Risen From the Dead
“But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. For since by man came death, by Man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.” I Corinthians 15:20-22
There were some folks in the Corinthian church who were claiming that there was no resurrection of the dead. In his letter to the church, Paul went to some length to prove that not only Christ arose from the dead, but so will all who believe in Him when He returns to earth. In no uncertain terms, Paul presents the resurrection as a fact. Jesus was the first One to arise from the dead never to die again. During His time on earth, before His crucifixion, Jesus brought a few people back to life: the daughter of Jairus who was one of the Jewish rulers (Mark 5:22,35-43), the widow’s son (Luke 7:11-15), and the most familiar, Lazarus, brother of Martha and Mary, who had been deceased for four days (John 11:39-44). However, these were not the firstfruits because they would die again.
In the 12th chapter of I Corinthians, Paul goes into detail about how the body of Christ is made up of individual believers. Thus it would stand to reason that if Christ arose after His death, all who die in Him will also be raised. He was the first, and in the future, when He returns, there will be multitudes who will be resurrected and join Him in His victory over death. This is known as the “first resurrection” of the saints. Revelation 20:6 tells us that “Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God, and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years”. As we read further in Revelation, we find that the second death is reserved for all those who are not born again. They, too, will be resurrected to face judgment according to their works. This is known as the great White Throne judgment. Their sentence of eternity in hell was determined when they rejected Christ and the gospel, and their severity of punishment will be based on their works.
It was the sin of the first human whom God created, Adam, that ushered in the inherent sin nature of every human born since Adam. He was given free will, but used his free will to disobey God. Adam’s sin brought about death for every creature on earth. God could not permit Adam and Eve to eat from the tree of life for, in so doing, they would never die (Genesis 3:22), in which case, sin could reign immortal. However, because of God’s great love for His creation, He made a way whereby sin could be forgiven, and men and women could be reconciled back to God. Adam’s sin and all the sins of future generations from Adam broke the relationship between God and His creation. Because God is a just God, He must punish sin, but because He is a loving and merciful God, He had already designed the remedy for man’s disobedience. Adam brought death, but Christ brought life through His sacrifice to pay the penalty for sin as set forth by God, and Christ’s resurrection was the assurance of God’s acceptance of Christ’s sacrifice to satisfy God’s justice. The resurrection is proof of salvation. Without the resurrection, our faith is empty, and we would still be living in sin with no hope (I Corinthians 15:17).
Because Adam knew that his actions were wrong but disobeyed God nevertheless, God took away man’s ability to live immortally upon the earth and instead allowed death to end a man’s earthly life. Scripture tells us that “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:28). Death ends a man’s ability to sin, but he is still accountable for the sins which he committed in life unless he has believed on Christ, repented of his sins, and is covered by the blood of Christ. Man dies, but sin does not die. It perpetuates from generation to generation because of Adam’s sin. But this is not how God intended for His creation to live. God is not the author of sin. Thus, in order for man to be restored to the innocence which Adam and Eve possessed prior to their disobedience, God sent His only Son, Jesus Christ, to pay the penalty for man’s sin through His sacrifice on the cross. By this unselfish and merciful act, Christ conquered death and gave man the way whereby he could rise to new life not only on the earth but in all of eternity. Because we are descendants of Adam and have inherited a sin nature, without Christ, we all will die in our sins and suffer eternal punishment. But by faith in Christ because of God’s grace, we can live again eternally with Christ. In Adam we will surely die, but in Christ we will live.