Lessons #541 and 542
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+ 1. It is best to use this note after you have listened to the lessons because there are +
+ comments given in the actual delivery not in the note. +
+ 2. The Bible abbreviations are as follows: CEV =Contemporary English version, +
+ CEB = Common English Bible, ESV= English Standard Version, +
+ GW = God’s Word Translation, ISV = International Standard Version, +
+ NAB=New American Bible, NASB= New American Standard Bible, +
+ NEB= New English Bible, NET = New English Translation, +
+ NLT = New Living Translations NJB = New Jerusalem Bible, +
+ NJV = New Jewish Bible, TEV = Today’s English Version. +
+AMP = Amplified Bible, UBS = United Bible Society +
+ 3. Notes have not been edited for grammatical errors. +
+ 4. Text is based on 1984 edition of the NIV +
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Resurrection Related Matters (1 Cor 15:20-28)
20 But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. 22 For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. 23 But each in his own turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him. 24 Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, 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 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. 28 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 message of this section that we stated in our last study is that Christ’s resurrection ensures orderly future resurrection and successful conclusion of God’s plan in relationship to creation. We considered the emphatic confirmation of Christ’s resurrection as Apostle Paul stated in verse 20. We noted that he described Christ as the “firstfruits” from the dead which we indicated that the term not only conveyed that Christ is the first to resurrect from the dead but also that the description gives a promise or pledge that there are more resurrections to follow at the proper time. Then we began our consideration of the apostle dealing with causal and means of death and resurrection that he gave in a general sense using the word “man” to describe both events in verse 21. However, we indicated that the apostle went from general to specific causal and means of death and resurrection. It is with this specific that we begin our study this morning in verse 22.
The apostle began with specific explanation for death’s presence in the world and the event of future resurrection since he began verse 22 with the word For that is translated from a Greek conjunction (gar) that has several usages. For example, it can be used as a marker of inference with the meaning “so, then, by all means” or it can be used as a marker of cause or reason for something in which case it may be translated “for, because.” It can be used as a marker of clarification or explanation so that it may be translated “for” or “you see.” It is in the sense of providing explanation that the word is used in verse 22. Specifically, it is used to provide an explanation of cause and means of death that involves a specific man, Adam.
Apostle Paul’s explanation regarding the specific cause and means of death began with a comparative clause of 1 Corinthians 15:22 as in Adam all die. The word “as” is translated from a Greek word (hōsper) that is used as somewhat more emphatic marker of similarity between events and states, hence means “just as, just as indeed” as it is used to compare the effect on people the disobedience of Adam and the obedience of Jesus Christ in Romans 5:19:
For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 15:22, the Greek word has the meaning of “just as” to convey comparison. Anyhow, the apostle wrote in 1 Corinthians 15:22 as in Adam all die. The question is how to understand the clause as in Adam all die. To do this requires examining the rest of the words the apostle used in the clause.
The first word we need to consider is the English preposition in in the phrase in Adam that is translated from a Greek preposition (en) that may mean “in” as a marker of a position defined as being in a location. Thus, the preposition is used for a place within which something is found as Apostle Paul used it to refer to the Scripture as where information regarding what Prophet Elijah did towards Israel is found as we read in Romans 11:2:
God did not reject his people, whom he foreknew. Don’t you know what the Scripture says in the passage about Elijah—how he appealed to God against Israel:
The Greek preposition may mean “in” as a marker of state or condition and so Apostle Paul used it to describe the state or condition of believers as living in sin prior to their salvation in Titus 3:3:
At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another.
The Greek word may be used as a marker of close association within a limit, hence may mean “in union with, joined closely with” or “in” as it is used by Apostle Paul of Christ who, as a spiritual being, fills believers so as to be in charge of their lives as that is meant in 2 Corinthians 13:5:
Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test?
The Greek preposition may be used as a marker of cause or reason so means “because of, on account of.” It is this sense that the word is used in Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount in which He discouraged rambling and repetition in prayer as we read in Matthew 6:7:
And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.
The word may be used as a marker of means or agency with the meaning “through” as it is used by Apostle Paul to describe the means he was set free from the law according to Romans 8:2:
because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 15:22, the word means either “in union with” or “because of.” However, the usage of the Greek preposition in our verse is the case where both meanings are intended to convey fully what the Holy Spirit intended to convey to us through the apostle. This being the case, the preposition should be understood as “because of being in association with or in union with.” Thus, the TEV rendered the preposition as ‘because of…union” and the standard Greek English Lexicon (BDAG) suggests the translation “because of a connection with.”
The second word to consider in the clause of 1 Corinthians 15:22 as in Adam all die is the word “all” that is translated from a Greek word (pas) that has different meanings. Often, when we encounter the word “all” in the English, we are prone to think in terms of absolute totality but that is not always the case as we demonstrate. The meaning of the word depends on whether it is used as an adjective or as a noun. The Greek word as an adjective may mean “every kind of, all sorts” in the sense of everything belonging, in kind, to the class designated by the noun as it is used to describe plague that the witnesses in Revelation would bring to the world as God’s judgment as we read in Revelation 11:6:
These men have power to shut up the sky so that it will not rain during the time they are prophesying; and they have power to turn the waters into blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague as often as they want.
The word may mean “each, every” as it pertains to totality with focus on its individual components as it is used by Apostle Paul in the instruction regarding avoidance of certain kind of believers as we read in 2 Thessalonians 3:6:
In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we command you, brothers, to keep away from every brother who is idle and does not live according to the teaching you received from us.
The word as an adjective may mean “whole” as it pertains to a high degree of completeness or wholeness so that Apostle Paul used it to describe Jesus Christ, using a building metaphor in Ephesians 2:21:
In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord.
The Greek adjective may be used as a marker of the highest degree of something so means “all, full, greatest.” The apostle used it in this sense in his instruction in Ephesians 4:2:
Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.
Here the apostle intended to convey that believers are to show the highest degree of humility so that the translators of the NIV rendered the Greek as Be completely humble and gentle although the Greek literally reads with all humility and gentleness. The word may mean “great” as it is used to describe the petition of the early church to God upon being threatened to stop preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ as we read in Acts 4:29:
Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness.
The phrase with great boldness is literally with all boldness. The word may mean “large” as it is used in the NIV and the GW to describe the crowd that came to Jesus according to Mark 2:13:
Once again Jesus went out beside the lake. A large crowd came to him, and he began to teach them.
The phrase a large crowd is literally all crowd. When our Greek word is used as a noun in the plural, it may mean “everyone, all” or “everything, all things.” It is in the sense of “everyone” that it is used to report what the Lord Jesus said to His disciples during His last Supper with them about their spiritual status as recorded in John 13:10:
Jesus answered, “A person who has had a bath needs only to wash his feet; his whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you.”
The phrase not every one of you is literally not all. It is in the sense of “everything” that the word is used to record Jesus’ assertion regarding what the Father had entrusted to Him as the Son as stated in John 3:35:
The Father loves the Son and has placed everything in his hands.
The phrase everything in his hands is literally all in his hands. In our passage of 1 Corinthians 15:22 where it is used as a noun, the meaning is either “all” or “everyone” to express the sense of totality although with emphasis on each individual member in humanity.
The third word to consider in the clause of 1 Corinthians 15:22 as in Adam all die is the word “Adam.” The word refers to the first human being God created as stated in 1 Timothy 2:13:
For Adam was formed first, then Eve.
Consequently, he was the ancestor of all humans although all humans after the flood are descended from Noah as stated in Genesis 9:19:
These were the three sons of Noah, and from them came the people who were scattered over the earth.
Adam as the first human created is related directly to God so that he is described as “the son of God” in genealogical record of Luke 3:38:
the son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.
He is the only human whose body was directly formed from dust by God as stated in Genesis 2:7:
the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.
Adam eventually disobeyed God so that through him sin entered the world as the Holy Spirit communicated through Apostle Paul as stated in Romans 5:12:
Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned—
By the way, we should note that the phrase in Adam in 1 Corinthians 15:22 is literally from the Greek in the Adam. This is because the apostle used the definite article before the word Adam. He did this to indicate that he meant the unique man, or the first man God created directly since the Hebrew word (ʾāḏām) that is transliterated in the Greek as “Adam” may mean “man” or “mankind.” The apostle wanted to be sure his readers understood he was not concerned with any man or mankind per say but the unique man or the “one of a kind” man that God created directly. In any event, Adam is an important figure in human history. In our passage of 1 Corinthians 15:22, the emphasis on him is as a male that was instrumental in propagating humankind.
The fourth word to consider in the clause of 1 Corinthians 15:22 as in Adam all die is the word “die” that is translated from a Greek word (apothnēskō) that means “to die,” that is, to cease to have vital functions whether at an earthly or transcendent level. It is in the sense of to die in earthly level that the word is used in Apostle Paul’s response to believers in Caesarea who were concerned that he would die in Jerusalem as narrated in Acts 21:13:
Then Paul answered, “Why are you weeping and breaking my heart? I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.”
It is in the sense of dying in transcendent level that involves not having eternal life that the word is used to report the warning of the Lord Jesus to a Jewish audience as narrated in John 8:24:
I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am the one I claim to be, you will indeed die in your sins.”
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 15:22, the word is used primarily with the sense of to die in an earthly level with implication of death in transcendent level. Put in another way, we mean that “to die” in our passage refers primarily to physical death with implication of spiritual death for all humans with exception of Jesus as we will argue shortly. This aside, the apostle used a present tense in the Greek for the word translated “die” in our verse. The apostle’s use of present tense in the Greek is because he expressed a universal truth about a state that perpetually exists in the world. The dying that the apostle had in mind is that which continues to exist and applies to humans that are related to Adam.
In any case, the apostle wrote in the clause of 1 Corinthians 15:22 as in Adam all die. The comparison that the apostle started in this clause should be understood to mean that everyone that is associated with Adam as the father of humanity dies physically because of him but not everyone associated with him dies spiritually since Jesus Christ is an exception as we stated previously because although He died physically, He did not die spiritually as every human being for He was without sin as the Scripture clearly states, as for example, in Hebrews 4:15:
For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin.
Be that as it may, we contend that when Apostle Paul wrote the clause of 1 Corinthians 15:22 as in Adam all die his focus was on physical death. This is because the word “all” as we have noted should be interpreted as “everyone.” This being the case, the word “everyone” would include Jesus Christ because He took on human nature as stated in Hebrews 2:14:
Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil—
Taking on human nature implies that Jesus Christ was associated with Adam while on this planet so His death on the cross although is different from every other human being is still that associated with Adam but only in a physical sense, so we contend that Apostle Paul was thinking primarily of physical death when he wrote the clause of 1 Corinthians 15:22 as in Adam all die.
We said that the apostle primarily thought of physical death when he penned the clause we are considering with the implication of spiritual death because he would have in his mind exempted Jesus Christ from spiritual death since He was without sin. Of course, Jesus experienced spiritual death momentarily in the sense of being separated from God for about three hours when He was bearing our sins on the cross but that is different from the spiritual death that we humans experience at birth because of our relationship with Adam. Adam did not immediately die physically when he sinned which implies that the death that occurred when he sinned was spiritual in that he was immediately alienated from God and that alienation from God continues till today of those who are born naturally. The reason we state that when Adam sinned that he died spiritually is because his physical death occurred several hundreds of years after he sinned. You see, God had warned Adam that the day he sinned by eating from the forbidden tree that he would die as we have recorded in Genesis 2:16–17:
16 And the LORD God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.”
The phrase of verse 17 for when is literally for in the day. The word “when” of the NIV is translated from a Hebrew word (yôm) that may mean “day, i.e., a unit of time reckoned from sunset to the next sunset, including two or more segments (morning and evening) about 24 hours.” Hence, the word has the sense of time. This being the case, the warning God issued to Adam implies that the moment or time that he disobeyed God’s instruction he would die. But Adam did not immediately die physically. Does it mean then that God’s word did not come true? No! God’s word was fulfilled in the sense that as soon as Adam sinned, he died in a spiritual sense of separation from God. This explanation can be supported in two ways. First, the sentence of Genesis 2:17 you will surely die is literally dying you will die. The literal translation reveals that dying starts immediately Adam sinned, but the final physical death would occur at a later date. The dying that started immediately is spiritual death; for, if there was no spiritual death there would be no physical death. Second, the action of Adam and Eve after they disobeyed God reveals that they immediately were alienated from God the moment they sinned. It is because of this alienation that they hid when they heard the Yahweh God approach them as stated in Genesis 3:8:
Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden.
So, there should be no doubt that as soon as Adam sinned, he died spiritually in that he was immediately alienated from God which is the essence of spiritual death although this alienation is eternal in nature barring faith in Christ.
Anyway, the point we are emphasizing is that in the clause of 1 Corinthians 15:22 as in Adam all die the apostle’s primary emphasis was on physical death although there is the implication of spiritual death. In order to fit the comparison that the apostle made later in the verse, it is necessary for us to understand that it is because of Adam and in association with him that death is a reality for every human being that is associated with Adam alone. Our use of the phrase “Adam alone” is to recognize that not all human beings will experience physical death. There are those who are believers in Christ that will not experience death at the coming of Christ as Apostle Paul conveyed in 1 Corinthians 15:51:
Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed—
The sentence We will not all sleep may be translated We will not all die as reflected in the NRSV. Those the apostle had in mind with the word “we” are believers in Christ. Again, we maintain that when the apostle set up the comparison in the clause of 1 Corinthians 15:22 as in Adam all die, he meant that every human being associated with Adam will die because of him or that physical death is a reality for all those associated with him. This brings us to the comparison the apostle made.
The apostle’s comparison is given in the second clause of 1 Corinthians 15:22 so in Christ all will be made alive. The word “so” is translated from a Greek adverb (houtōs) that is used primarily in two ways in the Greek. It could refer to that which follows in a discourse material and so may be translated “in this way” or “as follows.” Another usage is to refer to what precedes, in which case, it may mean “in this way, in this manner, so, thus.” It is in the second usage of “in this manner” that the apostle used the word in our passage to correlate with the Greek word (hōsper) we said is used in the first clause of the verse with the meaning “just as.”
The comparison given in the second clause of 1 Corinthians 15:22 so in Christ all will be made alive presents interpretation difficult. This we can see from how the NLT rendered it everyone who belongs to Christ will be given new life implying that the clause applies only to believers in Christ. But then, following our interpretation of the Greek preposition translated “in” in the first clause of the verse, the TEV translated it in the same way all will be raised to life because of their union with Christ implying either that all humans would be raised to life or only believers would be raised to life. But then, the question is what it means that all are in union with Christ. Before we get to the problem of interpretation, we should note that the phrase in Christ is literally in the Christ since the apostle used the definite article in the Greek before the word Christ. His use of it is to point our attention that he was speaking of the unique Christ, the one of a kind that is the Savior. This was necessary probably because of the word Christ is translated from a Greek word (Christos) that also means “the Anointed One, the Messiah” as the fulfiller of Israel’s expectation of a deliverer. The word may be used as a personal name ascribed to Jesus. It is this use of the word to describe Christ makes it necessary to qualify Christ. You see, the Greek word when pronounced would be indistinguishable from another Greek word (chrēstos) that in our NT pertains to being morally good and benevolent but it is a word among the Greek speaking world that is used commonly for a proper name. Therefore, by the apostle using a definite article before the Greek word that means “Christ,” he intended to ensure that his readers or those who hear it read would recognize that Christ he meant is that unique One that is the Savior of His people. With this comment out of the way, we return to the problem of the interpretation of the clause of 1 Corinthians 15:22 so in Christ all will be made alive.
We begin with the phrase in Christ that following what we said previously regarding the Greek preposition translated “in,” should be read as “because of and in association with Christ.” The difficulty of interpretation of this phrase in Christ is because it is one that is predominantly used in the NT by Apostle Paul as evident in the fact that of the 91 occurrences of the phrase in the NT, only five of these are found outside the epistles clearly recognized as written by the apostle. Hence, it is a phrase the apostle used in his epistles to convey several truths or doctrinal facts about believers as I will demonstrate with six doctrinal truths.
First, the phrase in Christ is one used by the apostle to convey that believers’ sins have been forgiven them since the Holy Spirit through Apostle Paul declared that truth to believers in Ephesus, as recorded in Ephesians 4:32:
Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.
It is a glorious thing that anyone’s sins have been forgiven since that has enormous implications with the person’s relationship with the God of the universe. People live in guilt and suffer because they do not know that their sins, no matter how awful they are, can be forgiven in Christ when they trust in Him. In fact, the offer the Holy Spirit made to Israel through Prophet Isaiah is available to us today. I am referring to the offer of Yahweh in Isaiah 1:18:
“Come now, let us reason together,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.
The Holy Spirit through Apostle Paul informs us that forgiveness is only available through Jesus Christ during his sermon in Pisidian Antioch, as we read in Acts 13:38–39:
38 “Therefore, my brothers, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. 39 Through him everyone who believes is justified from everything you could not be justified from by the law of Moses.
Forgiveness of sins results in peace with God. Consequently, anyone who has come to true realization of peace because of the individual’s sins being forgiven knows it is a great blessing for a person’s sins to be forgiven. No wonder the psalmist declared the blessedness of one’s sins being forgiven in Psalm 32:1–2:
1 Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. 2Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord does not count against him and in whose spirit is no deceit.
This being the case, the Holy Spirit wants believers to know how blessed they are because of the phrase in Christ that implies they are in union with Christ.
Second, related to the forgiveness of sins, the phrase in Christ Jesus is used to convey the truth that believers are no longer going to face eternal judgment of the type that will result in eternal condemnation. This truth is evident in what the Holy Spirit stated through Apostle Paul in Romans 8:1:
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus…
When man fell into sin, God pronounced him guilty of sin, hence he came under condemnation with the ensuing punishment. That God’s pronouncement of guilt on man brought condemnation is stated in Romans 5:16:
Again, the gift of God is not like the result of the one man’s sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification.
The condemnation that is the result of the fall was not only on Adam and Eve, the first sinners of human history, but on all their descendants, that is, entire humanity, as stated in Romans 5:18:
Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men.
As humans, we stand in condemnation that means loss of eternal relationship with God and consequently, loss of the kind of life that is suited to be with Him forever. There is more, this condemnation means that a person is under God’s wrath. But when a person is in Christ that person escapes condemnation and so the wrath of God, as the Holy Spirit reminds us through the pen of Apostle Paul in 1 Thessalonians 1:10:
and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.
You will never face God’s eternal wrath because you are no longer under His condemnation as the rest of humanity that do not believe in Christ. Hence, the phrase in Christ is one that assures you that you will never be under God’s condemnation. This truth is confirmed by the third truth we consider.
Third, the phrase in Christ is used to communicate that believers have received eternal life. Eternal life is a gift that is offered through Jesus Christ, according to Romans 6:23:
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
The Holy Spirit informs us that eternal life is only available in Christ not only through the pen of Apostle Paul but also through the pen of Apostle John in 1 John 5:11–12:
11 And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.
Consequently, those who are in Christ share His life, eternal life. It is the possession of eternal life that ensures we are never going to be under God’s wrath in the eternal state. We know that every human being will live eternally but the issue is where one will live eternally. Those who are in Christ will live eternally with Him but those who are not, will live eternally in the place described as lake of fire. We know that everyone will live eternally because everyone will experience resurrection, as indicated in Daniel 12:2:
Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt.
The Lord Jesus restated this truth in John 5:28–29:
28 “Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice 29 and come out—those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned.
Thus, those who are in Christ are those who will have the good resurrection that is described as will rise to live. Of course, those who are in Christ are already alive so that the Holy Spirit could command us to consider ourselves alive in Christ and dead to sin, as we read in Romans 6:11:
In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.
The point is that because of the phrase in Christ, believers have eternal life in union with Him. This brings us to the next truth.
Fourth, the phrase in Christ is used to convey believers in Christ that die before Christ comes back will be among the first to resurrect. This truth is conveyed in 1 Thessalonians 4:16:
For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.
The sentence the dead in Christ will rise first indicates those who have already departed to be with Lord Jesus will receive a resurrection body first. We can understand that this makes sense because of the privilege that belongs to them. Now, they are in the presence of the Lord so when our Lord begins to step out of third heaven, it makes sense that they are the first that He would get ready to join Him. So, it should not be surprising that this is the order that resurrection will take place. These are the ones already enjoying our Lord’s presence uninterrupted and so they should be the ones to receive their final resurrection body first. Many of us Christians desire not to die until the Second Coming. Well, this sentence indicates that those who died in the Lord are standing at a higher position than those who are physically alive on the earth when the Second Coming takes place. If we understand that Christ has removed the sting of death for us, I think it is something we should be looking forward. I do not mean we should be careless and not take care of our bodies and so commit suicide. But what I am trying to indicate is that for the believer there could be no experience on this planet that will equal the experience of dying. One minute the believer is in this world of sins, pain, and injustice and within a nanosecond, the believer opens his/her eyes and sees the Lord Jesus Christ face to face. There is something that believers who die now experience that I do not believe that those who are alive when the Lord returns would experience. It is the angelic escort into heaven of believers who depart from this life. Be that as it may, the point we want to emphasize is that being in Christ means that the believer is in a position not only to enjoy resurrection but that if such a person departs from this life such an individual will be among the first to receive a resurrection body and so the first in the order of resurrection of believers.
Fifth, the phrase in Christ is used to teach the doctrine that a believer is a new being. It is this truth that is conveyed in 2 Corinthians 5:17:
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!
This verse is subject to two different interpretations as reflected by the fact that we have two major different translations in our English versions. The sentence he is a new creation of the NIV84 is translated there is a new creation in some English versions such as the NRSV, the NJB, and REB. NIV2011 reads the new creation has come. The reason for different translations is that there is no verb in the Greek so that the clause of the NIV if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation is literally from the Greek if anyone in Christ, a new creation. Since there is no verb or pronoun in the Greek, translators filled in both. The Greek phrase implies we should supply the verb “is”, so the question is whether to supply the pronoun “he” or “there” in the translation. Some English versions supplied “he is” as in the NIV84 while others supplied “there is” as in the NRSV. The implication of the translation he is a new creation is that the one who is in Christ is a new being while the translation there is a new creation implies that not just that the person in Christ has been made new but also that a new situation has been created. It is probably the case that the apostle implied both interpretations so that the person in Christ is a new being that is part of the new creation since the apostle in his epistle to the Ephesians conveyed that there is a new humanity in Christ he described as the “new man” in Ephesians 2:15:
by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace,
In effect, we mean that when a person is in Christ, he is not only a new being but a part of the new creation that includes the new humanity that exists in Christ. It is probably this understanding of the Greek phrase that is reflected in the CEB that translated the literal Greek a new creation as that person is part of the new creation. That aside, the point is that being in Christ Jesus implies that the believer is a new being that is a part of the new humanity in Christ as part of the new order that is established through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Sixth, the phrase in Christ is used to communicate the doctrinal truth that while believers are still on this planet but because of their union with Christ they are already in heaven as citizens of heaven. This assertion is one that, like being in Christ, is difficult to grasp but should be accepted in faith. A person who is in Christ by such a position is already in heaven. This is because Christ is in heaven. Therefore, if a person is in Him, that person is already in heaven, as implied in Ephesians 2:6:
And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus.
Of course, when the apostle wrote seated us with him in the heavenly realms, the Holy Spirit meant to convey to us that we are guaranteed of future exaltation in heaven with Christ. Put in another way, the Holy Spirit gives the assurance to those who are in Christ that they are guaranteed to be in heaven no matter what Satan and his agents do. A person in Christ will be in heaven as that is where Christ resides. Thus, being in Christ Jesus is one that should give assurance of salvation to the believer in that such an individual will be in heaven with Jesus Christ.
The doctrinal facts we have given indicate that the phrase in Christ is usually applied to believers and so that creates problem of how to interpret the clause of 1 Corinthians 15:22 so in Christ all will be made alive. To say that the phrase in Christ should be understood to mean “because of and in associate with Christ” what is stated will happen, begs the question of how the word “all” will apply to the concept of association with Christ since the word “all” in absolute sense will include believers and unbelievers. However, one interpretation takes the word “all” as only a reference to believers. This interpretation is justified on three grounds. It is argued that the Greek word translated “all” in both clauses of verse 22 is modified, in the first clause by the words ‘in Adam’, in the second by the words ‘in Christ.’ This argument ignores the correspondence the apostle made between the two clauses. Furthermore, it is unlikely that the apostle would have used the Greek word translated “all” in different senses in the verse. Another argument in support of interpreting “all” as a reference to believers only is that the context is only discussing the destiny of the righteous. True, the context is concerned primarily with resurrection of believers but it is incorrect to assume that the apostle would not have thought of “all” in absolute terms since he referenced general resurrection in his argument given in 1 Corinthians 15:13:
If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised.
A third argument in support of the interpretation that “all” in the second clause of 1 Corinthians 15:22 refers only to believers is that the Greek verb translated “made alive” is only used for believers. The problem of this argument is that there is an instance where the Greek verb used, that we would get to shortly, applies to making alive that there is no indication that only believers are meant, that is, in John 5:21:
For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it.
There is no clear indicator that the phrase the dead here refers to believers only. This being the case, it is difficult to sustain this third argument.
Based on the refutations of the arguments in support of “all” as reference to only believers in the second clause of 1 Corinthians 15:22 so in Christ all will be made alive, it is my interpretation that “all” is used absolutely as a reference of all believers and unbelievers. I realize that our interpretation is faced with the fact that the phrase in Christ is overwhelming used in application to believers, but we cannot interpret a passage without the context where the apostle began his argument about the resurrection of Jesus Christ by assuming general resurrection. The difficulty we face in our interpretation is resolved if we understand that Christ is in association with all humanity because He assumed human nature when He came to the world as we have already stated. This then leaves us to consider the sentence all will be made alive.
The expression “made alive” is translated from a Greek word (zōopoieō) that means “to cause to live.” So, it has the meaning “to give life” as it is used by Apostle Paul in describing what the Holy Spirit will do for believers in the future according to Romans 8:11:
And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.
The word may mean “to impart life” as Apostle Paul used it to describe what the law could not do as we read in Galatians 3:21:
Is the law, therefore, opposed to the promises of God? Absolutely not! For if a law had been given that could impart life, then righteousness would certainly have come by the law.
It is in the sense of “to make alive” that the word is used to describe the role of the Holy Spirit in Christ’s resurrection in 1 Peter 3:18:
For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit,
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 15:22, it is used with the sense of “to be made alive, that is, “to be caused to have life or to be caused to have life a second time.”
The fact the Greek word translated “made alive” means “to cause to have live” indicates that the apostle meant that all humanity that have died would be caused to live again. Being made alive is not limited to believers but unbelievers since we have already cited the passages in Daniel 12:2 and John 5:28-29 to support the fact that all humans would be made to live eternally but only those who are believers in Christ will live eternally with Him. Thus, when the apostle wrote the sentence of 1 Corinthians 15:22 so also in Christ all will be made alive he meant to convey that because of Christ and because all humans are associated with Him as a true human, resurrection of all without distinction is guaranteed. This being the case the translation of the NLT everyone who belongs to Christ will be given new life is limiting and so gives the wrong impression of what the apostle intended to convey. Anyway, the apostle wants us to recognize that because of Christ who assumed human nature that all humans who die would be resurrected but the kind of resurrection experienced by a person depends on the individual’s relationship with Christ. There is more to consider but we are out of time. However, let me end by reminding you that the message of this section is that Christ’s resurrection ensures orderly future resurrection and successful conclusion of God’s plan in relationship to creation.
07/28/23