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. 1Corinthians15:12-14
There were some confused and misguided people in Corinth who were saying that there was no resurrection of the body. This false teaching came from Greek philosophy which saw the body as prison on the soul. This separation of physical and spiritual implied that death was the moment that the soul or spirit could float free from the body.
The Christian Gospel's assertion of a bodily resurrection was unpopular with Greek Philosophers (See Acts 17:22-32) and so there were many who argued that there was no resurrection from the dead.
The NIV Study Bible shows how Paul unpacks the implications of this argument - If there is no resurrection of the dead then:
(1) "not even Christ has been raised." (v. 13);
(2) "our preaching is useless" (v. 14);
(3) "so is your faith" (v. 14);
(4) we are "false witnesses" that God raised Christ (v. 15);
(5) "your faith is futile" (v. 17);
(6) "you are still in your sins" (v. 17)
(7) "those also who have have died in Christ are lost" (v. 18); and
(8) "we are to be pitied" (because we endure such hardship for nothing)
The ideas of eternal life, bodily resurrection and the Resurrection of Christ are linked. If bodily resurrection is not going to happen then why did God raise Jesus bodily? And why did He take His body with Him in the ascension?
The resurrection of Jesus kicks-off the wonderful reality of eternal life where we are not just disembodied spirits merging with the "cosmic consciousness" but that we will continue to be body, soul and spirit joined together with all the other saints worshipping God.
This is our great hope and it starts with an empty tomb!
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Theo Groeneveld theo@emmanuel.org.za
You can see past EmmDevs at http://emmdev.blogspot.com/
