Last week we left Paul painting a picture of life without the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ, and the hopelessness that accompanies such a truth.

1CO 15:17 "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."

Our eternal destiny hangs on the resurrection of Jesus Christ. If He has not been raised from the dead, then we’ve been spinning our wheels claiming to be Christians who know this risen Savior, when in fact, if He has not been raised, we are really a sorry group of people who have been duped. And as Paul says, we are to pitied more than all men.

But the fact remains that Christ has risen bodily from the dead as Paul has made clear in this chapter, as he points to the witnesses who saw the risen Christ, and fellowshipped with Him, ate with Him and sat at His feet during those 40 days as our Lord taught on the kingdom of God.

And this is where we pick up in our text this morning as Paul continues to encourage these believers in Corinth, and us as well.

1CO 15:20 "But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep."

Paul can make such a bold statement because like so many in Jerusalem at the time of Christ’s resurrection who saw the risen Christ, he too saw the risen Lord on the road to Damascus. Jesus has indeed been raised from the dead. Paul’s not making this up, he’s not creating some sort of story to just make these believers feel better. He is stating a fact which can be corroborated with eye witnesses.

But then he makes an interesting statement at the end of verse 20. Christ is the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

This is a powerful truth which speaks to the reliable faithfulness of our God who has every intention of raising our mortal bodies from the grave to give us incorruptible and glorified bodies like our Lord Jesus’.

What Paul is doing here is addressing a Jewish practice which he certainly taught these Corinthian believers when he was with them. This teaching has to do with firstfruits which were commanded by God to be delivered up to Him in worship. This practice is found in the book of Leviticus.

LEV 23:10 "Speak to the Israelites and say to them: 'When you enter the land I am going to give you and you reap its harvest, bring to the priest a sheaf of the first grain you harvest.
11 He is to wave the sheaf before the LORD so it will be accepted on your behalf; the priest is to wave it on the day after the Sabbath."

There were a number of things the Lord was teaching the Israelites through this firstfruits offering.
1) He was teaching them that He was the one who provided such fruit.
2) He was the one who was to be worshipped through the act of bringing such firstfruits to Him.

But the way in which this is a parallel to the resurrection of Jesus Christ in our text is that in offering the firstfruits to the Lord "this action consecrated the entire harvest, expressed their faith in the future harvest, and showed their thanksgiving for it. [Therefore], Christ’s resurrection was a divine pledge that a future harvest of dead bodies [planted in the ground] would occur. In particular, this is a guarantee of the resurrection of the saved." (Robert Gromacki)

Because Jesus Christ is that firstfruit dedicated to the Lord, in that He is the first one to rise bodily from the dead with a new glorified body, we can be guaranteed that further fruit will come, and that fruit is you and me in Christ as we too will be raised from the dead with glorified bodies to live forever with the Lord.

Just as surely as night follows day, the future harvest will follow the firstfruits offered up to the Lord. And Jesus Christ is that firstfruit. And if we are in Christ then His harvest will be gathered up to the glory of God.

And now Paul goes on to explain the need for such firstfruits, such a demonstration of power in the resurrection of our Lord as he contrasts death and life.

1CO 15:21 "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."

Paul takes us back to the original intent of our Creator, and that is to create man with the express purpose of living with God forever. In creating Adam, however, God set about to test him by giving him the choice to love the Lord above all or to seek his own way in disobedience.

We know that Adam was created perfect without a sin nature because everything created by God was deemed to be very good. Man could not be considered good if there was sin already in his life at his creation.

But in creating Adam the Lord was creating the prototype of man together with giving this prototype the responsibility and privilege of representing all future human beings. In other words, the actions of Adam would be passed down to all men.

If Adam passed the test of remaining faithful to the Lord, then all future generations would have been born without a sin nature, and without the possibility of ever sinning, thus living in perfect communion with God and men.

This was the Lord’s intent for mankind. However, if Adam failed the test then all future human beings would be born with that sin nature and the consequences of sin which would be death. In theological terms Adam was our federal head or representative.

What he did, either good or bad, we would inherit. It was in his lap and what he did with it would determine the future of all mankind. Well, you don’t need to be a rocket scientist to figure out that we don’t live in a perfect world devoid of sin and in perfect communion with God.

Adam failed the test and in so doing we inherit that failure. Death has entered the world together with separation from God forever. This is the fruit of Adam, and this is what Paul means when he says, "death came through a man..."

As far as humanity is concerned death did not come through Satan. Satan is not our representative. Satan is not a man. Adam could have told Satan to go and take a hike because as for me and my house we will serve the Lord. Satan was simply the agent through which man would make a deadly choice.

In fact, it appears that Satan simply speeds the process up. Man was given the choice to obey or disobey whether Satan was involved or not. It was certainly possible that man could have chosen to eat of the forbidden fruit whether Satan tempted them or not. Death came through a man. Man made the choice in a perfect state in a perfect world. It was always man’s choice to make.

And because man made a choice to die, a man would have to make the choice to live and obey perfectly and then choose to make the choice to die in mankind’s place so as to be restored perfectly to that original communion God desired for man.

Our first representative failed and through him came death. But God promised to send another representative and through Him would come life. But notice that Paul first says that through this representative would come the resurrection of the dead.

In other words, it is assumed that all men would eventually be dead and buried. And since men were not created to be disembodied spirits, they must be rejoined back to their bodies. Now, if Christ had not come into this world as the second Adam, or our second representative, we would all be resurrected unto eternal damnation.

The point Paul has been making is that because Christ, our perfect representative in the flesh, came to this earth to take our penalty for sin, and because He rose bodily from the dead as He pleased the Father with His sacrifice, we now have the choice to rise bodily in Christ to eternal life with our Lord.

All men, both believers and unbelievers, will rise from the dead. The question simply is, to what will you rise? Life or eternal separation from your Creator?

Because Christ is the firstfruits there is that guarantee that a future harvest of believers will also rise bodily like our Lord unto everlasting communion with our God and Creator and Savior.

1CO 15:22 "For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.
23 But each in his own turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him."

By the way verse 22 is not teaching universalism as though simply because you’re a human being you will be saved. The contrast is between death and life and the representatives who accomplished each.

Because Adam was our representative all men since him are born with a sin nature, and all men will be judged because of their own sin and will consequently die, both physically and spiritually in that they will be separated from God forever.

But when Paul says that in Christ all will be made alive, he simply means that there is life only in Christ and you must be in Him by faith to have this life He offers. All who take it by faith will receive it.

But then Paul goes on to give an explanation of how this new life will manifest itself in the resurrection. There is an order here as it relates to a resurrection life.

Each will rise in his own turn. No cutting in line here. "Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him." (1CO 15:23)

It is necessary for the righteous Christ to rise first. All of those who have accepted His righteousness by faith will rise second when He comes. In fact, Paul breaks it down even further when writing to the Thessalonians. Technically, those who have died in the Lord before and after Christ, and who are in the graves, will rise first at His coming and then those who are alive will then rise.

1TH 4:16 "For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.
17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever."

And so, the order goes like this. Christ rises bodily from the dead. He is the firstfruits. The rest of the harvest will rise bodily when He comes for the church at the rapture. And though that will happen in the twinkling of an eye, those whose bodies are in the grave when He comes will actually rise first and then we who are still alive at the rapture.

The point is, it’s a done deal. We can take it to the bank that we will rise from the dead in Christ because He has gone before us.

Well, as Paul continues this chronology he lays out for us what comes after the resurrection of believers at the rapture.

1CO 15:24 "Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power.
25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.
26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death."

Then will come the end, Paul says. By this he means a couple of things. "The words the end suggest not only last in sequence but also the conclusion of Christ’s redemptive work for His people." (Simon J. Kistemaker)

There is an end to all of this. And the end has to do with the saints of God living in glory as well as the Lord dealing once and for all with those who rejected Him.

The plan of salvation was always meant to lead up to the end of our present world as we know it. But the end will not come until a number of things happen.

He must reign until He has put all his enemies under His feet. We know that the millennial reign of Jesus Christ on this earth is part of the plan of our God. Because man chose to rebel against God in the garden of Eden the Lord relinquished a literal reign on earth and allowed man to go his own way.

When the Lord brought Israel up out of Egypt He made it clear that His desire was to be that King over His people. Of course, the Israelites lived under the Kingship of God for a time. We know this as a theocracy where God ruled among the people as He directed their lives from His heavenly throne.

But it wouldn’t be long until Israel cried out for a King like the rest of the nations had; someone they could see and deal with on a level which allowed them to get their direction from an earthly ruler in Jerusalem.

But this was not God’s original design. His design was to be King and ruler and provider and protector in the very midst of man forever. This is partially fulfilled in this world during the millennial reign of Christ in Jerusalem.

He will set up His kingdom in this world after the tribulation and He will rule with a rod of iron for a thousand years. There will be prosperity and peace and the nations will travel to Jerusalem to see our King of kings and Lord of lords in person, to worship Him in the holy mountain, the city of the great King.

But because even this world during that earthly reign of Christ will be a world where sin still exists, this cannot be the place where Christ will rule and reign forever. This is why this reign of Jesus Christ is limited to a thousand years.

At the end of this thousand year reign Satan will be loosed for a short time to allow him to deceive the nations once again and to gather rebellious people to try and overthrow our King Jesus in Jerusalem. Big mistake.

REV 20:7 "When the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison
8 and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth -Gog and Magog - to gather them for battle. In number they are like the sand on the seashore.
9 They marched across the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of God's people, the city he loves. But fire came down from heaven and devoured them.
10 And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever."

When Paul says, that the risen Christ will reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet, this is what he has in mind, when our Lord finally deals with Satan once and for all to where there will be no more power or authority or dominion which Satan can wield in this earth. The Lord is going to put an end to it.

Once He has dealt with Satan and His followers He will then take this kingdom of believers along with His rule and authority and He will hand it over to the Father. We know that it was the Father who had put it into His hands. David had spoken of this in the psalms.

PSA 110:1 "The LORD says to my Lord: "Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet."
2 The LORD will extend your mighty scepter from Zion; you will rule in the midst of your enemies."

David’s Lord was the Son of God. And he essentially says that the Lord, that is the Father, says to my Lord, that is the Son, "Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet. The LORD will extend your mighty scepter from Zion; you will rule in the midst of your enemies."

We see where Jesus accepts this mantle from the Father of all rule and authority when He says, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me." (MAT 28:18)

But it was given that He might use it to bring glory to the Father. It was given that He might bring an increase to the Father’s kingdom which He handed over to the Son; not unlike the parable in which the land owner entrusted money to his servants expecting a return on his investments.

The Father has invested the Son with you and me. And the Son has done a most excellent job of doing the Father’s will as He has increased the kingdom by sacrificing Himself as He has purchased us and called us to Himself promising that He will lose none.

At the end the Son will turn everything over to the Father as the last part of the redemptive plan of God comes to fruition. And the last enemy to be overcome in this plan is death itself. And now we’ve come full circle. It was death which came into this world as a result of man’s sin, and it is now death which will be taken out of the way forever.

There will be no more death, no more suffering, no more crying, no more temptation and no more desire to rebel against our King and Lord and Savior. Everything will be perfect.

The One who rose bodily from the dead, who completed the Father’s work by dying on the cross for us, and who now gloriously sits at the right hand of the Father, will come to this earth once again to finish the work of His reign. And at the end of that reign He will deliver it up with gladness to the One who sent Him.

1CO 15:27 "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."

As our Lord Jesus told His disciples, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. And the implication is that it was given to Him by the Father. This is what Paul means here when he says that God Himself put everything under Christ.

But in saying that this does not include God Himself, or as some of your translations put it in regards to this subjection, that He is excepted from this subjection, Paul is saying that the Father is over the Son in regards to authority.

This in no way teaches that the Father is greater than the Son in His divinity, since the Father and the Son and the Spirit are all the same God, revealed in three distinct persons. To say that the Father is greater than the Son is to say that God is greater than God.

But it is clear that regarding the redemptive work of God it was the Son who subjected Himself to become a man and die for our sin. It was the Son who humbled Himself at the Father’s will to come into this world. It was always the Father’s good pleasure which Jesus desired to accomplish. And in that sense He is subject to the Father, the Father is not subject to Him.

All of this has to do with the work of our salvation. And since Jesus chose to humble Himself and take on flesh forever He will be identified as not only the Son of God, but also the Son of man. The Father in no way can be identified as the God/man. This distinction goes exclusively to the Son.

And yet, what is amazing in all this is that knowing that the Son would be in subjection to the Father in this regard He still chose to take on flesh, die for our sin, though being entirely sinless, and then rise from the dead assuming a glorified body He would have forever. Oh, how much He loves us and desires to be identified with us as our only Lord and Savior, our second Adam.

After this the Son delivers up the kingdom to the Father, although we know that He will also obviously share in this kingdom.

ISA 9:7 "Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this."

DAN 7:14 "He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed."

LUK 1:32 "He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David,
33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end."

Here now we come to the very end of the plan of God. The new heavens and the new earth. In this new heaven and new earth will our Lord Jesus continue to be our God and Savior whom we worship and adore.

REV 3:12 "Him who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will he leave it. I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on him my new name."

REV 21:2 "I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.
3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.
4 He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away."
5 He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!" Then he said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true."

REV 21:21 "The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl. The great street of the city was of pure gold, like transparent glass.
22 I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.
23 The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp.
24 The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it.
25 On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there.
26 The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it."

This is what is in store for you and me in Christ as we will, in our glorified bodies, dwell with the Lord forever. None of this would be possible if Christ were still in the tomb. But He is alive and will bring us with Himself into the presence of the Father and He will be our God and we will be His people.

This is our hope. This is our joy and this is our sure future. May we glory in it and look forward to it as we find ourselves serving the Lord here and now until He comes back.

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