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?…….. (16) For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is 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. The Corinthians were not denying the Resurrection of Jesus Christ – what many were denying was the resurrection of the body. In our verses Paul is showing the logical consequences of wrong belief; if there is no resurrection of the dead then Jesus Christ was not raised and faith in Christ is worthless. All the witnesses and preachers of the resurrection would be liars; no one has been redeemed from sin. All former believers would have perished and Christ would be dead.

The Jews valued irrefutable tangible proof of the resurrection by divine signs. The Gentiles valued eloquence. To the Jews the idea of a crucified Messiah was a contradiction of terms – they thought the Old Testament described the glory of the Messiah and had a problem with the idea of a crucified Messiah. The apostles had to deal with the wisdom of God in His eternal plan of salvation as opposed who the foolishness of men. For most the common sense was that man is saved by good works – if men are saved by works the cross is really foolishness to those who are perishing. The humility and scorn of the cross had no attraction to human wisdom. But the gospel is saving wisdom and tells us all men are sinners and we all die because of this. The idea of salvation of good works is diametrically opposed to the teaching of Jesus and the New Testament and grossly underestimates the absolute holiness of God and the sinfulness of the human heart – it assumes a person can be his/her own savior. The only reason Christ went to the cross is because that is the only way justice and the righteousness of God can be satisfied and the only way sinful man can be saved.

Denial of the possibility of the resurrection of the body is denial of the possibility of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, and therefore empties the Christian message of truth and the Christian life of its reality. If Christ was like the “first fruits” of the harvest promising what is to come, this metaphor was used to show the resurrection of believers is absolutely inevitable. The Resurrection of Jesus is sure evidence that what He taught is true. It is the central fact of history.

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…………(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. Our verses today proclaim that Jesus Christ was raised bodily from the dead and that He appeared to a great number of witnesses over a 40 day period giving many proofs of His resurrection. If Christ is truly risen from the dead it is the most important fact in all of history yet most people take seriously things not important – things of this world which would perish – and take lightly something quite serious. Apart from the resurrection the apostles had no gospel to preach.

Paul presents evidence of the resurrection. Scripture prophesied the Messiah would be raised from the dead. Jesus Himself predicted on a number of occasions that He would be killed and raised up on the third day. There was eyewitness testimony of people who saw the risen Christ – these witnesses were many and still alive at that time – verifiable witnesses. They had nothing to gain but everything to lose. Paul and the apostles were transformed from frightened depressed men after the crucifixion to joyful courageous men after the resurrection. Not one of them faltered in their testimony even unto death. The apostles were sealed by God in their ministries with miracles of healing. And the body of Christ was never found. Paul is appealing to historical proof and historical testimony. If there was no resurrection the New Testament writers were lying and it must result in the collapse of the gospel.

The resurrection matters because without it the Christian faith is worthless. Without it the gospel is empty words and becomes just another ethical system. C.s.Lewis writes of the centrality of the Resurrection: “To preach Christianity meant (to the Apostles) primarily to preach the Resurrection…..The Resurrection is the central theme in every Christian sermon reported in the Acts. The Resurrection, and its consequences, were the gospel or good news which the Christians brought.”

Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, (15) and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. (16) For indeed He does not give aid to angels, but He does give aid to the seed of Abraham. (17) Therefore in all things He had to be made like his brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. (18) For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted.

The writer of the letter to the Hebrews is unknown. This letter was written to Jewish Christians in a church facing prosecution because of the gospel. Jewish Christians were ready to deny Christ and revert to Judaism but the author is showing them that Christ is sufficient. The doctrines of Jesus’s deity and humanity are not just nice theological points for intellectual debate but precious truth. We are flesh and blood as human beings and if the Lord came to redeem us He must not only be a divine Savior but must be one of us; our kinsman redeemer. We have shared in the same humanity, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death because of the fall – Satan. The devil had the power of death, not the supreme power but subordinate power of death.

Jesus Christ came to give aid not to angels but to the seed of Abraham. The elect angels need no redemption for they did not sin. The non elect angels are passed by. When talking about the seed of Abraham the author is not talking about every individual without exception, he is talking about the brethren, God’s covenantal people. Fear of death is natural to sinners. It not necessarily so to the faithful. The purpose of the incarnation was, that through death, Jesus Christ renders powerless him who had the power of death (devil), and brings the faithful to eternal life through His atoning sacrifice. This is victory over death. in Roman’s 8:1 we are told “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. (2) For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.”

Jesus paid the penalty of spiritual death and delivers the faithful from Satan’s domain. All our days are written in God’s book and we wil not die one second before our allotted time. As a Christian we know death is not the end but the beginning. Death is the last enemy and comes to us all because of sin but now, in Christ, we will live because of our belief. Satan’s power has been broken and we need fear death no longer. If Jesus – despite our sins and shortcomings – is not ashamed to call us brethren, we should not be ashamed to proclaim Him as Savior and Lord.

For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. (13) For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body – whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free – and have all been made to drink into one Spirit. (14) For in fact the body is not one member but many. (27) Now you are the body of Christ and members individually.

The first letter to the Corinthians was written by the apostle Paul. In our verses today Paul is teaching the unity of the church illustrated by reference of unity and diversity of the human body which is one, yet it consists of many members. The different members in that body – such as eye, hand, ear, foot, etc, are dependent the one on the other as the body is one. Each member has its own place with its gift and function which is suitable for it. As in the human body, so it is with the church, the body of Christ. Christ is the head of the body of the faithful which is the church collectively with the members severally.

No one is baptized into the body of Christ (church) until the Spirit of God dwells within him/her. They have become people who have been born again in faith in Christ. New birth is by the word of God and the Spirit of God. The Bible distinguishes between baptism with water and baptism with the Holy Spirit which is spiritual regeneration. Here is not meant baptism by water (external rite) but baptism by the indwelling Spirit – believers were all baptized into one body and diversity of gifts and members is necessary to the unity of the church. The church no more consists of persons all having the same gifts as the body is all eye, ear, hand or foot. Each has its own function and work to perform for harmonious cooperation. c.s.Lewis wrote on this subject: “It takes all sorts to make a world; or a church. This may even be truer of a church. If grace perfects nature, it must expand all our natures into the full richness of the diversity which God intended when He made them, and heaven will display far more variety than hell.”

In faith in Christ collectively we are the body of Christ. What is said of human body with unity and diversity of members is all true of the unity of the church. Paul is not speaking of what ought to be but what is. Amen.