Notes on 1 Corinthians 15

1 Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;
2 By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.
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;
4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:
5 And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve:
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.
7 After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles.
8 And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time.
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.
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.
11 Therefore whether it were I or they, so we preach, and so ye believed.

This is one of the most magnificent summations of the Gospel in all the scriptures.  It encompasses the reality and the reason for salvation, the purpose and the proof.  The Good News of Christ was not the ranting of some madman, not some special revelation that came only to one founder, like a cult, but a reality viewed by hundreds.  Islam points to the claims of Mohammed, Mormonism to Joseph Smith, but Christianity has a multitude of witnesses to its truths.  Paul was one of them, and a testament to the truth of Christ's teachings that "the last shall be first," because he, the last of the apostles, achieved the greatest success of all in spreading the Gospel.  He was careful to give the credit to God's grace, not to his own abilities.  Those in the Corinthian church who claimed to be his followers would have wanted the glory to go to him.

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?
13 But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen:
14 And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain.
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.
16 For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised:
17 And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.
18 Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.
19 If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.

This wasn't just a matter of spiritual pride, but heresy.  The preceding section is offered as proof that the claims of Paul and others about Christ's resurrection from the dead were true.  It was a face witnessed by many people, not just claimed by one or two.  Those who now claimed there was no resurrection of the dead, like the Sadducees of the Jews, were denying the very core of the Gospel.  They had no right to number themselves among the believers.  If the claim that the resurrection of the dead will not happen is true, the the claim that Christ himself rose from the dead is not not true.  Belief, like everything else in our relationship with God, is a choice.  No matter how strong the supporting proof, we can either chose to believe the truth of the Gospel, and its claims, and choose not to believe.  That's what faith is about; if we can see something with our eyes, it ceases to be a matter of faith.

20 But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.
21 For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.
22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming.
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.
25 For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.
26 The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.
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.
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.
29 Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? why are they then baptized for the dead?
30 And why stand we in jeopardy every hour?
31 I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.
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.
33 Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners.
34 Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame.

Here Paul gives the summary of the entire scope of human history, from Adam's fall to the end of this present world and the beginning, for us, of new life in new bodies.  Without exception, all human beings but Christ himself are born in sin, as Adam's heirs.  This doctrine of original sin is discussed at greater length in Romans 5, but it is summarized in Romans 3:23, "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God."  By Adam's life, and his disobedience, death came on us all; by Christ's death, and his obedience, life came to us all, as a free gift that has only to be accepted.  Others were raised from the dead in the record of scripture, but they all died again.  Only Christ, to this point, rose from death, and continues to live, and will forever live.  Death is our enemy, its power over us deriving from Adam's sin.  Although we have ultimate victory over death in Jesus Christ, the bodies we have now are destined to die, as a consequence of sin, unless they are transformed by Christ's coming while we are yet alive.  Christ's reign over creation, as the Son, is temporary, and will end with the conquest of all his enemies.  Since however, He is also God, his kingdom has no end.  That is one of the mysteries of the Trinity we cannot help to understand until we see Christ face to face.

Sincerity alone is not a guarantee of the truth of religious teaching; martyrs to Islam die every day by committing suicide, and there is no questioning their sincerity.  What Paul is saying is what he said before: If the Gospel is a lie, and he knows it is a lie, then all the suffering he has endured means nothing at all.  He does what he does because of his faith that all the promises of God are true.  He has faith because he has knowledge that the claims of the Gospel are true, from his experience and his relationship with God.  Ultimately all of us have faith only because of our own knowledge of God, coming out of our relationship with Christ.  Christianity is not a set of religious teachings; it is fundamentally a relationship with a person, Jesus Christ.  Scripture serves to give structure and substance to our faith, but if we believe only because of what is written in a book, we are not better than any other religion.  When we come to the limits of human reason, faith (in Christ) bridges the gap between us and God.

35 But some man will say, How are the dead raised up? and with what body do they come?
36 Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die:
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:
38 But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body.
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.
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.
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.
42 So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption:
43 It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power:
44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.
45 And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.
46 Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.
47 The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.
48 As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.
49 And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.
50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.

One could conclude from reading this passage that the resurrection involves a spirit, not a body, and some Christians still teach and believe that we will receive bodies that without substance, like the ghosts pictured in popular movies.  That is not what Paul is saying at all.  The bodies we have now begin to die as soon as they are born.  That is the heritage we have from Adam; we are formed from the substance of this earth, and like the earth itself, we will not endure forever.  A body deigned to die in a few decades is not suitable for eternity.  To see what our bodies will be like, we have only to look at the description of our risen Lord.  He could speak, and be heard; he could appear, and be seen.  He could be physically touched, and share in the act of eating.  On the night of the last supper, he indicated that he would again share the bread and the cup anew with the disciples after his resurrection.  Since we have no record of that's happening in the days following the resurrection (though it could have), the conclusion is that the feast will take place at some future point.  We are told specifically that we will drink of the water of life, in the description of the heavenly Jerusalem in Revelation 21, and it would make no sense to have fruit of the tree of life if it were only there to be seen, and not eaten.  Unlike our earthly bodies, our heavenly bodies will not need sleep, or rest; there will be no night there.  Isaiah 40:31 promises that those who serve (wait on) the Lord will not only run and not be weary, but that they will mount up with wings as eagles.  Whether the language referring to flight is literal or figurative, the verse clearly refers to a state of endurance we have not yet achieved, but the promise awaits.  We were made in God's image, but that reflection was marred by sin.  When we are restored to that image, we will be like Christ himself, clothed with the white garments of righteousness.  We cannot enter eternity with the bodies we now possess; we will lose them either through death, or through the transformation of the rapture (see the following section).  The contrast of the flesh and the spirit, the earthly and heavenly, appears again and again in Paul's writings, as it does in the whole record of the scripture.  That which is corrupt and temporary is of the world, and of flesh; that which is holy and everlasting is of God.  The two may coexist for a time in this corrupt world, but by definition nothing corrupt exists, or can exist, in Heaven.

51 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
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.
53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
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.
55 O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
56 The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.
57 But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
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.

This is a favorite and common passage for funerals, a reminder that for the Christian, physical death is not the end, but a beginning.  What is described here, and again in 1 Thessalonians 4, is what is commonly called "the rapture of the church," though the term itself appears nowhere in scripture.  Rapture in this case means a taking up physically, not some emotional high.  The majority view is that this event takes place at the event takes place at the beginning of the Great Tribulation.  The point here is that the hope of the resurrection is a real one, a sure and certain expectation, and that with the resurrection there will be no more death.  The wages of sin, the payment for it, is always death (Romans 6:23), but Christ has made the payment for all who will receive it.  Even though our physical bodies will die, death itself has no hold over us.  Because we stand in this hope, we can go on to do whatever God requires of us in his service, confident of our ultimate reward and triumph.