I’m talking about God’s plan of salvation, that’s been playing out for a long time now, but that has been revealed most fully in and through Christ.”
And Paul says that death and resurrection (both Christ’s and ours) has been where the whole thing was pointed all along!
He says, “51b We shall not all sleep [i.e., die], but we shall all be changed [i.e., resurrected with a new body to a new glory], 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye [i.e., miraculously, just as God spoke stuff into existence at the beginning]…”
And when will this happen? “52b …at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.”
Both those who have died and those who are still alive when Christ returns will be resurrected simultaneously.
In fact, everyone will be raised to a kind of resurrection in the end.
Jesus said, in John 5, “As the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. And he has given [the Son] authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man. Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment” (Jn. 5:26-29).
And on that day, “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.’ ‘O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?’” (v54-55).
Here we see the already and the not yet of the gospel.
Death is still here… it still seems victorious… the bodies of our dead loved ones still lay in the ground… and so shall our bodies die and decay unless the Lord returns before then.
But there is coming a day when death’s apparent victory will become obvious defeat!
Paul says, “thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (v57).
Andrew Gifford was a Baptist pastor in London for more than 40 years, and he died on June 19, 1784. His friend John Collett Ryland was also a pastor, just outside of London, and Ryland spoke at Gifford’s graveside.
He said, “Farewell, dear brother! We leave you in possession of death till the resurrection day. But we will bear witness against this grave… this king of terrors… even as we stand at the mouth of this dungeon. O, grave, you will not always have possession of this dead body; but it shall be demanded of you by the great Conqueror… and at that very moment you will release your prisoner.”
Then Ryland spoke to the people standing nearby, “O, servants of Christ, you people of God, and all surrounding spectators… Prepare… prepare to meet this servant of Christ, at that day, at that hour, when this whole world as it is shall be all nothing… and life and death shall be swallowed up in victory.”
Friend, if you are not repenting and believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, then eat and drink, for tomorrow you die… and you are still in your sins… and whatever faith you say you have is futile… because neither sentimentalism nor religious duty will be of any help to you on the last day.
But, brothers and sisters… we who are repenting and believing… we who enjoy good days and suffer bad ones… we who aim to follow Christ well, but seem to fall down and turn aside and be overcome far more often than we’d like to admit… May God help us remember today that at the last trumpet, this perishable body must put on the imperishable… death itself will be swallowed up in victory… and the Lord Jesus Christ will Himself grant us all He has promised in the gospel.
And, because this is true, my beloved brothers and sisters, may God help us to be steadfast, immoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that our labor is not in vain… and remembering that we’re almost home.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
BIBLIOGRAPHY
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The Holy Bible: New International Version. Logos Research Edition. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1984.
The NET Bible First Edition. Logos Research Edition. Biblical Studies Press, 2005.
Vaughan, Curtis, and Thomas D. Lea. 1 Corinthians. Logos Research Edition. Founders Study Commentary. Cape Coral, FL: Founders Press, 2002.