How the Reality of the Resurrection Impacts our Future...

This week, we have been looking at a section of a letter in the Bible that reveals for us that a person can not claim to be a Christian and a follower of Jesus and reject the reality of the resurrection. So, far we have seen the Apostle Paul explain that rejecting the reality of the resurrection results in a denial of the gospel and in condemnation. Paul then continues by revealing for us a third result that can occur when we reject the reality of the resurrection. We see this result revealed for us in 1 Corinthians 15:20-28:

But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep. 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 will be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ's at His coming, then comes the end, when He hands over the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be abolished is death. For HE HAS PUT ALL THINGS IN SUBJECTION UNDER HIS FEET. 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. When all things are subjected to Him, then the Son Himself also will be subjected to the One who subjected all things to Him, so that God may be all in all.

Paul begins by stating that while some may reject the reality of the resurrection, the truth is that Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep. When Paul uses the phrase first fruits here, this phrase refers to the first of a kind or a portion. Paul’s point here is that rejecting the reality of the resurrection results in a denial of our future.

In these verses, Paul unpacks exactly what are future looks like as followers of Jesus as a result of Christ’s resurrection. First, Paul reveals for us the reality that we have a future relationship with God as a result of the resurrection. Paul explains that while all humanity received the divine punishment of physical death and spiritual and eternal separation from God as a result of our selfishness and sin, that through Jesus life, death, and resurrection, we have the opportunity to have the eternal relationship with God that we were created for.

Paul then transitions to reveal for the church, and us today, the order of our future bodily resurrection. Paul begins by explaining that Jesus, as the first of a kind that we will follow, has already been raised from the dead. Paul then states that at the end of God’s story on earth, when Jesus returns to earth, those who are alive will be caught up to meet Him in the air and will receive their resurrection bodies in the process.

Paul then explains that upon Jesus return to earth to establish His kingdom and judge all of humanity, those who died as followers of Jesus throughout history will be raised from the dead and receive their resurrection bodies. Upon Jesus return to earth he will bring to an end those spiritual beings who oppose God and place themselves in opposition to God and His kingdom. And in the process, through Christ’s resurrection, we see the culmination of God’s work of rescue and repair as He brings to an end death itself.

After Jesus brings all of creation into submission under God’s kingdom rule, which was predicted in Psalm 8:6, Jesus will place Himself under God the Father’s loving leadership as the first among equals. The glorious future that we have as followers of Jesus is directly related to the reality of the resurrection. It is the reality of the resurrection that provides the eternal relationship with God and one another in perfect community.

So what future do you have as a result in what you believe about the resurrection?