I Corinthians 15: 1-28, Resurrection & Death

Paul begins to wrap up his letter by describing his own witness of the Jewish Messiah.

1 Corinthians 15: 1-2, The centrality of the gospel
Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.

The "gospel" message of Christ's death and resurrection is central to everything in this letter. (Added later: see this post by Scot McKnight on "the gospel" and I Corinthians 15.)

1 Corinthians 15: 3-8, Five hundred witnesses
For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve.

After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep.

Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.

This is an extraordinary passage.  Although some "have fallen asleep", most of the witnesses of Christ's resurrection are still alive and Paul himself personally saw the resurrected Messiah.  The implication here is that if one were doubtful, they would have witnesses to interview!

1 Corinthians 15: 9-11, Least of the apostles
For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them--yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. Whether, then, it was I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed.

Paul originally helped kill followers of this Messiah! But he now has a very different mission.

1 Corinthians 15: 12-19, Everything hangs on the validity of the resurrection
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 to be pitied more than all men.

Apparently some in Corinth did not believe in a resurrection of anyone.  That contradicts the central message of the gospel, that Jesus himself rose from the dead.

1 Corinthians 15: 20-28, The second Adam overturns the first
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 his own turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him. 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.

The Old Testament quote in verse 27 is from Psalm 8:6.  As Adam brought sin and death of humankind, Jesus reverses the process.

Note the emphasis throughout this chapter on a physical, bodily resurrection.  There is no place in Paul's theology for ghostly angelic souls hanging around in the clouds (playing harps!) and looking down on humanity.  The resurrection will be physical in some sense, as part of a new universe (see Revelation 21.)

In the second half of this long chapter, Paul continues his discussion of death including a brief mention of the final event in human history, the "last trumpet."