Plain and simple, the gospel of Jesus Christ stands or falls on the resurrection. The resurrection is the culmination of what we call “the Christ event,” which includes the birth, life, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Without the resurrection, the gospel is meaningless.
For some reason, the Corinthians had begun to doubt the resurrection. And in Chapter 15, Paul brings them back to reality. It’s a long chapter, so we’re going to break it up into two pieces: verses 1 through 34, then 35 through 58.
In this first half, Paul reminds them of his credentials to bring a gospel of salvation, the fallacy of rejecting the resurrection, and how the resurrection is part of God’s plan of creation, fall, redemption, and renovation. Finally, he points out a practice some were doing (wrongly) that would be foolish if the resurrection were not true.
1 – 2
These are pretty strong words. Either Paul is deluded, a master con artist, or an actual official representative of Jesus Christ. He reminds the Corinthians that it was the revelation of the gospel to him from the Lord Jesus that they received. They received all of it—and you can’t just break it into the pieces you like.
That’s what a lot of people like to do. They want Jesus to be a good person who lived an example of a good life for us to follow. Or they want Jesus to be a miracle worker who can be summoned to do our bidding at will. They want Him to be a rule setter—giving us some hard and fast rules so when we obey them we can feel good about ourselves. Some want him to be so loving that He just winks at sin and evil and says “Oh, come on into my Father’s kingdom!” Some want the good parts without the realization that it all centers on a sacrifice for evil—and that the resurrection is the proof that that sacrifice took.
That’s why Paul says “unless you believed to no purpose.” What use are all the good sayings if we are left in this evil state? What good are the rules if we can’t ever hope to really do them? The issue of sin, sacrifice, and salvation through the resurrection is the whole deal. If not for that, you are basically wasting your time.
3 – 8
Paul mentions two crucial elements to the veracity of the resurrection: Old Testament Scriptures and eyewitness accounts.
Prophetic Testimony
Vs 3 &4 mention the propitiatory nature of the Messiah’s death, and about His burial and resurrection on the third day.
Substitutionary death
Isaiah 53:5 But He was pierced because of our transgressions, crushed because of our iniquities; punishment for our peace was on Him, and we are healed by His wounds.
This suggests that He was pure, for only a “spotless” lamb could be used in the sacrifice. The lamb also had to die (Exodus 12:5-6 ).
Burial
Isaiah 53:9 They made His grave with the wicked, and with a rich man at His death, although He had done no violence and had not spoken deceitfully.
Raised on the third day
Jesus said about Jonah being three days in the belly of the fish (Matt 12:40 ) that he too would be three days in the earth.
Psalms 16:9-10 Therefore my heart is glad, and my spirit rejoices; my body also rests securely. 10 For You will not abandon me to Sheol; You will not allow Your Faithful One to see the Pit.
It is vitally important for us to understand that everything Jesus did was foretold as part of God’s master plan. None of it happened by accident and God didn’t make it up as He went along.
Eyewitness Testimony�
Paul mentions six groups of individuals. He starts with Peter, whom the Lord confronted in Luke 24:36 and John 20:19 , then the 12—a reference to the Apostles as a group, and not twelve individuals (Judas wasn’t with them, nor was Thomas at the time). The event where 500 saw Him at once is only recorded here but should surely put to rest any notion that the resurrection was an “inside job” where those closest to Jesus snuck in and stole His body them claimed that He was alive. James, the Lord’s brother, didn’t believe at first, but joined the group and later became leader of the church in Jerusalem and wrote the book of James. And lastly, Paul, who met Jesus on the road to Damascus (Acts 9 ). He refers to his birth as a “miscarriage” because he did not come to faith in the “normal way.”
The great thing about the time Paul was writing was that many of the people Jesus had appeared to were still alive and could corroborate his story.
9 – 11
The Corinthians may have doubted that Paul’s witness of Jesus and his gospel was as “good” as that of the rest of the group. He acknowledges that while he considered his “place” at the bottom of the apostolic heap, never the less, he states that God’s grace towards even one who persecutes God’s church saves (not ineffective). And, he says, all the apostles put the same emphasis on the resurrection.
Simply put, with the resurrection, there is no Christianity and no salvation and no hope for mankind.
12 – 14
What is resurrection anyway? It is not the same as what happened to Lazarus in John 12 . He was resuscitated. Lazarus had to die a physical death again. Jesus was resurrected which means He was given a new body (more on that next time) and life that will never ever end and will never be separated from the Father.
Paul is saying “if the resurrection is central to the gospel and is included in everything we say, how can you just remove it from your belief system?”
It’s possible that the Corinthians were adopting the Greek philosophy that the body is evil and would not be raised to life. Any resurrection would happen only to the soul. But Jesus presented a very real body to His disciples.
In Luke 24 the disciples thought that Jesus was just a disembodied spirit. So He said “Do you have anything to eat?” They gave Him a piece of fish “and ate it in their presence.” He is very physical in the resurrection.
This new physical life is at the foundation of the gospel. If there is no resurrection then Jesus’ sacrifice did not take and we have no hope. Therefore your faith is worthless, just like it is to believe in every other guru and religious leader. None of them showed by demonstration that they can bring about everlasting life.
15 – 19
If there is no resurrection than all the Apostles were liars. That’s a pretty bold statement, but true. Moreover, the Corinthians needed to understand the ramifications of rejecting the resurrection—meaning that their sins had not been forgiven because without the resurrection there is no proof that Jesus’ sacrifice was sufficient.
Many people place their hope in this life only. I pity them really. I think that most people have that innate sense that life goes on after death. What’s really going on is that they are unwilling to cede authority over their life to the Lord.
20 – 28
There is a lot of great stuff in here. The idea of the “firstfruits” refers to Leviticus 23:10 as the Jews would bring the first part of their harvest to the Lord as an offering. Jesus is the first of the harvest of souls, bringing them into new life. Jesus resurrected body is a proof that a new body awaits us as well.
Death came through Adam’s sin; life came through Jesus’ obedience and sacrificial death, burial, then resurrection. Staying in the old life, the Adam life means ultimate death—separation from God and all that is good.
But not only does Jesus bring new life, He is also now the ultimate authority and ruler. It really is all about Jesus.
Death really is our enemy. Death was never supposed to happen. It’s wrong. We brought it about by deciding that the enemy knew better than God and that we knew better how to run our lives. It killed us. Now death itself is gone in Jesus again, through the resurrection.
29 – 34
We don’t know what exactly some of the Corinthians were doing, other than being baptized for people who had died. Paul doesn’t condone the practice. It is likely that this was being done for believers who had fallen asleep, or Paul would have condemned it. At the same time, it is useless. The point, however, is that why would they even do this if they believed this life was all that there is? Clearly, they wouldn’t. So he’s pointing out the inconsistencies in their own actions.
Living for this life only can have a couple of outcomes. It can make is very hopeless, which is the state many are in today. Or it can make us very licentious. “You only go around once in life so you’ve gotta grab for all the gusto you can.” That was a beer commercial tag line, but it is emblematic of a way lots of folks live their lives. They just do any and all kinds of evil that their flesh brings to mind because, if there is nothing after this life, then there is no accountability and what I do doesn’t matter.
This kind of attitude could have been creeping into the mind of the Corinthian believers. But Paul is pretty strong with them saying you can’t use a false philosophical construct to justify sinful behavior. Sin is sin, evil is evil. If you sin, there are consequences.
The resurrection is so serious that not believing it is the same as sinning. It is so central to the gospel that without it there really is no gospel at all.
Paul also says in verses 30 – 32 that all of the hardships he and the apostles have undergone are fools errands if there is no promise of the resurrection. “wild animals” probably refers to the unruly mob of Acts 19 where Paul’s life was in danger.
Conclusions�
Is your hope only for this life?
I feel for you. Many people are in the same boat. They don’t know whether to party it up or fall down and cry convulsively. You don’t have to do either one. There is life after death. There is also death after life. The certain truth is that we are all faced with a fork in the road. One fork takes us to that everlasting life filled with joy, the other to an eternity apart from anything that we would consider really good—that’s the death after life. Which fork will you go down?
What do you stand on?
How good is your grasp on the gospel of Jesus Christ? This chapter contains a really good summation of it: that Jesus died, was buried, and rose all according to God’s plan in the Scriptures to rid us of an endemic evil that is killing us. His resurrection was seen by hundreds of reliable witnesses. Finally, this same Jesus now rules the universe as a human. Jesus is Lord. Not Mohammed, not Buddha, not Krishna, or any other person alive or dead.
Three Reasons to reject resurrection
Three reasons to accept resurrection
Didn’t happen
Historical fact
Don’t want to be accountable
Promise of new life free from evil
Don’t care
You really do care deep down
