Discussion about Resurrection
Matt. 22.23 That same day some Sadducees stepped forward-a group of Jews who say there is no resurrection after death. They posed this question: 24 "Teacher, Moses said, `If a man dies without children, his brother should marry the widow and have a child who will be the brother's heir.'* 25 Well, there were seven brothers. The oldest married and then died without children, so the second brother married the widow. 26 This brother also died without children, and the wife was married to the next brother, and so on until she had been the wife of each of them. 27 And then she also died. 28 So tell us, whose wife will she be in the resurrection? For she was the wife of all seven of them!"
29 Jesus replied, "Your problem is that you don't know the Scriptures, and you don't know the power of God. 30 For when the dead rise, they won't be married. They will be like the angels in heaven. 31 But now, as to whether there will be a resurrection of the dead-haven't you ever read about this in the Scriptures? Long after Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had died, God said,* 32 `I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.'* So he is the God of the living, not the dead."
33 When the crowds heard him, they were impressed with his teaching.
- knowing the scriptures is spiritual knowledge.
- knowing the power of God is spiritual experience.
- lacking these two forms the basis of human error.
- only Christians possess both knowledge and experience in the Lord.
- It behooves believers to gain more of both.
- If God is the God of the dead and the annihilated then that is not encouraging to Moses at the burning bush (and God would have mentioned it), so therefore, God is the God of Abraham and Abraham is a dead person; though he is dead will yet become alive. So too will Isaac and Jacob be resurrected.
1 Cor. 15.50 What I am saying, dear brothers and sisters, is that flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God. These perishable bodies of ours are not able to live forever.
51 But let me tell you a wonderful secret God has revealed to us. Not all of us will die, but we will all be transformed. 52 It will happen in a moment, in the blinking of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For when the trumpet sounds, the Christians who have died* will be raised with transformed bodies. And then we who are living will be transformed so that we will never die. 53 For our perishable earthly bodies must be transformed into heavenly bodies that will never die.
54 When this happens-when our perishable earthly bodies have been transformed into heavenly bodies that will never die-then at last the Scriptures will come true:
"Death is swallowed up in victory.*
55
O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?"*
56 For sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power. 57 How we thank God, who gives us victory over sin and death through Jesus Christ our Lord!
1 Corinthians 15
The Risen Christ (Resurrection of Christ), Faith's Reality
(cf. Mark 16:9-20)
15.1 Moreover, brethren*, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, 2 by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you--unless you believed in vain.
3 For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: 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 by Cephas*, then by the twelve. 6 After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren* at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep. 7 After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles. 8 Then last of all He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time.
9 For I am the least of the apostles, who am not worthy 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 toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. 11 Therefore, whether it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.
The Risen Christ, Our Hope (Resurrection of the Dead)
(cf. 1 Thess. 4:13-18)
12 Now if Christ is preached that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen. 14 And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty. 15 Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ, whom He did not raise up--if in fact the dead do not rise. 16 For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. 17 And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins! 18 Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19 If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.
The Last Enemy Destroyed
20 But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have *fallen asleep. 21 For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. 23 But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ's at His coming. 24 Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power.* 25 For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet. 26 The last enemy that will be destroyed is death. 27 For "He has put all things under His feet." But when He says "all things are put under Him," it is evident that He who put all things under Him is excepted.* 28 Now when all things are made subject to Him, then the Son Himself will also be subject to Him who put all things under Him, that God may be all in all.
Effects of Denying the Resurrection
29 Otherwise, what will they do who are baptized for the dead, if the dead do not rise at all? Why then are they baptized for the dead? 30 And why do we stand in jeopardy every hour? 31 I affirm, by the boasting in you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily. 32 If, in the manner of men, I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantage is it to me? If the dead do not rise, "Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!"*
33 Do not be deceived: "Evil company corrupts good habits."* 34 Awake to righteousness, and do not sin; for some do not have the knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame.*
A Glorious Body
35 But someone will say, "How are the dead raised up? And with what body do they come?" 36 Foolish one, what you sow is not made alive unless it dies. 37 And what you sow, you do not sow that body that shall be, but mere grain--perhaps wheat or some other grain. 38 But God gives it a body as He pleases, and to each seed its own body.
39 All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one kind *of flesh of men, another flesh of animals, another of fish, and another of birds.
40 There are also celestial bodies and terrestrial bodies; but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. 41 There is one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for one star differs from another star in glory.
42 So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption. 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. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. 45 And so it is written, "The first man Adam became a living being."* The last Adam became a life-giving spirit [or a quickening spirit].
46 However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, and afterward the spiritual. 47 The first man was of the earth, made of dust; the second Man is *the Lord from heaven. 48 As was the man of dust, so also are those who are made of dust; and as is the heavenly Man, so also are those who are heavenly. 49 And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we* shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man.
Our Final Victory
50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption. 51 Behold, I tell you a *mystery [secret]: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed-- 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 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 has put on incorruption, and this mortal has 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 your sting?
O Hades, where is your victory?"*
56 The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the 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 labor is not in vain in the Lord.
Footnotes:
15:1 Greek brothers; also in 15:31, 50, 58. Or brothers and sisters.
15:5 Greek Cephas. Or Peter.
15:6 Greek the brothers. Or brothers and sisters.
15:20 Young's - of those sleeping He became.
15:24 Greek every ruler and every authority and power; or having put down all enemies of every kind.
15:27 Psalm 8:6
15:32 Isaiah 22:13; Greek fighting wild beasts in Ephesus.
15:33 Or NLT, Don't be fooled by those who say such things, for "bad company corrupts good character."
15:34 Or I speak this to move you to shame. (ASV)
15:39 NU-Text and M-Text omit of flesh; RSV reads one kind for men,....
15:45 Genesis 2:7
15:47 NU-Text omits the Lord.
15:49 M-Text reads let us also bear.
15:52 Greek the dead, or the Christians who have died.
15:54 Isaiah 25:8
15:55 Hosea 13:14
15:55 NU-Text reads O Death, where is your victory? O Death, where is your sting?
15:56 Or and the law gives sin its power.
