1 Corinthians 12

Chapter 12. The Hope of the ChurchBut Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep…. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive….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. (1 Corinthians 15:20, 1 Corinthians 15:22, 1 Corinthians 15:58)The 15th chapter of First Corinthians presents to us one of the sublimest arguments of the inspired Word for the blessed hope and final destiny of the Church of Christ. There never was a time when the reality and certainty of this hope needed more to be emphasized than today. While human thought is growing more materialistic, the theology of the Church itself is less and less positive in its testimony to the great doctrine of the resurrection and the personal return of the Lord Jesus Christ. One of the leading pulpits of the country has publicly declared within a short time that the resurrection is purely spiritual. Along with the tendency to eliminate the supernatural in every way from Christianity, the doctrine of the resurrection is being shaded off into a mere figurative conception. One of the most deeply spiritual volumes of the century, a book that has been blessed to great multitudes of seekers after God, and which, perhaps, more than any other volume except the Bible has enabled tens of thousands to understand and accept the Lord Jesus in His fullness, is written by one who unhesitatingly denies the doctrine of the literal resurrection, and whose influence in this direction renders it exceedingly difficult to encourage the circulation of her other volumes even where they are without just cause for criticism. There is no other influence so fitted to counteract the spirit of worldliness abroad today as the power of the blessed hope of the Lord’s return and all that it is to bring. Our present course of action is greatly determined by our future outlook. An earthly minded Church will always seek her portion here; and it is only when the people of God are deeply imbued with the conviction and expectation of their Master’s imminent return that they will be saved from the dangers of this present evil world. This chapter gives us a most comprehensive view of the whole subject of the resurrection as connected with the gospel of Christ.

Section I: A Distinct Definition

Section I—A Distinct DefinitionWe have no clearer statement anywhere by which we may distinguish between the gospel and its counterfeits. “I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you” (1 Corinthians 15:1), is the apostle’s language, and he immediately proceeds to tell us what the gospel is. Its Fundamental Doctrine First, its fundamental doctrine is that “Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,” and, secondly, that “he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures” and was seen by competent witnesses (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). These two truths, the death and the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, constitute the essence of the gospel, and anything short of this is not the gospel. There may be much eloquent preaching, much devotional spirit, much deep earnestness, much profound religious experience, but if it is not identified by the print of the nails and the mark of the cross it is not the gospel of Jesus Christ. Many of the most popular preachers and writers of our time, according to this definition, are not preachers of the gospel. I was once offered a very large sum if I could produce a single sentence from the published works of the most popular preacher of this country 20 [1870s-1880s] years ago, which, according to Paul’s definition, could be called gospel preaching. After searching through many volumes I was unable to find a single sentence that would meet the test. These teachings are full of devout passages; they speak freely of Christ; they talk much about His Presence and Spirit—indeed, they are the teachers of the larger Christ and the Christ of today, and all that sort of thing. But somehow they all get on to the way without entering by the door. They have climbed up a little beyond the cross. They have much of the rest of it except the beginning; and while it may seem uncharitable and severe, yet the apostle has himself said that they are preaching another gospel; and he has also said, “If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned!” (Galatians 1:9). The Cross The gospel of Jesus Christ recognizes the deep fact of sin, the divine fact of the atonement and the supernatural fact of the resurrection and the risen life of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is not merely the cross, but it is the cross from which the Crucified has been taken, and beyond which we see the open grave and the ascension throne. It is the cross as beautifully set forth in Thorwaldsen’s dream in marble where he has carved the white cross, and then has covered it over with the tracery of a beautiful and luxuriant vine, almost hiding the cross with its hanging cluster. It is the cross with its glorious fruition, the risen Lord and the fruits that have come from His life and death. It is His own sublime description of Himself, “I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever!” (Revelation 1:18).

Section II: A Great Evidence

Section II—A Great EvidenceNext we have the cornerstone of the gospel, the great evidence and proof of Christianity—the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the one foundation on which Paul rests the whole fabric of Christianity. “If Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless…. your faith is futile; you are still in your sins” (1 Corinthians 15:14, 1 Corinthians 15:17). This was the one test to which the Savior always appealed when asked for a sign of His Messiahship and divinity. It was the sign of the temple destroyed and raised in three days; the sign of the prophet Jonah, which was a symbol of the resurrection; the sign of the buried kernel dying and living through death. He publicly appealed to His Father and the world on the ground of His resurrection. Had He not risen from the dead His claims would have utterly failed; but when we see Him come forth in defiance of every natural and designed obstruction and impossibility, how can we doubt the truth of His claims and His teachings? Of Conclusive Character God ordered it so that the evidence should be of the most conclusive and unassailable character. His death was public and official. The highest officials of the Roman government were its executioners and witnesses. It was made doubly sure by the thrust of the soldier’s spear. The very idea of the resurrection had been anticipated by His enemies and guarded against, and the most stringent precautions were taken to prevent His body from being stolen and a story of His resurrection circulated. It was sealed with the official stamp of the Roman government, and the tomb was guarded by their own soldiers under the eagle eye of the Jewish authorities, who were determined that there should be no possible recovery of the body. And when, notwithstanding all these precautions and provisions, He came forth on the appointed day, and was seen and identified by the multitudes who were alive when Paul’s letter was written, and to whom he appealed for confirmation, and when we find no record anywhere of the denial of these statements at the time, or any attempt to question this weighty testimony, every candid mind is forced to admit that the argument for the resurrection is the strongest possible kind. And if the resurrection be true, then all His teachings and miracles must also be true. The supreme miracle of Christianity carries with it the conviction of all the rest, and so the whole edifice hangs on this great truth, the cornerstone. I was once called upon by a well-informed skeptic, who was a lawyer, accustomed to weigh evidence, and quite doubtful of the truth of Christianity, and was asked to give to him the most convincing proofs of the truth of the religion of Christ. Instead of attempting a long and discursive discussion of apologetics, I simply told him that there was a single argument by which the whole question might be settled, and if that were true all the others were unnecessary. He offered to rest the entire case upon the one fact of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And then I submitted to cross-examination on that subject, giving the data furnished by the New Testament and other contemporary literature, and I permitted this skilled legal mind to ask whatever questions he wished in the course of cross-examination that would satisfy him as fully as he would be before a judge or jury. After two hours spent in this way the gentleman took his leave, promising to investigate the argument in detail, and return in a fortnight and give his decision. He returned according to appointment, and immediately acknowledged that the argument was convincing; that he had no doubt whatever of the truth of Christianity, and that the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ was established as fully as the laws of evidence could reasonably require. But he immediately added that he was not yet a Christian, and he felt that he was no more willing to become one even though he had accepted the truth of Christianity. He found the objection was moral as well as intellectual, and he realized he was not willing to accept the sacrifices required by a true Christian life. Years afterward he repeated the same statement, still believing in Christianity, but personally an unbeliever in Christ as His own Savior. This is the high place the apostle gives the doctrine of the resurrection. It would be wise if, instead of endeavoring to meet unbelief with our speculations and reasonings, we would stand more simply and securely on the old apostolic testimony, “God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of the fact” (Acts 2:32).

Section III: A Great Theme

Section III—A Great ThemeAll this is preliminary, however, to the great theme of the chapter, namely, the hope of our resurrection. For Christ’s resurrection is the pledge of ours, and our resurrection is the precious hope that dispels the darkness of the grave, and illuminates the future with all the glory that shines from His exaltation. And while He is the pledge of our resurrection, He is its pattern, too; and as He is so shall we be when He shall appear. In his long and majestic argument for the resurrection he covers a wide field, and it can only be briefly summarized within these limits. The Analogy of Nature

1. He tells us that it is hinted at even in the analogy of nature. The seed that we plant in our garden and that springs out of the grave and develops its life out of death is a parable of the resurrection. The great Faraday, standing before an immense audience and dissolving a jewel of gold in a powerful acid, and then by another acid precipitating it and bringing it back, and then molding it into a more beautiful form and presenting it to the audience, was but giving them a little analogy of the resurrection as set forth in the processes of science. If man can do this much with an inert metal, how much more can God do with the human body formed for His glory and destined to immortality? Not Our Natural Birthright
2. The resurrection is not our natural birthright, but it comes to us through our union with the Lord Jesus Christ, the second Head of humanity. There are two human races passing along the course of time. One is the race of Adam; the other the race of Jesus Christ. One was born from our fallen father; the other has been begotten out of the heart of the Son of God. From one we inherit death; from the other, life. 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. And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we bear the likeness of the man from heaven…. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. (1 Corinthians 15:48-49, 1 Corinthians 15:22) Receiving from Him a new spiritual life and a new physical life in embryo, it becomes the deathless seed of a more glorious life, which will burst from the tomb as the blossoms of the spring burst forth from the ground and unfold amid the imperishable glories of the summerland on high. Which race do you belong to? Which nature have you received? Which life are you developing, the Adam or the Christ? The Figure of Baptism
3. The figure of baptism is introduced in the 29th verse. “Those… who are baptized for the dead,” no doubt, simply means those that were baptized as a symbol of death. Baptism is the especial sign of death and resurrection, and this very ordinance of Christianity has no significance and is but a delusive mockery if the dead rise not. The Resurrection Order
4. The order of the resurrection is very clearly unfolded in 1 Corinthians 11:23-28. “Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him” (1 Corinthians 15:23). There are three stages of the resurrection. The first is personal. It is the resurrection of Jesus Christ Himself, the lone Conqueror of the grave, as He stands at the open tomb, the Firstborn from the dead. The second stage is coming when those that sleep in Jesus will be raised and the living translated into His glorious image. Not before are we to expect our resurrection. The departed dead are waiting the simultaneous hour when they will all alike be lifted from their long sleep in the dust, and will put on their robes of resurrection life and gather with Him in the air. Then there is a third stage at the end when His millennial reign will be over, when He will have accomplished His victorious plan and put all enemies under His feet; then will the wicked dead come forth, death itself will be destroyed and cast into the lake of fire to slay no more the children of our race. The Glory of the Resurrection
5. The glory of the resurrection is very clearly set forth in the natural analogy. He draws a splendid contrast between the bare seed that you put in the soil and the glorious harvest that crowns it on the golden field. As that harvest is much greater than the little seed that died, or as that splendid tree with its luxuriant foliage, its rich bloom and its abundant fruit is immeasurably more than the little dry seed from which it sprang, so shall our resurrection body surpass the earthly form that was laid down in corruption, dishonor and weakness. It shall come forth in all the glory of His resurrection, and share all His mental endowments and His perfect physical powers, and enter into the lordship of creation which was the inheritance of man at the first, and is given back in the Son of man and in the new creation.

Section IV: The Practical Application

Section IV—The Practical Application"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" (1 Corinthians 15:58). Three things will follow a realizing faith and hope of the Lord’s coming. First, we will be steadfast in the faith. We will stand firm in these days of doubt and disbelief, and take heed that we may be able to say at last, “I have kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:7). Next, we shall be immovable from the right. We will walk the narrow path. We will keep our garments spotless. We will watch and pray lest we enter into temptation. We will be firm amid the seductions of the world, the flesh and the devil. We will stand with girded loins, spotless robes and shining lamps, awaiting His coming. Thirdly, we will be busy in His service and occupied in holy activities to prepare the world for His coming. We will be working to finish what He has given us to do, to lead others to the partnership of this blessed hope, and especially to carry forth the invitations to the wedding, send out the gospel to the world, proclaim the witness to all the nations, gather out a people for His name from every country and tribe and tongue, and thus hasten His coming and prepare His way. This will be our joy and crown of rejoicing in the presence of Christ at His coming. Thus we are laying up our treasures yonder, and life is being invested in the glorious possibilities and prospects of the ages to come and the kingdom which shall never pass away. Let us then “stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord,” for “you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain” (1 Corinthians 15:58).