There is a problem with resurrection

There is a problem with the resurrection. The resurrection is in direct competition with the belief in a heaven. In fact, it is generally understood that after dying (not: after death) one goes to heaven. According to this opinion, life does not stop when we die, but simply continues – in a different way. Therefore, there is a problem with the resurrection. The resurrection is not really needed anymore – you already live in heaven anyway. If one listens carefully to what is taught in this way, the expression “resurrection of the body” occasionally appears in this context. Because “the rest of us” is already alive in heaven, only the “resurrection of the body” is still pending. That would be something of a bonus. It would be nice, but not really essential. This is a really strange but widespread view. In the Bible, however, there is no such thing as “the resurrection of a part” of us.

Resurrection in the Bible is quite different. There is no life in death. There is life only after death – through resurrection. Resurrection is the transition from death to a new life. Without resurrection there is no life. However, if man is not death at all after he dies, then there is no need for the resurrection anymore. It is a not very subtle way of denying death.

With this traditional view of a “continued life in heaven,” it is not surprising that Easter has little meaning. It has no real relevance! In the Western Church, Christmas is central, not Easter. In the Eastern Church, however, Easter is central. There, resurrection is even more centrally anchored in consciousness. These differences have consequences for teaching and life.

False teachings concerning the resurrection

Apart from the traditional image of heaven and hell, according to which man should simply go on living in death, there are other views. In the New Testament, two false teachings are mentioned regarding the resurrection:

1. The resurrection has already happened (2Tim 2,17-18)
2. There is no resurrection (1Cor 15,12)

If the resurrection is supposed to have already happened, we are simply unlucky. We missed it! No wonder that this teaching shattered the faith of some, as Paul describes it. If nothing goes on, what do we believe in? And if the resurrection has already happened, and I have not heard about it, am I still part of this community of faith around Jesus Christ? This is a faith-destroying false teaching.

However, the denial of the resurrection itself goes one step further. After all, if there is no resurrection, then that too has consequences. Then there is no end of death, but one dies – and everything is over. Without resurrection, the core of “cross and resurrection” is called into question, as is a future life after death.

Resurrection as the core of the Gospel

Paul devoted an entire chapter to these questions about the resurrection. In 1 Corinthians 15, he speaks at length about the resurrection. From this, here are some correlations:

“But I make known to you, my brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the gospel in the form of expression in which I preached it to you, except when you believe only in appearance.

For in the first place I have delivered to you that which I also received:
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),
that He appeared to Cephas [Petrus] and then to the twelve.
Then He appeared to over five hundred brothers at once, the majority of whom remain until now, but some have already fallen asleep.
He then appeared to James and
then to all the apostles.
Last of all, however, He appeared also to me, as it were to a premature birth.”
1Cor 15,1-8

Paul is describing the core of the gospel here. Christ died for our sins, He was buried, and He was raised on the third day. All this was according to the scriptures, that is, it was announced in the Tenach (in the Old Testament).

As a rule, only these three points are highlighted. Paul, however, continues with a whole series of eyewitnesses. This is to clarify that the resurrection took place in the reality of this world. The living have seen the resurrected one – and the majority of the eyewitnesses are still alive. So who is critical, should go and ask it to those who have experienced it!

Resurrection was nothing new in itself. For example, Lazarus was resurrected after being dead for 4 days (John 11:39). Lazarus was therefore dead longer than Jesus. There are accounts of resurrections in both the Old and New Testaments. Signs and wonders in the Gospels, including resurrections, were meant to point to the coming Messianic kingdom. They witnessed the king and the kingdom. But hardly anyone believed that the Messiah himself had been killed. When Jesus was raised on Easter morning (it was a Sabbath, Mt 28:1 literally), this had to be made known. Paul speaks here of this time and the many encounters. There were many eyewitnesses.

The Denial of the Resurrection and the Consequences

“But if Christ is heralded [verkündet] is said to have been raised from the dead, how can some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ has not been raised, then our heraldic message is without content and your faith is also without content. Then we are also found to be false witnesses of God, because we testify against God that He raised Christ, whom He therefore would not have raised, if dead people are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, neither was Christ raised. But if Christ has not been raised, your faith is not, and you are still in your sins. Then those who have fallen asleep in Christ have also perished. If for this life only we have set our expectation on Christ, we are the most pitiful of all men.”
1Cor 15,12-19

After Paul first mentioned the resurrection as a central element of the proclamation, and could even list many eyewitnesses to it, he directly addresses those who denied the resurrection. Notice that he writes this to the church at Corinth. So it can be assumed that this denial of the resurrection was openly revealed in the church. Let us read carefully here how Paul thinks through the denial of the resurrection in consequence. If we deny the resurrection, then Christ cannot be resurrected either, and if He is not resurrected, then the whole Good News is gone. Then everything is off.

Several things are noteworthy in this section:

In 1Cor 15,18 the apostle writes that – if Christ is not raised – we are still in our sins. For while Jesus was “passed away for our offenses”, He was “raised for our justification” (Rom 4:25). Only the resurrection is, so to speak, the seal of victory over sin.

Without resurrection, those who have fallen asleep in Christ are also “lost”.
-Paul

Another point of importance is the apostle’s statement that – if Christ had not been raised and all were consequently still in their sins – those who had fallen asleep in Christ would also have perished. In other translations it says here “So also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have been lost” (Rev. Elbf). The fact that “getting lost” has nothing to do with heaven and hell, but rather means “perishing”, namely “dying”, is explained in detail in another article. Read in context, however, Paul writes clearly here in Corinthians that without resurrection there is no hope even for those of the church who have already fallen asleep. So they are not in heaven, but they are all waiting for the resurrection. Without resurrection, there is no outlook. Dead people are just that: dead. Without resurrection, we cannot go on from there. When Christ returns, there is first the resurrection of those who have fallen asleep in Christ (1Th 4:15-16).

The concluding verse of this section summarizes: If only for this life we have set our expectation on Christ, we are the most worthy of mercy among all men (1 Cor. 15:19). If the resurrection is a hoax, and that were our message, then God would be a failure, and we with Him. One should calmly consider this view once in all clarity. It is also important to take critics seriously when holding such views. Because this is about the core of the gospel. Without resurrection, everything Jesus said is gone. Also everything is gone that was said by the prophets (Paul insisted that everything was “according to the scriptures”). Whoever denies the resurrection has not simply undermined an insignificant subordinate clause of the gospel, but immediately liquidated the good news itself.

The firstling of the departed

In the next verses from the same chapter, an insertion is made. It is, so to speak, an outlook based entirely on the resurrection. Paul turns the tables, and explains how far the resurrection reaches. Because if the resurrection exists (ask the eyewitness!), this realization has significant consequences.

“But now Christ has been raised from the dead: the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep!”
1Cor 15,20

This is a proclamation. He does not have to justify the resurrection of Christ again. He did that in the opening verses of this chapter. This is about something completely different. Christ is the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. He is the first to be raised to an indissoluble life. He is not the first to be raised from the dead (Lazarus, for example, was), but He is the first who is beyond the power of death. Lazarus died again. Christ dies no more.

He is also the “firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep,” namely, the first to be raised from all those who have died. He is the beginning. It is a general statement. It is not a question here of certain deceased persons, but He is, so to speak, the firstfruits of all, who were raised to an indissoluble life. In ancient Israel, the firstfruits were also the promise for the rest. The firstling of the harvest was not the harvest itself, but the beginning.

The comparison with Adam

“For since by a man came death, by a man also comes the resurrection of the dead. For just as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all are made alive.”
1Cor 15:21-22

The comparison is simple: Adam was the cause of death entering this world. Mankind became mortal (Rom 5:12). But just as Adam was the trigger to death, so Christ becomes the trigger for the resurrection of the same dead. For just (!) as in Adam all die, so also “in Christ all will be made alive.” This is the biblically based expectation that God will come to terms with all people. Here it is described in the light of death and resurrection.

It is a Christocentric view that Paul describes here. Christ will be the cause for all people to rise from the dead. It is about more than “mere resurrection” here, because that already existed several times before. Christ was “firstfruits” in this particular way. He was raised to an indissoluble life. This is emphasized by a special word. This is about the maximum meaning of the resurrection, as Paul describes further in the same chapter: “So it is also with the resurrection of the dead. Sown in corruption, raised in incorruption!” (1Cor 15,42). This difference to for example the resurrection of Lazarus is defined here with the word “to make alive” (gr. zoopoieo). He who is made alive is immortal. This is not man by himself, but mortal man dies once, is then dead and receives immortality once, according to God’s promise. At the moment only One has sub-mortality (1Tim 6:16).

So, in other words, we could read here, “For just as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all [auferweckt und] will be made immortal.”

Proponents of a doctrine of heaven and hell try to hide this statement by emphasizing that this applies only to those “in Christ,” that is, only to people who have “accepted Christ.” However, there is nothing of all this here. It is not a matter of whether someone “accepts” whether they are in Adam, any more than it is a matter of whether we “accept” whether we are in Christ. Paul describes here simply two channels through which all mankind is affected. There are no limitations built in, neither with Adam, nor with Christ. Making alive is God’s declared goal for all humankind. Paul writes here that this will be accomplished through Christ, just as elsewhere he declares that all men will be justified (Rom 5:18), saved (1 Tim 4:10), reconciled (Col 1:20).

These statements are congruent and credible. They are comprehensive and testify to a wonderful God who comes to His purpose through a “purpose of the eons” (Eph. 3:11).

Bringing to life in stages

The making alive of all in Christ takes place in different stages.

“For just as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all are made alive. But each in his own particular department:

the first fruits of Christ,

then those who belong to Christ, at His presence (Greek: parousia);
thenthe [rest at the] consummation,
when He hands over the kingship to His God and Father,
When He will abolish every supremacy, every authority and power.”
1Cor 15,22-24

The perfection spoken of refers to being made alive. The consummation is the completion of making all alive in Christ. It is the last stage, so to speak. Only then will the full extent of bringing to life be achieved. From the Letter to the Hebrews we learn that God intends for the final period of the eons to eradicate sin completely (Heb 9:26). It is at this conclusion of the eons, the conclusion of all times, that we have arrived here. This point in time is behind the last chapters of the Bible. Paul sees further than the revelation to John. Sin and death are eliminated here once and for all.

Also, we read here that Christ will give all kingship to His God and Father. For though the kingdom will be without end, His kingship is limited to the eons, as it says, “Over the house of Jacob He will be King for the eons; and His kingship will have no end “ (Luke 1:33). It is virtually the precondition for God to come to His goal. Everything must come to Christ, and when that is accomplished, Christ hands everything over to His God and Father.

The last enemy is dismissed

The reign of Christ is with a purpose. It is not the goal in itself. He will not rule forever, but only until a goal is reached. Then He will transfer the kingship to His God and Father.

“For He must reign as King until He puts all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy to be put away is death.”
1Cor 15:25-26

The last enemy. After that, there are no more enemies. The implications of this statement are enormous. Logically, there are also no more people who are His enemies. Death is the last enemy. Then there is already no other. And the death is still dismissed at the end, namely made ineffective. This is the grand finale of world history, seen from God’s perspective. To Timothy Paul writes:

“Our Savior Christ Jesus … Who abolishes death and brings to light life and incorruption instead!”
2Tim 1:10

When death no longer has power, life and imperishability are brought to light instead. This is the perfection of making alive. Let us not be misled here by the “until He will put all His enemies under His feet”. Nothing martial is meant here, full of violence and oppression, as is often taught in a heaven and hell doctrine. When enemies are put under His feet, they are the former enemies. It is the description of how those who were once enemies may now have peace with God as the justified. Therefore, the (former) enemies are under His feet.

Here it will be fulfilled that “at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, the heavenly, the earthly and the subterranean, and every tongue should do homage (confess with all its heart): Lord is Jesus Christ, to the glory of God the Father” (Ph 2:11). Note that this applies equally to all, without any distinction, those who believe now and those who do not yet – but then! – Believers.

All in all

“For He subordinated everything to Him: under His feet. When He then says: “Everything has been subordinated!”, it is evident that God is excepted, who subordinated the All to Him. But if the universe is subordinate to Him, then the Son Himself will also be subordinate to Him who subordinated the universe to Him, so that God may be all in all.”
1Cor 15:27-28

Subordination and “under His feet” seem to have largely the same meaning here. No oppression is meant, but a beneficial relationship. The son himself will also submit to the father. For only in this way will God achieve the actual goal of this creation: He will be all in all.

God will not be everything in a few, as the doctrine of heaven and hell says, nor will he be something in some, as perhaps the deniers saw the resurrection. It is precisely the resurrection and making alive of Christ as the firstfruits that contains a promise of God’s comprehensive salvation. Christ is the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep, and one day all will be raised to indissoluble life, made alive, so that at the very end, our God and Father can be all in us, and all in everyone else.

Questions

• What outlook and expectation shapes your life?
• What is the good news, how far does it reach?
• What does this expectation cause in you?
• What does this expectation do to your image of God, humanity and the world?
• How does this expectation influence how we interact with others?