So, welcome back to the second episode of Series 5 on the resurrection.  

Recap and Background 

Paul comes back to the doctrine of the resurrection at the end of the book of Corinthians after spending many chapters talking about all the problems in the church. It may seem quite a surprise that he comes back to talk about this central part of the gospel. In the last episode, we saw how Paul laid out again the evidence that Jesus rose again from the dead. He explained all the information that he had received from Peter and the other Apostles, and he preached again to the Corinthians the doctrine of the resurrection based on the historical evidence for Jesus rising again from the dead. 

We find the reason why Paul should give so much time to talking about the resurrection at the beginning of our passage today. Paul had received information about what was going on in the Corinthian church which made him think it was worth going through teaching about the resurrection of Jesus and the resurrection of believers all over again. 

Paul’s Reason for Returning to the Resurrection  

 “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?” 1 Corinthians 15:12 NIV 

Paul had received a letter and a visit from members of the church that told him about all the problems in the church. One of the things they must have discussed with Paul is that people in Corinth no longer believed the full gospel. They were confused and troubled. It says here in verse 12, that some of them didn't believe anymore, that people who have been saved are raised again from the dead, after they have died. Paul was very concerned about this.  

Why should some people in the church that Paul founded have doubts about the resurrection? One of the main reasons is that in Greek society, in cities like Corinth and elsewhere, the Greeks and the Romans, and the other Gentiles in those communities, had different ideas about the afterlife. None of them believed that the body, once dead, could rise again, and that we would have a future life with a physical reality - our bodies alive again. Some people didn't believe in any afterlife. They thought that we just live for today and when we die, we rot in the ground and that is the end of our existence. But many people believed what traditional Greek religion taught, which is that, after you die, your soul enters a dark underworld which they called Hades. This was a place which was dark and gloomy and sad - a place where you could think about your past life, and you could regret the mistakes you made and the fact that you no longer had a physical life with all the physical opportunities of that life. You were just a spirit living in gloomy darkness. That idea was probably coming into the church. No one had ever suggested that the body could be raised again from the dead; that is an impossibility. We know what happens to the body; it goes into the ground, and it rots. There was doubt, because the Christian message was something so different from all the other religions that existed at the time. Paul knew how different it was.   

The starting point for that difference was what happened to Jesus and that is why Paul started this chapter telling again the story of Jesus. You can see clearly how dramatic this was in the minds of the people who heard Paul speaking about this, and who read the words of the first few verses of this chapter. When Jesus died, his body was buried on the Friday evening just before sunset, before 7 p.m. at night on Good Friday. Jesus’ body was buried in the ground, and a large stone was placed in the front of the tomb to seal it. His body lay there cold, dead, all the way through Friday night, through Saturday until the very early hours of Easter Sunday morning just before dawn, when there was an earthquake in that area and an angel came from heaven and rolled the stone away. Jesus, miraculously, was raised again from the dead. His body had life breathed back into it. This is an incredible story. To the people in Corinth, it was amazing, astonishing, wonderful. But for some it was almost unbelievable that such a thing could happen because nobody believed in the resurrection of the body, and this is why some people doubted. Paul realised they were doubting, and he wanted to address that doubt right now. 

Resurrection Gives Hope  

“If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. 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. For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.”  
1 Corinthians 15: 13 – 19 NIV    

For Paul, Christianity makes no sense without the resurrection of Jesus and the resurrection of believers at the end of the world. What does the Christian message give us, if it is just for this life? Some people may believe in the Christian God because they hope that through their prayers there will be rainfall and their crops will be saved. Some people may believe in the Christian God because they want to pray for fertility; they want children. Some people may believe in the Christian God because they think he is powerful enough to keep away the evil spirits of witchcraft that are operating in their area. Some people may believe in the Christian God because they want a sense of inner peace, or they want to feel a sense of God's love because they doubt their value. These can be reasons why people call out to the Christian God. But Paul says to those people, if that is all you want, you are ‘to be pitied’, because when your life comes to an end, there is nothing more for you. God has done nothing to help you in the afterlife. You are lost.  

For Paul, Christianity doesn't make sense unless Jesus rose again from the dead, because it is so closely connected to Jesus dying for us. He said that they were still lost in their sins unless Jesus rose again from the dead because the resurrection proved that Jesus’ death on the cross was God's will and was the means of atonement and forgiveness of sins. God put his stamp of approval on Jesus; his death on the cross was worth it and had achieved that incredible purpose of taking the sins of everybody in the world and offering forgiveness of sins to those who came in faith to him. Paul believed that the death of Jesus and the resurrection of Jesus were linked together so closely that you need both. If Jesus wasn't raised again from the dead, what was the point of Jesus dying? if he just died a hero's death on the cross and then lay in the ground for hundreds of years, what had been achieved? Nothing. But if he rose again from the dead, it shows that God had set his seal of approval on Jesus - that he really is the Son of God - that he had triumphed over death and therefore we can have hope. The resurrection is incredibly important for Christians. Paul said, you can't possibly take away the resurrection of Jesus without destroying the Christian gospel.  

Historical Facts  

“But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep” 
1 Corinthians 15:20 NIV  

Paul comes back to the historical facts. He himself had an appearance of Jesus on the Damascus road, and he has given an account, in the first 11 verses of this chapter, of all the people that Jesus appeared to in a 40-day period after he was raised from the dead. Paul even says that on one occasion there were 500 people present when they saw Jesus raised from the dead, and they knew this wasn't a ghost because they could touch his body; he could speak; they could speak to him; he could eat food; he could walk and travel around. He functioned with a body, and they saw it with their own eyes. Paul met the Apostles in Jerusalem some time after the Damascus road appearance. He stayed for 15 days with Peter in his house, as we described in the last episode, and he asked Peter about these resurrection appearances, and he remembered everything that Peter said.  He wrote it down here. Paul is absolutely convinced Jesus “has indeed been raised from the dead.”  

Our faith is not in vain. It is worth believing in Christianity because Christianity is unique. No other religion has a historical story of its founder or prophet, or hero, rising again from the dead. Mohammad did not rise from the dead. Buddha did not rise again from the dead. None of the founders of any other religion rose again from the dead. But Jesus did, and his body was never found. 

Death is a Consequence of Sin  

“For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. But each in turn: Christ, the first fruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him. Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For he “has put everything under his feet.” Now when it says that “everything” has been put under his feet, it is clear that this does not include God himself, who put everything under Christ.  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.” 
1 Corinthians 15: 21 – 28 NIV 

Paul now goes back to the beginning of human history to explain the issue of death and resurrection. He goes back to Adam and Eve, the first humans as described in the first few chapters of the book of Genesis. It is quite clear that God's original intention for Adam and Eve was that they should live forever in their physical forms. 

They were in a perfect relationship with God and there was no reason why they should die. We notice from the Genesis account, that it is when they sin, when they disobey God, part of the penalty of that is death - physical death, but also spiritual death, separation from God and then a time when the body dies. Adam and Eve died, and every other human being since that time has died physically. Paul goes on to say that Christ is the first human who was raised again from the dead, who conquered death. Adam and Eve couldn't conquer death. They were under the power of death. Humanity is under the power of death; death has been inevitable. No one can escape death. Some may live a long life; some may live a short life. Some may die in childhood. But we all have an appointment with death. You do, I do. It is inevitable. Christ is the only exception.  

Even those people who Jesus raised again from the dead in his ministry were only restored to this life for a short period of time. They didn't live in their restored physical body forever. Jesus raised the daughter of Jairus, the synagogue ruler, as we see in the Gospel - a girl who died at home. He went into her room, and he held her hand and lifted her up, and she was raised again from the dead. Jesus raised from death a young man who died, who was the only son of a widow in the town of Nain in Galilee. The funeral procession was coming out of the town when Jesus came by, and the boy’s body laid there as they were travelling along to the graveside. Jesus called out to the young man to sit up and to get up, and he immediately was raised from the dead. Jesus went to the tomb of Lazarus in the village of Bethany near Jerusalem, as described in John's Gospel, and he had been in the tomb several days. The stone was taken away, and Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” and he was raised again. All these people were raised from the dead but, they all died at a later stage. It was a temporary resurrection, in order to show the power of God and lead people to believe.   

But Jesus’ resurrection was permanent. He was raised again in his body, and he lived in his body - recognisably the body of Jesus - as he walked on the earth. One day we will see him, and we will see him in bodily form, because he was raised again from the dead. “as in Adam all die, so in Christ all are made alive.” Jesus is described by Paul here as ‘the first fruits’. In other words, the first person to be raised again from the dead, miraculously and permanently was Jesus. The Christian hope is very specific. Jesus will return again to this earth and when he comes, all who believed and have died across all the hundreds of years of Christian history, and all the believers in the Old Testament period, will find their bodies raised again. They will experience the physical resurrection, and will be clothed in a permanent, glorious, powerful body like Jesus. That is the Christian hope. Jesus will bring his Kingdom when he comes. All evil powers will be overturned and death itself will be destroyed. The very last enemy of the Christian faith is death. Death, the ultimate enemy that we all fear will be destroyed. Everyone who believes in Jesus will be raised again from the dead.   

Body and Soul Reunited  

“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? And as for us, why do we endanger ourselves every hour? I face death every day—yes, just as surely as I boast about you in Christ Jesus our Lord. If I fought wild beasts in Ephesus with no more than human hopes, what have I gained? If the dead are not raised, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.” Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character.” 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.”  
1 Corinthians 15:29 – 34 NIV 

 Paul was concerned that some people in Corinth were getting baptised in the name of people who had already died. He said, “That's not going to make any difference to their eternal fate.” He was concerned that people in Corinth were drifting and not following a clear Christian faith and falling into sin because they had become confused about the gospel and had become selfish. They thought that this life was all that mattered. In these final verses, Paul challenges all those people to come back to their senses and come back to the gospel foundation. One key foundation is the teaching about the resurrection. Paul wanted to explain that when we truly believe in Jesus and repent, we are saved; we are born again; the Holy Spirit comes to live in us; when we die our soul, our inner being, our real person goes to be with Christ in glory in heaven. That is what will happen to you when you die. But your body will go to the ground. However, even though it is wonderful to be with Christ in heaven, there is an even greater wonder ahead when he returns to the earth, that you will be connected to your physical body through the resurrection of the body, and you will experience the wonderful reality of living the full resurrection life. Everybody who believes, when they die, goes to be in heaven or in paradise. Jesus even said to the man on the cross who repented, “Today you will be with me in paradise”. He didn't mean the man’s body was going there. That man's body was about to die; Jesus’ body was about to die.Jesus’ body went into the tomb on Good Friday evening, and that man followed soon afterwards. But his soul, his inner being, his true person, was saved. That is our hope. But beyond that, there is an even greater hope for the resurrection of the body. How can this happen? Paul will explain this in more detail in our next episode. 

Reflections 

 In the last episode, Paul emphasised something which is important for this episode as well - our teaching about Jesus really matters. He summarised it with four statements. I am going to repeat them, because I hope they will get into your memory. The Christian message in the very early days, in its simplest form, as was preached by the Apostles, had four elements:  

‘Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures’. His death was a substitutionary death, an atoning death. He took our place, took our sins so that we can be forgiven.  

‘he was buried’. This is important because the emphasis is on the fact that his death was a real death. He lay in the tomb, cold and lifeless, for many hours.  

‘he was raised on the third day, according to the Scriptures,’. The miraculous resurrection of the body of Jesus Christ, the inner person, the soul of Jesus, was restored again to his body. They were reunited on Easter Sunday morning just before dawn. He was raised again, and this body was very much as you would imagine his body to be if you had seen him beforehand but now filled with God's eternal power and strength. I will explain more about that in the next episode.  

‘he appeared to …many people’. In other words, we have eyewitness testimony of the resurrection of Jesus.  

This is the foundation of the Christian faith. We cannot do without the resurrection of Jesus and the hope of our resurrection when Christ returns. Jesus ultimately will destroy the power of death. Death brings untold misery to humanity. It causes us intense grief when our family and our friends die. It is one of the harshest things about human life - to face up to the reality of death. But Christianity says there will come a day when there will be no more death. Death will be destroyed and defeated by Jesus when he returns.   

Please join us for the next episode where Paul explains more fully what our resurrection bodies are going to be like. I hope to see you then.