“Resurrection and the Goal of History”
(1 Corinthians 15:20-28)
Series: Chaos & Correction (1 Corinthians)
Rev. Todd A. Linn, PhD
Henderson’s First Baptist Church, Henderson
•Take your Bibles and join me in 1 Corinthians, chapter 15 (page 775; YouVersion).
We are making our way verse-by-verse through the Book of 1 Corinthians and we are in chapter 15, a chapter that teaches the doctrine of the resurrection. We have noted that the problem the Apostle Paul is addressing is a bit of confusion on the part of the Corinthians. Most of them understood how Christ’s bodily resurrection just a few years earlier guaranteed that they too would experience a similar resurrection—but some did not.
We noted this last time as we studied verse 12 and following where Paul asks in verse 12, “Now if Christ is preached that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?” Some of them did not believe that the buried bodies of Christians would rise in the same manner as Christ had risen.
So we noted last time Paul’s teaching that the Christian’s resurrection was inextricably united with Christ’s resurrection. In the preceding verses Paul demonstrates that if the buried bodies of Christians do not rise from the dead then not even Christ Himself has been raised from the dead—and then, Paul argues—if Christ has not risen from the dead, then we’re in a heap of trouble! Our faith is empty and we’re to be pitied more than anyone on the planet.
“But,” Paul continues, “Christ is risen from the dead.” You see that statement in the first part of our text this morning, verse 20: “But now Christ is risen from the dead,” and then Paul introduces a chain of events that necessarily follow as a result of Christ’s resurrection. It is a chain that begins with the first link of Christ’s resurrection and then culminates in the final link of the chain, namely God’s absolute sovereign victorious reign over everything. Listen for that chain of events that begins with the certainty of Christ’s resurrection.
•Please stand in honor of the reading of God’s Word.
20 But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
21 For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead.
22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive.
23 But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ’s at His coming.
24 Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power.
25 For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet.
26 The last enemy that will be destroyed is death.
27 For “He has put all things under His feet.” But when He says “all things are put under Him,” it is evident that He who put all things under Him is excepted.
28 Now when all things are made subject to Him, then the Son Himself will also be subject to Him who put all things under Him, that God may be all in all.
•Pray.
Introduction:
If I could hand you a road map of where we were going this morning in our study of the text, how we’ll be spending the next 30-40 minutes together, it would be a road map that looked very much like where we’ll be going in the more distant future. Those of us who are Christians—and by that I don’t mean those who simply claim to be Christians or have joined the church, or signed a card or something, but those who indeed have repented of their sins, confessed Christ as Lord and King and trust in His righteousness alone to make them fit for heaven and seek to live obediently under Christ’s Lordship—those of us who are Christians can expect two main events to unfold in the coming future.
I want to share with you these two main events and then a couple of actions that follow in light of these two main events. So, a couple main points in our study, followed by a couple main actions in response. First, those of us who are Christians will experience a future resurrection:
I. We will Experience a Future Resurrection (20-23)
That is, the bodies of Christians, buried at death and lying in a grave, will one day rise from the grave and be changed into a new body. Look again at verse 20:
20 But now Christ is risen from the dead (Paul states it as a fact of history, Christ is risen from the dead), and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep (there’s that metaphor again describing death, “fallen asleep”).
Paul says, “Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have died.”
Let’s talk about that word “firstfruits.” It means just what it says. The first fruit of a harvest, the first gleaning of a crop. The first fruit an orchard yields. The Old Testament talks about the “Feast of the Firstfruits.” Leviticus 23, for example, the Lord instructs Moses telling him: “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them, ‘When you come into the land which I give to you, and reap its harvest, then you shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest (Leviticus 23:10).’”
The firstfruits were the peoples’ offering to God. They brought the first gleanings from the harvest as an offering to God, acknowledging His ownership over everything. This is much like the tithe, the 10% that we give to God. It is our way of acknowledging that everything we have comes from Him.
And the firstfruits of the harvest was a foretaste of what else the harvester could expect in the future. The firstfruits, the initial gleanings of grain, for example, was a glimpse of future grain to come.
So Paul argues here that Christ is the firstfruits of a greater harvest to come, namely “those who have fallen asleep,” or those Christians who had died. God raised Christ from the dead as the firstfruits, the promise or guarantee that many others would be raised from the dead.
And not just raised from the dead, but raised in similar nature. The term firstfruits conveys not just chronology but character. That is, Christians will be raised in like fashion as Christ. Paul will unfold this teaching in greater detail later in the chapter where he describes the nature of the Christian’s resurrection body, but for now it will suffice to know that this teaching is included in the term firstfruits. Just as the initial crop of grain promises a future crop of similar physical nature and character, so Christ’s resurrection body promises a similar “crop,” if you like, similar resurrection bodies to come.
21 For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead.
22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive.
Paul’s teaching here is similar to his teaching in Romans chapter 5. Every one of us is either “in Adam” or “in Christ.” Adam brought sin into the world. He is man’s representative. When he sinned, we sinned. In the words of the old Baptist catechism:
“All mankind, descending from Adam by ordinary generation, sinned in him, and fell with him in his first sin.”
This of course helps us understand what we mean when we talk about original sin or the origin of sin. When Adam sinned, we sinned. He represented all of humanity. Because of his actions which resulted in guilt, we too are culpable. We share in that guilt.
Think about a football team. The team acts as one. One person’s actions, then, affects the entire team. One player takes a hit for the team. One player’s actions affects everyone else. If one player is penalized, the entire team is affected. So one man’s actions affects others.
Adam was our representative, our “quarterback,” if you like. Adam’s actions affected the entire team. His actions affected us. Paul says in verse 21, “by man came death” and in verse 22, “in Adam all die.” Why do we die? Because Adam sinned. And because Adam sinned, we sinned. We share his nature.
Contrast that with Christ. Paul says in verse 21, “by Man also came the resurrection of the dead” and you will note in the New King James that the word “Man” here is capitalized, referring to the Lord Jesus Christ. So verse 21, “For since by man (Adam) came death, by Man (Christ) also came the resurrection of the dead. Verse 22, “For as in Adam (the first man) all die, even so in Christ (the second Man) all shall be made alive.”
Christians are “in Adam” by nature, but “in Christ” by faith. Just as Adam represented all humanity, so Christ represents all believers. Adam’s actions affected all persons, Christ’s obedience affects all believers. Again we are “in Adam” by nature but “in Christ” by faith.
So again, last part of verse 22, “…in Christ all shall be made alive,” verse 23:
23 But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ’s at His coming.
We noted last time that based upon teachings such as 2 Corinthians 5:8, to be “absent from the body is to be present with the Lord” and Philippians 1:21; 23, to die is considered “gain” and to die is “to be with Christ.” At the moment of death, the Christian’s soul goes immediately to be with our Lord. But the Christian goes to be with the Lord as a soul or spirit. He or she awaits a future time when he or she receives a new physical body.
Verse 23 teaches that when Christ returns it will be at His coming that the Christian will receive that new body, a body like the Lord’s glorified body. This will be a wonderful body that will never be subject to the effects of the fall as our present bodies are so affected. So this will be a body that is not subject to weakness, nor illness, nor physical pain or sickness, nor aging, nor death.
Christians will experience a future resurrection. Secondly, Christians will enjoy:
II. We will Enjoy a Future Reign (24-28)
Verses 24 through 28 talk about this future absolute sovereign victorious reign of the One True God. Paul has just written in verse 23 about the coming of Christ, His glorious second coming and then, after some unspecified period of time, he writes in verse 24:
24 Then comes the end, when He (Christ) delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He (Christ) puts an end to all rule and all authority and power.
25 For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet.
Paul is using language from the Old Testament here, this notion of “putting all enemies under His feet” describes the dominance of one person of another.
Psalm 8:6, for example, refers to man’s rule over creation. Psalm 8:6, “You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet.”
So Paul writes of Christ’s rule in verse 25, “He must reign until He has put all enemies under His feet,” what kind of enemies? Enemies such as death. Verse 26:
26 The last enemy that will be destroyed is death.
The last enemy Christ destroys is death. Death has already been defeated, but its affects are still with us. Death has been dealt a major blow, but it will be ultimately destroyed when Christ returns and the buried bodies of believers are raised from the grave. At that moment, the last enemy will be destroyed and the destruction of death will be complete.
Now, as an aside, we note that Paul does not mention here the fate of unbelievers. It’s not his purpose in this passage to talk about the resurrection of the unbeliever. But we will mention just in passing that the bodies of unbelievers will also be raised, but not in the same way. They will not receive a glorified body like unto the Lord’s.
Rather, comparing Scripture with Scripture, we understand that at the moment of death, the unbeliever goes immediately to hell. And at the final judgment, that which is called in the Book of Revelation, the “Great white throne judgment,” at that judgment the unbeliever’s body is raised and the unbeliever stands before the Lord to give an account of his life. But they will not be standing in Christ’s righteousness. Their names are not written in the “Book of Life.” They are unbelievers and they remain lost. So their resurrection is not to glorification but rather to condemnation (Matthew 25:46; John 5:29; 2 Thessalonians 1:9; Revelation 20:11-15).
But again, Paul’s purpose here in chapter 15 is to talk about the resurrection of believers, of Christians. So after the last enemy is destroyed, verse 26, “the last enemy that will be destroyed is death,” verse 27 now:
27 For “He has put all things under His feet (there’s a reference to Psalm 8; Paul is applying Psalm 8 to Christ)” But when He says “all things are put under Him,”(Paul clarifies) it is evident that He who put all things under Him is excepted.
The NIV is helpful here: “…Now when it says that ‘everything’ has been put under him, it is clear that this does not include God himself, who put everything under Christ.” So just a clarification by Paul that God the Father reigns as ultimate sovereign over everything and that the Son, Jesus Christ, is in submission to the Father.
We have noted this before. The doctrine of the Trinity teaches one God, three persons. Father, Son, Spirit are essential equal, but differ in function. The Son submits to the Father. We have seen this as a helpful model to understand male and female relationships. A husband and wife are essentially equal. Neither is more important or less important than the other. But just as the Son of God has a functional role of submitting to the Father, so a wife has a functional role of submitting to her husband. It does not imply inferiority on the part of the woman nor superiority on the part of the man. Like the Father and the Son they are equal in essence, but different in function.
This notion of the Son’s submission to the Father continues in verse 28:
28 Now when all things are made subject to Him (Christ), then the Son Himself will also be subject to Him (God the Father) who put all things under Him, that God may be all in all.
That phrase “that God may be all in all” is just another way of saying, “that God will reign in absolute sovereign permanence.” As one study Bible puts it, “God’s supreme authority over everything will be eternally established, never to be threatened again.”
This is the ultimate goal of human history. The eternal permanent sovereign reign of the One True God. This will happen.
Christians need never share the secular fears about how the world will end. The warnings are everywhere, threatening us with the certain doom if we do not recycle or re-use our hotel towels or fail to drive eco-friendly cars. These words are posted everywhere it seems: “Save the planet!” As though the planet were actually endangered and, what is more, as though mankind were actually capable somehow of destroying a planet, to say nothing of rescuing it from some future eternal peril.
We do not rule this planet. God does. He is the one who creates and sustains His creation. We are to be good stewards of His creation. This is why many of us may be motivated to recycle or re-use our towels, but it is certainly not because we believe we are going to save the planet. God tells us in His Word how the end will come. It will not end in nuclear holocaust or with the melting of the polar ice caps, but rather with the return of the Lord Jesus Christ, followed by a millennial reign and then the re-creation of a “new heavens and new earth” in which all of saved humanity will live in glorified bodies forever and ever.
We’re talking about how to live in light of the resurrection and I’ve gotten ahead of myself. So here are these two main responses.
**How to Live in Light of the Resurrection:
- Have an Eternal Perspective on Life
Live with eternity in view. Remember that there is more to life than the short span of our days on this planet—whether we live 10 days, 10 years, or 100 years—these days are strikingly short when stacked against the eternal ages. Have an eternal perspective on life.
Christians, this is how you weather difficult days and persevere through difficult seasons in life. Remember the words of Paul elsewhere:
Romans 8:18, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.”
2 Corinthians 4:17, “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.”
Live in light of the resurrection by having an eternal perspective on life. Secondly, live in light of the resurrection by:
2) Have an Evangelistic Passion for the Lost
Every person in all of creation is either “in Adam” or “in Christ.” Remember, we are “in Adam” by nature and we are “in Christ” by faith.
Are our prayer lists full of names of those who are only in need of physical help? The physically sick? What about spiritual sickness? For how many people’s souls are we praying? Do our prayer lists contain only requests for physical and material need or do they contain requests for the far more important spiritual need of salvation?
In your family household, how many of you are “in Adam” and how many are “in Christ?”
Is there honestly anything more important to the raising of your children and grandchildren than that they are committed Christ-followers?
There will be a resurrection one day—a resurrection of believers and a resurrection of unbelievers. Believers will be raised to eternal glorification; unbelievers will be raised to eternal condemnation.
The only assurance we ever will have that our departed loved ones are “in a better place,” is whether that loved one was saved. And the only way one is saved is by confession of sin, repentance from sin, and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ through the power of the Gospel. If that has happened, our lives will change and we will be involved actively in a Bible-believing church and we will bear the fruit of the Spirit. In no sense is anyone in heaven just because they were a good father, or mother, or husband, or wife, or brother, or sister, or son, or daughter.
Good people don’t go to heaven when they die. Saved people go to heaven when they die.
Are you having discussions in your home and among your family about Jesus Christ? Do you talk of Jesus? Talk about Christ among your family, at the dinner table, on the way to work or school, or in the living room.
Share Christ with the people who work with you every day. Share the saving message of the Gospel with your neighbors who are “in Adam” and need to join you “in Christ.”
Make your life really count for something by taking the message of the Gospel where some have never heard it once, places like Central Asia or large cities right here in America. Share the Gospel today. Share the Gospel this week.
Live in light of the resurrection. Have an eternal perspective.
Think of this and then we’ll pray. Imagine this:
Imagine of a guy at the Grand Canyon. He is standing at the edge of a cliff. He has his head down. He’s looking at the ground. He is focused on the dirt at his feet, the bit of grass, maybe a tiny pebble there at his feet. And he has his head down the entire time!
And you’re there with him and you’re trying to get him to look up and out and see the splendor of the Grand Canyon. Look at its beauty! Look how vast and how wonderful! But he doesn’t lift his head. He sees only what is there before him on the ground.
Sounds crazy, right?! Yet this is how many professing Christians live their lives. They see only what is before them. They have only an earthly perspective and they miss the eternal weight of glory, the splendor and beauty of the vital things, the things that matter, the things that last forever.
In light of the resurrection…have an eternal perspective on life, and have an evangelistic passion for the lost.
•Stand for prayer.
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