The apostle now comes back to the simple Gospel of the Grace of God. There were some of the Corinthians that were striking a blow at that very gospel that had saved them, for they were denying the resurrection of the dead. The apostle takes occasion by this error to bring out the great truth of the first resurrection and the coming of the Lord, which gives further importance to this Epistle. It takes up the two great truths which are of such importance for this day, 1st, the doctrine of the church, 2nd, the coming of the Lord for the saints, and resurrection of the body. The Epistle to the Romans lays the foundation by setting forth the gospel and the righteousness of God.
1 Cor. 15 may be divided thus: — In ver. 1-11 the gospel is brought forward as the foundation of the doctrine of the resurrection of the body; ver. 12-19 give us the consequences of no resurrection; ver. 29-34 continue the argument of ver. 18, 19; ver. 20-28 give the direct consequences of the resurrection of Christ; ver. 36-50 answer the questions of ver. 35, Christ’s body after resurrection being the type of the one we shall receive; ver. 51-54 give us the doctrine of the first resurrection.
The gospel then as the foundation of this is insisted on, particularly the resurrection of Christ. This was the gospel that Paul preached, which he now calls to their remembrance, the gospel which he had announced to them, which they had received and in which they stood; by which also they were saved, if they kept it in memory, as he had announced it to them, unless some of them had indeed believed in vain, and had only professedly received it. What, then, was this gospel? He only gave to them what he him self had received; and that was, first of all Christ died for our sins, according to the Scriptures. Our sins were the cause of Christ’s death. He answered in that manner before a just, Holy God, for them, and bore the punishment due to them which was death. This was part of the good news of the gospel. How were they to know that that was true? It was according to the whole teaching of Scripture from Abel’s sacrifice downwards, summed up in the ver.,
It is the blood that maketh atonement for the soul (Lev. 16:11).
God had thus told them so in His own Word, and that was sufficient. But, secondly, Christ was buried. I bury a dead body; I give it a sepulchre. Here is something additional to the good news of the sins having been all answered for in the death of Christ. Not only are the sins gone, but the nature of sin is buried; we are buried with Him by Baptism unto death. Our old man is crucified, dead and buried in and with Christ, before God, and to faith, so that we may reckon death, by faith, to be already past. The actual death of the body, or the coming of Christ, would be the end of death instead of the beginning. But, thirdly, He rose again the third day, and if this was true He rose without the sins and without the sin. It was the same Life also which descended into death and took the sin and sins on the way, and rose again the third day without them; it was a Life thoroughly tested, found perfect, obedient unto death, so that the Judge in righteousness raised Him again, to be our righteousness before Him. How am I to know this piece of good news? The Scriptures tell me so (Psa. 16:10, &c.) I am not called to make the feelings of my heart a test of salvation, but I am to know it from the truth of God’s own Word. Besides the testimony of the Scriptures to the resurrection of Christ, there were living witnesses to it. He was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve, then by more than 500 brethren at once, then He was seen of James, then of all the apostles, and last of all He was seen of Paul, as one born out of due time. He not only saw Him risen, but in ascended glory. He could say, I have really seen that Jesus, a real man in glory; I thought He was an impostor, but He revealed Himself to me on the way to Damascus, and I believe that that poor despised Nazarene is the Son of God. I persecuted the Church of God, and therefore am the least of the apostles, am not worthy to be called an apostle. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace was not bestowed on me in vain, for I laboured more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. This, then, was the gospel which Paul preached, a gospel which set forth Christ risen and glorified, which all the apostles also bore witness to, and preached, and which the Corinthians had believed.
Ver. 1-10 is the foundation of the doctrine of the resurrection of the body brought forward in this chapter, Christ was risen. This was Paul’s gospel. How was it, then, that some of them were denying it by denying the resurrection of the body? Ver. 12-19 give us the consequences of the doctrine of no resurrection: first, that if there were no resurrection, then Christ was not risen; secondly, if Christ was not risen, their preaching was vain, they were false witnesses; and, thirdly, if this was the case, the Corinthians’ faith also was vain, they were yet in their sins; for this was the only gospel they had received. This was a serious conclusion for the Corinthians to be brought to, for the only gospel they had received was that from Paul. But if the doctrine he preached was false, their faith was vain too. (Ver. 18) Another consequence was that those that had fallen asleep in Jesus had perished.
(Ver. 29) If, however, this latter were the case, why was it as fast as saints died others eagerly filled up their places in Baptism, saying, by faith, I reckon myself now dead with Christ, in order to have part in the resurrection; but why, then, were they baptized for the dead, if the dead rose not? (Cp. Rom. 6:3-5. Cp. ver. 19, ver. 30-32.) and, secondly, why do we stand in jeopardy every hour, having death before us, in every circumstance through which we pass, such as fighting with beasts of Ephesus, persecutions, &c., if the dead rise not? If we have only in this life hope in Christ, certainly we are of all men most miserable, if this is the life we pass. (Ver. 32-34) If that is the case, let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die. These ignorant men were not only taking away the doctrine that Paul preached, but also all the power of the Christian’s life and hope. They had not the knowledge of God, so that the Corinthians were to beware of evil communications and awake to righteousness.
(Ver. 20-28) Having now shown the consequences of the doctrine of no resurrection, he turns, in these verses, to the direct consequences of the resurrection of Christ, to the end. Not only were the Corinthians not in their sins, not only were they delivered from the body of sin itself by the death and resurrection of Christ, and given a risen and glorified Christ, as their present portion by faith (ver. 1-11), but Christ risen from the dead was the foundation of their hope as to the resurrection of their bodies. (Ver. 20) He was the first- fruits of them that slept. It was a resurrection from among the dead, not the Jewish thought of a general resurrection, good and wicked all together. Christ rose (ek nekrón) leaving the dead behind. This was to be the character of the saints’ resurrection, — they should be raised from amongst the dead, and in being so, the rest of the dead should be left behind, to be raised and judged more than 1000 years afterwards (comp. Rev. 20). Christ’s resurrection, then, first, was a resurrection from amongst the dead (John 5); and, 2ndly, He was the first- fruits of the harvest of them that slept, — a term which is never applied except to the bodies of the redeemed, and never to the wicked.
(Ver. 21, 22) By man came death; by Man came the resurrection of the dead: in Adam all die; in Christ shall all be made alive. This is a comparison of the two families linked each to their Heads. The words used are in Adam, in Christ. This, of course, gives no ground for teaching the evil doctrine of universalism. (Ver. 23-28) Then come the order of events: first, Christ the first- fruits, this has taken place; secondly, they that are Christ’s at His coming; thirdly, then cometh the end. Now we know that above 1,800 years have already elapsed between the first and second events; and we know, from Rev. 20:5, 6, that at least 1000 years will take place between Christ’s coming and the end, when the wicked will be judged, death destroyed, the kingdom delivered up to God the Father, so that God may be all in all (see Rev. 20:11-15; 21:1-8, &c.). Time is not the question when God talks of life in Christ. What we know is that at Christ’s coming, those that are Christ’s will be raised from amongst the dead, as Christ was, and only those that are Christ’s, not the wicked. Then cometh the end — 1000 years after. All enemies will not be under Christ’s feet till the end. Satan, though bound, will be let loose at the end of the 1000 years. Sin and death will be still then on the earth, but will be kept in abeyance by Christ’s authority. The millennium will be Christ’s kingdom set up in power, and at the end subduing all enemies, the last of which is death. Then He gives up the kingdom to God the Father, and God is all in all. His blessed place of service is never given up as long as He is Man, and that will be for ever. As Son of God, then, as ever, He is co-equal with the Father. Notice, all this is connected with the resurrection of Christ. Adam was tested, — disobeyed, fell, and the consequence was death to the body, not to speak of the soul and spirit. Christ, the Second Man, obeyed, glorified God up to death, and the consequence will be resurrection to the body, not to speak of present resurrection with Christ as to the soul. By Man came the resurrection of the dead. In Christ shall all be made alive. Blessed portion for the saints! All the fruit of the work of Christ, the Corn of Wheat that fell into the ground and died, John 12:24. The song shall resound through the ages of eternity, — Thou art worthy! Worthy is the Lamb that was slain!
Ver. 35-50 give answers to the questions, How do the dead rise ? with what bodies do they come? (Ver. 36) The only answer given is by the simile of the corn. It does not rise ands bear fruit unless it die first. A corn of wheat falls into the ground and dies, then rises and bears much fruit. (Ver. 37) And as to the body that comes, it is not the same body. You put mere grain and seed into the ground. But God gives each grain its body as it hath pleased Him. There are also different kinds of grain, different kinds of flesh also; there may be different glories, as one star differeth from another star in glory, so may it be with the heavenly saints; others may have their portion on earth, as bodies terrestrial. But all these are primarily but pictures of the resurrection of the bodies of the saints. It is a great point in understanding this chapter to see that Paul was combating the denial of the resurrection of the body. (Ver. 42-44) This is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. (Ver. 45-47) Adam and Christ are then again introduced as the type of each body, but we must remember that as the subject is the resurrection of the body, so we are to look at the body of Christ in resurrection, as the type or picture of what our bodies will be.
There is a natural body, of which Adam was a type, as it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul. That was the life of his body: but there is also a spiritual body, as the last Adam was a quickening Spirit: as Son of God He had life in Himself, and hence the power of quickening others. The first Adams had no such power, and as having sinned, it was mortal and liable to death. The soul is only looked at here in connection with the body, the subject of the apostle’s remarks. In other places, such as Heb. 4, it is closely connected with the spirit, God having breathed into man’s nostrils the breath of life. This made him immortal, but that subject is not entered into here. The natural came first, the spiritual next. The first man was of the earth, earthy; the second Man was the Lord from heaven. The first man has the race of the earthy; the second Man’s race will be heavenly, after the type of His resurrection body that is now in heaven. The thought now turns more directly to us. As we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. Flesh and blood cannot enter into the kingdom of God, even as is evidenced by the Lord Jesus (cp. John 19:34; Luke 24:30), neither can corruption inherit incorruption.
Then, how does this wonderful resurrection take place? (Ver. 51-54) Behold, I show you a mystery, unrevealed in Old Testament times, but now made clear: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we, the living, shall be changed (cp. 1 Thess. 4:13-18). With regard to the living saints, it will be necessary, seeing they have mortal bodies subject to death, that this mortal should put on immortality: with regard to the sleeping saints, it will be necessary that their corruptible bodies should put on incorruption. When that is accomplished, then shall the Scripture be fulfilled which said, Death is swallowed up in Victory. If a lion swallows up a lamb, there is an end of the lamb; if death is swallowed up in victory, there is an end of death with regard to the saints. Blessed be God, it will be so in that day. At that period will be the ushering in of the glory of the kingdom, spoken of in Isaiah 25:8; when the Lord will make a feast for all people in Mount Sion, and take away the veil spread over all nations, and wipe away all tears from all faces. This is the heavenly part in ch. 15. That in Isaiah is the earthly part, but the one ushers in the other, and the first resurrection will not be complete till Israel is again established in Jerusalem. Cp. Rev. 20:1-5, with Rev. 4, and 5, where the seated, crowned, and clothed elders, as representatives of the Church and Old Testament saints, are already in glory.
But with the thought of this glorious ending, there is the present shout of faith, — O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law; but thanks be unto God, who giveth us the victory, through our Lord Jesus Christ. Resurrection is not only a future reality, as to my hope, but it is a present reality to faith, for Christ is risen. I am victorious over death now, and can say by faith, I am risen with Christ. He was made sin for us, and put it away, so that the sting of death is gone. What is death without sin? It is merely the doorway into glory. Christ has died to sin, and in doing so not only has put it away, but taken death also out of the hands of the enemy, and made it His own. The law having been given as the perfect rule of life for a child of Adam, is the strength of sin. Sin uses the holy commandment to slay man in the flesh. Instead of checking lust it excites it, by discovering it; and then forbidding it, under the penalty of a curse: sin takes advantage, uses its curse to pay to its poor slave its wages, that is death (cp. Rom. 6 and 7). So that the law, instead of being man’s power against sin, is sin’s power against man. It uses the holy commandment to slay me, Paul says, in Rom. 7, so showing itself exceeding sinful, and making me cry out as much for deliverance from law as from sin. Christ, having fulfilled it perfectly, died under its curse, thus giving present deliverance from the law by His death, as from sin. He has risen again, the victorious Son of God, so that I, a believing sinner, now rejoice in His victory, and daily do so. The Christian thus anticipates death by faith, for, on accepting Christ’s death by faith, he can say, I have died with Christ. He anticipates resurrection too, for he holds the risen Son of God by faith, and says, His life is my life; His victory my victory; His righteousness my righteousness. He overcomes daily by faith, always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus may be manifested, and the resurrection of the body is the full result. Cp. 2 Cor. 4 and 5. Glory be to God! Beloved brethren, seeing then you have this glorious victory, and these glorious prospects, Be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.
And now I would have my reader dwell on that wonderful exhortation,
Be ye steadfast, unmoveable {1 Cor. 15:58}.
Connect it with what precedes in the Epistle, and you will see its beauty and value. Be steadfast, unmoveable in your church position, as belonging to the temple of God, ch. 3, and the body of Christ, ch. 12, judging all human wisdom and sectarianism by the cross of Christ, ch. 1:18-30. Cleave to the Holy Name of the Lord Jesus for the maintenance of the holiness of God’s house, ch. 5, 6:1-6. Be steadfast, unmoveable in your place at the Lord’s Table, as the place of communion, and where the unity of the body is expressed by breaking the one loaf, and where you remember your Lord and His love in dying for you, ch. 10 and 11. Be steadfast in your hope as to His speedy coming again, and the reality of the resurrection of your body at that day, which will take you actually for ever out of this scene of death and judgment to be for ever with the Lord. Thus you will have the assurance of final victory. And then, standing firmly in your true church-place, and assured of final victory at His coming, you will be able freely to obey the latter pert of the exhortation,
Always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labour is not in vain in the Lord {see 1 Cor. 15:58}.
You will get besides the glory, a reward at the judgment seat of Christ.