The Necessity of the Resurrection

1 Corinthians 15:12-34 - Riley Boggs

Last week we looked at the first 11 verses of chapter 15 where Paul walks through what the Gospel is, what the Gospel accomplishes, and what we should do with the Gospel. And if you remember, I pointed out that the reason Paul has switched to the topic of the Gospel, or more specifically the resurrection, can be seen in verses 1-2. Look back at those verses. Paul writes, “Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the world I preached to you – unless you believed in vain.”

See, the reason Paul begins to write about the resurrection of Christ is because some people in the church of Corinth are believing in vain. Now, how are they doing this? What is it that they are doing or believing that is causing them to believe in vain? Well, it seems, for some reason, there are many Corinthians who have begun to deny the resurrection of the dead. That is, they are denying the Biblical truth that one day the bodies of all those who have died will be resurrected to rejoin their soul. And in that resurrected and perfected body they will dwell forever on the New Earth.

There are several texts we can look at in the Bible to prove this truth. The text we are looking at today and next week are among the best. But just so you can see it in another place, turn with me briefly to Philippians 3. This whole chapters mirrors what Paul has written in our text today, but I just want to draw your attention to the last the last 5 verses. Starting verse 17, Paul writes, “17 Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us. 18 For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. 19 Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things. 20 But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.” The truth cannot get much clearer. When the Lord returns, He will resurrect our bodies and transform them to be like Christ’s glorious body. 

Now, you might be thinking, is it really that big of a deal to deny this? I mean, a lot of people have different opinions are theological points, but we will all be in heaven together, right? Is Paul being too harsh here when he says that they are believing in vain? On some theological points that might be the case. We take communion every week and other churches choose not to. I obviously think weekly is better, but I don’t think that the church that takes it less often is believing in vain. But Paul seems to be arguing here that if someone denies the resurrection of the dead, they are believing in vain because of what they are denying by implication. What are they denying by implication? They are denying that Christ Himself rose from the dead. And if one denies that, even by implication, they are certainly believing in vain. We can see the reason why in verses 12-19.

1.) If there is no resurrection, there is no forgiveness of sins, and our faith is in vain (vv.12-19)

You can see the Paul’s logic as he works through these verses. Look at them with me starting in verse 12. He writes, “12 Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14 And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. 15 We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19 If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.”

By denying the resurrection of the dead, they are denying that Christ rose from the dead Himself. And if you deny that, you have lost the Christian faith as a whole. If you remove the resurrection of Christ from the Christian faith, you are left with nothing. R.C. Sproul says, “The truth of the Christian message is tied to the historical reality of Christ’s death and exaltation. The apostle cannot conceive of his message as having any spiritual value if its historical foundation does not exist.” He is exactly right.

Now, why is that the case? It is because without the resurrection, Jesus did not have power over sin and did not have power over death. And if that is true, we have no forgiveness of our sins. And if we have no forgiveness of our sins, our faith is in vain, our faith is futile, and Paul says that we are of all people most to be pitied. That is, we have based our entire life on a lie, and people ought to feel sorry for us. 

John Piper was once asked about this truth on “Ask Pastor John”. They asked, “Even if our faith is false, aren’t Christians happier people?” That’s a fair question, right? Aren’t we happier than the rest of the world regardless? He, and I, answer no. Here’s how he sums up his response. He says, “So, in sum, if there is no risen Christ — no resurrection of believers unto eternal reward and joy — then (1) Christian life is a delusion, (2) voluntary suffering is painfully pointless, (3) hope in heaven is futile, and all our self-denials based on that hope were ridiculous, and (4) any attempt to speak for the living Christ would be a damnable scam and a false prophecy, which would deserve hell even more than others, and we would perish under that severe sentence. So, we are, of all people, most to be pitied.”

Do you see that? If Christ has not been raised, the Christian life is a delusion, and all the pain and suffering that we voluntarily endure for the sake of Christ is pointless. And the hope that we that we have for heaven isn’t real, so denying worldly pleasure towards that end makes no sense. But most importantly, and the point I think Paul is driving home here, we proclaim a Christ who cannot. We, of all people, deserve hell because we walk around proclaiming a false prophet who cannot save. Paul says that in verse 15. That all those, including Paul, who testified to have seen Christ after His resurrection are liars. That is the argument here. If you deny the resurrection of the dead, you deny Christ’s resurrection, and everything else falls apart.

But the glorious reality here is that those who were denying the resurrection of the dead had it all wrong. We will certainly be raised from the dead because Christ certainly resurrected. Paul shows us this in verses 20-28.

2.) Christ has been raised, is reigning, and will one day bring about final redemption (vv.20-28)

Paul showed the outworking of denying the resurrection of the dead, which is a denial of the resurrection of Christ, and says that our faith is futile if this is the case. Now, in verses 20-28, he works through the beautiful truths that we get to hold because Christ has in fact resurrected. He starts off by simply stating in verse 20 that Christ has been raised from the dead and is the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. Now what does he mean by “the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep”? Last week we saw this same reference to those who have fallen asleep, and I said that this is simply a reference to those in Christ who have died. And Paul says they have fallen asleep not because they are not dead, but because they are going to rise again.

And so Paul says that Christ is the firstfruits of these people? Andrew Wilson puts it well. He says this, “Firstfruits, as the name implies, were the first part of the crop to emerge every year, and they were given as an offering to God – but they were also celebrated, because they served as a guarantee that the rest of the crop was coming.” In other words, the idea of the firstfruits is two-fold. It is both the first to emerge and a sign that more will also emerge. And so it is with Christ and all those who are in Christ and have died. Christ was the first to rise, but He is the sure sign that more will also rise. 

I’m not a farmer and my livelihood has never depended on crops bearing fruit, but I can imagine the anxiousness that can come along with it. You labor to get the field right, you plant your crops, and then you wait. You hope it doesn’t rain too much or too little. You hope that no hailstorms come through and destroy the young plants after they emerge. There are all these different variables that are simply out of your hands. But then, when that first fruit appears, you can take a breath. It is a sign of that there is more to come. This is what Paul wants the Corinthians to see. Since Christ rose, you ought to see that as the sign that those who are in Christ will rise as well. 

Then he continues on this same idea. He says, starting in verse 21, “ For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. 23 But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ.” What he is saying here is that in Adam, or through Adam’s sin, all have died. Every person to exist is guilty because of their representative Adam. In Adam, all die. But, in Christ, all can live and be raised. First Christ rose, then one day we too shall rise, all those who belong to Him.

But how sure is this? The Corinthians were probably asking this question. Many of them didn’t think that there was a resurrection of the dead and others might have believed it because Paul said, but they believed in their minds more than their heart. But this resurrection of the dead is as sure as anything because Christ has defeated death itself and is reigning over all things. He is going to, with absolute certainly, bring about ultimate and final redemption. This is what Paul is saying in verses 24-28. He writes, “ 24 Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. 25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death. 27 For “God has put all things in subjection under his feet.” But when it says, “all things are put in subjection,” it is plain that he is excepted who put all things in subjection under him. 28 When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all.”

One of my previous pastors, Lee, summed this up very well when he said, “Christ’s resurrection from the dead guarantees our future resurrection and eternal salvation because we are united with the one who reigns and will eternal reign over all things, even death itself.” Praise the Lord for this! Christ rising from the dead, defeating death and sin, is the guarantee that we to will raise. Not only that, but it guarantees that when we rise, death and sin will no longer have a hold on us. It will be once and for all conquered by the coming of the King, who will deal the final blow, when all things are subjected finally to God. 

R.C. Sproul said, ““The climax of Christ’s submissive, messianic work is this total conquest over His enemies, ‘that God may be all in all’, when His absolute rule is universally acknowledged.” In that day, it will not be that Christ first becomes King, He is the King now. Rather, His Kingdom will be ultimately realized, and His rule will be acknowledged by everyone, everywhere. Until that day, we cling to these truths in order to persevere. That is the last point I want us to see this morning.

3.) We must not forget these truths amidst our suffering and the world’s lies (vv.29-34)

In this final section we have a few things going on. First, we have a verse that might trouble some of you, because at first glance it reads like something you thought only Mormons do. Look at verse 29. We read, “29 Otherwise, what do people mean by being baptized on behalf of the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized on their behalf?” There are a few ways to understand this, but I think there is one that stands above the rest. The first thing to note here is that nowhere in all of the Bible do we have an example or a command for someone being baptized on behalf of someone who is dead. Second, we do not have any historical account of the Christian church doing such a thing. And so, if that’s not what this verse is talking about, then what is meant here.

Here’s what I think Paul is saying. This term “on behalf of” might be translated differently in your Bible, depending on your translation. But I think the best way to understand what is meant here is to render this phrase “because of” or “on account of” to get the right understanding. And so the verse would read like this, “What do people mean by being baptized because of the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized because of them?” So then, who are the dead? Well we have two options, and either way the results are the same. Either the dead are those who have died in Christ, or Paul is a referring to Himself and other Christians who have died to themselves. I lean towards the second option because of what Paul says at the end of verse 31, “I die every day!” 

Regardless, this is what is meant. If there is no resurrection of the dead, then why are people believing what Paul and others have been proclaiming? If the Gospel they are proclaiming is false and there is no resurrection of the dead, then why are people believing and being baptized on behalf of it? If it isn’t true, what all of those who died in Christ have said, why are people living their lives as if it is?

This is what he means by verse 29. And we know that for sure because he continues this same idea throughout the rest of this passage. If the Gospel you’ve heard isn’t true, verse 30, why are we putting ourselves in danger for it every hour? Think about this. Paul continued to put his life on the line day after day, for the sake of the Gospel. Why would he do that if he had not truly seen Christ? The answer is that he wouldn’t. But, he does, because the Gospel is true, and he did see Christ and he has been redeemed by him and the resurrection of the dead is surely coming. And so he says, in verse 31, “ 31 I protest, brothers, by my pride in you, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die every day!” That is, he is willing to die daily for the sake of the Gospel, because it is true, because Christ has been raised.

He gives a specific example of what this has looked like in his life in verse 32. He says, “What do I gain if, humanly speaking, I fought with the beasts at Ephesus? If the dead are not raised, ‘Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die’.” We read the story Paul is referring to for our middle scripture reading. This was a time where a coppersmith named Alexander did Paul much harm, and Paul says that no one came to his side to help him. But, the Lord stayed with him and rescued him from the lion’s mouth. And so, Paul concludes, I know that the Lord will rescue me from all evil and bring him safely home.

Finally, he gives a warning in the final 2 verses. He says, “33 Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.”34 Wake up from your drunken stupor, as is right, and do not go on sinning. For some have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame.”

Here’s what he is saying, and it’s what I want us to think about as we seek to apply this text to our lives. We live in a world that says, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.” And yet, we have all chosen to die to ourselves daily. We live in a world that seeks to deceive us, we are surrounded by bad company that lies. Just think about the phrase “YOLO” or “You Only Live Once”. People used that phrase to justify something that they probably shouldn’t do, because this is it. There’s nothing after this, so my as well have the most fun I can now.

But the call to those who are in Christ is to not go on sinning. It’s to pursue Him, to obey Him and His Word. It isn’t that we are only going to live once, but one day we will live again, and so we deny ourselves in now. That isn’t an easy task. It speaks a lot easier than it lives, right? You all have lived lives devoted to Christ and as a result of it, you have endured hard things that you could likely avoid if you gave up the faith. 

Maybe you’ve sought to be humble your workplace, so you have lost out on promotions to the prideful person who flaunts their abilities. Maybe you live a life that many would consider as not “financially smart” so that you can raise your children in the way that the Lord has led you to. Maybe you have been reviled and treated poorly, and you haven’t responded in a way that you feel vindicated. Maybe your seen as the odd one in your group of friends because you don’t do the things they do or watch the shows they watch, you constantly feel left out. Maybe you’ve extended forgiveness over and over again, to the point where it seems like you can’t do it again, but you do still. There are endless examples of this. The Christian faith means a denying of worldly pleasures for the sake of Christ, and that can be difficult.

What I want you to know is that it’s worth it. It is. And, you cannot forget of the hope you have in Christ while you endure all of these things. Don’t forget that one day, you are going to be raised and given a perfected body. You will have endless joy, you will have no more pain, you will never be wronged again, and you will be in the presence of the King who saved you. You will love and be loved in ways you have never understood. You will be safe, truly. You will be entirely content. It’s my prayer and hope that these truths would drive you to further obedience. 

Christ was raised from the dead and so shall all those in Christ. There is victory over sin. There is victory over death. Just because the world does not believe this or live like this does not make it any less true. Press on because you have united with Christ! 

I want to read the words of Paul in Romans 8 as we close. If you want to turn there with me, I’ll be reading Romans 8:18-30. “18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. 19 For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. 23 And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. 27 And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. 28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. 29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.”