The Problem Of Unbelieving Believers
1 Corinthians 15
There are certain things that all Christians should have in common.
1) The Trinity of God is a doctrine that is fundamental to the Christian faith!
God is one in essence.
God is three in persons. (The Father, The Son, The Holy Ghost)
The three persons all have distinct relationships.
The three persons are equal in authority.
2) The person of Christ was 100% God and 100% man.
3) The Second Coming of Christ. (The Lord Promised He Would Return)
4) Salvation is by Grace alone through Faith alone.
5) The Scriptures are "all" inspired by God and we have the complete Word of God.
(The Bible does not just contain the Word of God, it is the Word of God!)
If these things are true, then the Scriptures teach of the resurrection of Jesus Christ and since the Word of God says this is true then we must accept it as the truth!
You cannot be saved and reject the Word of God!
You can be saved and disagree on certain things that have no real meaning in salvation!
The resurrection of Jesus Christ is not one of these things and neither are these five basic fundamentals!
*****1Co 15:1 Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;
1Co 15:2 By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.
It should be clear to us all that Christianity is based on historical facts and not on human reasoning nor human imagination.
1) The person of Jesus Christ.
2) He "died", He was "buried" and He "arose"!
3) There is more evidence that these things are all true, than for our own birth.
4) Christ Jesus died for our sins because He had no sin Himself.
5) Christianity is to be preached with this design!
The Apostle Paul preached so that those that heard the "Gospel" could be saved!
The Apostle Paul preached the facts of the Word of God!
*****1Co 15:3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;
1Co 15:4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:
1Co 15:5 And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve:
1Co 15:6 After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep.
1Co 15:7 After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles.
The central focus of the "Gospel" is on the death, the burial, and the resurrection of Christ for our sins!
This is the greatest of the fundamentals of Christian faith!
Paul received the truth of the Gospel when the Lord Jesus revealed Himself to Paul on the road to Damascus!
Gal 1:12 For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.
The physical death, the actual burial, and the physical resurrection of Jesus Christ is not a doctrine because it is a fact!
For salvation to be real, this is the first thing we must base our faith on!
If Christ had not rose from the dead to everlasting life, then we could not trust in our own promised salvation.
Joh 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Joh 3:17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
Joh 3:18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
Everlasting life can mean only one thing, eternal life after our own resurrection!
The reason that Christ, the Messiah first came to this world was to pay for all our sins!
1Jn 2:2 And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.
1Jn 4:14 And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world.
The New Testament records all these things of Christ but it is the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophesies that Paul is referring to.
It is the death of the Messiah that is the Gospel, the Good News!
Were we to be convinced that some man died for our sins, then that would be meaningless. Martyrs die every day but none of those can die for the sin of all the world!
Christ, the Messiah died for us, for all our sin!
No doubt that Christ died in substitution for our own eternal death but the death of Christ also means that the righteous demands of a holy God "were satisfied"!
The death of Christ provided the payment for sin and God was satisfied!
Christ death resulted in forgiveness for all sinners!
God could not forgive sin without the proper payment!
Col 2:13 And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;
Col 2:14 Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;
Col 2:15 And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.
Christ arose showing the world that He had the power over death and the grave!
This is also a historical fact!
We know that Christ was seen by many in the world as the Scripture dictate, but Paul gives us the evidence of the Apostles.
Cephas(Peter) saw our risen Saviour!
Luk 24:34 Saying, The Lord is risen indeed, and hath appeared to Simon.
Christ was then seen of the eleven remaining apostles:
Joh 20:19 Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.
And just so we would know that there many other witnesses to His resurrection, Christ was seen of more than 500 brethren at once.
And Paul told these Corinthians that many of those eyewitness were still alive the day he wrote this epistle!
No doubt the Apostle Paul had spoken to many of them!
We all know that if there were 500 witnesses to anything today then that thing would be believed without a doubt.
This James was the half-brother of Jesus.
We know that none of the half-brothers and half-sisters of Christ Jesus believed in Him until after the resurrection and then they believed.
Then Christ was seen of all the apostles. These would have been the followers possibly the 120 who gathered after the Lord ascended back to Heaven.
And then by Paul himself later on the Damascus road!
*****1Co 15:8 And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time.
1Co 15:9 For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.
When the Apostle Paul said "as one born out of due time" the Greek words used mean the same as we would say today that "as one who has survived an abortion".
We know that any child that is born before it has completed the normal 9 months in the womb would be puny and though born alive would not be the proper size.
Paul said, "I am the least of the Apostles", "I am scarcely meet to be an Apostle".
Paul said, "I did not come through the regular course as the other Apostles".
Paul said, "I should have been aborted but I was saved by the power of God".
Paul had persecuted the Church and God had forgiven him but in reality Paul had never forgiven himself!
Paul said if not for "Grace" he would still be lost!
We can all say this same thing!
*****1Co 15:10 But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.
The appearance of Jesus to Paul was real!
The appearance of Jesus to Paul was necessary for him to be an Apostle.
The appearance of Jesus to Paul was before Paul was a believer.
The appearance of Jesus to Paul was a special example of God's "Grace"!
Paul later wrote to the Philippians these words:
Php 3:4 Though I might also have confidence in the flesh. If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more:
Php 3:5 Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee;
Php 3:6 Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.
Php 3:7 But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.
Php 3:8 Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,
Php 3:9 And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:
Php 3:10 That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;
Php 3:11 If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.
Php 3:12 Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.
Php 3:13 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,
Php 3:14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
God had reached down and touched the heart of the Lord's greatest persecutor and made him the greatest of the Apostles to the Gentiles.
We know that "Grace" is the unmerited favor of God!
This wonderful thing called "Grace" can only come by the Lord Jesus Christ!
2Ti 1:9 Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,
2Ti 1:10 But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel:
Then the Apostle Paul joined the ranks of the other Apostles to preach the "Gospel"!
*****1Co 15:11 Therefore whether it were I or they, so we preach, and so ye believed.
Paul said it was he that preached the "Gospel" to these Corinthians but all the Apostles preached the "Resurrection" of Christ!
These Corinthians had believed at first, but now they were just confused about the Resurrection of Christ as they were about so many other things.
Therefore Paul the teacher, was writing to re-educate this church in the truth!
*****1Co 15:12 Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead?
1Co 15:13 But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen:
1Co 15:14 And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain.
1Co 15:15 Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not.
The truth is that over 600 eye-witnesses had seen Christ after He had risen from the dead.
It is a fact fact that this miracle had taken place, is also a fact that we have the complete "Gospel" of Jesus Christ.
It is a fact that we have the Words of Jesus Christ, teaching us what He will do!
We have enough facts to furnish all Christians with enough proof that we shall also rise after death!
Paul wrote to the Thessalonians with these words:
1Th 4:13 But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.
1Th 4:14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.
1Th 4:15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
Those that deny a risen Christ simply ignore the truth of the Word of God!
This is what happens when the world is allowed to gain entrance into the Church!
The politics of this world must never be allowed to gain a foothold in the Church established on the foundation Christ Jesus!
The Church is established on the resurrection of Christ!
1Pe 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
1Pe 1:4 To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,
1Pe 1:5 Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
The Baptism of each believer would be a useless ceremony if the resurrection was not true!
The Church is non-existent without the resurrection of Christ Jesus!
Our faith would be in vain because that faith would be in a crucified man, a martyr, and not in a risen Savior!
The entire Church would be a false witnesses of God.
It would be a lie to tell false stories of the things that God does, if God had not raised Christ from the grave and God would not tolerate such a lie!
Job 13:7 Will ye speak wickedly for God? and talk deceitfully for him?
God will not allow deception in His name!
There is no true Christian faith without the resurrection!
There is no hope for forgiveness without the resurrection.
There is no hope of salvation without the resurrection!
There is no eternal life without the resurrection!
We would all be still lost in our sins. We would never see our loved ones again. And we would live miserable lives without purpose!
*****1Co 15:16 For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised:
1Co 15:17 And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.
1Co 15:18 Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.
1Co 15:19 If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.
1Co 15:20 But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.
Verse 16 repeats verse 13 and when God repeats Himself, He wants to clearly understand what we are reading.
The Resurrection of Christ Jesus is a historical fact!
The truth is a dead Redeemer cannot be a Redeemer.
Without the Divine Power to resurrect Christ, Jesus would be just another man with high ideals!
Rom 4:23 Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him;
Rom 4:24 But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead;
Rom 4:25 "Who was delivered for our offenses, and was raised again for our justification".
There is a reason that all these things happened before so many eyewitnesses.
Death is the greatest enemy of the human being!
In fact death is the enemy of all God's creation.
For this reason those of evolution have no case at all!
Everywhere we look we see death. All animals die, all plants die, even whole species of both have become extinct.
Cities die, nations die, homes, automobiles, clothes eventually wear out and go back to dust.
Even the universe itself is running down and will one day die.
Rom 8:20 For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,
Rom 8:21 Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
Rom 8:22 For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.
Of all creation, there is only One who has conquered death.
Christ died, and was buried and then because of the power of God, He arose!
Since His claim of Resurrection was an actual event, then His promises will be actual events!
1Pe 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
All the goodness, all the faith, all the love, of the Christian life has not been for nothing!
If this life is all that there is, then to live the Christian life and suffer ridicule and persecution could be considered to be miserable by most Christians!
The fact remains that Christ Jesus did rise from the dead!
Though the resurrection was foretold in the Old Testament and Jesus Himself told all His followers, they were completely surprised when it happened!
Luk 24:34 Saying, The Lord is risen indeed, and hath appeared to Simon.
Luk 24:35 And they told what things were done in the way, and how he was known of them in breaking of bread.
Luk 24:36 And as they thus spake, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.
Luk 24:37 But they were terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a spirit.
Luk 24:38 And he said unto them, Why are ye troubled? and why do thoughts arise in your hearts?
Luk 24:39 Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.
Luk 24:40 And when he had thus spoken, he shewed them his hands and his feet.
Luk 24:41 And while they yet believed not for joy, and wondered, he said unto them, Have ye here any meat?
Luk 24:42 And they gave him a piece of a broiled fish, and of an honeycomb.
Luk 24:43 And he took it, and did eat before them.
Luk 24:44 And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me.
All the Apostles then died a martyr's death but John because they would not reject this truth!
Jesus Christ became the firstfruits of all those that sleep in Jesus!
*****1Co 15:21 For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.
1Co 15:22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
1Co 15:23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming.
This one verse disproves the false theory that these was long ages before the birth of mankind. The Bible is specific death had it's beginning with sinful man!
There is no such thing as a billion year old fossil record!
There is only the record of the great flood in Noah's day!
2Pe 3:5 For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water:
2Pe 3:6 Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished:
2Pe 3:7 But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
Every human being since the time of Adam, partake of Adam's sin nature and are therefore liable to the death that sin nature incurred.
Since the first fruit is a specimen of the whole harvest, then Christ is the first fruit of the whole Church.
First Christ, then His own and last the end when death itself will be destroyed and finally the resurrected creation handed back by Christ the Mediator to His Father!
1Th 4:16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
*****1Co 15:24 Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.
1Co 15:25 For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.
1Co 15:26 The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.
1Co 15:27 For he hath put all things under his feet. But when he saith all things are put under him, it is manifest that he is excepted, which did put all things under him.
1Co 15:28 And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all.
Christ Jesus will reign on this earth until He has put all the enemies of God under His feet.
This ultimate triumph will show all creation that there was no defeat at the cross but eternal victory!
The last enemy to be destroyed will be the first enemy who rebelled against God in the beginning.
He who has deceived the world with lies ever since!
It is Satan who now has the power of death:
Heb 2:14 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;
Heb 2:15 And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.
Satan will finally be locked up forever in the Lake of Fire that was created for Him!
Rev 20:10 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.
We know that in the Holy Trinity, the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit are co-equal in all things!
But we also know that the Head of Christ is God!
And we also know the Christ Jesus came to do the will of His Father!
So verse 28 is one of those things we may not clearly understand until we also get to Heaven!
Christ will deliver all those that His Father has called to Him for eternity!
God will always be God, even that day that we obtain a glorified body just as Christ Jesus has now, we will not be gods!
*****1Co 15:29 Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all?
It is very evident that some in this church believed that they could get baptized for someone they knew that had died without Christ.
There may actually be some of those who had received the Lord as their personal Savior and had not had the opportunity to be baptized.
There is never salvation in baptism because that would be a doctrine of works!
Eph 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Eph 2:9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
The larger question was the Resurrection of Christ!
Paul is saying "none of these make any sense at all if you cannot believe in the Resurrected Christ"!
All places of worship that are divided in doctrine and disorganized in their theories and rejecting the truth of the Scriptures, will find themselves committing many things that go against the Word of God!
*****1Co 15:30 And why stand we in jeopardy every hour?
Paul is saying, why would "we" the Apostles, stand in jeopardy of our lives if salvation could come by waiting to the very last and just be baptized.
"Or to just make arrangements for someone else to get baptized for us after our death".
Many a Pastor would opt out of preaching the Word of God, if they knew they could gain salvation by such a simple method!
*****1Co 15:31 I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.
1Co 15:32 If after the manner of men I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantageth it me, if the dead rise not? let us eat and drink; for to morrow we die.
1Co 15:33 Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners.
1Co 15:34 Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame.
The Lord Jesus said to pick up our own cross daily and follow in His ways.
If the Lord did not rise from the dead in His resurrection, why would we even want to die daily and live the life of a Christian.
The Apostle Paul had been imprisoned for preaching the Word of God.
The Apostle Paul had been beaten and stoned to near death for preaching the Word of God.
The Apostle Paul was writing this epistle from Ephesus where great mobs, who acted like wild beast were attacking anyone who claimed to be Christian.
Paul said there is no advantage to being a Christian if our Lord Jesus did not rise from the dead!
None of us would live in such peril as Paul, if the goal of eternal life was taken away.
All those Christians in Iraq, and in Syria, and in other places where persecution is a real and a daily occurrence would not suffer through those things if Christ Jesus was some fable and there was no hope of eternal life in Heaven.
We just as well be like the world and partake of the madness of a carnal life, if all that life brought was death!
The truth is that false doctrine will lead to wicked behavior!
To deny the resurrection of Jesus Christ is to deny the Word of God and so deny God Himself!
Denying our Creator in favor of evolving from some animal leads to acting like animals and we can see this happening in our world today.
This was the message of Paul to these Corinthians.
If you think you come from a beast then you will act in the ways of some wild beast!
Evil communications corrupt good manners!
What is the answer?
Awake to righteousness.
Sin not.
Be not ignorant of the truth of God's Words!
We shame ourselves and the Lord, when we say we are saved and yet do not believe the Word of God!
Joh 14:15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.
Jesus said if you really loved Me you would keep My commandments!
The Word of God is not hard to understand but it requires "Faith" and it requires "The Love Of God"!
God is "Love" so we must have "Faith"!
That's why it is called "Grace"!
*****1Co 15:35 But some man will say, How are the dead raised up? and with what body do they come?
1Co 15:36 Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die:
1Co 15:37 And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other grain:
1Co 15:38 But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body.
Even today the world has this same question, how can the dead rise up in new life?
Those of us that know God and have "saving faith", also know that with God nothing is impossible!
If we trust our Creator then all life is in His hands!
The truth is that Christ Jesus passed from death to life and ascended into Heaven as a man and this was witnessed by many infallible truths!
Act 1:3 To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God:
Paul is saying the same thing that the Lord said:
Joh 12:24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.
Most everyone knows that if you sow a seed, then that sprout that finds its way out of the ground does not resemble that seed!
The growth of that seed shows that there is a personal identity that is under a complete change.
When we die and God resurrects that body, we may have the same personal identity but there will a complete change from that body that died and was buried!
God will give that new body as it pleases Him and to every seed his own body.
The truth is, we know very little of this glorified body beyond what the Scriptures teach.
John says it like this:
1Jn 3:2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
1Jn 3:3 And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.
This is why we live the Christian life and this is why so many will suffer the persecution of being a Christian and will not renounce their beliefs!
The truth of seeds is, that they will only produce after their kind which refutes all the theories of evolution.
A Christian that goes home to be with the Lord, while that old body is placed in the ground, can only produce after it's own kind but that body will be designed of God because all flesh is not the same flesh!
*****1Co 15:39 All flesh is not the same flesh: but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds.
1Co 15:40 There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another.
1Co 15:41 There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory.
1Co 15:42 So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption:
1Co 15:43 It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power:
1Co 15:44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.
All plants and animals can only reproduce after their own kind.
Evolution has never proved this to be wrong!
True science shows that there are "distinct" genetic gaps between different kinds of animals and by the gaps between those same kind of animals in the fossil records that have been found!
There is also a big difference between earth and the planets from the Sun and the Moon and these things also have been verified by modern astronomy.
The chemical and physical structures of the earth and the other planets and the moon are vastly different from each other.
These things make it impossible that they could have evolved out of the same dust cloud and true science knows all these things!
All stars may look alike to the naked eye, even seen through a telescope they seem to be just points of light.
When the light spectra is studied it reveals that no two stars are the same, just as the Bible states!
Each one has it's own brightness to temperature, so each one is different "in glory" from all others!
The truth of all these things is the same truth of each child of God!
All those that sleep in Christ will be raised in bodies that differ.
That word "incorruption" also means "immortality", so that mortal body will be raised as immortal!
That new glorified body will without corruption and without death!
This is much more than just the immortality of the soul!
The Scriptures say the "resurrection of the dead"!
When a seed is planted in the ground as though it was dead, it lies dormant until the conditions are met and it finally rises to new life.
The human body because of sin and the curse, eventually dies and is buried but one day when the Son of God calls that body will be raised, the same basic body but born again in Christ being immortal and glorified!
That spiritual body rising from the dead will no longer be under bondage to gravity or the forces of this earth!
In our bodies today, we are continually in a struggle our spirit with our flesh and we must die everyday to our flesh.
That new Spiritual and glorified body will not have this problem!
We do know much of this body but some we do know:
1) The glorified body of Jesus could pass through walls.
2) That glorified body was able to move with tremendous speed between earth and God's throne in Heaven!
These things are all written down for us to know!
*****1Co 15:45 And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.
1Co 15:46 Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.
1Co 15:47 The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.
1Co 15:48 As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.
1Co 15:49 And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.
Without a doubt we can see that all the Apostles confirmed the Genesis account of creation without question and we should to.
Adam was a real man and the first man and Eve the first woman!
There were no humans before Adam and Eve.
There were no creatures evolving into humans before Adam and Eve!
The last Adam is of course the Lord Jesus Christ!
Both Adam and Christ were both true men and both formed directly by God.
Of course Christ was also 100% God!
Both Adam and Christ were both formed without genetic inheritance from human parents!
Adam was the first man made a living soul, and the "head" of the human race!
The Lord Jesus was the first begotten from the dead, the first man made a life-giving spirit!
Adam brought sin and death into the world.
Christ brought everlasting, sinless, eternal life!
Adam was formed of God and not born at all.
Christ Jesus was directly formed by God the Holy Spirit in the womb of Mary!
Heb 10:5 Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me:
Christ is the second and last man that this was true!
All humans resemble their first parent which was Adam.
All Christians resemble our Redeemer who is Christ!
Besides salvation itself, the greatest promise of God is that all those who have accepted Christ as their Savior will one day "be conformed to the image of the Son of God"!
Rom 8:29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
Php 3:21 Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.
1Jn 3:2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
1Jn 3:3 And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.
Because flesh and blood can never enter into Heaven!
*****1Co 15:50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.
1Co 15:51 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
1Co 15:52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
Our mortal body with our inbred sin nature can never enter into the kingdom of God!
There will be no corrupt thing in Heaven!
1Pe 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
1Pe 1:4 To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,
1Pe 1:5 Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
What is the great mystery of the Old Testament?
Just before the Second Coming of Christ, when He comes in the clouds, there will be a simultaneous resurrection and glorification of all those in Christ!
The dead who sleep in Christ, Christ will bring with Him!
Those alive in Christ at that moment will be changed!
There is no basis for a partial rapture of the saints!
We shall be changed in less time than the twinkling of an eye!
This coming of Christ will be so sudden and without advanced notice, so that we should be abiding in Him at all times!
2Ti 4:8 Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.
Heb 9:28 So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.
1Jn 2:28 And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.
*****1Co 15:53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
1Co 15:54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.
1Co 15:55 O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
1Co 15:56 The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.
As we know the whole of creation is in bondage to corruption!
In science this is called "entropy" and it is a real thing!
The Bible says it is the curse because of the sin of Adam.
The law will be changed and the curse will be removed for all those that know the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior!
Death will be swallowed up in victory!
Isa 25:8 He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the LORD hath spoken it.
Death no longer has any power over the Child of God!
When there can be no sin there can be no death!
The Law only made sin more grievous because it made God's "Grace" even clearer!
Thank God for "Grace"!
*****1Co 15:57 But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
1Co 15:58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.
God's Riches At Christ's Expense!
We must not make the work of the Lord to accomplish all these things a vain thing meaning nothing.
No matter how great the temptation to compromise the Word of God,"Do Not Yield"!
No matter how demanding the work of the Lord can be at times, "Do Not Quit"!
There is coming to all Christians a day of rest and reward but just not yet!
Heb 6:10 For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister.
Heb 6:11 And we desire that every one of you do shew the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end:
Heb 6:12 That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises.
Remember God has never broken a promise!
Questions?
Let's Pray!
1 Corinthians 15
There are certain things that all Christians should have in common.
1) The Trinity of God is a doctrine that is fundamental to the Christian faith!
God is one in essence.
God is three in persons. (The Father, The Son, The Holy Ghost)
The three persons all have distinct relationships.
The three persons are equal in authority.
2) The person of Christ was 100% God and 100% man.
3) The Second Coming of Christ. (The Lord Promised He Would Return)
4) Salvation is by Grace alone through Faith alone.
5) The Scriptures are "all" inspired by God and we have the complete Word of God.
(The Bible does not just contain the Word of God, it is the Word of God!)
If these things are true, then the Scriptures teach of the resurrection of Jesus Christ and since the Word of God says this is true then we must accept it as the truth!
You cannot be saved and reject the Word of God!
You can be saved and disagree on certain things that have no real meaning in salvation!
The resurrection of Jesus Christ is not one of these things and neither are these five basic fundamentals!
*****1Co 15:1 Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;
1Co 15:2 By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.
It should be clear to us all that Christianity is based on historical facts and not on human reasoning nor human imagination.
1) The person of Jesus Christ.
2) He "died", He was "buried" and He "arose"!
3) There is more evidence that these things are all true, than for our own birth.
4) Christ Jesus died for our sins because He had no sin Himself.
5) Christianity is to be preached with this design!
The Apostle Paul preached so that those that heard the "Gospel" could be saved!
The Apostle Paul preached the facts of the Word of God!
*****1Co 15:3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;
1Co 15:4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:
1Co 15:5 And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve:
1Co 15:6 After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep.
1Co 15:7 After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles.
The central focus of the "Gospel" is on the death, the burial, and the resurrection of Christ for our sins!
This is the greatest of the fundamentals of Christian faith!
Paul received the truth of the Gospel when the Lord Jesus revealed Himself to Paul on the road to Damascus!
Gal 1:12 For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.
The physical death, the actual burial, and the physical resurrection of Jesus Christ is not a doctrine because it is a fact!
For salvation to be real, this is the first thing we must base our faith on!
If Christ had not rose from the dead to everlasting life, then we could not trust in our own promised salvation.
Joh 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Joh 3:17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
Joh 3:18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
Everlasting life can mean only one thing, eternal life after our own resurrection!
The reason that Christ, the Messiah first came to this world was to pay for all our sins!
1Jn 2:2 And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.
1Jn 4:14 And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world.
The New Testament records all these things of Christ but it is the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophesies that Paul is referring to.
It is the death of the Messiah that is the Gospel, the Good News!
Were we to be convinced that some man died for our sins, then that would be meaningless. Martyrs die every day but none of those can die for the sin of all the world!
Christ, the Messiah died for us, for all our sin!
No doubt that Christ died in substitution for our own eternal death but the death of Christ also means that the righteous demands of a holy God "were satisfied"!
The death of Christ provided the payment for sin and God was satisfied!
Christ death resulted in forgiveness for all sinners!
God could not forgive sin without the proper payment!
Col 2:13 And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;
Col 2:14 Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;
Col 2:15 And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.
Christ arose showing the world that He had the power over death and the grave!
This is also a historical fact!
We know that Christ was seen by many in the world as the Scripture dictate, but Paul gives us the evidence of the Apostles.
Cephas(Peter) saw our risen Saviour!
Luk 24:34 Saying, The Lord is risen indeed, and hath appeared to Simon.
Christ was then seen of the eleven remaining apostles:
Joh 20:19 Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.
And just so we would know that there many other witnesses to His resurrection, Christ was seen of more than 500 brethren at once.
And Paul told these Corinthians that many of those eyewitness were still alive the day he wrote this epistle!
No doubt the Apostle Paul had spoken to many of them!
We all know that if there were 500 witnesses to anything today then that thing would be believed without a doubt.
This James was the half-brother of Jesus.
We know that none of the half-brothers and half-sisters of Christ Jesus believed in Him until after the resurrection and then they believed.
Then Christ was seen of all the apostles. These would have been the followers possibly the 120 who gathered after the Lord ascended back to Heaven.
And then by Paul himself later on the Damascus road!
*****1Co 15:8 And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time.
1Co 15:9 For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.
When the Apostle Paul said "as one born out of due time" the Greek words used mean the same as we would say today that "as one who has survived an abortion".
We know that any child that is born before it has completed the normal 9 months in the womb would be puny and though born alive would not be the proper size.
Paul said, "I am the least of the Apostles", "I am scarcely meet to be an Apostle".
Paul said, "I did not come through the regular course as the other Apostles".
Paul said, "I should have been aborted but I was saved by the power of God".
Paul had persecuted the Church and God had forgiven him but in reality Paul had never forgiven himself!
Paul said if not for "Grace" he would still be lost!
We can all say this same thing!
*****1Co 15:10 But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.
The appearance of Jesus to Paul was real!
The appearance of Jesus to Paul was necessary for him to be an Apostle.
The appearance of Jesus to Paul was before Paul was a believer.
The appearance of Jesus to Paul was a special example of God's "Grace"!
Paul later wrote to the Philippians these words:
Php 3:4 Though I might also have confidence in the flesh. If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more:
Php 3:5 Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee;
Php 3:6 Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.
Php 3:7 But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.
Php 3:8 Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,
Php 3:9 And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:
Php 3:10 That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;
Php 3:11 If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.
Php 3:12 Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.
Php 3:13 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,
Php 3:14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
God had reached down and touched the heart of the Lord's greatest persecutor and made him the greatest of the Apostles to the Gentiles.
We know that "Grace" is the unmerited favor of God!
This wonderful thing called "Grace" can only come by the Lord Jesus Christ!
2Ti 1:9 Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,
2Ti 1:10 But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel:
Then the Apostle Paul joined the ranks of the other Apostles to preach the "Gospel"!
*****1Co 15:11 Therefore whether it were I or they, so we preach, and so ye believed.
Paul said it was he that preached the "Gospel" to these Corinthians but all the Apostles preached the "Resurrection" of Christ!
These Corinthians had believed at first, but now they were just confused about the Resurrection of Christ as they were about so many other things.
Therefore Paul the teacher, was writing to re-educate this church in the truth!
*****1Co 15:12 Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead?
1Co 15:13 But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen:
1Co 15:14 And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain.
1Co 15:15 Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not.
The truth is that over 600 eye-witnesses had seen Christ after He had risen from the dead.
It is a fact fact that this miracle had taken place, is also a fact that we have the complete "Gospel" of Jesus Christ.
It is a fact that we have the Words of Jesus Christ, teaching us what He will do!
We have enough facts to furnish all Christians with enough proof that we shall also rise after death!
Paul wrote to the Thessalonians with these words:
1Th 4:13 But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.
1Th 4:14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.
1Th 4:15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
Those that deny a risen Christ simply ignore the truth of the Word of God!
This is what happens when the world is allowed to gain entrance into the Church!
The politics of this world must never be allowed to gain a foothold in the Church established on the foundation Christ Jesus!
The Church is established on the resurrection of Christ!
1Pe 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
1Pe 1:4 To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,
1Pe 1:5 Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
The Baptism of each believer would be a useless ceremony if the resurrection was not true!
The Church is non-existent without the resurrection of Christ Jesus!
Our faith would be in vain because that faith would be in a crucified man, a martyr, and not in a risen Savior!
The entire Church would be a false witnesses of God.
It would be a lie to tell false stories of the things that God does, if God had not raised Christ from the grave and God would not tolerate such a lie!
Job 13:7 Will ye speak wickedly for God? and talk deceitfully for him?
God will not allow deception in His name!
There is no true Christian faith without the resurrection!
There is no hope for forgiveness without the resurrection.
There is no hope of salvation without the resurrection!
There is no eternal life without the resurrection!
We would all be still lost in our sins. We would never see our loved ones again. And we would live miserable lives without purpose!
*****1Co 15:16 For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised:
1Co 15:17 And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.
1Co 15:18 Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.
1Co 15:19 If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.
1Co 15:20 But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.
Verse 16 repeats verse 13 and when God repeats Himself, He wants to clearly understand what we are reading.
The Resurrection of Christ Jesus is a historical fact!
The truth is a dead Redeemer cannot be a Redeemer.
Without the Divine Power to resurrect Christ, Jesus would be just another man with high ideals!
Rom 4:23 Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him;
Rom 4:24 But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead;
Rom 4:25 "Who was delivered for our offenses, and was raised again for our justification".
There is a reason that all these things happened before so many eyewitnesses.
Death is the greatest enemy of the human being!
In fact death is the enemy of all God's creation.
For this reason those of evolution have no case at all!
Everywhere we look we see death. All animals die, all plants die, even whole species of both have become extinct.
Cities die, nations die, homes, automobiles, clothes eventually wear out and go back to dust.
Even the universe itself is running down and will one day die.
Rom 8:20 For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,
Rom 8:21 Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
Rom 8:22 For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.
Of all creation, there is only One who has conquered death.
Christ died, and was buried and then because of the power of God, He arose!
Since His claim of Resurrection was an actual event, then His promises will be actual events!
1Pe 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
All the goodness, all the faith, all the love, of the Christian life has not been for nothing!
If this life is all that there is, then to live the Christian life and suffer ridicule and persecution could be considered to be miserable by most Christians!
The fact remains that Christ Jesus did rise from the dead!
Though the resurrection was foretold in the Old Testament and Jesus Himself told all His followers, they were completely surprised when it happened!
Luk 24:34 Saying, The Lord is risen indeed, and hath appeared to Simon.
Luk 24:35 And they told what things were done in the way, and how he was known of them in breaking of bread.
Luk 24:36 And as they thus spake, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.
Luk 24:37 But they were terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a spirit.
Luk 24:38 And he said unto them, Why are ye troubled? and why do thoughts arise in your hearts?
Luk 24:39 Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.
Luk 24:40 And when he had thus spoken, he shewed them his hands and his feet.
Luk 24:41 And while they yet believed not for joy, and wondered, he said unto them, Have ye here any meat?
Luk 24:42 And they gave him a piece of a broiled fish, and of an honeycomb.
Luk 24:43 And he took it, and did eat before them.
Luk 24:44 And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me.
All the Apostles then died a martyr's death but John because they would not reject this truth!
Jesus Christ became the firstfruits of all those that sleep in Jesus!
*****1Co 15:21 For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.
1Co 15:22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
1Co 15:23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming.
This one verse disproves the false theory that these was long ages before the birth of mankind. The Bible is specific death had it's beginning with sinful man!
There is no such thing as a billion year old fossil record!
There is only the record of the great flood in Noah's day!
2Pe 3:5 For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water:
2Pe 3:6 Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished:
2Pe 3:7 But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
Every human being since the time of Adam, partake of Adam's sin nature and are therefore liable to the death that sin nature incurred.
Since the first fruit is a specimen of the whole harvest, then Christ is the first fruit of the whole Church.
First Christ, then His own and last the end when death itself will be destroyed and finally the resurrected creation handed back by Christ the Mediator to His Father!
1Th 4:16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
*****1Co 15:24 Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.
1Co 15:25 For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.
1Co 15:26 The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.
1Co 15:27 For he hath put all things under his feet. But when he saith all things are put under him, it is manifest that he is excepted, which did put all things under him.
1Co 15:28 And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all.
Christ Jesus will reign on this earth until He has put all the enemies of God under His feet.
This ultimate triumph will show all creation that there was no defeat at the cross but eternal victory!
The last enemy to be destroyed will be the first enemy who rebelled against God in the beginning.
He who has deceived the world with lies ever since!
It is Satan who now has the power of death:
Heb 2:14 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;
Heb 2:15 And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.
Satan will finally be locked up forever in the Lake of Fire that was created for Him!
Rev 20:10 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.
We know that in the Holy Trinity, the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit are co-equal in all things!
But we also know that the Head of Christ is God!
And we also know the Christ Jesus came to do the will of His Father!
So verse 28 is one of those things we may not clearly understand until we also get to Heaven!
Christ will deliver all those that His Father has called to Him for eternity!
God will always be God, even that day that we obtain a glorified body just as Christ Jesus has now, we will not be gods!
*****1Co 15:29 Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all?
It is very evident that some in this church believed that they could get baptized for someone they knew that had died without Christ.
There may actually be some of those who had received the Lord as their personal Savior and had not had the opportunity to be baptized.
There is never salvation in baptism because that would be a doctrine of works!
Eph 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Eph 2:9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
The larger question was the Resurrection of Christ!
Paul is saying "none of these make any sense at all if you cannot believe in the Resurrected Christ"!
All places of worship that are divided in doctrine and disorganized in their theories and rejecting the truth of the Scriptures, will find themselves committing many things that go against the Word of God!
*****1Co 15:30 And why stand we in jeopardy every hour?
Paul is saying, why would "we" the Apostles, stand in jeopardy of our lives if salvation could come by waiting to the very last and just be baptized.
"Or to just make arrangements for someone else to get baptized for us after our death".
Many a Pastor would opt out of preaching the Word of God, if they knew they could gain salvation by such a simple method!
*****1Co 15:31 I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.
1Co 15:32 If after the manner of men I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantageth it me, if the dead rise not? let us eat and drink; for to morrow we die.
1Co 15:33 Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners.
1Co 15:34 Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame.
The Lord Jesus said to pick up our own cross daily and follow in His ways.
If the Lord did not rise from the dead in His resurrection, why would we even want to die daily and live the life of a Christian.
The Apostle Paul had been imprisoned for preaching the Word of God.
The Apostle Paul had been beaten and stoned to near death for preaching the Word of God.
The Apostle Paul was writing this epistle from Ephesus where great mobs, who acted like wild beast were attacking anyone who claimed to be Christian.
Paul said there is no advantage to being a Christian if our Lord Jesus did not rise from the dead!
None of us would live in such peril as Paul, if the goal of eternal life was taken away.
All those Christians in Iraq, and in Syria, and in other places where persecution is a real and a daily occurrence would not suffer through those things if Christ Jesus was some fable and there was no hope of eternal life in Heaven.
We just as well be like the world and partake of the madness of a carnal life, if all that life brought was death!
The truth is that false doctrine will lead to wicked behavior!
To deny the resurrection of Jesus Christ is to deny the Word of God and so deny God Himself!
Denying our Creator in favor of evolving from some animal leads to acting like animals and we can see this happening in our world today.
This was the message of Paul to these Corinthians.
If you think you come from a beast then you will act in the ways of some wild beast!
Evil communications corrupt good manners!
What is the answer?
Awake to righteousness.
Sin not.
Be not ignorant of the truth of God's Words!
We shame ourselves and the Lord, when we say we are saved and yet do not believe the Word of God!
Joh 14:15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.
Jesus said if you really loved Me you would keep My commandments!
The Word of God is not hard to understand but it requires "Faith" and it requires "The Love Of God"!
God is "Love" so we must have "Faith"!
That's why it is called "Grace"!
*****1Co 15:35 But some man will say, How are the dead raised up? and with what body do they come?
1Co 15:36 Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die:
1Co 15:37 And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other grain:
1Co 15:38 But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body.
Even today the world has this same question, how can the dead rise up in new life?
Those of us that know God and have "saving faith", also know that with God nothing is impossible!
If we trust our Creator then all life is in His hands!
The truth is that Christ Jesus passed from death to life and ascended into Heaven as a man and this was witnessed by many infallible truths!
Act 1:3 To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God:
Paul is saying the same thing that the Lord said:
Joh 12:24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.
Most everyone knows that if you sow a seed, then that sprout that finds its way out of the ground does not resemble that seed!
The growth of that seed shows that there is a personal identity that is under a complete change.
When we die and God resurrects that body, we may have the same personal identity but there will a complete change from that body that died and was buried!
God will give that new body as it pleases Him and to every seed his own body.
The truth is, we know very little of this glorified body beyond what the Scriptures teach.
John says it like this:
1Jn 3:2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
1Jn 3:3 And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.
This is why we live the Christian life and this is why so many will suffer the persecution of being a Christian and will not renounce their beliefs!
The truth of seeds is, that they will only produce after their kind which refutes all the theories of evolution.
A Christian that goes home to be with the Lord, while that old body is placed in the ground, can only produce after it's own kind but that body will be designed of God because all flesh is not the same flesh!
*****1Co 15:39 All flesh is not the same flesh: but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds.
1Co 15:40 There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another.
1Co 15:41 There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory.
1Co 15:42 So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption:
1Co 15:43 It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power:
1Co 15:44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.
All plants and animals can only reproduce after their own kind.
Evolution has never proved this to be wrong!
True science shows that there are "distinct" genetic gaps between different kinds of animals and by the gaps between those same kind of animals in the fossil records that have been found!
There is also a big difference between earth and the planets from the Sun and the Moon and these things also have been verified by modern astronomy.
The chemical and physical structures of the earth and the other planets and the moon are vastly different from each other.
These things make it impossible that they could have evolved out of the same dust cloud and true science knows all these things!
All stars may look alike to the naked eye, even seen through a telescope they seem to be just points of light.
When the light spectra is studied it reveals that no two stars are the same, just as the Bible states!
Each one has it's own brightness to temperature, so each one is different "in glory" from all others!
The truth of all these things is the same truth of each child of God!
All those that sleep in Christ will be raised in bodies that differ.
That word "incorruption" also means "immortality", so that mortal body will be raised as immortal!
That new glorified body will without corruption and without death!
This is much more than just the immortality of the soul!
The Scriptures say the "resurrection of the dead"!
When a seed is planted in the ground as though it was dead, it lies dormant until the conditions are met and it finally rises to new life.
The human body because of sin and the curse, eventually dies and is buried but one day when the Son of God calls that body will be raised, the same basic body but born again in Christ being immortal and glorified!
That spiritual body rising from the dead will no longer be under bondage to gravity or the forces of this earth!
In our bodies today, we are continually in a struggle our spirit with our flesh and we must die everyday to our flesh.
That new Spiritual and glorified body will not have this problem!
We do know much of this body but some we do know:
1) The glorified body of Jesus could pass through walls.
2) That glorified body was able to move with tremendous speed between earth and God's throne in Heaven!
These things are all written down for us to know!
*****1Co 15:45 And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.
1Co 15:46 Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.
1Co 15:47 The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.
1Co 15:48 As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.
1Co 15:49 And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.
Without a doubt we can see that all the Apostles confirmed the Genesis account of creation without question and we should to.
Adam was a real man and the first man and Eve the first woman!
There were no humans before Adam and Eve.
There were no creatures evolving into humans before Adam and Eve!
The last Adam is of course the Lord Jesus Christ!
Both Adam and Christ were both true men and both formed directly by God.
Of course Christ was also 100% God!
Both Adam and Christ were both formed without genetic inheritance from human parents!
Adam was the first man made a living soul, and the "head" of the human race!
The Lord Jesus was the first begotten from the dead, the first man made a life-giving spirit!
Adam brought sin and death into the world.
Christ brought everlasting, sinless, eternal life!
Adam was formed of God and not born at all.
Christ Jesus was directly formed by God the Holy Spirit in the womb of Mary!
Heb 10:5 Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me:
Christ is the second and last man that this was true!
All humans resemble their first parent which was Adam.
All Christians resemble our Redeemer who is Christ!
Besides salvation itself, the greatest promise of God is that all those who have accepted Christ as their Savior will one day "be conformed to the image of the Son of God"!
Rom 8:29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
Php 3:21 Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.
1Jn 3:2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
1Jn 3:3 And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.
Because flesh and blood can never enter into Heaven!
*****1Co 15:50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.
1Co 15:51 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
1Co 15:52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
Our mortal body with our inbred sin nature can never enter into the kingdom of God!
There will be no corrupt thing in Heaven!
1Pe 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
1Pe 1:4 To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,
1Pe 1:5 Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
What is the great mystery of the Old Testament?
Just before the Second Coming of Christ, when He comes in the clouds, there will be a simultaneous resurrection and glorification of all those in Christ!
The dead who sleep in Christ, Christ will bring with Him!
Those alive in Christ at that moment will be changed!
There is no basis for a partial rapture of the saints!
We shall be changed in less time than the twinkling of an eye!
This coming of Christ will be so sudden and without advanced notice, so that we should be abiding in Him at all times!
2Ti 4:8 Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.
Heb 9:28 So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.
1Jn 2:28 And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.
*****1Co 15:53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
1Co 15:54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.
1Co 15:55 O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
1Co 15:56 The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.
As we know the whole of creation is in bondage to corruption!
In science this is called "entropy" and it is a real thing!
The Bible says it is the curse because of the sin of Adam.
The law will be changed and the curse will be removed for all those that know the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior!
Death will be swallowed up in victory!
Isa 25:8 He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the LORD hath spoken it.
Death no longer has any power over the Child of God!
When there can be no sin there can be no death!
The Law only made sin more grievous because it made God's "Grace" even clearer!
Thank God for "Grace"!
*****1Co 15:57 But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
1Co 15:58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.
God's Riches At Christ's Expense!
We must not make the work of the Lord to accomplish all these things a vain thing meaning nothing.
No matter how great the temptation to compromise the Word of God,"Do Not Yield"!
No matter how demanding the work of the Lord can be at times, "Do Not Quit"!
There is coming to all Christians a day of rest and reward but just not yet!
Heb 6:10 For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister.
Heb 6:11 And we desire that every one of you do shew the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end:
Heb 6:12 That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises.
Remember God has never broken a promise!
Questions?
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