And so it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. (46) However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, and afterward the spiritual. (47) The first man was of the earth, made of dust; the second Man is the Lord from heaven. (48) As was the man of dust, so also are those who are made of dust; and as is the heavenly Man, so also are those who are heavenly. (49) And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man.

The first letter to the Corinthians was written by the apostle Paul. In our verses today he addresses the question of the resurrection of the dead – if God’s own are to be raised, in what body will they arise? Paul is answering with divine revelation – apart from this revelation we can know nothing apart from pure speculation. The descendants of Adam derive from him an earthly body like his. Just as certainly as we have a natural body, limited by time and space; a body of flesh and blood, subject to pain and decay, those who belong to Christ are to have a glorious body fashioned like His glorious body. If the one exists, so does the other.

Paul is contemplating the body at the time of death, saying that the weakness which belongs to it in life is perfected in death. It is a general law that the lower precedes the higher; the imperfect, the perfect. We are born before we are regenerated and we live before we rise. Matter was created under the forces of animal life. Adam’s work was to bring into subjection to his own spirit not only the world around him but also his own body and appetites. Adam was not created full grown in moral and spiritual life but fully equipped for conquest – but the victory was not yet won. His body was soul governed and so are ours. Our future bodies will be controlled by our spirits; the human spirit will be animated wholly by God. And some day the changes awaiting our bodies will be revealed. We are sown in corruption and will be raised in incorruption and just as we bear the likeness of the first man, we shall bear the likeness of the Man from heaven. Nothing is impossible with God and as Christians we know the future hope of the second coming of Christ when we will receive resurrected bodies – this should affect life as we live it now.

We are now limited by time which is unilinear and irreversible but we are promised a new heavens and a new earth will be formed. We can only guess and wonder on this – and again, I like to end with C.S. Lewis from his book on Miracles: “It is useful not because we can trust these fancies to give us any positive truth about the New Creation but because they teach us not to limit, in our rashness, the vigor and variety of the new crops which this old field might yet produce. We are therefore compelled to believe that nearly all we are told about the New Creation is metaphorical. But not quite all. That is just where the story of the Resurrection suddenly jerks us back like a tether. The local appearances, the eating, the touching, the claim to be corporal, must be either reality or sheer illusion.

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? (14) But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen. (14) And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty. (15) Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ, whom He did not raise up -if in fact the dead do not rise. (16) For if the dead do not rise, then Christ not risen. (17) And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins! (18) Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. (19) If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable. (20) But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

The first letter to the Corinthians was written by the apostle Paul who was addressing the denial of some of the Christians in Corinth that there is bodily resurrection of the people of God. The gospel is the gospel of the risen Christ and Paul’s argument is, if there is no resurrection from the dead, then Christ is not risen. The seal of Christ’s acceptable atoning sacrifice is His resurrection. The resurrection of Christ is proved by an array of testimony supporting this primary principle of the gospel which Paul preached and on which their salvation depended. Because of this fact’s importance the apostles were appointed to be witnesses of Christ’s resurrection. If Christ is not risen all their preaching and faith is groundless; their witness is false.
The admission of the resurrection of Christ is inconsistent with the denial of the resurrection of the dead – this denial involves the denial of the resurrection of Christ. Paul is not discussing here the continued existence of the soul after death but the restoration of the body to life. In our verses today, Paul deduces the possibility and then the certainty of of the resurrection of God’s people. The argument is, if the dead cannot rise, then Christ did not rise for Christ is dead: if the thing be impossible, it never happened. Man is still under condemnation of sin; no resurrection means no justification. Denial of resurrection involves denial of salvation.
Christ Jesus rested the validity of all His claims upon His resurrection – His resurrection proves He is truly the Son of God and Savior of the world. My favorite, C.S. Lewis writes in ‘Mere Christianity’: “A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic – on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg – or else he would be the devil of hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God or else a madman or something worse.”

Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, (2) by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you – unless you believed in vain. (3) For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, (4) and that He was buried and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, (5) and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. (6) After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep. (7) After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles. (8) Then last of all He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time. (9) For I am the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. (10) But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. (11) Therefore, whether it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.

The first letter to the corinthians was written by the apostle Paul. In chapter 15 Paul introduces a new subject addressing the errors in Corinth regarding the resurrection of Christ Jesus which some in Corinth denied. Paul is saying the doctrine of resurrection of Christ is the primary principal of the gospel, which he preached and in which our salvation depends; if there is no resurrection, our faith is worthless. Paul presents historical facts of eyewitness testimony – he is not referring to all the physical manifestations of Jesus after the resurrection but selects a few examples.
What is the gospel? There is a great deal in the Bible that is not gospel – it is not just a message telling men how they should behave – It is not a call to repentance or amendment of our ways. It is good news to be believed; we may change our behavior and yet never believe the gospel and consequently never be saved. There is only one gospel and it is God’s revelation to sinful man. Comparing all religious systems with one another and all but Christianity set men trying to save their own souls. But the gospel tells us what God has done for us so that guilty sinners may be saved. It is only through the gospel that man is born again – it is the work of God, not man, and it is done. It is the gospel of the Son of God – the gospel of the risen Christ – and leaves no room whatever for human merit. It is the gospel of grace, not works; if it be of works then it is not of grace.
It is a fact of history that Christ died and “for our sins” is doctrinal and explains that death. Christ took the sinner’s place and the sinner’s judgment. The seal of satisfaction in Christ’s work was His resurrection. Physical resurrection is fundamental to Christianity and there is no contradiction in this. Paul and the other apostles believed and preached the same gospel – and in denying the resurrection some corinthians were pursuing a theology of their own.

But earnestly desire the best gifts. And yet I show you a more excellent way. (13:1) And though I speak with the tongues of men and angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. (2) And though I have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. (3) And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing. (4) Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; (5) does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; (6) does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; (7) bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. (8) Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away. (9) For we know in part and we prophesy in part. (10) But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away. (11) When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. (12) For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I as known. (13) And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

The first letter to the Corinthians was written by the apostle Paul. In our verses today Paul writes with majestic language, lofty idealism and practical advice to the Corinthians who were distracted and divided by contentious behavior and cults of personalities – they were envious of each other’s gifts of the Spirit – love for God and man was wanting and therefore the Spirit’s gifts were worthless to them. Love is the key which opens up the effective use of spiritual gifts – Paul is showing the Corinthians a more excellent way to please God. Love is superior to all extraordinary gifts; it is inherently excellent and abides in perpetuity. The gift of tongues, so valued by the Corinthians was nothing without love. It became as a senseless noise of brass or a clanging of cymbals. All outward acts are of no avail without love – there is no substitute of what is outward for what is inward. God requires our hearts. This chapter is not a dissertation on Christian love but an exhibit of it as contrasted with deformities of character. Paul is saying to the Corinthians that the gifts in which they took so much pride were small matters compared to what is in store for the people of God.

Love lasts – endures forever – is not designed just for our present state of existence but to our future state of being. The extraordinary gifts of the Spirit are temporary but faith, hope and love remain. Faith and hope as we experience it now will not continue in the future but will continue in another form – confidence and expectation will continue forever. Love NEVER fails but abides forever. Paul exhorts his readers here to seek the better gifts – the abiding gifts – the useful gifts for living in this world. Love here is greater than either faith or hope as faith saves us but love benefits others. A Christian community can make do somehow if gifts of character are lacking but it will die without love.

The character of love takes pleasure in what is right, true, not concealed; it looks for mercy and justice for all; puts up with everything and perseveres in trials. Love outlasts temporal things. Our present state is that of a child and we are now concerned with things of temporary value. Maturity is concerned with things of eternal value. Now we see indirectly, not meaning irrationally but inadequately. Our views of the divine will be hereafter very different from those we now have. Love here is a decision of will which leads to sacrifice of self to another. It valves feeling but not primarily based on feeling – it is a giving, not taking, love