1 Corinthians 15:1-28

1 Corinthians 15:1-28 … The first thing to note about 1 Corinthians 15 is its statement of the Gospel. One might ask, “where in the Bible do you find the Gospel?” The answer is that it’s all through the Scriptures, but if you want the succinct, memorable statement, it’s 1 Corinthians 15:3-4. That’s the Gospel message: (1) Christ died for our sins, (2) according to the Scriptures (that’s speaking of the Old Testament, by the way), (3) He was buried, and (4) He was raised on the third day. That’s the Gospel and it’s a great memory verse.

Now there are lots of other things useful to know, lots of theology that’s helpful, but that brief statement is the bare bones Gospel of Jesus Christ. The text gives us explanation in the rest of the passage: the importance of the bodily resurrection of Christ … it’s not an apparition … it’s His human body resurrected, risen and raised into heaven. And He’s what the Bible calls “firstfruits” … the forebearer of all who will be resurrected when He comes again (in the Second Coming). When a person dies, Christians believe the soul goes immediately to be with the Lord and will remain with Him until He comes again. The bodily resurrection comes then, in the Second Coming, and we’ll read graphically about that later in the New Testament. When He comes again, all evil will be defeated and then there will be no more sickness or dying because He will defeat them all and bring in a new world order. At that time, the Scripture says, we’ll be like Him, body and soul reunited to be with Him forever.