[1] In 1 Corinthians 15:1-5, Paul defined
the GOOD NEWS The Gospel as the death, burial, and resurrection of
Christ. Mary who was first at the tomb that resurrection morning—not Peter.
Mary was the first preacher of the gospel. Peter [along with the other
disciples] heard the gospel for the first time from a woman, Mary, who heard it
from the angel.
Paul proved himself to be a supporter of women in ministry, examples being his equal treatment of
Priscilla, Phoebe, and Junia. He learned from Priscilla. He called Phoebe a
deacon. He called Junia an apostle. Paul had to know it was Mary, called the
Magdalene (because she was from Magdala), who saw Jesus first after his
resurrection, and not Cephas. For some reason, he drew a curtain of
invisibility over the fact that it was a woman who first saw Jesus and preached
the GOOD NEWS that Jesus alive after his crucifixion.
Most scholars agree that the gospels were written after the
epistles. That being the case, the writers of the gospels, under the direction
of the Holy Spirit, made certain that all the world would know it was a woman
who first saw Jesus alive after he had been laid in the grave, and also that it
was a woman who was the first preacher the New Testament gospel.
[2] The twelfth being Matthias, who had
been with the disciples from the time Jesus was baptized by John until he died,
was buried, and rose again –Acts 1:21-26
[3] Paul said to
be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. Only the bodies of
believers sleep in death. The doctrine of souls sleeping
is not scriptural. Upon the death of the body, the spirit returns to God
who gave it (Ecclesiastes 3:21). The soul is immediately either with the Lord,
in Heaven, or in the hellish dimension of Hades or Sheol Luke
16:22-23.
[4] The ministry gift of apostle did not
pass away with the original twelve as some say. In fact, it was the group of
the original twelve that passed away with the suicide of Judas. Matthias
replaced Judas in the number of The Twelve. From that moment, the group was no
long the “original” twelve but continued to be called, The Twelve.
Paul was never numbered among The Twelve. When he wrote to
the Ephesians about the ministry gifts, there were already more than twelve
recognized as apostles, including himself, Jesus’ brother James, a woman named
Junia, and more.
[5] 1 Corinthians 15:10, tells us that no
one is beyond the reach of our loving Creator. Paul imprisoned and participated
in the murders of the earliest Believers. He hated Jesus, and he hated His
followers. Paul was a man of incredible hatred and anger before Jesus kept a
Divine Appointment with him on the road to Damascus. God turned the greatest
enemy the first Christians had into their greatest friend.
No one has gone too far or done too much that God cannot
change them and use them. He has a divine appointment for you. Don’t walk away
from it.
[6] The Bible says believers who have died
are sleeping. The same language is used of the resurrection from the dead.
The literal translation of the Greek says that after Jesus
died, he was “roused.” When someone is roused, they are awakened from sleep.
Those who are “In Christ” who sleep in death will also be “roused.”
The resurrection from the death is a physical event.
The same bodies that “fell asleep” in death will
wake up. The fact that bodies will be decomposed does not change this fact. It
will be those same bodies that will rise as glorious bodies that will never die
again. Job knew this when he said though this body would be destroyed (died and
decayed), with his own eyes, he would see God.
There is a physical resurrection
from the dead.
Do you know for sure that after
your body falls asleep in death that you will be roused in the Resurrection of
Life to live forever? Eternal Life is found only one place...not in any
theology or religious organization or denomination but in a person,
the person of Jesus the only Christ. Do you believe he is the
Son of God? Do you believe God raised him from the dead? Have you called
on him to save you from your sins? Do it NOW. No one has the promise of
tomorrow.
[7] 1 Corinthians 15:20 is a reference to
fulfilled prophecy. The Feast of the Lord called firstfruits foretold the
physical resurrection of Jesus. Each one of the seven Feasts of the Lord
foretold some aspect of the redemption wrought through the person and work of Yeshua.
[8] 1 Corinthians 15:24-26 is a reference
to the end of first thousand years of Messiah’s Kingdom. His his Kingdom is
forever, but it does have stages. The Kingdom of Christ will exist for eternity
in the New Heavens and the New Earth. All his enemies [both mortals and angels]
will be put down, forever, at the end of the thousand years when death shall be
abolished.
[9] 1 Corinthians 15:26 is not just
speaking of physical death. THE Death, is something much worse. Here, the
apostle writes of a time when never again will anyone be destroyed from the
presence of God and his power. THE
Death, will be abolished.
[10] John 1:1,12 says that Jesus, The Word,
is God (Jehovah), and that God himself became flesh and dwelt among us.
Colossians 2:9 says that all the fullness of the Godhead (Jehovah) resides in
Jesus in physical form.
[11] Baptizing for the dead must be part of
Jewish Tradition, as it is found nowhere in the Old Covenant scriptures, the Torah, Psalms, or prophets. The only
place it is seen in the written Word of God, is this one mention to what must
have been a common practice among the Jews at that time. On more than one
occasion, Paul quoted Jewish Tradition in his letters. Tradition is not
authoritative, no matter how widely accepted it may be, and no matter who
quotes it, and this one statement, about baptizing for the dead, cannot be
taken to mean the dead can be saved after they have died in their sins. When
Jesus said, “If you do not believe that I AM you shall die in your sins,” he
left no question that dying in one’s sins was a final and terrible fate. “It is
appointed to man once to die and after that the judgement.”
[12] Hope of the resurrection—the knowledge
of standing before the Judge of all the Earth—is powerful incentive to live
responsibly and do good. The idea of unaccountability, gives rise to wasted
lives, selfishness, and worse.
[13] The word, audawm, is the phonetic spelling of the Hebrew word, 'âdâm, the name God gave to his entire
human creation—both female and male Genesis 5:2. For a full
explanation of the use of the word “audawm,”
throughout this work, see “Untranslated Words” under “Special Features.”
[14] The Fall [sin] dishonored the bodies
of the first humans. A dishonoring physical change was made to human DNA when
death was introduced into the bodies of the first couple through sin. This
corruption of their perfect DNA was passed to all of their descendants.
At the resurrection, our original perfect DNA will be
restored. We will become immortal. Those who die “In Christ” will be raised never to die again.
[15] The Psalmist wrote, What are mortals
that you are mindful of them the children of ‘âdâm [humanity] that you visit
them a For you have made them a little lower than Elohim and are
crowning them with glory and honor (Psalm 8:4-5 is a prime example of
English-translation-theology).
[16] Spiritual bodies are just as real and
tangible as natural bodies, the difference between the two, is that natural
bodies, those that are subject to the laws of physics (space, time, energy,
matter), cannot always see spiritual bodies, which are not subject to known
laws of physics.
The corruptible natural body of Jesus, was raised as a
glorious, indestructible, spiritual body. But that does not negate his physical
resurrection, or the physical resurrections of those who belong to him. Rather,
it elaborates and sheds light upon the magnificent nature of it.
His physical body was
raised from the dead, and during that instantaneous process 1 Corinthians
15:52, it was gloriously changed from a body subject to the natural laws
of physics into a body that could transcend space, time, energy, and matter.
The body of every believer will also be raised in such a manner 1 John 3:2.
[17][17] How many Lords are there in Heaven?
[18] In this chapter, Paul is speaking of the condition of our bodies in the resurrection. In Genesis chapter one, where it states that audawm (every human) is created in the image of Elohiym—who is an awesome, transcendent, being—the reference is not to physical bodies, or even behavior, but rather to an intrinsic state of being. In 1 Corinthians 15:49, where the apostle states that audawm bears the image of God’s first human creations, he is referencing the condition of the mortal body—which, because of sin, is subject to the second law of physics, the law of decay. But the assurance is, that mortal condition will not be permanent. One day, all who belong to Christ, will have glorious resurrected bodies. Just like Jesus, our resurrected bodies will never die, and will no longer be subject to the current laws of physics. 1 Corinthians 15…
Being “created in” the image of God, is intrinsic to all humans, and not affected by whether one is saved or unsaved*. “Bearing” the image of the first fallen humans, is also intrinsic to all humans. Both states of being are intrinsic—meaning they are who we are, not something we do—not sets of behaviors or banners that we bear and wave around for all to see.
The common saying, that we are “image bearers” of God,
places an erroneous twist on God’s Words, by suggesting that the image of God
is something to be portrayed, rather than a state of being. Should our lives be
examples of godly, Christlike living? Absolutely. But whether lifestyles
portray good or evil, whether one is born again or not, all people are created
in the image of God, and bear the image of his fallen earthly creation, as
well. The good news is, the hope of the resurrection belongs to “whosoever”
hears and responds in the affirmative to God’s invitation to LIFE John
3:16.
*That is why it is such a grievous thing when murder is
committed**. Either in the womb or out, whether a person acknowledges God or
not, if a person is murdered, it is the image of God that has been maliciously
destroyed.
**Judicial execution is not murder. However, the Bible
clearly states the prerequisites for condemning offenders to death, and
strongly condemns unrighteous judgements, where either justice is not attempted
at all, or where the travesty occurs that innocent people are condemned instead
of the guilty.
[19] The first 1 000 years of Christ’s Kingdom, is only the first part of the inheritance for the living survivors of the Great Tribulation and Judgement of the nations, who will enter into Life* in their mortal conditions. Just as the first resurrection occurs in phases, the Kingdom of God has phases as well. The Kingdom of Christ, once initiated, will never end. Jesus said the Kingdom of God would first manifest [on earth] in the spiritual realm, but would surely be followed by the physical. We are currently in phase one, where the Kingdom of God has yet to become a physical reality, but resides within every believer, and produces righteousness, peace, and joy by the Holy Spirit Luke 17:20-21, Romans 14:17. Phase two of the Kingdom of God, will begin with the physical, visible, return of Jesus to the earth, where he will defeat his enemies at the Battle of Armageddon Luke 17:24, Revelation 19:11-21, and will continue through the first 1000 years of his reign.
The last days include both phase one and two of the Kingdom. During phase two, the Word of God will flow from Jerusalem and knowledge of God will fill the whole earth Isaiah 2:2-3, Habakkuk 2:14. At that time, there will still be mortals in Christ’s kingdom. We know this, because the Bible says they will marry, give birth, and even die Isaiah 11:6-10 & 65:18-25.
The third and
final phase, will begin at the end of the 1000 years, when Jesus will root out,
expose, and destroy every enemy. It is then that all remaining mortals who
survived the Great Tribulation, Judgement of the Nations, and remained faithful
to him throughout the first 1000 years of the Kingdom Age, will be changed (from mortal to immortal) and
saved from the fiery purge that will initiate the creation of the New Heavens
and the New Earth. These will be inhabited forever by the saved from all the
ages. It is to the final and permanent manifestation of the Kingdom that Paul
refers to when he wrote that flesh and blood would not inherit the Kingdom of
God 2 Peter 3:7-13.
*1 Thessalonians 1:7-10 establishes that “Life” consists of
living in the presence and power of God. Jesus will be present during his
millennial reign, sitting upon the throne of David. Those who made the choice
to lose limbs rather than take the Mark of the Beast, but somehow manage to
make it, alive, to witness the physical, visible, return of Jesus at the end of
the Great Tribulation, will enter into Life (the millennial Kingdom) in their mortal bodies Matthew 18:8, Mark
9:43 We know those horribly maimed by the Man of Sin, during his reign of
terror, will not remain so. Healing is a prominent feature of Christ’s Kingdom Isaiah
35:4-6. Survivors who may not
have professed Christ during the Great Tribulation, but provided aide to
persecuted Jews and Christians, during the Time of Jacob’s Trouble, will
survive the Judgement of the Nations and enter into the Joy of the Lord, in their mortal bodies Matthew 25:31-39.
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