Words in italic type have been added for clarity. They are not found in the original Hebrew or Aramaic.

What should I learn from this chapter?

• About the title:
  Without Truth, there is no reality.
• Only the “and” holds Truth and Reality together. The “and” is spelled with two Hebrew letters; in Greek, they are the “Alpha and Omega”.

• Man can learn about God from the worlds He made by studying creation, including Physics.

Romans 1:20 God is known by the worlds which He made. “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that ARE made (seen), even His eternal power and Godhead.“

Hebrews 1:2 has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds.

• See: TOPIC: Reality, Creation, Science for a deep study in Physics and Logistics.

I Corinthians 15

The Risen Christ, Faith’s Reality

• What is reality?
  
  • Reality is rarely what it seems to be. Reality is what God says it is.
    
  • Lies have to be invented, but Truth just is – always has been – always will be – without mar or blemish, polished and perfect.
    
  • Reality is nothing man creates. It eliminates fake news, opinions, rumors, revisionist history, culture, speculation, religions and judgments.
    
    There is only one truth … forever.
    
  • No one can find a truth, a way, or life without Jesus. If they try – they will discover a lie, lost in a desert of desolation and death.
    
  • Truth is the Word of God and Jesus fulfills the Word of God.
    
    • John 1:1 [The Eternal Word] In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
      
    • Pilate asked Jesus “What is Truth?”
      
      • John 18:37-38 Pilate therefore said to Him, “Are You a king then?” Jesus answered, “You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.”
        
        Pilate said to Him, “What is truth?” And when he had said this, he went out again to the Jews, and said to them, “I find no fault in Him at all.”
        
    • John 14:6 Jesus said …, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
      
    • The Truth is one singular truth. The Way is one singular Way. The Life is the one singular resource for Life.

• Ultimately…because there is so much that is hard to accept or understand; we can accept it by faith on the authority of the one who has already proved Himself to us.

• Paul (the writer of I and II Corinthians) spells out the Gospel (Good News) and its Truth: Read On…

I Corinthians 15:¹ Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand,

I Corinthians 15:² by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.

I Corinthians 15:³ For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,

I Corinthians 15:⁴ and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures,

I Corinthians 15:⁵ and that He was seen by Cephas (Peter, the disciple), then by the twelve.

I Corinthians 15:⁶ After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep (died).

I Corinthians 15:⁷ After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles.

I Corinthians 15:⁸ Then last of all He was seen by me (Paul) also, as by one born out of due time.

I Corinthians 15:⁹ For I am the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.

• The Old Covenant consisted of the Jews only with Gentile exceptions. Now, because the Jews have been blinded in part, the New Covenant is Gentiles only with Jewish exceptions.
• Paul has been given the call to preach to the Gentiles.
  
  • Romans 11:25 For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.

I Corinthians 15:¹⁰ But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.

I Corinthians 15:¹¹ Therefore, whether it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.

The Risen Christ, Our Hope

I Corinthians 15:¹² Now if Christ is preached that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?

• The Sadducees did not believe in a resurrection.

I Corinthians 15:¹³ But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen.

I Corinthians 15:¹⁴ And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty.

I Corinthians 15:¹⁵ Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ, whom He did not raise up—if in fact the dead do not rise.

I Corinthians 15:¹⁶ For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen.

I Corinthians 15:¹⁷ And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins!

I Corinthians 15:¹⁸ Then also those who have fallen asleep (died) in Christ have perished.

I Corinthians 15:¹⁹ If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.

• John 6:^66-69 From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more. Then Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you also want to go away?”
  But Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

The Last Enemy Destroyed

I Corinthians 15:²⁰ But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep (died).

I Corinthians 15:²¹ For since by man (Adam) came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead.

• The word for “man” in Hebrew is “Adam”.
• Jesus, who created man, became man, creating Himself.

I Corinthians 15:²² For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive.

• In studying the “Types” the two comparative words “AS” and “SO” are forcibly called to our attention. The word “AS” is used for the “Type,” and the word “SO” for the Antitype. The first is historic; the second is prophetic.
  
• AS The historic Adam dies, SO the prophetic Christ lives.

I Corinthians 15:²³ But each one in his own order: Christ the Firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ’s at His coming.

I Corinthians 15:²⁴ Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power. ²⁵ For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet.

I Corinthians 15:²⁶ The last enemy that will be destroyed is death.

I Corinthians 15:²⁷ For “He (the Father) has put all things under His (Jesus’) feet.” But when He says “all things are put under Him,” it is evident that He (the Father) who put all things under Him (Jesus) is excepted (exempt).

I Corinthians 15:²⁸ Now when all things are made subject to Him, then the Son Himself will also be subject to Him who put all things under Him, that God may be all in all.

Effects of Denying the Resurrection

I Corinthians 15:²⁹ Otherwise, what will they do who are baptized for the dead, if the dead do not rise at all? Why then are they baptized for the dead?

I Corinthians 15:³⁰ And why do we stand in jeopardy (danger) every hour?

I Corinthians 15:³¹ I affirm, by the boasting in you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.

I Corinthians 15:³² If, in the manner of men, I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantage is it to me? If the dead do not rise, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!”

I Corinthians 15:³³ Do not be deceived: “Evil company corrupts good habits.”

• Spend time with bad company as long as you are affecting them and they are not infecting you.

I Corinthians 15:³⁴ Awake to righteousness, and do not sin; for some do not have the knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame.

• As fallen beings, being dead in our sins means being asleep to righteousness.

A Glorious Body

I Corinthians 15:³⁵ But someone will say, “How are the dead raised up? And with what body do they come?”

• If Jesus is the “first fruit” of those who are risen from the dead, then it makes sense the resurrected will have the same “glorified” bodies, even as Jesus did after He rose from the dead. He was able to walk through walls, and yet He ate fish with His disciples.

I Corinthians 15:³⁶ Foolish one, what you sow is not made alive unless it dies.

• Another example of something physical explaining the spiritual.

• When a seed dies, it loses its “sheath”, or external covering. That which comes out of the ground is something regenerated to something new. Likewise, men will lose their external “tents” while retaining their “being”.

• The resurrection is compared to a seed; many resurrections are called a harvest. There are two harvests: The first harvest is the harvest of the fruit, and the second harvest is the harvest of the weeds. The first harvest concerns those who have bore the fruit of righteousness. The second harvest is for those who have bore the fruit of damnation.

• The first harvest begins with the first fruit (that first head of wheat that has blossomed in the field).
  Jesus is the first fruit. Then other stalks are added as they blossom, and these are a sheaf. (The wave offering when the tombs of certain saints were opened after Jesus rose from the dead) Then comes the main harvest when almost all the wheat is gathered and bundled (The second return of Jesus). The final part of the harvest is the gleanings (Of the tribulation saints).

I Corinthians 15:³⁷ And what you sow, you do not sow that body that shall be, but mere grain—perhaps wheat or some other grain.

I Corinthians 15:³⁸ But God gives it a body as He pleases, and to each seed its own body.

I Corinthians 15:³⁹ All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of animals, another of fish, and another of birds.

I Corinthians 15:⁴⁰ There are also celestial (heavenly) bodies and terrestrial (earthly) bodies; but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another.

I Corinthians 15:⁴¹ There is one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for one star differs from another star in glory.

I Corinthians 15:⁴² So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption.

I Corinthians 15:⁴³ It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power.

I Corinthians 15:⁴⁴ It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.

I Corinthians 15:⁴⁵ And so it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.

• Adam was the first man. Jesus is called the last Adam.
• Jesus is called the Son of God. Adam also is called the son of God in the genealogies of Jesus.

                                Luke 3:38 …the son of Adam, the son of God.

ADAM: 1st Man		JESUS: 2nd Man
Of the earth (matter)		Lord from heaven (spiritual)
Made of clay (matter)		Spiritual (eternal light)
Corruption (put a man in the grave and the body will rot)		Non-corruptible (Jesus raised Himself from the grave) (As the creator, as “God”, He created Himself)
Sinful (God calls it “unclean”)		Sinless (Without spot or blemish. He is “clean”)
Lawless (self-willed)		Lord of the Law (pleased to do the will of His Father)
Living Being (Physical)		Life Giving Spirit (Spiritual)
Temporary (begins and ends)		Eternal (Lives in the present eternally) (The Past, Present, and Future are all “one”, all existing simultaneously)

I Corinthians 15:⁴⁶ However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural (is first), and afterward the spiritual.

I Corinthians 15:⁴⁷ The first man (Adam) was of the earth, made of dust (clay); the second Man (Jesus) is the Lord from heaven.

• Being made of dust (ie clay) is metaphoric for men as pottery. However; At creation there was Time, Space, and Matter. The dust/clay is the term that could be used for “Matter”.

I Corinthians 15:⁴⁸ As was the (earthly) man of dust, so also are those who are made of dust; and as is the heavenly Man, so also are those who are heavenly.

I Corinthians 15:⁴⁹ And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear (let us also bear) the image of the heavenly Man.

• Jesus is the example of having this glorified body.

Our Final Victory

I Corinthians 15:⁵⁰ Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption.

I Corinthians 15:⁵¹ Behold, I tell you a mystery (a hidden truth): We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed—

• What is truth? What is a hidden truth?
  
  • Truth cannot be defined by men because men only possess five senses. Just like light, man can only “see” a small part of the light spectrum. The rest is invisible.
    
  • In the spiritual realm men are totally blind. Only by God’s grace does He reveal that which He wants men to “see”.
    
  • Man is blind to God’s dimensions, reasoning, and plans. Do not assume since it cannot be understood that it isn’t true.

I Corinthians 15:⁵² in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible (as though they had never rotted), and we shall be changed.

► How long is “the twinkling of an eye”?  How long is “now”? It is instantaneous. A quantum leap.

► What is the “last trumpet”?

• The last trumpet refers to the sounding of the trumpet 100 times leading up to Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish Feasts of Trumpets). The last 10 are sounded on the day of Rosh Hashanah, and Paul says that when the last trumpet is sounded the dead in Christ will be raised incorruptible and the living in Christ will meet the Lord IN THE AIR. At Christ’s return, his foot will step on the Mount of Olives and the mountain will be split in half.
• Is this a metaphor or exact? Only the future can confirm this either way.

► The last trumpet is the Rapture and the Main Resurrection.

• The Resurrections of believers are all called “the first resurrection”.
  
  • Jesus was the first to be raised from the dead never to die again on firstfruits.
  • Then certain tombs of the saints were opened also on firstfruits.
  • In the future: Believers could be raised on Rosh Hashanah represented by the Feast of Trumpets and the “last trump” as the “main harvest”.
  • Finally, the gleanings of the resurrections of tribulation saints is represented by The Day of Atonement at the end of the tribulation (Daniel’s 70th week).

I Corinthians 15:⁵³ For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.

I Corinthians 15:⁵⁴ So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”

I Corinthians 15:⁵⁵ “O Death, where is your sting?
O Hades, where is your victory?”

I Corinthians 15:⁵⁶ The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law.

• See Topic: Law and Grace

I Corinthians 15:⁵⁷ But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

I Corinthians 15:⁵⁸ Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

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{1 of 5} I Corinthians 15 – “Truth and Reality” [Physics]
{2 of 5} I Corinthians 15 – “Don’t Go Away” [The Gospel]
{3 of 5} I Corinthians 15 – “A Blink and a Hyperlink” [The Harvest]
{4 of 5} I Corinthians 15 – “Turning the Tables” [The 1st and the 2nd]
{5 of 5} I Corinthians 15 – “More to See” [v4-8]

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