1 Corinthians 15:1-58
The Resurrection of Christ
1 Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. 2 By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.
3 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. 6 After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, 8 and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.
9 For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve 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 to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. 11 Whether, then, it was I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed.
The Resurrection of the Dead
12 But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14 And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. 15 More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. 19 If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.
20 But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. 22 For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. 23 But each in his own turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him. 24 Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. 25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death. 27 For he “has put everything under his feet.” Now when it says that “everything” has been put under him, it is clear that this does not include God himself, who put everything under Christ. 28 When he has done this, then the Son himself will be made subject to him who put everything under him, so that God may be all in all.
29 Now if there is no resurrection, what will those do who are baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized for them? 30 And as for us, why do we endanger ourselves every hour? 31 I die every day—I mean that, brothers—just as surely as I glory over you in Christ Jesus our Lord. 32 If I fought wild beasts in Ephesus for merely human reasons, what have I gained? If the dead are not raised,
“Let us eat and drink,
for tomorrow we die.”
33 Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character.” 34 Come back to your senses as you ought, and stop sinning; for there are some who are ignorant of God—I say this to your shame.
The Resurrection Body
35 But someone may ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come?” 36 How foolish! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. 37 When you sow, you do not plant the body that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or of something else. 38 But God gives it a body as he has determined, and to each kind of seed he gives its own body. 39 All flesh is not the same: Men have one kind of flesh, animals have another, birds another and fish another. 40 There are also heavenly bodies and there are earthly bodies; but the splendor of the heavenly bodies is one kind, and the splendor of the earthly bodies is another. 41 The sun has one kind of splendor, the moon another and the stars another; and star differs from star in splendor.
42 So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; 43 it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; 44 it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.
If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. 45 So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. 46 The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. 47 The first man was of the dust of the earth, the second man from heaven. 48 As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the man from heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. 49 And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we bear the likeness of the man from heaven.
50 I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51 Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— 52 in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53 For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. 54 When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”
55 “Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?”
56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
58 Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.
I like to listen to Christian debates, and debates about "Does God Exist."...All atheists and debaters against Christianity do not believe in the resurrection...Some believe in Jesus, some do not...But all of the debaters against Christ and God, do not believe in the resurrection of the Messiah...If they believed in the resurrection, then they would have to believe in God...The non-believer does not believe that Jesus came back to life and talked to Mary, His disciples, and five hundred other people...So since they do not believe in the resurrection, there is no God...Simply put, no resurrection, no God...I happen to agree with their premise...If there is no resurrection, there is no God...If Jesus does not exist, then neither does God...
It would be nice to see a modern miracle...It would be nice to see a transfiguration...It would be nice to see a modern resurrection...To sum it up, it would be nice to see more and more evidences of God...It would be nice to see a miracle everyday (since we are wishing)...But, it seems that God does not work that way...God does not want to throw out miracle after miracle, to prove Himself (even though He could)...God wants us to believe more by faith, than by miracles...He wants us believe more by faith than understanding...
It also seems to me that they do not understand God...If God could give the debater or the non-believer an understanding of Him, or a better understanding of Him, or at the very least, just a little bit more information (and in a sense some understanding of Him) then they would believe more in Him...This is only an opinion, but understanding seems very much to get in the way of the non-believer, as well as some believers...When we do not understand things, then it is harder for one to believe in something...But we were once in our mother's womb...That was our world before we came into this one...We all had minds and brains, albeit small ones, and could we have even imagined that there was going to be grass, trees, TVs, a sky, and the sun...Can we imagine that when we are resurrected, there might be many, many more things that we do not understand?...
When some explains their logic and their beliefs and their understandings -it is why they believe in things including God...But we should believe in God because He is the truth and Jesus is the truth...I think it is not surprising that Jesus stood up over two thousand years ago and said " I AM the Truth."...He also said those that hold to His teachings will know the Truth and the Truth, shall set you free...He added when talking to Pilates that I came into this world to testify to the Truth...Everyone on the side of Truth listens to Me...
We are always learning...We do not understand many things...We learn from the things we do not understand...It is hard to believe in miracles, because we do not understand them...It is hard to believe in God, because we do not understand Him...It is hard to believe, in general, in things we do not understand, have, not seen, and cannot relate to...Understanding seems to be a key for many to believe...Understanding seems to be a roadblock for some, if not many, non-believers...
Understanding is more certain than faith...Faith actually has doubts...When I try to reason things out "we must trust in the LORD, and lean not on our own understanding (Proverbs 3:5) it does go beyond my own personal understanding...I feel my mind and brain is still are still small...The next world will have things in it, my mind today, cannot even comprehend...I do not understand the resurrection, and how God raised Jesus, but I believe it...The resurrection is the most important truth I could ever imagine...