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

About the Title

• The Second Swallows up the First
• Which means “God turns the table on Satan”

I Corinthians 15

The Risen Christ, Faith’s Reality

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.

• Paul saw Jesus after Jesus had ascended to heaven; Which is why he says he was born out of due time. Acts 9:4-8

• Acts 9:4 Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul (Paul), Saul (Paul), why are you persecuting Me?”
  
• Acts 9:8 Then Saul (Paul) arose from the ground, and when his eyes were opened he saw no one. But they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus.

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.

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?

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.

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, SO the prophetic Christ.

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

• His “coming” consists of two events: The rapture/resurrections for the Main Harvest before the tribulations and the rapture/resurrections for the Gleanings after the tribulation.

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.

• The end: After all other prophetic events . After the millennium, after the 2nd Battle of Gog and Magog, after the new heavens and new earth, after the great white throne judgment. The last prophetic event.

I Corinthians 15:²⁵ 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.

• There is coming a time when there is no more death.

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

I Corinthians 15:²⁸ Now when all things are made subject to Him (Jesus), then the Son (Jesus) Himself will also be subject to Him (The Father) who put all things under Him (Jesus), 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.”

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.

A Glorious Body

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

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

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.

• The last Adam (Jesus: the Son of Man) swallows up (is greater than) the first Adam.
• (God turned the tables on Satan)
• 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.

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

• There are many occasions in scriptures when the second son supersedes the first, (whether in blessings or birthrights) possibly as a pattern based on Jesus, the spiritual, superseding the natural, Adam. Such examples include Esau and Jacob , and the sons of Joseph, Ephraim over his older brother Manasseh.
  
  • Genesis 27:36 And Esau said, “Is he not rightly named Jacob? For he has supplanted me these two times. He took away my birthright, and now look, he has taken away my blessing!” And he said, “Have you not reserved a blessing for me?”
    
  • Genesis 48:²⁰ So he blessed them that day, saying, “By you Israel will bless, saying, ‘May God make you as Ephraim and as Manasseh!’ ” And thus he set Ephraim before Manasseh.

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.

ADAM: 1st Man		JESUS: 2nd Man
Of the earth		Lord from heaven
Made of clay		Spiritual
Corruption		Non-corruptible
Sinful		Sinless
Lawless		Lord of the Law
Living Being		Life Giving Spirit
Temporary		Eternal

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 (let us also bear) shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man.

• Jesus is the example of having a 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—

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, and we shall be changed.

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.”

• The first is the natural “Death”.
• Victory is the second and it is spiritual.
• Again, the second “swallows up” the first.
• Again, God has turned the tables on Satan.

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: (1) Law and Grace – (2) Law and Grace – (3) – 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.

---

{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]

---