1 Corinthians 15:1-11

(1 Corinthians 15:1-11)

Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.  For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;  And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve: After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep. After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles. And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time. For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.  Therefore whether it were I or they, so we preach, and so ye believed.

 

Chapter 15 is known as the resurrection field, which systematically proves the doctrine of the resurrection. Most religions, including Christianity, believe in the immortality of the spirit. Although they believe in the immortality of the spirit, not all believe in the resurrection of the body. The Sadducees, derived from Judaism, denied both the immortality and resurrection of the spirit. At that time, the Greeks believed in the immortality of the spirit, but did not believe in the resurrection. Because they believed that eternal life was to be removed from the body and returned to a spiritual state, under the influence of this Greek culture, there were some people who denied the resurrection in the Corinthian church.

 

In this regard, Paul recognized that when people deny the resurrection, they deny the resurrection event of Christ, which in turn denies the truth of the gospel. Indeed, the crucifixion (death) and resurrection became the most important truths of Christianity. The resurrection of Jesus is a body that is different from the body before death. It is not a physical body, but a spirit body. Most people today think of the resurrection as if a dead body comes back to life. The body before death is not eternal life, but the resurrected body is eternal life. The body becomes the body, but the eternal spirit body.

 

The apostle Paul defines the gospel this way: “For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:』

 

 "that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures" The gospel is the death and resurrection of Christ. Why does Christ's death and resurrection become the gospel to us? Because Christ died for the sins of everyone in the world; to speak of Christ's death is not simply to declare a fact, but to explain what it means.

 

In the Bible, death, or human death, means punishment for the sins of men who have left God. The Bible speaks of humans. Humans are sinners who have left God. The fact that man is a sinner means that he is under God's wrath or God's judgment. Thus, humans are the object of God's wrath (judgment). Since man is incapable of saving himself from God's judgment, God, who condemns man, has planned a way to justify man. It is salvation through Christ.

 

The Bible as the apostle Paul refers to means the Old Testament. The Old Testament records God's revelation to save man, a sinner who is bound to die from sin. In other words, the birth of Jesus is the result of God's revelation, and in the end, the gospel is about Jesus Christ, who came to this earth in the flesh to save humans. Because Jesus was essentially and acted free from sin, he did not need to die spiritually or physically, and could ascend to heaven like Enoch and Elijah in the Bible. But Jesus gave life voluntarily. For that reason, Paul testifies that he was not for Jesus' own sin, but that he died for our human sins. That is, death, the punishment we deserve as the price for our sins, was paid by Jesus' ransom and dying on the cross.

 

However, Jesus' death alone does not end God's work of salvation. In other words, if Jesus had remained from the dead, there would be no Gospel. 『And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.』 Thus, Paul, defining the gospel, included not only the death of Jesus, but also the resurrection: "And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:"

 

Christ's death on the cross signifies the end of power against God with sin, law, and death. Thus, the resurrection of Jesus Christ is a proclamation of liberation to people and creatures who are in the bondage of sin and death. In other words, Christ's death on the cross means that all previous sinful lives have passed away, and resurrection means God's new life and the beginning of a new era.

 

Regarding the resurrection event of Christ, the apostle Paul revealed that most of the apostle Paul himself, but also the apostle Paul himself, were witnesses of Geba, twelve disciples, 500 brothers, James, and all the apostles who were living at that time. Rather, it is an extremely objective and historical fact. Because of the historical event of Christ's resurrection, all believers will be resurrected and believe in living forever. It should be noted here that the meaning of Christ's resurrection should not be limited to eternal life simply by resurrection. The power of Christ's resurrection allows the believer to die with Jesus on the cross and participate in the resurrection of Christ.

 

『 And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time. For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. 』The apostle Paul confesses that a wicked person like himself was born again because of the grace of God and dared to be used as an apostle.