Holy Joys Sermons

Resurrected Christ Means Resurrected Bodies (1 Corinthians 15:12–28)

April 24, 2022 Holy Joys
Holy Joys Sermons
Resurrected Christ Means Resurrected Bodies (1 Corinthians 15:12–28)
Show Notes

Johnathan Arnold preaches on the resurrection of the dead from 1 Corinthians 15:12–28 to a congregation that recently faced several deaths. The resurrection of Christ guarantees the resurrection of the dead—that at the end of the age, the bodies of all the dead will be raised from their graves. This sermon, "Resurrected Christ Means Resurrected Bodies," will be followed by a second sermon, "Resurrected Christ Means Resurrected World."

1. Paul wrote to address a pastoral problem: some of the Corinthians did not believe in the “resurrection of the dead” (that at the end of the age the bodies of the dead will be raised from their graves).

2. Jesus also encountered people who didn’t believe in the resurrection of the dead: a Jewish religious group known as the Sadducees.

3. One of the earliest Christian heresies, called Gnosticism, viewed spirit as good and matter as evil, and thus rejected the resurrection of the body.

4. While most Christians today do not deny the resurrection of the dead, they focus almost entirely on the salvation of “never-dying souls” and imagine their eternal existence as less than fully physical.

5. Paul argues that the resurrection of Jesus and the resurrection of the dead are inseparable; to deny one is to deny the other.

6. The resurrection of Jesus is not an isolated event in human history; it is the firstfruits of the general resurrection—the beginning of the resurrection of all flesh.

7. Salvation is physical, not just spiritual; the resurrection of the Second Adam secures the salvation of our bodies which became subject to death through the First Adam’s sin.

8. The resurrection of the body is what gives us hope for our loved ones who have died in Christ.

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