DAILY TEXT, Today Tuesday June 21, 2022, Hearing about a resurrection of the dead, some began to mock (Acts 17:32).

DAILY TEXT, Today Tuesday June 21, 2022

Let's Examine the Scriptures Every Day 2022

Tuesday, June 21, 2022

Upon hearing of a resurrection of the dead, some began to scoff (Acts 17:32).

That way of thinking may have rubbed off on some Corinthian Christians (1 Cor. 15:12). Others may have seen the resurrection as symbolic. They thought that, before being Christians, being sinners was as if they were dead; but, by becoming Christians, they received the forgiveness of sins and it was as if they came back to life. For one thing or another, if they did not believe in the resurrection, their faith was worthless. If God had not raised Jesus, the ransom had not been paid and their sins had not been forgiven. So those who rejected belief in the resurrection could have no real hope (1 Cor. 15:13-19; Heb. 9:12, 14). Paul had seen for himself that Christ had been "raised from the dead." His resurrection was better than those who rose before him, So they died again. Paul also called Jesus "the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep in death." He was the first human to be resurrected as a spirit being and the first to go to heaven (1 Cor. 15:20; Acts 26:23; 1 Pet. 3:18, 22). w20.12 5 paras 11, 12

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 the presence of Christ to receive his heavenly reward and be "united with him in a resurrection like his." We now live in the foretold "presence" of Christ.

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