The Resurrection and Me

The entire chapter is about the resurrection.  The resurrection of Jesus from the dead and the reality of our subsequent resurrection.

Verses 1-11  The resurrection is the key element of the gospel.  The death, burial and resurrection of Jesus is fundamental to the whole plan of salvation.  Paul preached, they received and, if they held to that message, they would be saved!  Evidence for His resurrection is in prophecy and eye witness testimony.  Finally, Jesus’ resurrection changed Saul, the persecutor, into Paul, the apostle.

Verses 12-34  That being the case, how can you reject the truth of our resurrection?  Our resurrection was the reason for His death and resurrection!  If we eliminate that, preaching the gospel is useless, faith is empty, the apostles are all liars, we are all still in our sins and we have no hope.  Do not think one can reject the resurrection and hold on to other blessings of the gospel.  It all rests on that truth!  If you can see that Adam brought sin and death to the world, you can see that Jesus brings righteousness and life to the world.  The resurrection of Christ had to happen first.  The time will come for our resurrection, at the end, when Christ concludes His rule and turns the kingdom over to God.  The whole point of Christ and the gospel is eternal life.  How did the church come to doubt the resurrection?  By hanging around doubters, those who mock God’s plan.

Verses 35-49  How are the dead raised and with what kind of body?  We all wonder.  The answer, such as it is, will be found in these verses.  God’s word illustrates the principle of different bodies and their various realms.  We will receive a spiritual body – not something we can fully understand while we live with our material limitations.  We can, however, understand this resurrection to spiritual, eternal life.

Verses 50-57  What will happen when Jesus returns and the resurrection will occur?  As those resurrected will be given a spiritual body, so must those who are still living be changed, receiving the same kind of spiritual body.  At the day of resurrection there will be full, final and complete victory over sin and its multitude of consequences.  Death will be defeated – no longer a threat.

Verse 58  In this verse we find our application and motivation.  We must persist and abound in our service to God!  The reason:  Our labor in the Lord is not in vain.  That labor stands through eternity, supplying its blessing.  Our earthly efforts and works will have zero value and no use any more.

The resurrection is what gospel is all about.  Jesus was raised!  We shall be raised!!