Firstfruits

I Corinthians 15:12-34

The theme of our series here in the latter part of 1 Corinthians is “Of First Importance.” Paul has several very important truths that he wants to make sure the Corinthian believers understand. We have love at the center of what it means to be a Christian: the love of God personified in Jesus, our response of love for Him and love for each other. This is what chapter 13 is all about. Then in chapter 14 we are to “follow the way of love” as we seek and apply the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Last Sunday, Fred started us off on chapter 15 by bringing us back to the centrality of the cross. Why did Jesus have to die? What does it mean that he was a sacrifice for sin? And today, in the next part of that chapter, we home in on the resurrection of Jesus. We can accept that He died – even unbelievers do that – why is it important that He rose again? This is certainly a matter of first importance. This chapter tells us that it is essential to our faith. Paul asserts that if there is no resurrection we are of all people most to be pitied. Why does he get so intense about this topic? Why is it so important? Let’s begin reading at verse 12.

But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost.  If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.—I Corinthians 15:12-19

Some of the Corinthians evidently did not believe that any resurrection was possible. We know from the gospels and Acts that the Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection. Jesus spoke out against them. The Sadducees did not believe in any kind of afterlife, no reward for good or punishment for evil, no angels or spirits. Some of the Greeks were materialists, believing that the universe is only governed by natural forces. Many people today are similar, denying the existence of God and Satan and any kind of spiritual dimension to life or the universe. They may assert that we can only believe what science tells us. If we can’t study it and prove it scientifically then it doesn’t exist. Some people are deists, sort of in between: accepting the possibility that God might exist, maybe even that He was the creator of the universe, but He is not involved with our lives now – He doesn’t mess with natural laws and processes.

We don’t know the exact belief system that Paul was countering here. It appears that it was not even consistent with itself – as is the case with many manmade philosophical positions. Some of the Corinthians were saying that there is no resurrection of the dead. Perhaps they had been influenced by Gnosticism, which teaches that all physical things are inherently evil. If only the spiritual world is good then it was necessary for Jesus’ spirit to abandon his physical body, and the resurrection is interpreted in only a spiritual sense.

In any case, if no one is raised from the dead, including Christ, then the foundation of our faith is stripped away. Paul says that his preaching would be useless. He could be accused of being a false witness, since he had based his entire testimony on the resurrection, ever since he had encountered the risen Christ personally on the Damascus road. The power and veracity of God the Father are also called into question. Faith becomes futile as there is no basis for the forgiveness of sins. So people who have died are simply lost – without hope.

If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied. In those days – and in many places in our world today – people give up a lot to follow Jesus. Some are jailed, beaten, abused, rejected by their families, fired from jobs or passed over for promotions. Many have lost money or property. They are willing to do it because of their love for God and their hope for heaven, eternal life that will surpass anything this world has to offer. Without that, the cost may not be worth it. Why give up something for nothing, or worse, a delusion? It is a pitiful prospect, says Paul.

But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. But each in turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him.—I Corinthians 15:20-23

Christ has indeed been raised from the dead. Paul doesn’t go into the evidence for Jesus’ resurrection, but it was attested to by hundreds of witnesses – including himself. The tomb was empty. It wasn’t just the spirit of Jesus continuing on, the resurrection meant that His physical body had come back to life, but that it had been transformed into a new form, one that would never die again. In this sense, the resurrection of Jesus was different than that of say, Lazarus. Lazarus’s body came back to life as it was, and later he died again. Jesus had a new, spiritual body that replaced His old one. It will never get tired or age or wear out. Jesus was the first human to experience this, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

This is why the Apostles Creed proclaims, “I believe in the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting.” Those words “of the body” are very important. The resurrection is not just some ongoing existence of our spirits in the afterlife. Jesus came to defeat death, to reverse the effects of sin and decay. He came to redeem the physical as well as the spiritual, to bring hope for a new heaven and a new earth. He makes all things new. God had created everything good, but sin and Satan have spoiled it. God will redeem and renew everything, including our physical bodies. That’s the good news of the resurrection.

Let’s look at this word “firstfruits” for a moment. It’s not a familiar concept for us today. If fact, Microsoft Word flags it as a spelling mistake. The concept originated in the Old Testament law where the Israelites were commanded to bring part of the first food produced by their land as an offering to the Lord. Leviticus 23 mentions bringing a sheaf of the first grain of the first harvest. Like the tithe, it represents God’s provision and his ownership of the whole. In Romans 11 Paul writes:

If the part of the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, then the whole batch is holy; if the root is holy, so are the branches.—Romans 11:16

In the same way that Christ is holy we can be holy. We gain from everything He has. Perhaps Paul thought of the resurrection as the emergence of new life up from the earth, with Jesus representing everyone who will one day be resurrected. He is the new Adam, undoing the effects of the sin of the first. Back in 1 Corinthians 15,

Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. 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. 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.—I Corinthians 15:24-28

We look forward to consummation of all that Jesus has been assigned to do: the subjugation of all other authority and power and the destruction of death itself. Putting everything under His feet recalls the image of a conquering king posing with his foot on the back or neck of his enemy, asserting his domination. But Jesus as king does not rule on His own. This passage reminds us that he continues to be subject to God the Father in all things.

Now if there is no resurrection, what will those do who are baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized for them? And as for us, why do we endanger ourselves every hour? I face death every day—yes, just as surely as I boast about you in Christ Jesus our Lord. If I fought wild beasts in Ephesus with no more than human hopes, what have I gained? If the dead are not raised, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.” Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character.” Come back to your senses as you ought, and stop sinning; for there are some who are ignorant of God—I say this to your shame.—I Corinthians 15:29-34

This concept of being baptized for the dead is not really understood by modern Bible scholars. Paul does not seem to necessarily be endorsing it here. He merely mentions it as an argument against those disavowing the resurrection. However, Joseph Smith in the 1840s interpreted this verse as validating this practice and since that time millions of people have been baptized by proxy in Mormon temples – anyone whose name could be identified. This would allow them to be saved (as Mormons) even after they had died. This has been controversial with relatives who want no part of it. It was only in 1995 that LDS leadership agreed to stop baptizing known Holocaust victims, in response to outrage in the Jewish community. We can’t say for sure what opportunities God may give people after they die, but based on what the Bible teaches it seems unlikely that anything we would do for them after they’re dead would make any difference. That’s why we have a serious responsibility to tell them about Jesus while they’re alive!

Paul reiterates the foolishness of giving up anything for the sake of following Jesus if this life is all we have. Why cross the authorities and have them throw you to the wild beasts? Just play it safe and go along with the crowd. If there is no accountability after death just get all the pleasure you can out of this life. Have you see the bumper sticker that says, “He who dies with the most toys wins”? Many people live that way, not only blind to the emptiness of that existence but also refusing to acknowledge that someday they will need to give account to their Creator.

Bad company corrupts good character. This is a quote from the Greek poet Menander, whose writings the Corinthians would likely have been familiar with. Paul is applying it to this situation where the church had been influenced by false teaching about the resurrection and believers led into sin. We can easily be influenced by the people around us. Teens especially are susceptible to peer pressure to do things that they would not do on their own. But obviously this does not mean that we should avoid associating with people living in sin. Jesus sought out the corrupt tax collectors and prostitutes to spend time with them. His character was not corrupted by bad company. The key is the beginning of verse 33: “Do not be misled.” Other translations say, do not be deceived. Are we influencing or being influenced? Are we trying to fit in or trying to set a different example? Our motivation, faith, boldness, and dependence on God is what will allow us to be a witness instead of being sucked into wrong thinking. We need to be willing to go wherever people are who need to hear about Jesus and the hope and salvation that He offers them. God needs His people everywhere, to shine like lights in dark places.

Today in communion we commemorate the death and resurrection of Jesus. We recognize the centrality of both the cross and the empty tomb. In instituting the Lord’s Supper, Jesus said, “This is my body, given for you.” It is His living body, a foretaste of the resurrection. He gives his disciples the cup of the new covenant and promises, “Truly I tell you, I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.” Along with proclaiming His death, He looks ahead to the resurrection. The disciples didn’t really understand it at that stage. It would take them a while after Jesus died to remember and really understand what Jesus had said. As the firstfruits of those who sleep, Jesus showed them – and us – what our resurrection will be like. We don’t understand the mystery of what His resurrected body was like – how he could walk through closed doors, be transported instantly from one place to another. But we do know that He was more than a spirit. He could eat and be touched. So that is what we will be like someday. We will be more than disembodied spirits. We will be identifiable as people, but untouched by sin and decay. Even bodies blown to bits in an explosion or burned to ashes can be put back together by God. Babies may be brought to some ideal age – we don’t know for sure. As it says in 1 John 3:2

Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.

We will see him as he is. And we will see each other as we are, knowing and being fully known. We will be like Jesus but retain the essence of who we are as individuals. We will live with Him in perfect fulfillment for all eternity. It is indeed a glorious hope.