The Resurrection

Intro

Job 19:26 “26 And after my skin is destroyed, this I know, That in my flesh I shall see God,”

Psalm 17:15 “15 As for me, I will see Your face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied when I awake in Your likeness.”

Gnostic — Plato dualism physical was only the pattern of the better spiritual. The physical was bad, the Spiritual was good. Physical didn’t matter, only the spiritual....

Jesus Christ only raised as a Spirit body, no physical.

The Results of the Resurrection

Southern Baptist Journal of Theology, Volume 6 (Christ’s Resurrection and Ours (1 Corinthians 15))

Paul then begins to flesh out at least four disastrous implications of denying Christ’s resurrection (vv. 14–19).

First, if Christ has not been raised then both the people’s faith and the apostolic preaching are “in vain,” that is, without basis.

Second, if Christ is not raised, then the apostles who have proclaimed the resurrection are false witnesses, distorters of the truth (v. 15).

Acts 2:31–32 “31 he, foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that His soul was not left in Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption. 32 This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses.”

Rom 1:1-4 “1 Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated to the gospel of God 2 which He promised before through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures, 3 concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh, 4 and declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.”

Third, if Christ is not raised then there is a sense in which God is implicated as well (vv. 15–16). As Fee states, “Since for Paul Christ’s resurrection is not his (Christ’s) own doing, but God’s vindication of the work of the Son, that means that a denial of the resurrection of the dead leads ultimately to a denial of the gospel altogether and levels an accusation against God himself that he did what in fact he did not do—if they are correct.”

Fourth, if Christ is not raised then Christian faith is futile in a further sense: “you are still in your sins” (v. 17) and dead believers are forever lost (v. 18). For if Christ has not been raised then what guarantee is there that his death “for our sins according to the Scriptures” (v. 3) accomplished anything? A dead Savior is no Savior at all. And, if Christ is not raised, all those who have trusted him for the forgiveness of their sins and who have now died are forever lost (v. 18).

Three Truths that must be Truth

Southern Baptist Journal of Theology, Volume 6 (Christ’s Resurrection and Ours (1 Corinthians 15))

First, Paul views the coming, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ in thoroughly redemptive-historical and eschatological categories. As God’s Son (cf. Rom 1:1–4), the Last Adam (vv. 21–22), Christ has inaugurated a new creation, supremely evidenced in his death, resurrection, and gift of the Spirit. As such, he has ushered in the “age to come”—that which the OT prophets longed for and anticipated; an age characterized by the defeat of God’s enemies, sin, death, and Satan himself. Even though this age has “not yet” been consummated in its fullness—for that awaits his second coming (parousia)—it nevertheless is “already” here in both its reality and power. In fact, the resurrection and the gift of the Spirit are proof positive of this fact. That is why Paul conceives of the resurrection of Christ (and the gift of the Spirit) in the category of “firstfruits” (vv. 20, 23; cf. Rom 8:23). Just as the first fruits of the harvest are a foretaste of the full harvest (cf. Lev 23:9–14), so the resurrection of Christ anticipates and ensures the resurrection for all those who belong to him. In this sense it functions similar to a “down payment” (arrabon)—a pledge on the part of God for the final eschatological harvest or payment. Even though the resurrection of believers is not until the parousia, Christ’s resurrection serves as the ground and guarantee that all those who are “in Christ” shall be raised, patterned after his glorious resurrection.

Second, as already stated and related to the first point, Paul assumes an indissoluble union between the resurrection of Christ and the bodily resurrection of believers. This makes sense in light of the Adam-Christ typological contrast in vv. 21–22 (cf. Rom 5:12–21). Just as Adam was the covenantal head of the old creation, and by his disobedience brought death to us all, so Christ is the covenantal head of the new creation, who brings life and salvation for all those who believe in him, by his obedient work on their behalf. The use of this typological contrast is to underscore the indissoluble union between these two heads and their people and thus the inevitability of the believer “in Christ” sharing in the resurrection of the dead. As Fee correctly observes, “Thus Christ is the firstfruits; he is God’s pledge that all who are his will be raised from the dead. The inevitable process of death begun in Adam will be reversed by the equally inevitable process of “bringing to life” begun in Christ. Therefore, it is not possible for the Corinthians to say there is no resurrection of the dead. Such a resurrection is necessitated by Christ’s.”

Third, Paul views the resurrection of Christ in light of God’s sovereign purposes. In this interim period between the first and second coming of the Lord Jesus, not all of God’s enemies have been subjected to him and destroyed, in particular the enemy death. In this sense, the day when God is “all in all” has not yet arrived. That is why Paul elsewhere can speak of believers, indeed the whole creation, groaning as it awaits the consummation and the resurrection of our bodies (cf. Rom 8:18–27). But precisely because God raised Jesus triumphantly from the dead, Paul is confident that God has set in motion an “inevitable chain of events” that will only be completed when all of God’s enemies are destroyed, including death itself. That is why Christ’s resurrection demands our resurrection since if we are not raised bodily from the grave, then death is never truly defeated and God can never be “all in all.” Ultimately, unless death is destroyed and we are raised, God as sovereign Lord of creation, history, and redemption is placed in question. That is the point Paul stresses in vv. 23–26 by emphasizing the “order” of events that leads to the consummation—Christ’s resurrection is the first fruits (v. 23); then (epeita) at his coming, believers will be raised (v. 23); then (eita) there will be the end or goal (telos) of human history when the Lord Jesus hands over the kingdom to God the Father after having destroyed every foe and enemy, including the last enemy, death (vv. 24–26).