Lesson #21

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1 – 2 Corinthians

September 21, 2015

Lesson #01

January 16, 2010

Lesson #02

January 16, 2010

RETURN TO THE SYLLABUS

1CORINTHIANS 15:1-34
Lesson #21
RESURRECTION

• Memory Verse: 1Cor 15:22
• There are three very important chapters in the book of 1Corinthians: the spiritual gift chapter (1Cor 12), the love chapter (1Cor 13), and the resurrection chapter (1Cor 15). On this stool with three legs rests all we need to build a strong, unified, and mature church.

• =1=

Ministry occurs in the body of Christ when believers use their spiritual gifts properly to minister to one another.

• =2=

Needs in the body of Christ are fulfilled because believers love one another.

• =3=

The use of gifts sprinkled with love brings unity to a divided church.

• =4=

The body of Christ, the church, can move forward with an eternal perspective when it understands the significance of the resurrection.

• The third leg of this stool is the resurrection. 1Corinthians 15 is one of the most important chapters in the entire Bible.
• This chapter answers one of the first doctrinal heresies that challenged the Christian church. What is a heresy?
• Heresy is the denial of some fundamental doctrine in Christianity that was established by the original Apostles and supported by scripture.
• What was this heresy?
• The heresy to which Paul speaks in 1Cor 15 was the denial of the physical resurrection of Jesus Christ.

• Read 1Cor 15:1-11
• Paul begins this chapter with a declaration of the gospel message. The word, gospel, means = good news. The gospel includes the following necessary elements:
• =1= Christ died for our sins, and doing so, He fulfilled prophecy. (3)
• Paul tells us the purpose for Jesus’ death…to take our personal sins upon himself so that we will not have to bear the punishment for them. (Rom 3:23-25)
• His death was not a martyr’s death but a substitution, a payment for sin in our place.
• =2= Christ was buried. (4)
• The burial and the witness of the burial are important in that they prove that Jesus was truly dead.
• =3= Christ was resurrected after three days to fulfill prophecy. (4)
• The fact of the resurrection of Christ is proof that God accepted Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross as payment for our sins.
• Many people witnessed the fact that Christ rose from the dead. (5-7)
• More than 500 people saw Jesus after the crucifixion.
• The original apostles were witnesses.
• Paul was a witness because the resurrection was revealed to him personally by the Lord. (Act 9:3-6)
• The believers in the Corinthian church were witnesses. How? They were not present at the resurrection.
• All believers, at that time and today, which are born again by the Holy Spirit when they believe by faith the gospel of Jesus Christ are a living testimony of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. (1-2)
• If faith does not rest on these three simple facts of the gospel, it is a misplaced faith and accomplishes nothing.
• The prophecies of the Old Testament verify the resurrection: (3-4)
• There are many Old Testament prophecies we could name, but here are a few:
• Gen 22:1-14 The sacrifice of Isaac by Abraham is a prefigure of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross.
• Lev 1-7 The five types of sacrifice in the Mosaic system, prefigured Christ’s sacrifice.
• Lev 16 The sacrifice of the scapegoat in the Mosaic system, prefigured Christ’s sacrifice.
• Jon 2 Jonah’s three days in the belly of the big fish prefigured Christ in the tomb. (Mat 12:40)
• Psa 22 and Isa 53 are prophecies of the crucifixion and resurrection.
• Psa 16:10 and Isa 25:8-9
• The resurrection of Jesus Christ was an accomplishment of the Holy Trinity:
• =1= Jesus said that in three days He would raise his body from the dead. (Joh 2:19,21)
• =2= Jesus was raised from the dead by glory of the Father. (Rom 6:4 Heb 13:20)
• =3= Jesus’ resurrection was by the power of the Holy Spirit. (Rom 8:11)

• Read 1Cor 15:12-19
• While we think we know the meaning of the word, resurrection, it is important to define it so that we understand exactly what the Bible tells us.
• There are some people who claim to be Christians, and yet they deny the physical resurrection of Christ and the physical resurrection of believers. They believe in a “spiritualized” resurrection.
• The word resurrection (anastasis nekron) literally means = the standing corpse; to cause the body to stand up.
• The three Greek and Roman philosophies in the Corinthian culture and the Roman Empire: (The first two are Gnostic religions)
• =1= Stoicism:
• They believed that the soul merged into deity at death with the destruction of personality.
• =2= Epicureanism:
• They believed that there was no life after death. Death was total destruction.
• =3= Platonism:
• From the teachings of Plato, they believed that the soul was immortal through a process called transmigration of the soul, where the soul is planted in another living being when the body dies. This is the basis of the doctrine of reincarnation.
• We have already seen that the physical resurrection of Jesus Christ is an essential part of the gospel message.
• In reality, all the sermons in the book of Acts contained the fact of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
• Paul tells us that some people denied the resurrection. (12)
• These were the Stoics, the Epicureans, and the Platonists.
• They denied the possibility of any resurrection, not just that of Jesus Christ.
• The firm foundation of the resurrection of Jesus Christ:
• Paul gives us a series of conditional statements using the word, “if”:
• =1= If there is no such thing as any kind of resurrection, then what? (13)
• Then the resurrection of Christ would not have occurred.
• However, there is the proof of witnesses that demonstrate the truth of the resurrection.
• =2= If Christ did not resurrect from the dead, then what? (14)
• Then the preaching of the gospel and faith in Christ would be useless.
• However, not only useless, but it would mean that those of us that preach the gospel are liars, and that those Christians that have given up everything in this world to live for Christ have wasted their lives.
• The reality is that the whole body of Christian doctrine is based on the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Without Christ’s resurrection, Christianity would be a cult, like every other religion, every other philosophy, and all the other cults.
• It is the resurrection of Christ that separates our faith from every other system of belief.
• It is because Jesus Christ is alive that our faith lives, while all other religions and philosophies have dead founders.
• =3= If there is no resurrection and Christ did not resurrect, how does would that affect us personally? (16-17)
• Without Christ’s resurrection, it would mean that our sins are not forgiven.
• If our sins were not forgiven, it means that our debt of sin was not removed by Christ’s blood.
• If our debt of sin was not paid by Christ on the cross, then all humans are without hope and all are destined for hell, for the wages of sin is eternal death. (18)
• =4= If we only have this earthly life with complete annihilation at death, then what? (19)
• There are many people that believe in Christianity only for an eternal life after death. This group of people is miserable in their earthly life, for they do not trust and have the help of Christ and the Holy Spirit to see them through the problems in this life.
• There are many people that believe in Christianity only as a means of getting them through this physical life on earth with no belief in eternal life. This group is totally without hope.
• The reality is that faith in Jesus Christ is for our present life on earth and for our future life in eternity.
• The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the basis of our faith for both the present and the future in eternity.
• These conditional statements present us with a principle of the kingdom of God:
• Read Joh 12:24

• The Principle of Life

: Without death there is no life.

• Read 1Cor 15:20-34
• Christ’s resurrection to eternal life is our guarantee of eternal life. (20) Paul explains this thought through various examples:
• The example of firstfruits. (20)
• What does the word, firstfruits, mean and what is its significance?
• The concept of firstfruits begins in the book of Exodus under the Mosaic Law.
• The farmer planted a crop and waited by faith for the harvest. When the crop began to ripen, it did not ripen all at the same time. The farmer, in praise to God for the crop that was at the point of harvest, gathered a small part of the crop and brought it to the temple as an offering of thanksgiving to God for a greater harvest that was yet to come. That first small offering was called the offering of firstfruits.
• The significance of the offering of firstfruits is this:
• By faith the farmer sacrificed a small amount of ripe fruit, giving it to God, and anticipating that God would give him a full harvest.
• By faith Jesus Christ died for the sins of man anticipating that many people would come to believe in Him.
• This concept of firstfruits presents us with another kingdom principle:

• The Principle of Increase:

• There is no increase in the kingdom of God except that first a seed is planted, watered by faith, labored over through sacrifice (firstfruits), in anticipation of a full harvest. (Joh 12:24)
• Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of the offering of firstfruits.
• Jesus Christ was raised from the dead on the Feast of Firstfruits. (Sunday)
• The increase and full harvest of Christ’s sacrifice and resurrection is the New Testament body of Christ, the church.
• His resurrection is only the first resurrection. Believers in Jesus Christ will follow in a full harvest of resurrection.
• The example of the prefigure of Adam: (21-22)
• Adam is a prefigure of Jesus Christ by contrast: (Rom 5 1Cor 15)

Adam, the first man	Jesus Christ, the second Adam
Physical and spiritual death came upon man when Adam sinned.	Physical and spiritual life came to man through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Through Adam’s sin, the concept of original sin passed to all human flesh.	Through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the concept of eternal life was made available to all humans.
Adam was made a living soul. (Gen 2:7 1Cor 15:45)	Christ is a life-giving spirit. (Joh 1:4 Joh 5:21)
Adam was of the dust of the earth. (1Cor 15:47)	Christ is the Lord from heaven. (1Cor 15:47)
Adam tasted the forbidden fruit. (Gen 3:6)	Christ tasted death. (Heb 2:9)
All descendants from Adam die. (1Cor 15:22)	All in Christ live. (1Cor 15:22)
Adamic creation is flesh. (1Cor 15:50)	The new creation in Christ is spirit. (Joh 3:16)
Adam caused death to reign. (Rom 5:14)	Christ caused grace and righteousness to reign. (Rom 5:17)
Adam caused judgment to come upon all humans. (Rom 5:18	Christ caused justification to come upon all people that believe. (Rom 5:18)
Adam caused all humans to be made sinners. (Rom 5:19)	Christ caused all people in Christ to be righteous. (Rom 5:19)

• The order of the resurrection: (23)
• Read Rev 20:5-6, 12-15
• The resurrections do not occur all at the same time.
• Jesus Christ is the first resurrection (the firstfruits).
• The first resurrection of life for believers:
• The rapture of the church occurs at the end of the church age.
• The resurrection of Old Testament saints occurs at the end of the tribulation period. (Dan 12:1-3)
• The resurrection of tribulation saints occurs at the end of the tribulation period. (Rev 20:4-6)
• The resurrection of millennial believers occurs at the end of the millennial kingdom period.
• The second resurrection of damnation for non-believers.
• The resurrection of all non-believers from all history occurs at the end of the millennial kingdom. (Rev 20:11-15)
• The end (24-28)
• After all the resurrections according to their order:
• Jesus Christ will subdue all power and authority. That refers to Satan and his demons.
• Jesus Christ will destroy man’s final enemy, death. (26)
• Jesus Christ will deliver the millennial kingdom to God, the Father, for a blessed eternity of life for the believer in Jesus Christ.
• Notice the paradox:
• God, the Father, gave all things to His Son, Jesus Christ.
• When all things are subdued under the authority of Jesus Christ, He will give it all back to God, the Father, so as to return all creation, spiritually and physically, to its original order and plan in Genesis.
• “Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? why are they then baptized for the dead?”

(29)

• What does Paul mean by this verse?
• The phrase, baptized for the dead, does not appear in any other part of scripture.
• Various interpretations have come to us down through Christian history. Let’s examine them.
• = Interpretation #1=

Believers are baptized in water to identify ourselves with Jesus Christ’s death on the cross.

• This is the essential meaning of water baptism where the believer symbolically identifies himself publicly with the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
• This is one of the more common interpretations of verse 29.
• The phrase, baptized for the dead, in Greek means = baptized in place of, or over the dead ones. The word, dead, is plural in the Greek and cannot refer to being baptized for the dead Christ. (Interpretation #1)
• = Interpretation #2=

Baptized believers declare that they are dead to the flesh nature and alive to the Spirit nature.

• This is true of the believer that is obediently following Christ, but it does not explain the text of verse 29.
• = Interpretation #3=

There are some people who believe that water baptism is the means of salvation, and that without it a person is not saved. Therefore, because some person in their family died without water baptism, a family member could be baptized in his place and therefore gain the salvation of a dead family member.

• This is the belief and practice of the Mormons.
• Some Christian groups have adopted this false belief.
• Scripture is clear to tell us that salvation is by faith in Christ and not by water baptism.
• The Greek word, for, in this phrase cannot mean = in place of or for the benefit of. Therefore Interpretation #3 is impossible.
• = Interpretation #4=

If Christ was not raised from the dead, then those Christians that were baptized before they died, were baptized for nothing, and through history we have more and more Christians being baptized to replace those who died.

• Therefore, the phrase means, why would Christians continue being baptized in Christ hoping for resurrection, replacing all the dead believers that were baptized, if Christ had not been raised from the dead?
• The phrase has a military significance. When soldiers die in battle, they are replaced by new living soldiers to continue the fight. However, if there is nothing to fight for, then those first soldiers died in vain. Today, those people that believe in Jesus and are baptized replace the believers that already died in this spiritual battle.
• Paul risked his life every day for the preaching of the gospel. That would be a stupid thing to do if Christ had not been raised from the dead. (30)
• Paul gave up the pleasures of this world to die daily to the flesh nature.
• Paul endured a riot in Ephesus by men that were out to kill him. (Act 19:28)
• The deception of the world: (33)
• The world tells us that this life is all there is, so it is better to enjoy all the material things you can now.
• Christ and His Word tell us that there is a resurrection to come. To surrender your life to Christ is worth giving up all the pleasures of this world.

HOMEWORK
1CORINTHIANS 15:35-58
This is a self-study. Please do not send homework answers to the teacher forcorrection.

• Application for 1Cor 15:1-34
• What concepts from the resurrection chapter have deeply impressed you?
• What difference will this make in how you live your daily life?

• Preparation for 1Cor 15:35-58
• Read 1Cor 15:35-50
• Why is it important to understand the truth of the resurrected body?
• Read 1Cor 15:51-58
• What will the resurrected body of the believer be like?
• When will the believer, living today, receive his resurrected body?

• Memory Verse: 1Cor 15:49