1 Corinthians 15
Christ's Physical Resurrection Ensured Every Believer's Resurrection

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Tod Kennedy

Easter Sunday, April 11, 2004

1 Corinthians Section Titles
  1. Section 1, Chapters 1-2: Foundation for Church Life
  2. Section 2, Chapters 3-11: Carnality in Church Life
  3. Section 3, Chapters 12-14: Edification in Church Life
  4. Section 4, Chapter 15: Resurrection, Victory for the Church
  5. Section 5, Chapter 16: Orderly Giving, Ministry Instructions, and Greetings

1 Corinthians 15: Christ's Physical Resurrection Ensured Every Believer's Resurrection

  1. 1 Corinthians 15.1-2. The gospel consists of this: Christ died for our sins, He was buried, and He was raised and seen by many people. This is the eternal life message Paul proclaimed and the Corinthians received by faith and in which they now stand (Positional sanctification, 15.1); then as believers, if they are holding fast to Paul’s doctrine, they are experiencing present time salvation (Christian life sanctification, 15.2).
  2. 1 Corinthians 15.3-8. Paul was the last to see the resurrected Christ. Before Paul saw Him, many others saw Him. Peter and the other disciples, and then more than five hundred people at once saw the resurrected Christ. Most were still alive and could verify that Jesus Christ arose. James and the apostles also saw him before Paul did (15.3-8).
  1. 1 Corinthians 15.9-11. God graciously made Paul the most tireless and effective apostle to the church. He did this even though Paul had persecuted the church in the name of religion while an unbeliever (15.9-11).
  1. 1 Corinthians 15.12-19. If there is no resurrection as some claim, then Christ was never raised and we shall never be raised; we have lived a lie. The Christian message is then false, and all believers have a worthless faith and have no hope for eternal life (15.12-19).
  1. 1 Corinthians 15.20-23. Christ really did arise from physical death, and thus He defeated both physical and spiritual death. Christ's resurrection guarantees that God will raise every believer from physical death (15.20-23).
  1. 1 Corinthians 15.24-28. After God the Father subjects all creation to the resurrected Christ's rule, and after all of the resurrections, and after death is abolished, then Christ will return God's kingdom back to the Father. Christ will continue to rule as the King for God the Father (15.24-28).
  1. 1 Corinthians 15.29-34. Resurrection affects present living for the believer: new believers take the place of believers who have died; believers endure danger and possible death because they remain faithful to the resurrected Christ; and they desire to live holy lives in the world. Why? Because resurrection is a fact; it stimulates believers to put God's plan into practice (15.29-34).
  1. 1 Corinthians 15.35-50. God resurrects believers from physical death. The new body which He will give will be from the old body and like the old body, yet will be different. The new body will be like Christ's: a heavenly body (eternal, sinless, fit for God's glory) and a spiritual body (without the physical limitations we now have) (15.35-50).
  1. 1 Corinthians 15.51-58. When God announces with the trumpet the resurrection of the church, every believer—those physically dead and those still physically alive—will be instantaneously changed. Each will have a resurrection body. God will do this because of the death and resurrection of Christ. At that time death will have been completely vanquished. This truth ought to encourage believers to remain faithful to the Lord because the Christian way of life does have purpose (15.51-58).
  1. Applications or So What?

    1. Jesus’ physical resurrection proves that he is the Son of God and the only Savior.

    2. Jesus’ physical resurrection proves that physical resurrection can happen and has happened—physical resurrection is a reality.

    3. Jesus’ physical resurrection proves that believers will also experience physical resurrection.

    4. Physical resurrection proves that sin and death have been defeated once and for all.

    5. Since physical resurrection and sin’s defeat are now a reality, each of us can and should "be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord" (15.58).

    Are you steadfast, immovable,
    always abounding in the work of the Lord?

    1. Since the resurrection has proved that Jesus successfully died for mankind’s sin and that faith in Jesus Christ is the only way to gain eternal life, have you believed in Jesus Christ to forgive your sins and give you eternal life? There is no other way to relationship with God and no other way to heaven.

    Have you believed in Jesus Christ to give you eternal life?
    John 3.16