1Corinthians 15:1-34 -- "Come back to your senses as you ought"
1 Now, brothers and sisters, 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.
This is a good time to be reminded of the gospel by which we are saved. Receive that word by faith and hold firmly to it.
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 Cephas, and then to the Twelve.6 After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters 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.
Jesus was the Christ, the anointed of God, the Messiah. He was the incarnated word. He died for our sins, that is He paid the price so that we could be redeemed from sin. When you sin you become enslaved to sin, you have a debt that you can’t repay. By repaying that debt for us sin could no longer enslave us. He was also buried, that is the fulfillment of the sabbath rest. He was raised from the dead and brought all of us who believe into the new creation. We have a faithful witness of these events from the apostles, the disciples, and hundreds of believers over the ages.
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 is I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed.
The New Testament was laid out by the apostle Paul, some have compared his ministry to the ministry of the resurrected Christ (Jesus earthly ministry is compared to David, and His heavenly ministry compared to Solomon). But Paul has nothing to boast of, if it were not for Jesus he would have been condemned to hell with Judas. So Paul’s ministry began from the very lowest point and yet he ultimately got to the highest point, similar to Jesus rising from the grave and ascending to the heavens.
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?
The internet has become flooded with saints all over the world having dreams of the rapture and being told to tell the believers that Jesus is coming. Yet, there are many other believers who insist they have heard all of that before, yada, yada, yada. This is nothing new. Thomas refused to believe Jesus had risen till he touched the wounds and saw for himself. That may sound sensible but it is rebuked by the Lord as faithless.
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.
Think about that, if his preaching is useless why has it had such a big impact on the entire world? The power of that message for the last 2,000 years is a strong testimony that Jesus rose from the dead. The resurrection is the power of the message.
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.
Another great point, if Jesus didn’t rise from the dead the entire New Testament is based on the testimony of liars. How could these fishermen and an odd assortment of people fabricated such an elaborate and effective lie?
16 For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either.
Here we come to the crux of the matter, if the rapture is not real, if the dead are not going to rise at the last trump, then Jesus also didn’t rise from the dead. You can’t believe that Jesus resurrected from the dead and also teach that the rapture is not real.
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 of all people most to be pitied.
What fool would do this? Who would make up a lie so that they could be persecuted, imprisoned, stoned, and martyred?
20 But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
We have seven great feasts in the Jewish year. Jesus was crucified on Passover, buried on the feast of unleavened bread, rose from the dead on the feast of first fruits, and the church was born on the feast of Pentecost. What is the point of starting the year with a “feast of firstfruits” that refers to Christ’s resurrection if the feast at the end of the year when you bring in the harvest does not really mean we are raptured?
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.
This is a very deep saying. At the time of Adam’s fall there was a prophecy that the seed of the woman would come and this seed would crush the serpent's head and the serpent would bruise His heel. If you look at the heavenly signs in September of 2017 we saw this sign, and the only other time it has appeared was in 3915 BC. So the prophecy at the time of Adam was fulfilled with the appearance of the sign in heaven of a woman with a crown of 12 stars, clothed in the sun, that brings forth a man child.
23 But each in turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him.
There are three groups, Jesus Christ has already risen, the firstfruits refer to those who are raptured, and those who belong to Him refer to the redeemed who are not raptured and instead have to endure the tribulation.
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.
This is the point of this age, to cast out the prince of darkness and for every knee to bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord.
25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death.
We know that He destroyed the power of death when He rose from the dead. So surely the best testimony of that will be the rapture of the saints with the dead rising first and then those that are alive. We can't be raptured until the other enemies have been put under out feet.
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.
This is the gospel message, God is all in all, Jesus is Lord. Hold firmly to this word otherwise you have believed in vain.
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 face death every day—yes, just as surely as I boast about you in Christ Jesus our Lord. 32 If I fought wild beasts in Ephesus with no more than human hopes, what have I gained? If the dead are not raised, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.”
It is a very big thing to deny this truth. This is why the atheists contend so much over this point. Everything hinges on the resurrection of the dead, without that sin and redemption are meaningless. Do whatever you can get away with because there is no being held accountable at a final judgement.
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.
It is truly shameful what some people who have the name of Christian are saying.