1 Corinthians 15:12-39

12 The resurrection is the very fundamental of fundamentals. The death of Christ is essential to the evangel, yet it is not enough. A dead Christ cannot save. The resurrection is not only essential, but it involves His death, for only one who is dead can be roused from the dead.

Without His resurrection we are still in our sins.

18 The state of the dead, apart from resurrection, is not one of ecstatic bliss, but of destruction.

20 Christ was not the first one to be roused from the dead. The prophets, and the Lord Himself, recalled some to life before He Himself suffered death. But He is the first One to be made alive beyond the power of death. All the others were roused to die again. He is the First fruit of those who are vivified, and die no more.

21 Death's entrance and exit are both through a man. Adam and Christ are the channels, respectively, through which death and resurrection reach all mankind.

22 The words "even as'' mark a close parallel. The universality of death, through Adam, is beyond question. "Thus also" we are told, "in Christ, shall all be vivified." This will not occur simultaneously but in three distinct classes at widely separated intervals of time. Christ, the First fruit, is already alive at God's right hand. We who are Christ's will be made alive at His presence. This includes His coming to the air for the believers of this economy (1Th_4:16; 1Co_15:52; Php_3:21) and His coming to Israel before the thousand years. The rest, who are not included in "those who are Christ's," must wait until the consummation, when death, the last enemy, is abolished. This will not occur until the eons have run their course and Christ hands over the kingdom to the Father. At the great white throne judgment no one is vivified or made alive. Hence it is passed over. Authority and power are still in exercise in the new earth. The throne of the Lamb is there. The consummation must be later, for sovereignty is abolished before death, the last enemy. The consummation is at the close of the eonian times, at the close of the last eon which is presented to our view in the final vision of the Unveiling.

25 The reign of Christ is so beneficent, it brings mankind to such a state of perfection, that all further need of the restraints of government vanishes. Rule implies insubordination, and is unnecessary where there is perfect subjection. Rule is a temporary expedient to cope with evil. When evil is banished rule also retires. The effects of evil for mankind are concentrated in death. When the universe has been purged of all other evil, then death itself becomes inoperative and yields up its victims. Not till then is it true that all are made alive in Christ.

27 The universality of Christ's subjection of all under His feet is evident from the one exception-God Himself.

28 God is All in Christ now. He will be All in His saints when we are made alive. He will be All in all when death is abolished, at the consummation. What a marvelous outcome of God's purpose! What a Christ we have, Who can accomplish such a complete reconciliation! The Corinthians denied the resurrection of any: Paul insists on the vivification of all.

29 The argument here is founded on the sixth chapter of Romans. Baptism is a symbol of death. Its benefits are confined to those who are united to Christ in His death. But even then it is absolutely valueless except as it also figures the resurrection. Apart from the resurrection of the dead, baptism, instead of introducing to a resurrection experience, will lead to carelessness and indifference.

35 The human body is not composed of definite, unvarying substance, but is changing its components daily, so that, in a few years, it has completely renewed its elements. Yet it remains the same body. So it is in resurrection. We do not look for the identical elements to be roused in the resurrection, even though we will identify the body as our own.

37 The miracle of resurrection is wrought each spring in the fields of the farmer. Death sustains our life now and it will be the entrance to eonian life, if we are not caught up to meet

Him ere it comes.