Resurrection and Hope

Today we conclude our series in 1 Corinthians tackling the final two chapters: chapter 15, and chapter 16.

In the final chapters of 1 Corinthians, Paul emphasizes the significance of Christ’s resurrection, highlighting it as foundational to the Christian faith. He reassures believers about their future resurrection and encourages steadfastness in faith and service. Additionally, he provides practical guidance for giving and warns against false teachings, urging all actions to be rooted in love.

What happens after death? Will Christians truly be raised from the dead as Christ was? It seems the concept of resurrection was being questioned or misunderstood to some extent among the believers in Corinth.

In 1 Corinthians 15  Paul lays a foundation about the reality of the Lord’s resurrection in order to encourage the believers about their future resurrection. Paul establishes that the resurrection of Jesus is the foundation of the Christian faith, stating that without it, the gospel message is meaningless, the believers’ faith is futile, and even Paul’s ministry would be in vain. 

1 Cor 15:1 “Now I want to make clear for you, brothers and sisters, the gospel I preached to you which you received, on which you have taken your stand and by which you are being saved, if you hold to the message I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. “

He begins by setting out to remind the Christians in Corinth of what exactly they believed when he preached the gospel to them. They received the gospel: the message of God’s grace and forgiveness of sin through faith in Christ.

Paul writes that they still stand in their belief in that gospel. By this, he means that their position as God’s children remains because of their faith in Christ and by God’s grace. Nothing else they have said or done since then has become the reason for God’s approval of them in Christ.

Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15:19, “If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.”.

If Christ did not live past the grave, those who trust in Him surely cannot hope to do so. Without the resurrection, salvation could not have been provided, and without belief in the resurrection salvation cannot be received. God’s Word clearly says in Romans 10:9, “If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” It is not possible, therefore, to be a Christian and not believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

1 Cor 15:3-4 “For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.”

Paul delivered what he received. He did not make up what he preached. Christ died for our sins, paying the price and defeated death and rose on the third day, so that we can receive salvation and be restored to the Father.  

Paul highlights that belief in the gospel involves faith in both Christ’s death on the cross and His resurrection. He affirms the future resurrection of believers into a spiritual body and the ultimate defeat of death. He concludes by encouraging believers to stay strong, remain steadfast, and work diligently in their faith and service, reminding them that their hope and efforts are not in vain because of the coming resurrection and future victory.

At the very end of the 1^st letter to the Corinthian Church, Paul concludes with He wants Corinthian believers to set aside, on the first day of the week, whatever they can afford. Paul encourages them to remember those in need through steadfast giving of our resources. Paul also emphasizes the need for planned giving. Paul then speaks of his travel plans and his intent to visit. Notice that Paul although has plans of where he might go, he is flexible in the surety of it as he intends to do God’s will and knows that God can redirect his path. A lesson for us all as we plan ahead, to not jump ahead of God but be mindful that it is ultimately God’s will that we most desire to walk in and may that keep us with a flexibility to be molded as the Father sees fit.

As he nears the end of the letter, just prior to his final greetings He tells them to be watchful and to stand firm in the faith, perhaps referring to false teaching that was creeping into their church. He adds that they should be men of courage and be strong: invoking military terms to indicate the intensity with which they should resist false teaching. He adds, though, that everything they do, should be done in love.

Thank you to all you have joined me here in the study of 1 Corinthians.

God Bless.