1 Corinthians 15:50-57 ~ 20150607 ~ Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org

06/07 1 Corinthians 15:50-57 Clothed to Inherit the Kingdom; Audio available at: http://www.ephraimbible.org/Sermons/20150607_1cor15_50-57.mp3


1 Corinthians 15 [SBLGNT]

50 Τοῦτο δέ φημι, ἀδελφοί, ὅτι σὰρξ καὶ αἷμα βασιλείαν θεοῦ κληρονομῆσαι οὐ δύναται, οὐδὲ ἡ φθορὰ τὴν ἀφθαρσίαν κληρονομεῖ. 51 ἰδοὺ μυστήριον ὑμῖν λέγω· πάντες οὐ κοιμηθησόμεθα πάντες δὲ ἀλλαγησόμεθα, 52 ἐν ἀτόμῳ, ἐν ῥιπῇ ὀφθαλμοῦ, ἐν τῇ ἐσχάτῃ σάλπιγγι· σαλπίσει γάρ, καὶ οἱ νεκροὶ ἐγερθήσονται ἄφθαρτοι, καὶ ἡμεῖς ἀλλαγησόμεθα. 53 δεῖ γὰρ τὸ φθαρτὸν τοῦτο ἐνδύσασθαι ἀφθαρσίαν καὶ τὸ θνητὸν τοῦτο ἐνδύσασθαι ἀθανασίαν. 54 ὅταν δὲ τὸ φθαρτὸν τοῦτο ἐνδύσηται ἀφθαρσίαν καὶ τὸ θνητὸν τοῦτο ἐνδύσηται ἀθανασίαν, τότε γενήσεται ὁ λόγος ὁ γεγραμμένος· Κατεπόθη ὁ θάνατος εἰς νῖκος. 55 ποῦ σου, θάνατε, τὸ νῖκος; ποῦ σου, θάνατε, τὸ κέντρον; 56 τὸ δὲ κέντρον τοῦ θανάτου ἡ ἁμαρτία, ἡ δὲ δύναμις τῆς ἁμαρτίας ὁ νόμος· 57 τῷ δὲ θεῷ χάρις τῷ διδόντι ἡμῖν τὸ νῖκος διὰ τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ.


1 Corinthians 15 [ESV2011]

1 Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you— unless you believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6 Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles.

35 But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?” 36 You foolish person! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. 37 And what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare kernel, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain. 38 But God gives it a body as he has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body. 39 For not all flesh is the same, but there is one kind for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish. 40 There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is of one kind, and the glory of the earthly is of another. 41 There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory. 42 So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. 43 It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. 44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. 45 Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. 46 But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual. 47 The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. 48 As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. 49 Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.

50 I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51 Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. 53 For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. 54 When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” 55 ​“O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” 56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 58 Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.


Paul continues to respond to the questions 'how are the dead raised? With what kind of body to they come?' (v.35). These were not questions out of curiosity to gain information. They were incredulous statements to make the idea of the resurrection look ridiculous. These were the questions of the fool of the Proverbs, who 'says in his heart ”there is no God”' (Ps.14, 53), These questions were rooted in the premise that perishable corruptible flesh is incompatible with eternal life and immortality. Paul agrees with their premise, but their conclusion that belief in the resurrection is absurd does not follow.

So far in verses 36-49 he has looked at the power of God who is the one who gives to everything its body. He has drawn from the creation narrative days 3, 6, 5 and 4, looking at botany, biology and astronomy to demonstrate that whatever the environment, God has proven himself more than capable of providing a body suitable for that environment.

He used the illustration of seeds to demonstrate that although there is organic continuity with what is sown, there is also radical discontinuity. What springs up from the ground is a radically transformed version of what was planted in the ground.

He draws the contrast between what is perishable, dishonorable, weak, and controlled by the soul or natural person, to what is imperishable, glorious, powerful, and controlled by the Spirit. He draws the contrast between the first Adam who was given natural life, is from the earth, made of dust with the last Adam who gives spiritual life, and is from heaven.

Inheriting the Kingdom

1 Corinthians 15:50 I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.

Paul draws our attention to this next phrase by saying 'this I say to you', and he addresses us with the endearing term 'brothers'. He says 'flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God.' This it seems, together with the Greek belief that matter is evil and the goal is to be freed from a material existence is what the Corinthians were basing their disbelief in the resurrection on. They didn't seem to question the continuation of the immaterial part of man, but they scoffed at the idea of a physical, material resurrection. Paul says, it is true, flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. The phrase 'flesh and blood' points to the weakness, the frailty, the fading temporary characteristics of humanity. The kingdom of God is eternal. Our current bodies are not fit for eternity. The kingdom of God is where God is king. These bodies are not designed to handle the revealed presence of God. Our eyes are not designed to be able to look directly at the sun without being irreparably damaged. These mortal bodies are not capable of beholding the glory of the Lord.

Notice, Paul uses terms of inheritance. Flesh and blood cannot inherit. An inheritance cannot be earned. It is not deserved. It is given. It is given by a father to a son. The inheritance goes to the heir, someone in the family. That is why Jesus told Nicodemus:

John 3:3 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” ...5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

You must be born from above. You must be born of the Spirit, born into the family to become a rightful heir to the kingdom of God. The perishable cannot inherit the imperishable. What good would it do for someone subject to death, decay, disorder, and decomposition to inherit something that lasts forever? Paul agrees, that it is nonsense for the perishable to inherit the perishable. But that does not lead him to the conclusion that there is no bodily resurrection.

We Shall All Be Changed

1 Corinthians 15:51 Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.

Paul says 'look!' again emphasizing what he is about to say. This is a mystery; something that was concealed, hidden in ages past, but God has now made it known to us. We shall not all sleep. In verse 6 he mentions that some of the 500 witnesses had fallen asleep, in verse 18 he talks about those who have fallen asleep in Christ, and in verse 20 he points to Jesus as the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. To fall asleep is a metaphor for the death of a believer. Jesus used this metaphor to speak of his dear friend Lazarus. Sleep is temporary, and people wake up from sleep. Here he declares 'we shall not all sleep.' Not every believer will die. Paul spells this out in more detail in his letter to the Thessalonian church as he speaks to them about those who have fallen asleep.

1 Thessalonians 4:15 For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.

We shall not all sleep. Some believers will be alive, will be left until the coming of the Lord. Most will fall asleep and will be resurrected, but some will be raptured. Some will still be living when Christ returns, and they will be caught up together with the resurrected in the clouds. Not all will sleep, but whether alive or asleep, we shall all be changed. Flesh and blood is not able to inherit the kingdom of God, so we must undergo a transformation. This transformation will happen instantaneously. This is no gradual slow process over time, like a seed slowly pushing its way up through the earth and developing stem and leaves and flower and fruit. In the smallest amount of time imaginable we will be completely transformed. John says:

1 John 3:2 Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.

We will be transformed by seeing Jesus. We will be like him. We will bear his image. When he appears we will be like him. This will happen to the dead and living at the last trumpet. Trumpets were used to give signals in battle. Leviticus 25 tells us that a loud trumpet was to be sounded throughout the land to signal the year of Jubilee. Zechariah 9:14 speaks of the Lord appearing and sounding the trumpet.

When that trumpet sounds, we will all be instantaneously changed. The dead will be raised imperishable and we shall be changed.

Further Clothed

1 Corinthians 15:53 For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality.

This perishable mortal body cannot come into the presence of the King without being radically transformed. We must put on imperishability and immortality. The word here for 'put on' is a word commonly used for putting on clothing. This ties back to verse 37, where he talked about the bare kernel, the naked seed. We are not changed by becoming less than we are, and what we are is not discarded and something new is put in its place, what we are is further clothed. Paul will talk more about this in 2 Corinthians 5.

2 Corinthians 5:1 For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2 For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, 3 if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked. 4 For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.

We long, not for some disembodied existence, but to be further clothed. We long to put on our heavenly dwelling. Clothing was a symbol of status and was linked to the inheritance. Remember the special robe that Jacob gave to his favored son Joseph, or think of the prodigal son who was clothed in the Father's best robe. This was partly to cover his shame and disgrace, but it meant much more. It demonstrated that he was welcomed back, not as a servant, but as a son, with all the rights and privileges of a son, given a right to the inheritance. These concepts of being clothed and being given the inheritance are closely linked. This clothing metaphor continues into the next verse.

Death Swallowed Up

1 Corinthians 15:54 When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” 55 “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”

At the resurrection, at the last trumpet, when the perishable and mortal is clothed in the imperishable and immortal, then the Scripture in Isaiah 25:8 will be fulfilled.

Isaiah 25:6 On this mountain the LORD of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine, of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined. 7 And he will swallow up on this mountain the covering that is cast over all peoples, the veil that is spread over all nations. 8 He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the LORD has spoken. 9 It will be said on that day, “Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us. This is the LORD; we have waited for him; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.”

He will swallow up death forever. Death is swallowed up in victory. This is what verse 24 talked about

1 Corinthians 15:24 Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. 25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death. 27 For “God has put all things in subjection under his feet.” ...

The last enemy, death, will be swallowed up by life so that God may be all in all. The miserable consequences of the fall will be undone, engulfed by an unstoppable life.

He quotes Hosea 13 as a taunt

1 Corinthians 15:55 “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”

Death is a powerful force. By a man came death (v.21); in Adam all die (v.22)

Romans 5:12 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—

Death is painful and death is powerful. Death conquers everyone. But death is being robbed of its victims. The lethal venom is neutralized and the painful stinger is removed. How?

1 Corinthians 15:56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.

The wages of sin is death (Rom.6:23). Death is painful and terrifying because of sin. We have sinned against a holy and righteous God and we will stand before him and give an account. The power of sin is the law. The law actually fuels sin. Romans 7 helps us to understand this.

Romans 7:7 ... if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.” 8 But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. For apart from the law, sin lies dead. 9 I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive and I died. 10 The very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me. 11 For sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me.

The power of sin is the law. Sin seizes an opportunity through the commandment to bring death. The law is good, but

Romans 7:13 ...It was sin, producing death in me through what is good, in order that sin might be shown to be sin, and through the commandment might become sinful beyond measure. 14 For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin.

Sin produced death through the law. Galatians tells us:

Galatians 3:22 But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin, ... 23 ... we were held captive under the law, imprisoned ...

Death stings because of sin, and sin uses the law as a powerful force to capture us and keep us under its power.

Victory Given Through Jesus

How do we escape from under this captivating power? How is it that death has lost its sting and its victory?

1 Corinthians 15:57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

It is nothing we can do. We are imprisoned, captive, slaves to sin and subject to death and the wrath of God. We cannot escape. We are dead in our trespasses and sins. We are helpless and hopeless. God gives us the victory. It is a gift. It is his prerogative to give. It is free and undeserved. This is the good news that saves us, the good news Paul started this chapter with – 'that Christ died for our sins'. 'We preach Christ crucified' (1:23).

Galatians 3:13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”—

Romans tells us

Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,

God gives us the victory over sin and death. It is free, unmerited generous kindness. It is the riches of God's marvelous grace. He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. There is salvation in no one else (Acts 4:12). No one comes to the Father except through Jesus (Jn.14:6).

God freely gives us the victory over sin. Romans tells us

Romans 6:6 We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. 7 For one who has died has been set free from sin. ...14 For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace. ...17 But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, 18 and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. ...22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life.

Thanks be to God that we are no longer slaves to sin. We are no longer under its power, the power of the law.

Romans 7:4 Likewise, my brothers, you also have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God. 5 For while we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death. 6 But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code.

We have died to the law. We are released from the law which held us captive. We are set free to bear fruit for God, to belong to Christ.

Because Jesus has taken the sting out of death for us, we can now say with Paul

Philippians 1:21 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. ...23 ...My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better.

Because God has given us the victory, to die is gain. We have boldness to face death with courage.

2 Corinthians 5:8 Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. 9 So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him.

Thanks be to God. All the credit for this rescue from sin and death goes to God. He planned it, he effected it, he brought it about, he gave it to us as a gift. All thanks, all worship, all praise must be directed toward God. He is the one who gives us the victory, victory over death, victory over sin, freedom from the power of the law. And he is the one who will bring us the ultimate victory of the resurrection, where death is swallowed up in eternal life. He will cause this bare kernel to burst out of the ground totally transformed, incorruptible, immortal, glorious.


Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org