I Corinthians 15:20-28: "We Will Be Raised"
Paul has been trying to get the Corinthians to understand that it is a fact they will be raised again. Paul has been discounting the idea that had been going around the Corinthian church that "some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead". In the last section he showed that the resurrection of Christ is essential for anyone who claims to be a believer. Without the resurrection of Christ, there is no Christianity, they are most to be pitied. After establishing the essential nature of Christ's resurrection, he shows his readers that they will in turn be raised as well. This was the whole problem at the Corinthian church. The issue wasn't Christ's resurrection, but their belief that they would be raised too. Paul will show his readers why this is essential too.
Paul begins, "But now Christ has been raised from the dead". Here Paul reaffirms the point he had made previously that. Basically Paul is saying, "since we now can all agree that Christ has been raised". He continues, "the first fruits of those who are asleep". With this, Paul is saying that when Christ raised Himself he was the first of to ever raise from the dead to never die again. It was true that others in the Old and New Testament had been raised again, however, they were still subjected to their corrupted bodies that eventually died again. Therefore, Christ was the first of those ever raised from the dead to never undergo corruption, to live eternally after dying. MacArthur explains, "before Israelites harvested their crops they were to bring a representative sample, called the first fruits, to the priests as an offering to the Lord (Lev. 23:10). The full harvest could not be made until the first fruits. That is the point of Paul's figure here. Christ's own resurrection was the first fruits of the resurrection 'harvest' of the believing dead. In His death and resurrection Christ made an offering of Himself to the Father on our behalf". What we can also learn from the first fruits is that it was part of a larger harvest. It was the precedent at the most important, but it represented the whole. Therefore, we can clearly see that as those who believe in Christ as their savior he is representative for the whole, and just as he was raised, they too would be raised to eternal life. MacArthur writes, "Christ's resurrection could not have been in isolation from ours. His resurrection requires our resurrection, because His resurrection was part of the larger resurrection of God's redeemed".
Paul continues, "For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all shall be made alive". Paul shows the relationship w/ Christ and His humanness to us and our humanness and the incredible miracle that is the resurrection. Because of Adam's first sin we are all cursed w/ death. From generation to generation man passes down the curse of death. However, by Christ in His humanity who came to save us from death and sin and His miraculous resurrection we as man can be raised as well. Just as Adam represented all of man in his sin, so Christ represents all of those who believe in Him into eternal life. MacArthur writes, "Just as Adam was the progenitor of everyone who dies, so Christ is the progenitor of everyone who will be raised to life. In each case, one man doing one act caused the consequences of that act to be applied to every other person identified with him". Just as Paul says in Romans 5:19, "For as through one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous".
Paul then explains the order of the resurrection, "but each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ's at His coming". Here Paul reiterates and summarizes what he had just said that Christ being the first fruits was raised first, and then those He has redeemed will be resurrected. We do not know when this will take place (Matt. 24:36), but we do know that it will be at "His coming". To help us understand the order how all will take place, after Christ was raised, MacArthur writes, "Initially will be the resurrection of the church, those believers who will have come to saving faith from Pentecost to the rapture. . . . They will be joined by living saints to meet the Lord in the air and ascend to heaven" (I Thess. 4:16). MacArthur continues, "Next will be the resurrection of the Tribulation saints. Many will come to trust in Christ during the Tribulation, that unimaginably horrible seven-year ordeal during which many godly people will be put to death for their faith. At the end of that period, however, all those who will have come to faith in Christ will be raised up to reign with Him during the Millennium (Rev. 20:4)". Next MacArthur points out that it will be the resurrection of the Old Testaments saints as it was promised by Daniel the prophet (Dan. 12:2; cf. Isa. 26:19-20). The last group of believers to be resurrected will be those who appear during the millennial Kingdom. "It is interesting to think that they may well be raised as soon as they die, no burial being necessary. It would make death for a believer during the Kingdom nothing more than an instant transformation into his eternal body and spirit", according to MacArthur. And Last, which Paul will expound upon in the next several verses, the only other resurrection will be the resurrected of the damned as they are raised to eternal death in hell.
Paul continues, "Then comes the end, when He delivers up the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power". Paul continues to discuss the order of how the final events will occur after the believer is resurrected. The "then" most likely refers to the time in between the resurrection at His coming and the final establishment of His kingdom on earth. When all of God's plans for redemptive history is finished, He will deliver up the kingdom to God the Father. MacArthur writes, "In the final culmination of the ages, when He delivers up the kingdom to the God and Father, all things will be restored as they were originally designed and created by God to be. In the end it will be as it was in the beginning. Sin will be nor more, and God will reign supremely, without enemy and without challenge. That gives us great insight into the divine redemptive plan. Here is the culmination: Christ turns over the restored world to God His Father, who sent Him to recover it". All the rule and authority and power of the old world will be abolished by God and He will reign forever. Continuing to explain what will take place Paul writes, "For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet". Christ will take back full reign of the earth as depicted in Revelation 5-20. As He takes it back to fully give to His Father, He must rid the earth of His enemies, including Satan, the demons, death, etc. He will put them under his subjection and authority. MacArthur writes, "during the millennium no open rebellion will be tolerated, but there will still be rebelliousness in the hearts of Christ's enemies. Because His enemies will not submit to Him willingly, He will have to 'rule them with a rod or iron' (Rev. 19:15). But they will be ruled. At the end of the thousand years Satan will be unleashed for a brief period to lead a final insurrection against God and His kingdom (20:7-9), after which he, with all who belong to him, will be banished to hell, to suffer eternally in the lake of fire (Rev. 20:10-15)".
Paul explains that the "last enemy that will be abolished is death". Death, as it was not originally intended for man to undergo it, will finally be abolished forever. Christ conquered over Satan and death when He rose again, however, at this time it will be abolished forever, never to curse another person. Just as Christ has put all of His enemies under His foot, He will put death under His subjection as well "for He has put all things in subjection under His feet", writes Paul. To help qualify this statement, Paul states the obvious when he writes, "But when He says, 'All things are put in subjection,' it is evident that He is excepted who put all things in subjection to Him". Just as has always been, God the Father will be in sovereign control and is never under the subjection of anyone. MacArthur writes, "God the Father is the exception who will not be subject to Christ, for it is the Father who gave the rule and authority to the Son (Matt. 28:18; John 5:27), and whom the son faithfully and perfectly served. From the time of His incarnation until the time when He presents the kingdom to the Father, Christ is in the role of a Servant, fulfilling His divine task as assigned by His Father. But when that final work is accomplished, He will assume His former, full, glorious place in the perfect harmony of the Trinity".
Lastly, Paul writes, "And when all things are subjected to Him, then the Son Himself also will be subjected to the One who subjected all things to Him, that God may be all in all". At this point, Christ would have carried out all that God had planned for Him and the church. Everything would ultimately be as God had originally set out to have it and all would glorify Him and be under His subjection as ruler of all. MacArthur concludes, "When God created man He made him perfect, righteous, good, and subservient. At the Fall, this supreme creature of God, along with all the rest of His creation, was corrupted and ruined. But the new men He creates through His Son will never be corrupted or ruined. They will be raised up to live and reign eternally in His eternal kingdom with His eternal Son".
Paul begins, "But now Christ has been raised from the dead". Here Paul reaffirms the point he had made previously that. Basically Paul is saying, "since we now can all agree that Christ has been raised". He continues, "the first fruits of those who are asleep". With this, Paul is saying that when Christ raised Himself he was the first of to ever raise from the dead to never die again. It was true that others in the Old and New Testament had been raised again, however, they were still subjected to their corrupted bodies that eventually died again. Therefore, Christ was the first of those ever raised from the dead to never undergo corruption, to live eternally after dying. MacArthur explains, "before Israelites harvested their crops they were to bring a representative sample, called the first fruits, to the priests as an offering to the Lord (Lev. 23:10). The full harvest could not be made until the first fruits. That is the point of Paul's figure here. Christ's own resurrection was the first fruits of the resurrection 'harvest' of the believing dead. In His death and resurrection Christ made an offering of Himself to the Father on our behalf". What we can also learn from the first fruits is that it was part of a larger harvest. It was the precedent at the most important, but it represented the whole. Therefore, we can clearly see that as those who believe in Christ as their savior he is representative for the whole, and just as he was raised, they too would be raised to eternal life. MacArthur writes, "Christ's resurrection could not have been in isolation from ours. His resurrection requires our resurrection, because His resurrection was part of the larger resurrection of God's redeemed".
Paul continues, "For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all shall be made alive". Paul shows the relationship w/ Christ and His humanness to us and our humanness and the incredible miracle that is the resurrection. Because of Adam's first sin we are all cursed w/ death. From generation to generation man passes down the curse of death. However, by Christ in His humanity who came to save us from death and sin and His miraculous resurrection we as man can be raised as well. Just as Adam represented all of man in his sin, so Christ represents all of those who believe in Him into eternal life. MacArthur writes, "Just as Adam was the progenitor of everyone who dies, so Christ is the progenitor of everyone who will be raised to life. In each case, one man doing one act caused the consequences of that act to be applied to every other person identified with him". Just as Paul says in Romans 5:19, "For as through one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous".
Paul then explains the order of the resurrection, "but each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ's at His coming". Here Paul reiterates and summarizes what he had just said that Christ being the first fruits was raised first, and then those He has redeemed will be resurrected. We do not know when this will take place (Matt. 24:36), but we do know that it will be at "His coming". To help us understand the order how all will take place, after Christ was raised, MacArthur writes, "Initially will be the resurrection of the church, those believers who will have come to saving faith from Pentecost to the rapture. . . . They will be joined by living saints to meet the Lord in the air and ascend to heaven" (I Thess. 4:16). MacArthur continues, "Next will be the resurrection of the Tribulation saints. Many will come to trust in Christ during the Tribulation, that unimaginably horrible seven-year ordeal during which many godly people will be put to death for their faith. At the end of that period, however, all those who will have come to faith in Christ will be raised up to reign with Him during the Millennium (Rev. 20:4)". Next MacArthur points out that it will be the resurrection of the Old Testaments saints as it was promised by Daniel the prophet (Dan. 12:2; cf. Isa. 26:19-20). The last group of believers to be resurrected will be those who appear during the millennial Kingdom. "It is interesting to think that they may well be raised as soon as they die, no burial being necessary. It would make death for a believer during the Kingdom nothing more than an instant transformation into his eternal body and spirit", according to MacArthur. And Last, which Paul will expound upon in the next several verses, the only other resurrection will be the resurrected of the damned as they are raised to eternal death in hell.
Paul continues, "Then comes the end, when He delivers up the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power". Paul continues to discuss the order of how the final events will occur after the believer is resurrected. The "then" most likely refers to the time in between the resurrection at His coming and the final establishment of His kingdom on earth. When all of God's plans for redemptive history is finished, He will deliver up the kingdom to God the Father. MacArthur writes, "In the final culmination of the ages, when He delivers up the kingdom to the God and Father, all things will be restored as they were originally designed and created by God to be. In the end it will be as it was in the beginning. Sin will be nor more, and God will reign supremely, without enemy and without challenge. That gives us great insight into the divine redemptive plan. Here is the culmination: Christ turns over the restored world to God His Father, who sent Him to recover it". All the rule and authority and power of the old world will be abolished by God and He will reign forever. Continuing to explain what will take place Paul writes, "For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet". Christ will take back full reign of the earth as depicted in Revelation 5-20. As He takes it back to fully give to His Father, He must rid the earth of His enemies, including Satan, the demons, death, etc. He will put them under his subjection and authority. MacArthur writes, "during the millennium no open rebellion will be tolerated, but there will still be rebelliousness in the hearts of Christ's enemies. Because His enemies will not submit to Him willingly, He will have to 'rule them with a rod or iron' (Rev. 19:15). But they will be ruled. At the end of the thousand years Satan will be unleashed for a brief period to lead a final insurrection against God and His kingdom (20:7-9), after which he, with all who belong to him, will be banished to hell, to suffer eternally in the lake of fire (Rev. 20:10-15)".
Paul explains that the "last enemy that will be abolished is death". Death, as it was not originally intended for man to undergo it, will finally be abolished forever. Christ conquered over Satan and death when He rose again, however, at this time it will be abolished forever, never to curse another person. Just as Christ has put all of His enemies under His foot, He will put death under His subjection as well "for He has put all things in subjection under His feet", writes Paul. To help qualify this statement, Paul states the obvious when he writes, "But when He says, 'All things are put in subjection,' it is evident that He is excepted who put all things in subjection to Him". Just as has always been, God the Father will be in sovereign control and is never under the subjection of anyone. MacArthur writes, "God the Father is the exception who will not be subject to Christ, for it is the Father who gave the rule and authority to the Son (Matt. 28:18; John 5:27), and whom the son faithfully and perfectly served. From the time of His incarnation until the time when He presents the kingdom to the Father, Christ is in the role of a Servant, fulfilling His divine task as assigned by His Father. But when that final work is accomplished, He will assume His former, full, glorious place in the perfect harmony of the Trinity".
Lastly, Paul writes, "And when all things are subjected to Him, then the Son Himself also will be subjected to the One who subjected all things to Him, that God may be all in all". At this point, Christ would have carried out all that God had planned for Him and the church. Everything would ultimately be as God had originally set out to have it and all would glorify Him and be under His subjection as ruler of all. MacArthur concludes, "When God created man He made him perfect, righteous, good, and subservient. At the Fall, this supreme creature of God, along with all the rest of His creation, was corrupted and ruined. But the new men He creates through His Son will never be corrupted or ruined. They will be raised up to live and reign eternally in His eternal kingdom with His eternal Son".
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