1 corinthians 15

Read 1 Corinthians 15 at Bible Gateway.

“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? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty.” 1 Cor 15:12-14

In this chapter, Paul addresses a heresy that had already risen in the Corinthian church: that Jesus did not rise bodily from the dead. The Greeks sought after all manner of philosophies, and many of them were wise according to man's wisdom, but not wise in truth. The heresy that the mortal or natural body is not resurrected seems to me to come from platonic philosophy. Plato believed and taught that the flesh was corrupt and that the only good in a person was in the soul. (The Scriptures teach man as a triune being, spirit, soul, and body; while Greek philosophy taught man as a dual being, soul and body only. Thus, according to Plato, the evil was in the body, while the good was in the soul, or the immaterial part of the person.)

While Plato made some accurate observations, the outworking of this philosophy without the guide of the truth revealed in Scripture caused it to careen off into error. Plato taught that anything to do with the flesh was likewise corrupt - thus a platonic relationship was the highest or best form of relationship between a man and his wife, not a marriage relationship. He also taught that every soul was intrinsically good and incorrupt, thus denying the separation of the spirit which occurred at the Fall between man and his Creator, resulting in eternal death, from which man needed to be redeemed.

Even some modern theologians are denying the resurrection of Jesus -- because a risen Savior with a real body, is a living Savior who is physically returning again to subdue His enemies under His feet -- and that is such a narrow view, judgmental and intolerant of other realities, to a liberal mind.

To see why the resurrection is so central to belief in YHVH, we have to understand the big picture the Scriptures paint. YHVH created man in His image, as His children, and placed them in a garden, in which were two trees: one of knowledge of good, and of evil, and one of life (Gen 2:9). The two trees are two choices. To choose life is to choose YHVH (or vice versa). To choose the knowledge of good and of evil is to choose YHVH's enemy, who was striving to exalt a throne above YHVH's throne (Isa 14:13).

Now it is still somewhat of a mystery to me, why knowledge of good and evil aligns with YHVH's enemy. But that it does, can be clearly seen from Scripture. Knowledge of good and evil, and death, and YHVH's enemy, are on one side; and life, and YHVH, are on the other side. Of course, man chose knowledge of good and evil and death over life, and YHVH's enemy over YHVH. All the rest of the Scriptures, from Gen 4 on, is about reversing the effects of this choice, and restoring life back to YHVH's children!

The first man, Adam, caused death to triumph over life. The second man, Jesus, caused life to triumph over death! This is why the resurrection of Jesus is pivotal to faith in YHVH - it restores us back to the tree of life from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil! And while the garden in the beginning contained two trees, the garden at the end contains only one tree: the tree of life (Rev 22:1-2)!

“But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ’s at His coming. 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.” 1 Cor 15:20-24

In this chapter, Paul reveals that the resurrection of Jesus is the firstfruits of the resurrections to follow (vs. 20-22). The resurrection of Jesus happened to take place on the very day of the Feast of Firstfruits as well, and this was not by accident. The Lord's annual feast cycle is prophetic and reveals the Messiah. There are three harvest festivals included in the annual cycle (Lev 23):

1) Firstfruits - spring festival celebrating the barley harvest, the first crop to be harvested in the agricultural year (Lev 23:9-14);
2) Shavuot, Weeks, or Pentecost - spring festival celebrating the wheat harvest (Lev 23:15-22);
3) Tabernacles - fall festival celebrating the fruits harvest, the final crop to be harvested in the agricultural year (Lev 23:33-41).

We know that Jesus compares salvation, being restored to Father God in resurrection life, to a harvest (Joh 4:35, Rev 14:15). Jesus was raised from the dead on the Feast of Firstfruits, and likewise He is the firstfruits of the resurrection from the dead.

The Holy Spirit was given to the Church on the Feast of Pentecost (Act 2:1-4). That this event has to do with harvest and resurrection, or restoration to life from death, we can see by following the patterns established in Scripture. Here Paul reveals that the connection is that in Messiah all shall be made alive! We have not seen the final harvest or resurrection yet - but we have nonetheless been made alive in Him (Col 2:13), on the day that we were made a new creation by the indwelling of His Spirit (2 Cor 5:17)! It is a spiritual resurrection, a down payment, that will be consummated by a physical resurrection in which death, even the death of the physical body, will be swallowed up in victory (Eph 1:13-14)!

We can see, since the feast cycle is prophetic, that the Feast of Tabernacles correlates to His coming, when the final resurrection of His Body (us, who are the Body of Messiah) will take place. This final harvest will be great indeed. For those who have fallen asleep (died) in Christ: they will be raised bodily from the dead, as He was. The graves all over the earth will open! For those who are still alive in the body at His coming: they shall be changed in the twinkling of an eye, from corruption to incorruption; from mortal to immortal (vs. 51-53)!

We might even project, that since the other resurrections took place on the exact day of the annual feast which corresponded to it, that His coming will be on the exact day of the annual feast which corresponds to it - i.e., Tabernacles or one of the fall feasts, which take place in September or October every year and which are only separated by three weeks of time from beginning to end!

Amen! Come, Lord Jesus!