Let's Examine the Scriptures Every Day 2022
Thursday, March 24, 2022
I have hope in God that there is going to be a resurrection of both the just and the unjust (Acts 24:15).
Even before the apostle Paul, the patriarch Job said that he was sure that God would remember him and restore him to life (Job 14:7-10, 12-15). “The resurrection of the dead” is one of the “foundations” or “basic teachings” of Christianity (Heb. 6:1, 2). Paul discussed it thoroughly in the 15th chapter of 1 Corinthians. His explanation surely encouraged first-century Christians a great deal, and it can also strengthen us no matter how many years we have cherished this hope. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the key to our hope that our loved ones can be resurrected. It was part of “the good news” that Paul announced to the Corinthians (1 Cor. 15:1, 2). In fact, he told them that if they did not believe that Christ was resurrected, his faith would be useless (1 Cor. 15:17). w20.12 2 paras. 2-4
Who are included in the words “all shall receive life”?
Notice that Paul said that "in Christ all shall receive life" (1 Cor. 15:22). He addressed his letter to the Corinthian Christians, who were anointed and would therefore be resurrected in heaven. They had been "sanctified in union with Christ Jesus" and "called to be saints." Paul also mentioned “those who have fallen asleep in death in union with Christ” (1 Cor. 1:2; 15:18; 2 Cor. 5:17). And, in another of the letters he wrote by inspiration, he said: “If we are united with him [Jesus] in a death like his, we will also be united with him in a resurrection like his” (Rom. 6:3- 5). Jesus was resurrected as a spirit being and went to heaven. The same thing awaits all who are "in union with Christ," that is, all the anointed.
What did Paul mean by calling Jesus “firstfruits”?
Paul wrote that Christ was raised "as the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep in death." Let us remember that there were other people, like Lazarus, who were resurrected on Earth, while Jesus was the first to be resurrected as a spiritual being and received eternal life. In that sense it was like the first fruits of the harvest that the Israelites offered to God. Furthermore, by calling Jesus “firstfruits,” Paul implied that later there would also be other people who would be resurrected to live in heaven. In time, all who were “in union with Christ”—including the apostles—would be resurrected to live in heaven, just like Jesus.
When would those “in union with Christ” receive their heavenly reward?
By the time Paul wrote to the Corinthians, the heavenly resurrection of those "in union with Christ" had not yet begun. In fact, he hinted that it would happen at a future time. He said: “Each one in his own order: Christ as firstfruits, and afterward those who belong to the Christ during his presence” (1 Cor. 15:23; 1 Thess. 4:15, 16). As we see, the apostles and other anointed would have to wait until Christ's presence to receive his heavenly reward and be "joined with him in a resurrection like his." We now live in the foretold "presence" of Christ.
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