00:00 Introduction and Overview
00:51 First Corinthians 15: The Resurrection Chapter
03:05 The Importance of the Resurrection
06:02 The Nature of Resurrected Bodies
08:21 Final Thoughts on First Corinthians 15
09:08 First Corinthians 16: Final Instructions and Plans
10:19 Closing Prayer and Encouragement
Hey everybody welcome back to another edition of the daily Bible podcast it is Tuesday December 3rd and we are in first Corinthians 15 through 16 finishing up the book of first Corinthians today and yeah we are coming coming down to the wire here we're now in the last month we've got first Corinthians we're going to be in second Corinthians after this go figure and then we'll make our way all the way through we still got some time left in acts so remember that as we're reading these remember we're not done with the book of acts that the book of acts we're going to be in all the way through December 14th. And so we've got still a little ways here still in the book of acts and then after that we'll finish it up but we are coming down the down to the wire on reading the Bible and so if you've been with us the whole year or half of the year or whatever it is good job we're grateful to have you we're thankful that you're reading the Bible you're reading the Bible consistently that's why we do this is because we believe that it's so important to be in God's word on a regular basis speaking of which we're going to jump into first Corinthians 15. First Corinthians 15 you probably know this chapter if you do know the book of first Corinthians as the resurrection chapter and that's really what it is and Paul begins by saying look here's the gospel remember the gospel remember as I talked about yesterday we've been talking about the unity of the church building up the body of Christ the common good of the bride of Christ right and so we're now shifting to first Corinthians 15 and what's the foundation of the common good what's the foundation of the unity of the body of Christ it is the gospel and he says I'm going to remind you of this the gospel in which you stand which you've received and notice by which you are being saved I've mentioned this before but we are being saved as Christians we are saved positionally we have been justified by faith in Christ but also we are being saved in the sense that we are in process of being saved we are in process of being delivered into glory and that's a process of the Holy Spirit but the foundation of that is what he goes on to talk about I delivered to you as a first importance that Christ died for our sins that he was buried that he was raised on the third day that he appeared to see this than the 12 and more than 500 most of whom are still alive in all of this in accordance with the scriptures in Paul saying this is the prophecy the prophecy has been fulfilled in Jesus remember this and then he says in verse 8 the last one that he appeared to untimely born is me is Paul and that's why he says I'm one of the least of the apostles because formally I was a persecutor of the church and so Paul still carries some of that but it doesn't stop him from serving God I think that's so important right you have a background you have a past and maybe your past is one that you look back on with a little bit of guilt and shame but notice Paul with his background of persecuting the church and killing Christians and everything else he did not let that stop him after he was saved from serving the Lord and doing great things for him so hopefully you won't either whatever your background is hopefully you will be serving faithfully as you labor one more point here before we get to the resurrection text here he says he appeared to more than 500 brothers at one time most of whom are still alive why would he put that in there most of whom are still alive because he's saying go talk to him you've got questions or doubts go talk to him send a letter go go find somebody and say you actually saw Jesus alive yeah I saw him alive I was one of the 500 that's why he puts that in there it's a little bit of an apologetic there anyways chapter 15 starting verse 12 then all the way down really through the end of the chapter he's talking about the importance of the resurrection in the first part here which goes down to verse 34 he's going to deal with the reality of it and he's going to say look some are among you who say Jesus hasn't been raised he says but there's problems if Jesus hasn't been raised and the main problem if Jesus has not been raised is that you are still in your sins and your faith is futile why because if Jesus hasn't been raised then the payment was not accepted we were not the payment was not approved we are still in our sins we are still guilty before God a holy God and we are still alienated from him so the resurrection was God's stamp of approval saying yes payment accepted if Jesus doesn't rise our payment has not been made and we're still in our sins and our faith is futile and we are of all people most to be pitied by living this life of Christianity here but he says in verse 20 in fact Christ has been raised I love that in fact he has been raised he's the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep by the way remember currently in church you've got questions go talk to any of the 500 in fact it is one of the most well-attested historical facts that Jesus Christ has been raised from the dead and there's evidences there apologetic evidence is the life of the apostles and the disciples and how that transformed Peter's life their willingness to die for their faith all of these things point to the reality of the resurrection so in fact he has been raised and then he calls him the first fruits first fruits in what sense well the first fruits is the guarantee of what's going to follow so what's going to follow is the resurrection of others and so as Christ rose so we will rise as well and then he says at the end here he says in verse 29 the end of this section at least otherwise what do people mean by being baptized on behalf of the dead okay you may be wondering they're like wait a minute baptized on behalf of the dead is what is Paul talking about here well this was probably vicarious baptism similar to what you see in the Mormon church today when the Mormons go in and they have a list of names and they will be baptized for those other names and it's this desire that hopefully it's going to be vicarious and somehow it will be applied to those that are already dead or past family members or somebody else who may have walked away or never been part of the Mormon church cult ward Paul is not condoning this okay if this practice if that's what this is and that was taking place in the Corinthian church Paul never wants here says and this is a good thing right he never wants says this is right you should do this people should be baptized on behalf of the dead rather he's appealing to their practicing see you believe the resurrection is true otherwise you wouldn't be doing this instead trust that what the resurrection is a good doctrine and then he goes on to say that the line that we've told our kids so often bad company corrupts good morals what's he talking about there talking about theologically you have people influencing your doctrine and your theology negatively is what he's telling the church there and that's important for us to understand as we think about this people will if we hang around the wrong people doctrinally theologically people will will end up influencing us that way and we need to be on guard against that he says that people have been encouraging you to deny the resurrection that's a problem that's a bad thing he said bad company corrupts good morals instead the resurrection is legitimate okay so then what what are the resurrected bodies going to be like that's the question that comes next and that's what we find starting in verse 35 and he goes on to talk about look it's going to be different than anything that you know in other words Paul saying I can't point to something earthly and say this is the resurrection body he says there are differences and we understand differences not all flesh verse 39 is the same there's one kind for humans and another for animals and birds and fish he's pointed to the varieties here he's saying look there's different kinds of bodies and then he says here you know what there's also heavenly bodies a glorified body a heavenly body is going to be different than the earthly body and it's going to be something that you've never known before it's going to be imperishable he goes on to say glorious powerful and spiritual and then when he goes on from there he says that verse 47 the first man was from the earth the man of dust the second man is from heaven as was the man of dust so are those who are of the dust and as is the man of heaven so are those who are who are rather of heaven and then verse 49 just as we have borne the image of the man of dust we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven in other words our glorified bodies are going to be like Jesus John says that in first John we are going to be like him for we will see him right and we will be like he is and so that glorified body is going to be different it's going to be unique it's not going to be like anything you've known before imperishable glorious powerful and spiritual that's what he's talking about there spiritual not in the sense that the body is spiritual it's immaterial but spiritual in the sense that it's not of the earth in that sense all right verse 50 and following there he talks about this mystery when we will receive our glorified bodies when the trumpet will sound this is going to be the rapture is what we believe is going to happen here the church will receive her glorified bodies but only after those that have died first only after those that have gone to the grave before us they will receive theirs and then if we're still here first that's for we who are caught up with him we who remain will be caught up together with them we will have our glorified bodies at that point and then notice he says this that's the moment the death is swallowed up in victory and so we'll often quote that around a grave we'll often quote that and say look death is swallowed up in victory death or where is your staying where we still feel the sting of death until that day we still feel the loss until that day but that day is coming that's why we don't mourn as those without hope because that day of glorification when we receive our bodies never to die again that day is coming but that's going to be the day that's going to be the day when we finally receive that glorified body and we can say death is swallowed up in victory let me before we get to chapter 16 I'm just noticing here I skipped over something back in 25 it says of Jesus he must reign 1 Corinthians 15 25 he must reign until he's put all enemies under his feet the last enemy to be as short as death okay we were just talking about that verse 27 for God has put all things in subjection under his feet but when it says all things are put in subjection it's plain that he is accepted who put all things in subjection under him meaning the father is accepted from that verse 28 when all things are subjected to Jesus then the son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him that God may be all in all this is just a different way of Philippians 2 9 through 11 that he's received the name that is above all names the name of Jesus Christ every knee should bow and tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of the Father that's the same day as we read about right there alright chapter 16 some final comments here the collection of the saints he's taken up a collection to be delivered to the Jerusalem church probably to yes help the Jerusalem church but also be giving out from there to other churches that need help there that's what's going on in the beginning of chapter 16 and then he talks about some of his personal plans his plans to travel to them verse 8 he says I'm going to stay in Ephesus that's where Paul had been in Acts chapter 19 just remember the context there Acts chapter 19 Paul's been in Ephesus he's going to remain there for a little while until he is able to come and visit them again he's going to send Timothy in the meantime and then he gets in and gives some final admonitions final instructions final encouragement verse 13 be watchful stand firm in the faith act like men be strong let all you do be done in love these are a lot of summaries for the whole letter that we've just read he doesn't want them drifting anymore he wants the drift to stop he wants the factions to stop he wants the the the immorality to put out of the church he wants relationships to be accurately handled first Corinthians 7 he wants freedom and love to be expressed in in right ways first Corinthians 8 and 9 he wants spiritual and so that's what Paul's been writing about here in the letter to the Corinthian church so there you go man a lot a lot a lot of ground to cover but let me pray in the will be done God we desire to be a church that is steadfast and immovable we desire strong men as we've often prayed and talked about who will act like men and toe the line and and do good things for you and lead our church and our families well and so we thank you for your word we thank you for the hope and the resurrection that we have that this life is not all there is but we will one day receive our glorified bodies we can't wait until that day in the meantime help us to be found faithful in all that we do for you we pray this all in Jesus name amen all right y'all keep her in your bibles and tune in again tomorrow for another edition of the daily Bible podcast bye thanks for listening to another episode of the daily Bible podcast we pray that this has been a blessing to you in your study of the word if it has it if you would share this with your friends family other people in the church also leave a review or a like subscribe to the podcast wherever you happen to listen to podcasts that'd be a huge help to us getting this out further we are so grateful for you listening you're the reason why we do this so tune in again tomorrow for another episode of the daily Bible podcast podcast.
