1 Corinthians 15:12-58

About the Text

(12) What is meant by the "resurrection of the dead"? It is the belief that when Christ returns, the bodies of all believers who have died will be raised as new, immortal, transformed bodies. Jesus Christ possessed such a body, a physical "glorified" body, when He was raised from the dead 2,000 years ago.

(12) Why did Paul need to defend this belief? Because the Corinthian Christians doubted it. Being influenced by Greek philosophy, the Corinthians saw the physical human body as inferior to the soul. Therefore, the idea of the future reunion of the soul with the body seemed foreign and inconceivable to them. Today, there is still a lingering popular belief that the believer's final state is where his soul, and only his soul, rests in heaven. But according to several passages in the Bible, the soul must be reunited to a resurrected "glorified" body sometime in the future. See John 11:24-26, Romans 8:17-25, Rev. 20:4-6)

(13) Why does one's denial of the resurrection of the dead lead to one's denial of Christ's resurrection? Logic. If one denies his own resurrection on the grounds that such a miracle is impossible, then he must logically conclude that such a miracle was impossible for Christ.

(14) Why does the denial of Christ's resurrection make Paul's preaching and one's faith "useless"? Because if the resurrection of Jesus Christ were not true, then all of His claims, including His promise of salvation to us who believe, would become suspect. His resurrection, being the miracle of all miracles, was to authenticate all the promises and deeds of Jesus Christ. In other words, the resurrection of Christ is like the one hook the supports a hanging plant. If the hook breaks, then all the strands that support the planter will fall as well. In short, all of Christianity falls if belief in Christ's resurrection falls. For this reason, Paul explains what would happen if belief in the resurrection of Christ, as well as the resurrection of the dead in general, were to crumble. His preaching would be "useless" (14), he would be a "false witness" (15), we believers would still be in our sins and barred from salvation (17), our faith and religion would be meaningless (17), and all we would have to look forward to is this present life, which for many is full of hardship and troubles (18).

(20) What is meant by "firstfruits"? Literally, it means the first part of a fruitful harvest that is given over to the Lord. In this passage, it means that we believers will all be part of a great resurrection, of which Jesus was the first (and the only one so far) to experience it. It implies that we believers will be resurrected in a similar way that Christ was.

(24) What "end" was being spoken of here? The end of the present age, that is, this world as we know it today. At that time, Christ will come back, and all the end-times events that He foretold will have happened.

(25) What does it mean that Christ will "put all His enemies under His feet"? It means that in the end Jesus will eliminate all evil and suffering in this world. It will become a place where "there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain" (Rev. 21:4).

(29) What is the "baptism for the dead"? Nobody knows for sure. There absolutely no other mention of it in the Old or New Testaments, and there is no reference to it at all in any other ancient Christian writings. In other words, we today have no clue as to what this practice was all about. Some cults have based a major doctrinal teaching on this verse. It is dangerous to do so. Because of the lack of other Biblical support, any conclusions drawn from this verse are speculative possibilities at best. Christian Bible scholars offer many possible explanations for this text, but again they are only possibilities. No one can be sure.

(30) Why did Paul say "Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die" if there were no resurrection? He meant that if we could not be certain about the Christian faith, God, salvation, Jesus, etc., there is no reason to live a godly life. We might as well indulge in anything and everything that makes us happy in this life.

(35) When our bodies are resurrected, what will they be like? The Bible gives some general features about such a body. First, it will be so different from the old body, that Paul compares it to a seed and a full-grown plant (v. 37). Second, it will sometimes be unrecognizable (John 20:14-15). Third, there will be few physical limitations (e.g. it can pass through walls), cf. John 20:19, 26. Fourth, it will retain some features that the old body had (John 20:27). Fifth, it cannot die (v. 42). Sixth it will have great strength (v. 43). Seventh, it can eat, and retains some familiar biological processes (John 21:12-13).

(44) If our resurrected body is physical, then why does Paul call it a "spiritual body"? It is "spiritual" only in the sense that it has been dramatically transformed by divine power. The other Bible passages that describe the resurrected body prove that it is still a physical one.

(55) How does the resurrection remove the Christian' fear of death? There is now something much greater to look forward to. If one believes in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, he can sure of his salvation. As a result, the Christian sees death as a momentary pause, a comma in life, and as an entrance to a life of perfect peace, painlessness, and bliss.

The Bottom Line

Christ's promise of the believer's future glory helps him live for God today.