The Gospel
Paul by the Holy Spirit has been stressing the importance of speaking the word of God in church. Now he speaks of the most important of messages; the gospel. The good news of Christ's death burial and resurrection. This is the message of an evangelist, and should be in every sermon preached by a Pastor.
Why is the gospel so important? It is the explanation of Jesus Christ's finished work and is the power of God for a new life.
Rom 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
1 Cor 15:1 Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;
1 Cor 15:2 By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.
True salvation is evidenced when we hold fast that word; some have only a fleeting, temporary belief, and they have believed in vain.
1 Cor 15:3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;
1 Cor 15:4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:
Paul explained what actually happened. God came down as a man to die for our sins. He was buried and arose from the grave.
1 Cor 15:5 And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve:
1 Cor 15:6 After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep.
1 Cor 15:7 After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles.
1 Cor 15:8 And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time.
Historical evidence of the risen Messiah, with something added here not found in the gospels; 500 saw Jesus at once after he was risen from the grave.
Lastly Jesus appeared to Saul, (Paul) on the road to Damascus. Paul is a perfect evidence of the "new life" that Christ Jesus creates from the old sin man. Paul was a killer of Christians in the name of Judaism. Jesus took it personal;
Acts 9:3 And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven:
Acts 9:4 And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?
Acts 9:5 And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.
Acts 9:6 And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.
The wicked Saul, was made into the beloved Apostle Paul, miraculously by Jesus calling him.
The Least
1 Cor 15:9 For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.
Paul says that he was the least because of his past life. Yet Jesus speaking to the woman of the streets commented that because she was forgiven much, she loved much. (luke 7:47) The last shall be first. Paul had served hard against Christians, now at conversion he served harder then all the apostles for Jesus. He repented, he turned around and with God's power served with even greater strength the Lord Jesus, proclaiming the gospel message.
1 Cor 9:16 For though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of: for necessity is laid upon me; yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel!
We all should be like Paul compelled and driven to preach the most important message to be spoken.
1 Cor 15:10 But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.
1 Cor 15:11 Therefore whether it were I or they, so we preach, and so ye believed.
Many were saved by Pauls preaching. We are to be faithful. Everyone should remember Romans 1:16
Rom 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
Rom 10:13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
Rom 10:14 How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?
Rom 10:15 And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!
Eph 6:14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;
Eph 6:15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
Eph 6:16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
Go forth wearing the armour of God Proclaiming the good news. In Christ Jesus sins are forgiven and because he has risen we know we have eternal life!
Firstfruits
If Jesus Christ had not risen frow the grave, there would be no proof that he was God the son. He would be no different then other religious leaders. This is the theme of Pauls now if? message.
1 Cor 15:12 Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead?
1 Cor 15:13 But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen:
The Corinthians were denying the bodily resurrection of the believer, either claiming it was impossible (Sadducee) or undesirable (Greek)
Remember that resurrection is not merely life after death; it is the continuation of life after death in glorified bodies.
1 Cor 15:14 And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain.
1 Cor 15:15 Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not.
1 Cor 15:16 For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised:
1 Cor 15:17 And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.
1 Cor 15:18 Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.
1 Cor 15:19 If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.
Many in the world think exactly this way. They do not know the good news, Christ has risen. That is why many take their own lives. That is why people treat others as animals or objects, they have no hope. Some are controlled by demonic spirits, and they refuse to be accountable to a Holy God.
But, Christ has risen. It is true. In Jesus is life eternal. We have great hope. He shall judge all and HE LOVES US!
1 Cor 15:20 But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.
He has risen! He is the first of a new order of holy glorified people.
Remember firstfruits in the Old Testament: one sheaf of grain represented and "guaranteed" all the crop; Jesus "guarantees" our resurrection.We cannot be a firstfruit, we cannot die for anothers sins, only Jesus is the firstfruits. Only Jesus is the atonement for sins. We follow him in this life and the next. Let nothing separate you from following Jesus.
Death is Destroyed
1 Cor 15:21 For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.
1 Cor 15:22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
Whereas Adam's sin brought death to the whole world, Christ's righteousness brought life to the whole world. All who receive Christ shall be made alive.
John 1:12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
John 1:13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
1 Cor 15:23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming.
Jesus' coming as described in verse 23, uses the Greek word parousia; the term can simply mean a person's presence (as in Philippians 2:12), but when it is used of Jesus, it has special reference to His second coming (like in Matthew 24:27)
1 Cor 15:24 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.
1 Cor 15:25 For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.
1 Cor 15:26 The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.
In raising Christ from the dead God has set in motion a chain of events; death will be destroyed at the end. All those living in Christ Jesus will live forever with Jesus as children of God. Those apart, will be in torment forever, no death. We must reach all we can for life. So many seek death as the answer, no. After death is the resurrection, the judgementand an eternity separated in torment from the love of God. This should stimulate our hearts to reach out to them.
1 Cor 15:27 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.
1 Cor 15:28 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.
Paul reminds us that the Son will not someday be superior to the Father; the relationship of Father to Son will be eternal. They are equal but one, the Father will be the highest in authority.
Lord God help us reach those appointed to salvation. Bring those seeking you to our attention so that they may receive Jesus and new life. Amen
Awake to Righteousness
1 Cor 15:29 Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? why are they then baptized for the dead?
Why indeed? This was a Greek custom not supported by God's written word. This is a practice of some of the cults today. The Mormon practice of baptism for the dead is neither scriptural or sensible . Note that he did not say "we" but "they", referring to those who practiced this error, still they counted on the resurrection of the dead. No amount of prayer or baptisms or rituals will have any effect on someone who has already died.Pray for them while they live, bring them love tears and flowers while they yet live.
Heb 9:27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:
Heb 9:28 So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.
1 Cor 15:30 And why stand we in jeopardy every hour?
Why would Paul place his life in jeopardy for the gospel if there were no resurrection?
1 Cor 15:31 I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.
Luke 9:23 And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.
Luke 9:24 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it.
Luke 9:25 For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away?
1 Cor 15:32 If after the manner of men I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantageth it me, if the dead rise not? let us eat and drink; for to morrow we die.
This is the world's expression; go for the gusto. You only live once. Not so, Christ has risen, all will be judged by him according to his word, study to know him.
1 Cor 15:33 Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners.
1 Cor 15:34 Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame.
The Corinthians' association with wrong ideas about the resurrection (Jewish or pagan) had the potential for corrupting their entire spiritual life, contributing to a lack of concern for godly living.
This is America without Christ, seeking every forbidden pleasure to fill the emptiness inside. I remember television in the 50's. There was no bad language, no double meanings no vile behaviour. Comedy was funny, now mostly it is sick and perverse. To those following with a cold heart, wake up now, or spend eternity in hell. If you think Jesus doesn't mean anything in your life? you have been warned. I say this because I care for you as one seeking to save your eternal soul.
Die to Live
1 Cor 15:35 But some man will say, How are the dead raised up? and with what body do they come?
This can be a sincere question, or as some in the chats, a mocking question. Paul addresses the mockers.
1 Cor 15:36 Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die: A flower seed does not make a living flower, unless it dies.
1 Cor 15:37 And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other grain:
1 Cor 15:38 But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body.
Every grain seed produces a type of plant.
This is so in the spiritual too. The seeds we plant are our words and actions.
Gal 6:7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
Gal 6:8 For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.
Gal 6:9 And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.
This also applies to good and evil people
Luke 6:43 For a good tree bringeth not forth corrupt fruit; neither doth a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
Luke 6:44 For every tree is known by his own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes.
Luke 6:45 A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.
1 Cor 15:39 All flesh is not the same flesh: but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds.
1 Cor 15:40 There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another.
1 Cor 15:41 There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory.
1 Cor 15:42 So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption:
1 Cor 15:43 It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power:
Referring to those dead in Christ
1 Cor 15:44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.
Our present bodies are adapted for the environments of time and earth; our resurrection bodies will be adapted to the environments of eternity and heaven. Paul uses contrasts to show the natural and the spiritual bodies.
Sown in corruption, raised in incorruption; sown in dishonour, raised in glory; sown in weakness,raised in power; sown a natural body and raised a spiritual body.
We were created in sin and will be raised in holiness. We once knew only the ways of sin, Jesus came and died, we died with him so that we may live with him.
Gal 2:20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
Weak in the natural but strong in the spiritual...
2 Cor 13:4 For though he was crucified through weakness, yet he liveth by the power of God. For we also are weak in him, but we shall live with him by the power of God toward you.
Yes we live by God's Holy Spirit the power of God in us. So often I do not understand things, but never are we powerless. God's power and wisdom reside in us by his spirit.
Mat 11:29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
I rest in you Lord, there is no better place to be for all eternity.
Last Adam
1 Cor 15:45 And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.
Adam the first created man, in God's image who walked with God in the garden of Eden. Sin caused him to be separated from God, and he pass on his sin nature and death in a natural body to all of his descendents. (Gen 2:18-3:24)
The last Adam, Jesus was made a life giving Spirit, God and man. The first of a new spirit man, with a heavenly body.
Phil 3:20 For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ:
Phil 3:21 Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.
1 Cor 15:46 Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.
1 Cor 15:47 The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.
John 3:5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
John 3:6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
1 Cor 15:48 As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.
1 Cor 15:49 And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.
1 Cor 2:13 Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
1 Cor 2:14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
1 Cor 2:15 But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man.
1 Cor 2:16 For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.
1 Cor 3:1 And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ.
1 Cor 15:50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.
No, you mist be born again of God's Spirit, by receiving Jesus Christ as Lord.
Victory
1 Cor 15:51 Behold, I show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
Sleep refers to Christian death. Not all will die but some will be changed to their glorified bodies as Christ returns for them.
1 Cor 15:52 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 shall be changed.
The last trump is a Roman army term for marching away, not necessarily the last trumpet of judgment in Rev 11:15-19. This may refer to Jesus coming for his church as in 1 Thes 4:16.
1 Th 4:16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
1 Th 4:17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
I believe the dead in Christ are the old testament believers in his coming. Those who have sleeped as believers since Jesus returned to the father are with Jesus when he returns for his church. These things will be made clear when we are with him at his return. The thing we need to know is to be ready, for we know not the hour or the day of his return.
1 Cor 15:53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
1 Cor 15:54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.
Amen, no more death as we live in our new incorruptable bodies with Jesus. Victory in Jesus...song chorus " O victory in Jesus, My Savior forever! He sought me and bought me with His redeeming blood; He loved me ere I knew Him, and all my love is due Him- He plunged me to victory beneath the cleansing flood" (Bartlet)
1 Cor 15:55 O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
1 Cor 15:56 The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.
We do not fear the punishment of sin, death. The law of sin and death is not for the Christian. Jesus has given us victory over death and the grave. We live eternally in new resurrected bodies.
1 Cor 15:57 But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
1 Cor 15:58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, 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.
No, your labour is not in vain. We are not bound to everlasting torment. Works do not save anyone, but Jesus saves. Our works for him have an everlasting reward. Perhaps the best reward will be seeing others you witnessed to in glory with you. Already some have died that I helped find Jesus, some died with strongholds, but I believe Jesus' blood still saves. There is victory in Jesus, and no bad thing will inherit glory, only that which is in Christ Jesus.
Gary
1 Corinthian Chapters
1 Corinthians 16
1 Corinthians 14
1 Corinthians 1 Index