Study in 1 Corinthians - Session 20

Rejoin the people in Corinth

Something is happening with the believers in Corinth and their belief in who Jesus is. It appears they believe that Jesus might just be another god. So Paul is left with boiling the gospel down to its core to draw their attention to a fact that is indisputable in Paul’s mind.

I would advocate that we struggle with this today in modern “believers”. Jesus, a prophet, a good man, maybe even the Savior, but the idea that he is resurrected from the dead and because of that we can trust that we will be as well? As preposterous as that might sound to someone who truly trust in the Scriptures as truth, many really do feel that way about a historical Jesus. They were living within the lifetime of others who had literally seen a risen Jesus, makes we wonder if Paul thought later generations would struggle all the more.

As you consider this text, I would like for you to think about this resurrection issue that was being discussed. Think about how outrageous this sounds to someone who is not a follower.

1 Corinthians 15:35–38 NASB95

35 But someone will say, “How are the dead raised? And with what kind of body do they come?” 36 You fool! That which you sow does not come to life unless it dies; 37 and that which you sow, you do not sow the body which is to be, but a bare grain, perhaps of wheat or of something else. 38 But God gives it a body just as He wished, and to each of the seeds a body of its own.

Paul is using a physical example to help them understand the spiritual. This is the seed that David talked about last week. I want you to look at just how impactful this concept is in scripture.

New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update Chapter 1

28 God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it

New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update Chapter 8

“Bring out with you every living thing of all flesh that is with you, birds and animals and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, that they may abreed abundantly on the earth, and be fruitful and multiply on the earth.”

Paul is about to now tell us how this flesh is viewed by God.

1 Corinthians 15:39–44 (NASB95)

39 All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one flesh of men, and another flesh of beasts, and another flesh of birds, and another of fish.

40 There are also heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is one, and the glory of the earthly is another.

41 There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory.

Paul is pointing out the relationship of one thing leading to another. Now look at the key pivotal text here now.

42 So also is the resurrection of the dead.

Paul is going to talk to us about the human body instead of the cosmos.

It is sown a perishable body, it is raised an imperishable body;

43 it is sown in dishonor, 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. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.

The flesh is important, but having only a limited view of this flesh is in error. Do you have sunlight without the sun? We should be thinking of all that is produced by the creation as God intended. The principle of value in the seed is important here.

Paul is not done with this kind of thinking. Now he wants to take us from the natural and spiritual world to the life and death of Jesus. I almost see this like Paul is building and old transparency that overlays and looks more and more complete as layers build on it.

1 Corinthians 15:45–49 (NASB95)

45 So also it is written, “The first man, Adam, became a living soul.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.

46 However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural; then the spiritual.

Very interesting issue being addressed theologically here. Some people say that we are souls in heaven before being here. Look at what Paul just said that disproves that.

47 The first man is from the earth, earthy; the second man is from heaven.

Who was the first man? Adam. Who is the second? Jesus.

48 As is the earthy, so also are those who are earthy; and as is the heavenly, so also are those who are heavenly.

49 Just as we have borne the image of the earthy, we will also bear the image of the heavenly.

He is talking about Jesus here. Jesus remember when he was talking with Nicodemus about how he did not understand heavenly things?

1 Corinthians 15:50–58 (NASB95)

50 Now I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.

Look at how interesting this is. What does that help you understand about Moses and Elijah? Death is not able to be escaped, but this death now is treated differently.

51 Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed,

Paul is predicting that some people will be here when Jesus returns. Jesus will return to a planet of living beings and some of those will not taste death in the natural sense we all think about it.

Back to 1 Corinthians 15

52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.

53 For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality.

54 But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, “Death is swallowed up in victory.

Isaiah 25:8–9 NASB95

8 He will swallow up death for all time, And the Lord God will wipe tears away from all faces, And He will remove the reproach of His people from all the earth; For the Lord has spoken. 9 And it will be said in that day, “Behold, this is our God for whom we have waited that He might save us. This is the Lord for whom we have waited; Let us rejoice and be glad in His salvation.”

55 “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”

56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law;

How can we know a sin if we know no law?

57 but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.

Paul quotes from Hosea 13 here. Reminding Israel that they had fallen away from their one true love. The way back is through Jesus, the Messiah. If not through the Messiah, the full sting of death will be felt.

And now Paul moves to his final portion of the letter.

1 Corinthians 16:1–10 NASB95

1 Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I directed the churches of Galatia, so do you also. 2 On the first day of every week each one of you is to put aside and save, as he may prosper, so that no collections be made when I come. 3 When I arrive, whomever you may approve, I will send them with letters to carry your gift to Jerusalem; 4 and if it is fitting for me to go also, they will go with me. 5 But I will come to you after I go through Macedonia, for I am going through Macedonia; 6 and perhaps I will stay with you, or even spend the winter, so that you may send me on my way wherever I may go. 7 For I do not wish to see you now just in passing; for I hope to remain with you for some time, if the Lord permits. 8 But I will remain in Ephesus until Pentecost; 9 for a wide door for effective service has opened to me, and there are many adversaries. 10 Now if Timothy comes, see that he is with you without cause to be afraid, for he is doing the Lord’s work, as I also am.