If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.

1 Corinthians 15:19

Even though prophets from Daniel to Paul and the Lord himself had clearly foretold that the dead would rise again on the last day (Dan. 12:2; John 5:28-29; Acts 24:15; cf. Rev. 20:12-13), and in spite of how they were Christians because they had believed Paul when he had “proclaimed Christ as raised from the dead” when he had originally come to Corinth and preached the gospel to them (15:1-12a; cf. Acts 18:1ff), there were still some brethren at Corinth who taught and believed that there “is no resurrection of the dead” (15:12b).

This is why Paul now points out, “But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised.  And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.  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.  For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised.  And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.  Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.  If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied” (15:13-19).

In other words, “Corinthians, if you are correct in saying that the dead will not be raised on the last day, then that means Jesus himself was not resurrected…so why are any of you Christians?  If there is no resurrection, then I lied to you when I told you Jesus was resurrected.  If Jesus was not resurrected, then you’re believing a lie.  That means you’re not saved, your sins are not forgiven.  That means that all the Christians who have died are in fact condemned eternally instead of saved.  If Christ was not resurrected, then he was just a man.  We put our faith and hope in a human being, not the Son of God.  We deserve pity more than anyone else for believing such a lie.”

Paul goes on, “But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead” (15:20a), calling Jesus “the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep” (15:20b).  “Fallen asleep” figuratively refers to physical death (e.g., Stephen – Acts 7:58-60), while “firstfruits” is an agricultural term referring to the promise of a future harvest.  The apostle uses the term to describe how Christ, while not the first person to ever be miraculously resurrected from the dead (e.g., Lazarus – John 11), is in fact the first one to come back to life…never to die again.  Many others will follow on the last day.  The apostle illustrates this fact by pointing out how Christ brings permanent resurrection from death for everyone into the world at the end of time just as Adam had brought death for everyone into the world at the beginning of time (15:21-22; cf. Gen. 3:1ff).  He then specifies again that Christ was the first to come back to life never to die again (“the firstfruits” – 15:23a), but afterwards “at his coming” will be the resurrection of “those who belong to Christ” (15:23b; cf. 1 Thess. 4:13-18).  This will happen at “the end” (15:24a), the end of time, the end of this world and the end of the universe (2 Pet. 3:10-13).  We will study this in greater detail in the next article, Lord willing.

Christians, are you ready for that day to come?

— Jon