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We will continue to look at 1 Corinthians 15, the Apostle Paul’s thorough teaching on the resurrection. As I did in the last post I will be paraphrasing the major sections of Paul’s defense of the resurrection of Jesus as being an essential prerequisite to our resurrection as a Believer.

To review- In verses 1- 34 Paul makes the following important points:

1. Jesus died for our sins as prophesied by scripture, He was buried, and that He rose again on the third day.
2. Jesus was physically seen by over 500 people after His resurrection.
3. If Jesus did not rise again, then everything about Christianity is a lie, and we are hopelessly lost in our sin.
4. Jesus is the “first fruit” of the resurrection, meaning that because He rose first, we who belong to Him will follow His example and rise again too.

Then Paul makes the following statement in verse 26, “The last enemy that will be destroyed is death”. In that statement is the promise of the resurrection and eternal life in Heaven with Him.

THE NATURAL BODY FIRST, THEN THE GLORIOUS BODY
In verses, 35-49 Paul reinforces the “natural first, the spiritual second principle”. He uses the analogy of the seed, a grain of wheat, in the sense that the seed must “die” first in order to release the potential of its fruit. In the same manner, our physical body contains the potential of the resurrection body within it and therefore the physical must die before the spiritual can be released.

Paul uses the contrast between Adam in the Garden of Eden and Jesus the Christ. Beginning in verse 45 Paul states, “The first man Adam became a living being.” The last Adam (meaning Jesus) became a life-giving spirit. However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, and afterward the spiritual. The first man was of the earth, made of dust; the second Man is the Lord from heaven. As was the 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. And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man”.

DEATH IS DEFEATED- OUR FINAL VICTORY
The Apostle Paul closes out his discourse on the resurrection by pointing to the overcoming victory found through Jesus and that is His victory over death becomes our victory as well!

A reasonable question about the resurrection is, “what will the resurrected life be like”? While there is much we would like to know, what is given to us is what we need to know. We know that God is spiritual (John 4:23-24) but spiritual does not mean immaterial or non-physical. Jesus is our example and the post-resurrected Jesus was physical. He was recognizable, He ate with His Disciples and yet at the same time could walk through walls and appear and disappear at will. So it would appear that the spiritual is not limited.

In verses 51-52 is the promise that not all believers will experience physical death. When Jesus returns again (Second Coming) there will be a taking up otherwise known as the rapture! (1 Thessalonians 4:13-17). Paul says, “Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed— 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”. How exciting it is to anticipate the coming of Jesus Christ, but either way if we should die before He comes we win, if we should be raptured we also win! 

Paul then closes with the following in verse 55-57, “O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?”The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Then in verse 58, we are encouraged to keep up the good work in Christ, “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” (there will be a reward).

Let me close now with a promise from Jesus’ lips, “I have a place for you in my house…” John 14:2-3 Jesus says, “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also”.

Those who don’t know Christ as personal Lord and Savior are often filled with terror at the prospect of death. For us as Believers, our faith is in the resurrection. For us, death is not the end of things but simply a change of address!

“Faith is the deliberate confidence in the character of God whose ways you may not understand at the time”. Oswald Chambers

As we have said before, theologians refer to the study of “End Times” as the study of Eschatology and the resurrection is a central part of that study. We learn much about the end-times from the following books of the Bible, Daniel 12, Matthew 24, 1 Thessalonians 4, and of course the book of Revelation 4-22. There are also many other verses scattered throughout the Bible that speak to the coming events.

Now the central truth to the study of Eschatology is of course the Resurrection. The word resurrection means “to rise again”! The Bible makes it very clear that each one of us will “rise again”. Physical death is not the end of life!

1 Corinthians 15 is the Apostle Paul’s thorough teaching on the resurrection. Rather than read, all 58 verses let me paraphrase the major sections of Paul’s defense of the resurrection of Jesus. The resurrection of Jesus is an essential prerequisite to our resurrection as a Believer.

1 CORINTHIANS 15
In verses, 1-11 Paul preaches The Risen Christ and the reason for our faith. Paul list three doctrines of faith and then recounts all the witnesses who saw Jesus after His resurrection. The doctrines of faith are: one- Jesus died for our sins as prophesied by scripture, two- that He was buried and three-that He rose again on the third day.

The witnesses were Peter, then by the rest of the 12 Apostles, then He was seen by over 500 people at once. Then seen by James, all the Apostles again, and then finally by Paul himself. In a nut-shell, our faith foundation is the fact that Jesus fulfilled the prophecies of the Old Testament and that He was clearly seen by so many witnesses after His resurrection.

THE RISEN CHRIST, OUR HOPE
In verses 12-19 Even in Paul’s time, there were those who claimed the resurrection did not take place. To counter that thought Paul assumes a false hypothetical case to show what the impact would be if the resurrection did not occur. Christianity totally depends on the physical resurrection of the dead body of Jesus; otherwise, it is all a lie. Paul states in 17-19, “And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins! Then also those who have fallen asleep or died in Christ have perished. 19 If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable”.

THE LAST ENEMY DESTROYED
The term firstfruits represent the first ripened part of the harvest, the first fruits are the evidence that the entire harvest is on the way. According to the Old Testament, the first fruits in connection with the Passover were used to consecrate the coming harvest. Jesus died on the Passover, and His Resurrection is the first fruit of the promise of our own resurrection.

In verses, 20-28 Paul uses the term first-fruits to describe Jesus’ resurrection. The first-fruits represents the first of the harvest. Well if Jesus is the first-fruit then the inference is that those who belong to him will follow! Then Paul makes the point that through Adam, a man (Genesis), came death and through Jesus (also a man) will come new life or the resurrection. This will take place when Jesus returns again otherwise known as the Second Coming. Then in verses 23-26 Paul states the following, “But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ’s at His coming. 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. For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet. 26 The last enemy that will be destroyed is death.” In that statement is the promise of the resurrection and eternal life in Heaven.

Verses 29-34 Paul introduces an issue that has caused questions among theologians for ages and that is the issue of “baptizing for the dead. There are a number of interpretations none of which we can figure out, but whatever the proper interpretation, Paul’s point is clear, all of life is futile if there is no resurrection. Paul makes the sarcastic statement “If the dead do not rise, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!” Of course, that is how many live their lives. Living for the day with no thought to the future and Paul states that it is to their shame.

To be continued…

Theologians refer to the study of “End Times” as the study of Eschatology. We learn much about the end-times from the following books of the Bible- Daniel 12, Matthew 24, 1 Thessalonians 4, and of course the book of Revelation. There are many other verses scattered throughout the Bible that speak about future events.

Before we speak about “the Resurrection” it is important to put things in context. In particular the relationship between the Natural and the Spiritual. Keep in mind that both the Old and New Testament are the inspired Word of God and neither should be neglected. However, as you read the Old Testament (or Old Covenant) keep in mind that the Old Covenant is the shadow of the light found in the New Covenant.

The Old Covenant was for the Jews under the Law of Moses. Whereas, the New Covenant is for Christians under Jesus Christ.

The Apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:46, that we start in the physical and end up in the spiritual”. This is a pattern you will see as you compare the Old and New Covenants. The Old Covenant is about the natural while the New Covenant is about the spiritual.

The natural shows us our inability to follow the Law perfectly and so, we fall short of God’s righteousness that’s called sin. The spiritual enables us to walk in righteousness by virtue of God’s Holy Spirit.

The Old Covenant or Testament is about the Law of Moses and the Nation of Israel. The New Covenant or Testament is about Jesus Christ and the Church.

Here is a list of eight examples of the “natural first then the spiritual” principle. Hopefully some of them will resonate with you. Time limits my ability to spend much time with each of them at this time.

1. the Old Testament was about the physical Kingdom of Israel vs the New Testament focus on the Spiritual Kingdom of Heaven on earth.
2. The Old Testament is about the coming of a Messiah an earthly king, the Jews were looking for a physical flesh and blood King to rule them vs the New Testament is about the coming of the Christ or Messiah a Spiritual King to rule His Church.
3. The Old Testament (Covenant of Law) focus is on the natural- doing the Law vs New Testament (New Covenant) focus is on being led by the Spirit of God.
4. Moses led the people of Israel out of physical bondage in Egypt vs Jesus led us out of the spiritual bondage of Satan and sin.
5. Moses received the message of the Law (legalism) vs Jesus received the message of Grace (spiritual).
6. In the Old Testament the Tabernacle or the Temple was the physical place where God was vs In the New Testament you are the temple of the Holy Spirit, God lives in you.
7. Under the Law, righteousness was obtained by obeying the Mosaic Law vs Under Grace the righteousness of Christ is credited to us by faith.
8. Finally, Natural birth vs Spiritual birth (Born-again). Here is a useful expression: if you are born once you will die twice, if you are born twice you will die once. Let me explain- if you are born once, a natural birth, you will die a physical death and then a spiritual death. Whereas, if you are born twice, natural birth, and then Born-again, then you will die once a physical death and then live forever with God.

In our next post we will look at what the Apostle Paul had to say about the resurrection in, 1 Corinthians chapter 15. His teaching is on the certainty of the resurrection of Jesus and therefore the confidence we can have for our own resurrection.

You will find the practice of the “laying on of hands” throughout the Bible, Old Testament, and New Testament. From the scriptures, it seems that there were at least 3 different functions for this practice.

[1] The laying on of hands as a spiritual impartation. Something in the realm of the spirit is transferred. Someone may ask what is transferred? I doubt anyone is qualified to answer that other than God, but I would say God’s power and authority. They are transmitted through the believer to the one receiving the ministry. We see this in Healings and The Baptism of the Holy Spirit

[2] The laying on of hands as a point of faith. A central focus point for the release of faith. We see this again in Healing and The Baptism of the Holy Spirit

[3] The laying on of hands as a custom or tradition.That is a sign in that it points to God!

The question for us is how did Jesus want us, as believers, to use the laying on of hands? I believe the answer is found in all of the three possibilities above. Scriptures can be found for all three “uses” of the laying on of hands in the New Testament. Some may argue the point, but I believe that there is no limit to what God can do or will do, even today!

It would be easy for me to recount the testimonies of how I have seen the Holy Spirit work miraculously in the lives of so many people, but instead let’s look at the Words of God- here are some scriptural examples:

FIRST – HERE ARE SOME SCRIPTURE THAT INDICATES THAT HOLY SPIRIT POWER IS IMPARTED BY THE LAYING ON OF HANDS:

In Luke 8:43-48Jesus heals a woman who had an issue of blood (an ailment) for 12 years. The woman believed that even if she could only touch the hem of Jesus’ garment she would be healed. In the crowd, she does just that and is instantly healed, no surprise! What is interesting is verse 46, But Jesus said, “Somebody touched Me, for I perceived power going out from Me.” Jesus felt a release of power! Then Jesus said to the healed woman, “Daughter, be of good cheer; your faith has made you well. Go in peace.”

In Luke 13:10-13, Jesus heals a woman who was bent over with a spirit of infirmity for 18 years. Then in verse 13 “And Jesus laid His hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God”. Something had to be released into her in order for her to stand up straight and be totally healed!

In 1 Timothy 4:14 the Apostle Paul exhorts young Timothy with the following words, “Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you by prophecy with the laying on of the hands of the eldership”. You see some ministry gifting was passed on.

POINT OF FAITH ILLUSTRATION:
In Mark 6:1-6, Jesus returns to where He grew up and many could not see Him as the Christ or Messiah. They looked at him as “Joseph’s kid”. As a result, verse 5 says, “So He was not able to do any miracles, there, except that, He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them”. Because of their unbelief or lack of faith they missed out on an opportunity for many more miracles to take place in their midst.

LAYING ON OF HANDS AS IN A BLESSING:
In Mark 10:16Jesus blesses the children, “After taking them in His arms, He laid His hands on them and blessed them”.

Finally, let me close with the Great Commission found in Mark 16:17-18. Jesus said, “And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; 18 they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover”. That is Jesus’ commandment to us.

The key to seeing the spiritual realm in operation in your life is faith. The spiritual realm is not visible to the naked eye but is seen through the eyes of faith. The power and authority of the Holy Spirit is not something that you can control by whim or convenience. The power of the Holy Spirit is released as we walk in obedience to the prompting of the Holy Spirit! We must be ready “in season and out” (2Tim 4:2) unafraid to be the vessel whom God will use to demonstrate His love, compassion, and power to a world that is lost.

Jesus and His disciples gave us the examples, how can we not follow His example!

In Matthew 16:13-18 Jesus asked His disciples the question, who do others say that I am? They came up with a variety of answers but only Peter recognized who Jesus really was. Peter said, “You ae the Christ or Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Jesus responded with the following significant statement of truth, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah (Peter), for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. And I also say to you that you are Peter (Petros in Greek-a pebble), and on this rock (Petra in Greek-a boulder), I will build My church, and the gates (forces) of Hades shall not prevail against it”. The play on the Greek words of Petros and petra may mean that Jesus will use Peter the pebble to build the church which is the Rock, but how? Up to this point, Peter has not demonstrated any personal skills to build much of anything!

Jesus made it clear that Peter didn’t just figure out that Jesus was the Savior, but that God the Father revealed this to Peter.  It wasn’t by reasoning (flesh and blood) but by personal revelation, God speaking Spirit to spirit. Then Jesus prophesied or was stating what He would do! Jesus Himself would build the Church (the body of born-again believers) and that it would be built by faith and personal revelation of the Holy Spirit which would be demonstrated in Peters’s life as an example to us. Peter would be the vessel that Jesus would use in a powerful way.

Now jump to the day of Pentecost the beginning of the Church as described in Acts 2. After the outpouring of the Holy Spirit or Baptism of the Holy Spirit described in verses 1-4, jump to verse 14 when Peter boldly gives his first sermon. As a result of that sermon, verse 41 says, “Then those who gladly received his word were baptized, and that day about three thousand souls were added to them”. You see the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, or Baptism of the Holy Spirit anointed Peter to do what Jesus said He would do, “I will build my Church”. The church was built on the supernatural power of God! The Holy Spirit moving on those who were listening to Peter’s sermon were moved by Peter’s words and three thousand people started the first church.

What is important to understand is that this Outpouring of the Holy Spirit was not a single event in time but was meant to be experienced by all believers of Jesus Christ. Contrary to the beliefs of some, “the work of the Holy Spirit did not peter out when the Apostle Peter petered out”! Listen to what Peter said in Acts 2:38 “Repent and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.” You see the Baptism of the Holy Spirit is available to us today!

Why would someone say that the filling of the Holy Spirit is not for today? Is it because man has relied upon logic and reasoning instead of personal revelation and faith? There is an expression in gymnastics, “as the head goes so goes the body”. If the head of the local church, denomination, or organization doesn’t believe that the Baptism of the Holy Spirit is for today, then that is what that leader will teach and preach. The followers or body will often fall in line! However, if you trust in the Bible and the prompting of the Holy Spirit in you… you will know the truth and the truth will set you free from missing all that Jesus purchased at the cross. Jesus wants you to have an abundant life, walking in His wisdom, His authority, and His power.

Finally, let me give you some other scripture verses having to do with the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. I encourage you to look them up for yourself and to read before and after the verses quoted to get a fuller idea of its meaning. Most importantly ask the Holy Spirit to reveal the scriptures as He intends as you read.

The Prophet Joel prophesied about 800 years before Jesus Christ that God would pour out His Spirit. We see this in Joel 2:28-32. The Apostle Peter quotes this prophecy in his sermon, Acts 2: 16-18 “But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: 17 ‘And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your young men shall see visions, Your old men shall dream dreams. 18 And on My menservants and on My maidservants, I will pour out My Spirit in those days; And they shall prophesy”.

Acts 4:31 – while Peter was praying for boldness, “… the place where they were was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness”.

Acts 8:14-17 while in Jerusalem the apostles heard that there were new believers in Samaria. So, Peter and John were sent to them, verse 17 says, “Then they laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit”. You see new believers were expected to receive the Holy Spirit.

Acts 10:44-48 44 While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the word. 45 And those of the circumcision who believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also. 46 For they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God. Then Peter answered, 47 “Can anyone forbid water, that these should not be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?”

Acts 11:15-16 – Peter had concluded that the Baptism of the Holy Spirit was not just for the Jewish Christians but for all believers, Jews, and Gentiles. “15 And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them (non-Jews), as upon us at the beginning. 16 Then I remembered the word of the Lord, how He said, ‘John indeed baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit’”.