Proper 29: Epistle, 1 Corinthians 15:20-28                      

1 Corinthians 15:20-28

The blessed apostle has filled his first letter to the young Christians at Corinth with one correction of their failings after another. And those failings are rooted in some way or another with believing the wrong things. Or at least believing the right things with a twist of error. And that’s enough to ensure that behavior will miss the mark. Every time. And while the Christian life is NOT primarily about our behavior, the Lord expects much of his people. From Genesis onward that is never left in doubt. And His expectations are high precisely because He realizes what He has invested in us.

But at the very close of the letter is the issue. THE ISSUE. The resurrection of Jesus the Lord. In fact, if He has not been raised from the dead, Paul argues He is no Lord at all. He is not the Savior after all and we are in a mess. The conclusions Paul reaches in chapter 15 also find their power in proclaiming that “by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead” (v.21). What? By a man? Yes. Jesus dies as the God-man and as the God-man is He also raised. And by the way, He remains ever and always the God-man. “For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive” (v. 22). Why is Paul stressing the “man side” here? Because he wants to make absolutely sure that these young believers know for a certainty that they can, and indeed will be raised to be God’s men, God’s women for all eternity. And their triumph over death in Christ will forever exalt and praise the God-man in whom they will be raised.

Why is this topic left for last in the epistle? Because with all that has come before, nothing compares. And because if, as a Christian you get the resurrection wrong in your doctrine folder, well then, nothing else matters a wit. Our faith is vain if Jesus didn’t rise. We have no faith if Jesus didn’t rise. And as much as bodily resurrection following death is beyond the scope of our intellect alone, it may not be beyond belief. And belief, not in spite of intellect, but above it. So says the apostle. So says our Lord. The faith to believe? God grant it. Amen!