The Church of the Risen Lord

MEMORY VERSE: “Thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” —I Corinthians 15:57

I CORINTHIANS 15:3-19

THE resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is one of the vital fundamentals of the divine plan of salvation. In the beginning of our lesson Paul presents the evidence that Christ had been raised from the dead—evidence based upon the testimony of those who had seen him. He was seen of Cephas (the Aramaic for Peter), then of the Twelve; after that he was seen of about five hundred brethren at one time. These may well have been the majority of those who became Jesus’ followers during the course of his earthly ministry. He was also seen of James, and of all the apostles.

Paul indicates that the greater part of the five hundred brethren were still alive at the time of his writing, but that some had “fallen asleep.” It is interesting in passing that Paul does not speak of these deceased brethren as having gone to heaven, but as having “fallen asleep.” Paul knew, and clearly taught, that the faithful followers of Jesus would not receive their heavenly reward until he returned and they were brought forth in the “first resurrection.”

“Last of all,” Paul writes, “he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time.” On the way to Damascus Paul had caught a glimpse of the glorified Jesus, and the brightness caused him to be temporarily blinded. The teachings of the Bible are that those who are called to follow in the foot-steps of Jesus, and who accept that call, are given a heavenly hope. The receiving of this hope of a new life is spoken of as a begetting of the Spirit through the Word of God. Then this new life is nourished by the Word of God, and in the resurrection is “born” and the individual becomes like the glorified Jesus.

Those who attain to this resurrection birth, being like Jesus, will behold his glory, as well as the glory of the Father, and will fellowship with them. But in the case of Paul on the Damascus road, he had not been born to glory, and his glimpse of the glorified Jesus, while himself still a human, was as though he had been born before the due time, at least so far as this aspect of the new life is concerned.

Paul continues, “Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead?” This reveals a strange situation within the church at Corinth, in that some of the professed believers did not believe in the resurrection of the dead, and therefore could not accept the fact that Jesus had been raised from the dead.

At that time the Jewish sect of the Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection, and we suggest the possibility that some of these, being appealed to by the moral and ethical teachings of Jesus, associated themselves with the brethren, but did not believe the vital doctrines which set the Christian religion apart from all others in the world, for it is a fact, even today, that the teachings of the Bible are the only ones in the world which hold out the hope of a resurrection of the dead. One of the main reasons for this is that all other religions insist that “there is no death,” so if no one is really dead, how could there be a resurrection of the dead?

Beyond the lesson assignment Paul presents the positive side of the matter: “But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. For since by man came death, by man … also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.”—vss. 20-22

Jesus himself is the firstfruits of the resurrection, but in verse 23, where the firstfruits of the resurrection are again mentioned, his faithful followers are included. (James 1:18) These are the first to be raised from the dead, and they will be associated with Jesus in awakening all mankind from the sleep of death. These latter are the “afterward” class of verse 23.

QUESTIONS

What proof did Paul present that Jesus had been raised from the dead?

How important to our hope is the doctrine of the resurrection?

Who are the “firstfruits” of the resurrection?

| Home Page | Table of Contents |