Once we move into the second half of chapter 15, Paul still needs to deal with other areas surrounding the idea of resurrection. At this point, the Corinthians might have come to acknowledge that the resurrection of Jesus is true, and that because we are united to Jesus by faith, we too will one day experience our own bodily resurrection. Nevertheless, they still had a question about the nature of this resurrection body. How is it possible, a Greek would argue, that a material body can inherit an immaterial, heavenly existence? Everybody acknowledges that God is spirit and that the realm of heaven has to be a realm of spirituality, not materiality. So how can you talk about a resurrection of the body?
Once we move into the second half of chapter 15, Paul still needs to deal with other areas surrounding the idea of resurrection. At this point, the Corinthians might have come to acknowledge that the resurrection of Jesus is true, and that because we are united to Jesus by faith, we too will one day experience our own bodily resurrection. Nevertheless, they still had a question about the nature of this resurrection body. How is it possible, a Greek would argue, that a material body can inherit an immaterial, heavenly existence? Everybody acknowledges that God is spirit and that the realm of heaven has to be a realm of spirituality, not materiality. So how can you talk about a resurrection of the body?
The Corinthians’ difficulty with the resurrection grew naturally out of Greek philosophical thought. The Greeks basically had a great difference between mind and matter in the sense that everything that was of the spirit or the mind was good, and everything that was of matter was evil. They would have said that the problem is not that we are sinful human beings—including our minds and our spirits, which is what the Bible teaches. Rather, they believed that the problem is that we have bodies, which are the cause of our evil desires and bad behavior. These bodies tend to drag us down, while there is something within us, the mind and the spirit, that aspires to go upward to God.
In the twenty-second chapter of Matthew and also in Luke’s gospel, there is a story about the Sadducees’ coming to test the Lord Jesus Christ on the subject of the resurrection. It was one of a number of tests because people were trying to attack Him on different subjects. They had asked Him about the law and what was the first and greatest commandment. There was also a question about taxes, hoping to catch Him on His views concerning the relationship between one’s obedience to God and to the Roman government. Then the Sadducees came with their question about the resurrection.
Paul is saying that there really is a resurrection. Christ has been raised, and, moreover, His resurrection is the firstfruits of those that sleep. Christians who are now dead, and will go on to die before Christ returns again, are one day going to rise because Christ has risen. All those united to Him in saving faith will follow. What happens to Christians after death is not some vague and meaningless existence. Rather, we look forward to a genuine resurrection of our bodies in a new and glorified way. We are going to be raised up and made like Jesus Christ in His resurrection body. That is our destiny, if we belong to Jesus Christ.
The essence of the flow of history and where it is going, and also how we as Christians fit into it, is based on the resurrection because we are united to Jesus with our whole being—body, soul, and spirit. Moreover, one day even death itself is going to be destroyed. We are going to be part of the victory as we stand with Christ in our resurrection bodies.
Paul had preached the Gospel of Jesus’ resurrection to the Corinthians, and they had responded positively to his preaching. They believed what he had taught them. So Paul has to tell them that if they follow the philosophical mood of their day and deny the resurrection, they must understand that they are then saying that the apostles, including Paul, who came to them with this Gospel were lying about Jesus’ resurrection. Do the Corinthians really want to go to that conclusion?
As I read verses 13 through 19, I find that every verse except verse 16 has a consequence in it. This is no doubt because verse 16 is simply a repetition of a consequence that came earlier. Thus, every single verse talks about something that is bad if you deny the resurrection. In verse 13 Paul writes, “If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised.” There is where he starts because the first great problem, if you are going to deny the resurrection in general, is that in order to be consistent you have to deny the resurrection of Jesus as well.
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