I Corinthians Chp. 15
Chp. 15
Vs. 1-19
Vs. 1 -10 Paul is saying Let me remind you of the Good News that I preached to you. You were happy to hear it before, and you are happy to hear it now. Your faith has been built up because of this wonderful message.
It is the good news that saves you if you believe it. If you believe something else—–it will not save you.
I gave to you what I knew and had learned and what was most important——-that Christ died for our sins, just like the Old Testament scriptures said would happen.
Christ was buried and he was raised up from the dead on the 3rd day just like the Old Testament scriptures said would happen.
Christ was seen by Peter and then by the other disciples. After that, he was seen by more than 500 of his followers at one time. Most of these who saw him are still alive.
(In other words, these people are still alive and can testify and say that they know that Jesus died and came alive again because they saw him alive after his death.)
Then Christ was seen by James and the other disciples, too.
Last of all, I (Paul) also saw him. It was long after the others saw him. (Paul is talking about the time that he was traveling on a road to the city of Damascus and he was knocked to the ground and he heard Jesus’ voice speak to him.) Acts chp. 9
I am the least important of all the disciples, because at first, I did not believe in Jesus and I hurt people who believed in Jesus.
(Before Paul believed, he would arrest believers and take them to jail. Some of the believers were beaten and some died.)
Paul says All that I am now it is because I have believed in Jesus and God has given me favor and it has made me to be a worker for the believers.
Paul says He has worked harder than all of the other disciples to bring people to believe in Jesus, because Paul had traveled many places preaching the gospel.
Paul says It is not something I did in my own strength. But God was working through me to do all these things.
It has been God’s grace that has made me able to do these things.
It does not matter if it was I who preached to you or if they are the ones who preached to you it is only important that you believe what was preached.
Vs 12
Paul says to them we preached to you that Christ came alive from the dead—–so why are you saying there is no resurrection? (Resurrection means to come alive again after being dead.)
If there is no resurrection then why are we preaching to you about salvation?
If there is no resurrection then Christ did not come alive from the dead.
If Christ did not come alive from the dead, then trusting in God for eternal life is not true.
If Christ has not come alive from the dead then all of us disciples are telling a lie.
We have preached that Christ did come alive from the dead, if Christ did not come alive from the grave what is there to believe in about having eternal life?
Why preach at all?
If Christ did not come alive after being dead then we are still with our sins.
Our sins are not forgiven and death still hangs over us. “The soul that sins it shall die.” Ezekiel 18:20
If Christ died, but did not raise up again, there is nothing to have faith in.
(If Jesus took on himself our sin and died and stayed dead then what hope would we have?
Our sin will make us die forever. We would stay in the grave forever.
It is because Jesus took our sins and died for us to pay our death punishment for us and he came alive againshowing he won over death.
He came alive to live forever in heaven. This is why we can have hope if we believe that Jesus took our sins for us we ask for forgiveness and repent turn away from our sin, we have hope that we too will come alive again after death to live forever with Jesus in heaven.
The Bible teaches that our spirits go to God the minute we die, later our bodies will rise up from the grave and the bodies will be changed to an eternal body, just like Jesus’ body was changed.)
Vs. 18-19 If we believe that all those people who believed in Christ and trusted in him and have died will stay dead forever then we have no hope for life eternal. So why believe anything at all?