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 first fruits, 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.  

(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.

The first letter to the Corinthians was written by the Apostle Paul in response to problems in the Church he founded there and Chapter 15 is Paul’s defense of the doctrine of the resurrection.  Some in Corinth were saying the resurrection of the dead had already taken place; some were denying the resurrection of the dead – Paul is writing this letter to the Corinthians to warn them that a denial of the resurrection of the dead was a denial of the Gospel and denial of hope for this world and the next.

Paul writes of the historical bodily resurrection of Christ Jesus from the dead with certainty and then he addresses the implications of the resurrection.  He compares the risen Christ to the first fruits – in the Old Testament this referenced the first fruits from seed that was planted.  These first fruits were a sign and promise that more would come.  Christ is the first fruit and Paul is saying this is proof that bodily resurrection of more will occur.  Adam – the first Adam – brought about death for himself and the human race but Jesus as the last Adam brings life for all men.  Christ’s substitute death and resurrection will bring about a sequence of events as ordained by God before time began.  Christ will be first and the faithful next – finally the unbelieving dead will be raised.  There will be the reign of Christ when all His enemies are defeated and then the kingdom will be handed to the Father.  The last and final enemy is death and then the mortal bodies of the faithful will be resurrected as transformed bodies fit for the presence of God – removing the sting of sin and resulting in victory over death.  And forever God will be all in all.

 But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you.  (2) For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night.  (3) For when they say “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman.  And they shall not escape.  (4) But you brethren, are not in darkness so that this Day should overtake you as a thief.   (5) You are all sons of light and sons of the day.  We are not of the night nor of darkness.  (6) Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober.

The Apostle Paul wrote the first letter to the Thessalonians in response to questions the Christian faithful had about the timing and events of the second coming of Christ Jesus.  Paul has just finished writing about the rapture (a non-biblical term) when the justified faithful will be gathered by Christ.  Then follows the Day of the Lord when the unwelcome terrible judgment of the Lord will judge sinful, unrepentant man.  Paul is telling the faithful that they do not need to know the time of the day of the Lord or the coming wrath of God as they will not be present on that day.   Further, they not only do not need to know the time, they cannot know it.

The Day of the Lord – the day of end time and judgment for the ungodly, the day of darkness, will not overtake the faithful because we are not people of the night.  We are day people, people of the Light.  We have experienced the transforming power of the gospel.  We are reborn but still of a fallen nature so Paul is warning the Thessalonians – and us – to not fall asleep to spiritual reality.  We have been redeemed out of darkness and as day people we are to act like it.  This is now our nature, our destiny.

The Day of the Lord is coming and it will be quick and terrible.  There will be signs but the children of the night, living in mental and moral darkness  will still not believe it.  They will be saying peace and safety, everything will be just fine, when, like a thief in the night, the end times will be upon them.

The faithful are not living in darkness and should live holy lives.  Through a series of contrasts Paul addresses the future of the believers:  dark and light, sober and drunk, asleep and awake, day and night, being separated from God forever and being with God forever.  There is total division between believers and non-believers – the saved and the damned.  So the Day of the Lord, the day of wrath is coming – but not for the believer.

For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, you are God’s building.  (10) According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds in it.  But let each one take heed how he builds on it.  (11) for no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

(16) Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?  (17) If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him.  For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.

The Apostle Paul wrote the first letter to the Christians in Corinth.  There were many problems there but our verses today concerns division in the Church.  The problem in Corinth was that the new Christians didn’t mature but instead yielded to the prideful temptation to turn to the teaching and “wisdom” of men.  They developed a cult of personality and depended on the charisma of certain leaders — saying I am of Paul or I am of Peter.  Worse, they also depended on false teachers.

Paul addresses this in today’s verses by speaking of the Church as a building under construction.  He (Paul) is the master builder who laid the foundation and he says that in all humility as he reminds the Corinthians in other verses of this letter that he came to them in fear and trembling.  He may not have been the most facile messenger but his gospel was the means to salvation.  Paul preached the wisdom of God by which He revealed His plan through the Holy Spirit.  Natural man without the Spirit will never know this truth.  Men are only instruments God uses for His purposes and plan.  In Christ’s Church there is unity and diversity in different members – each serves the same master, the same task – but each has his own calling and contribution according to his or her own gift and talent.

In viewing the Church as under construction Paul is saying that no believer belongs to any leader but all faithful belong to God.  The foundation that Paul and the Apostles laid has Christ Jesus as the cornerstone – this is the unique role of the Apostles and Paul is reminding the Corinthians of his authority and the Apostolic foundation of the Church which is of a one time, once and for all foundation in Christ Jesus.

The whole building in these verses is God’s dwelling place and while we are not the temple, we are a temple – a place where God dwells.  As such we are and must remain holy.

Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.  (6) For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.  (7) For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die.  (8) But God demonstrates His love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.  (9) Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.  (10) For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.  (11) And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.

The Apostle Paul wrote the letter to the Romans.  Quoting from John Pollock this “letter to the Christians of Rome that should be the distillation of his thought, his nearest approach to the writing of a book, a carefully constructed literary composition, which, if he had never written or spoken another word, entitles Paul to rank with Socrates, Plato and Aristotle among the greatest intellects of the ancient world and, indeed, of all time.”

The verses we study today are strong arguments for the assurance and finality of salvation for those who believe in Jesus and his death for the forgiveness of sins, resulting in justification of the faithful.  In the past, while we were unregenerate sinners, God sent His Son to die for us.  We were then enemies of God – helpless and totally unable to do anything to save ourselves.  We were ungodly and while we were enemies of God, He loved us so much that He sent His Son to die for us.  Jesus’ death removed the barrier of sin and reconciled us with God – through Jesus Christ, God ceased to be hostile to those He would save.

Christ was raised from the dead and the faithful with Him just as we sinners were crucified with Him.  Justification is not something we merited.  It is an unearned gift from God who loved us and the basis for justification is the blood of Christ Who atoned for our sin.  God’s love anchors our hope and it has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.  This is why our hope of salvation will not disappoint us; we who are justified in faith are at peace with God and have access to God’s grace.

Because Christ and God are one, Paul can speak of the cross as a demonstration of God’s love – the only perfect sacrifice and God’s plan and purpose, in love, of salvation – in due time (at the right time). Salvation is only through Christ’s death and not in any way is salvation due to human works or merit.  These verses do away with works based salvation.  Heaven is secure because salvation doesn’t have any thing to do with us.

Verse 11 tells us that the result of knowing we are saved through God’s grace and love means that we should exhult in God through Jesus Christ.  Our hope is sure and we should have gratitude and joy and boasting in the blessings of God through our Lord, Jesus Christ.