F. B. Holm
God’s Victory — No. 3
1 Corinthians 15:20-2820But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. 21For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. 22For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. 23But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming. 24Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. 25For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. 26The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. 27For he hath put all things under his feet. But when he saith all things are put under him, it is manifest that he is excepted, which did put all things under him. 28And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all. (1 Corinthians 15:20‑28).
20. But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.
21. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.
22. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
23. But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.
24. Then cometh the end, when He shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when He shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.
25. For He must reign, till He hath put all enemies under His feet,
26. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.
27. For He hath put all things under His feet. But when He saith all things are put under Him, it is manifest that He is excepted, which did put all things under Him.
28. And when all things shall be subdued unto Him, then shall the Son also Himself be subject unto Him that put all things under Him, that God may be all in all.
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We are apt to forget that a fact may have more than one signification, and that its bearing may be felt in many directions.
The resurrection of Christ is a great and glorious fact which cannot be overthrown. Men have flung against it their wit and strength, but like waves dashing against a cliff, only to recoil shattered upon themselves. It has stood through the years and will stand. Its bearing on the question of our justification and peace with God we have seen. We should be great losers, however, if while rejoicing in that, we overlooked its value and bearing God-ward.
Romans 4:2323Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him; (Romans 4:23) — v. 2, sets before us the former, and 1 Corinthians 15. Treats of the latter aspect of this great subject.
Some amongst the professed disciples at Corinth had intellectual doubts and difficulties as to the resurrection of the body, and reasoned, “How are the dead raised up? and with what body do they come?” (ver. 35). They considered it apparently too gross and materialistic a conception; and posed as pioneers of a more spiritual idea of the subject. They were, in reality, fools (ver. 36).
But the apostle Paul, did not content himself with merely answering their foolish questions. He disproved their whole position by establishing, beyond doubt, the great fact of Christ’s resurrection (see vers. 3-11), and then from verses 12-28 he shows how this great truth bears upon everything: not only upon our safety and happiness, but upon God’s purposes and glory.
We have our souls, infinitely precious to us; if we lose them we lose our all. Their safety then, their happiness now, is rightly therefore a matter of absorbing interest to us. Until everything is settled, and the last flicker of doubt has died away, we have neither ears nor mind for anything else. But when once we grasp, by faith, the bearing of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus upon ourselves, and see that we are as clear of judgment as He is, then we do well to remember that God’s rights were outraged by sin. He has His own sovereign will and purposes concerning the putting away of sin, and the bringing in of peace, blessing, and glory upon this sin-cursed earth. He has counseled a heavenly region of bliss, and to reveal Himself in such a way that men may be recovered to Himself, and brought in the place of sons to know Him and enjoy Him, and to give Him His right place of supremacy in love forever and ever.
All the power of darkness was arrayed against the accomplishment of these things. In the death of Jesus we see divine love grappling with the power of evil. In His resurrection we see its victory declared.
It may help us to perceive the greatness of this victory if we get some idea of the divine stake in the death and resurrection of Christ, by seeing what God’s thoughts and purposes were. We need not go outside 1 Corinthians 15. for this, though other scriptures unfold these purposes more fully.
The resurrection of the saint was one great thought which God had before Him (vers. 20-23). His character and glory were intimately bound up with it. All through the ages, here and there — often enough in the humblest individuals — the light of faith had shone. Before Christ came, when as yet there was only the starlight of type and promise to cheer the watcher, saints, of whom the world was not worthy, lived, and suffered, and died. Out of the scene of their sorrows, they gazed into the realms of God’s purpose.
“These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth” (Heb. 11:1313These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. (Hebrews 11:13)).
And what then? They went down, like to the wicked to all appearance, into the silence of the grave.
Further there were the early disciples. They, even while Paul was writing, were the objects of fierce persecution from a hostile world. Gaps appeared in their ranks as one after another was smitten. And yet for every man that fell two stepped into the ranks eager to be baptized for the dead, and themselves become a target for the foe (ver. 29). Why was this? They looked on to a glorious recompense in the coming day.
And they were right, for resurrection was God’s thought for them. Yet if ever it was to be, the power of death must be broken and the bars of the grave, gates and all, must Samson-like be carried away.
The establishment of a kingdom in this world was another purpose of God (vers. 24, 25, 50). It might be thought that this would be a very simple matter, an end which could be easily reached by the simple exercise of divine power. It was not so. Man was in rebellion, and in league with the power of Satan. There was opposing rule and authority and power, there were enemies to be subdued (vers. 24, 25). True it is that if God makes bare His arm, every enemy is swept before Him like chaff before a tempest, but what about the enmity and the sin which had ruined everything? This must be met. It was met when once at the end of the age Christ appeared “to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself” (Heb. 9:2626For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. (Hebrews 9:26)). His death anti resurrection therefore was the shattering of the very foundations of Satan’s empire, and in the risen Christ we have not only the firstfruits of the great resurrection harvest of the saints (ver. 23), but the pledge of the establishment of God’s will and authority here upon earth “He will judge [or administer] the world in righteousness by that Man whom He hath ordained; whereof He hath given assurance unto all men in that He hath raised Him from the dead” (Acts 17:3131Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead. (Acts 17:31)).
Then again at the close of the mediatorial kingdom of Christ, it is God’s purpose to receive everything into His own hands and to be all in all (ver. 28). He will be “in all” for He will pervade the whole of the realms of light, and each and all who dwell therein, whether in heaven or on earth. He will be “all” for He will be the supreme and exclusive object of every soul that He fills. All this too hinges on the resurrection of Christ. Established in the power of that, all is permanent; without it all would be passing away.
If we turn to the Epistle to the Ephesians, we find the fullest unfolding of the thoughts and purposes of God, especially in connection with believers of this dispensation: unto Him there is to be glory in the Assembly in Christ Jesus unto all generations of the age of ages (Eph. 3:2121Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen. (Ephesians 3:21)). Here too the resurrection of Christ is the great essential (Eph. 1:19-2319And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, 20Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, 21Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: 22And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, 23Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all. (Ephesians 1:19‑23)). But we may not, at present, pursue the theme further than its unfolding in 1 Corinthians 15.
We must carefully note, however, the way in which the Lord Jesus is presented to us in connection with all this.
“For since by man came death, by Man came also the resurrection of the dead” (ver. 21).
The victory has been achieved by Man in the person of Jesus, just as the ruin came in by man in the person of Adam. Instead of shifting the contest on to an entirely fresh plane, and settling everything by one stroke of deity pure and simple, God has — if one may so put it — met the foe on the old battle ground originally chosen by Him in the garden of Eden, and there reversed everything. Man comes out of the contest in resurrection, covered with glory, and not the shame of defeat.
But this Man is of an entirely new kind or order. “The first man, Adam, was made a living soul;” the last Adam “a quickening spirit”... “The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second Man is the Lord from Heaven” (vers. 45, 47).
One thing more. Though the victory is God’s victory, He gives it to us who believe, as it is written: “Thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
“Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord” (verses 57, 58).
Let us only go through this valley of the shadow of death with the light of Christ Risen in our souls, and we shall possess the deep and sweet consciousness that the resurrection world established in Him abides forever, and that no labor in view of that world is lost, it too abides and will all be manifested in the resurrection day. This will give stability to our souls, and our Christian character, and prove an abiding incentive to spend ourselves in the service of the Lord. The shadow of defeat no longer rests upon us, for Christ is risen and the victory is God’s.