1 Corinthians 16:19-24

"The churches of Asia send you greetings. Aquila and Prisca, together with the church in their house, send you hearty greetings in the Lord. All the brothers send you greetings. Greet one another with a holy kiss. I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand. If anyone has no love for the Lord, let him be accursed. Our Lord, come! The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you. My love be with you all in Christ Jesus. Amen."

After sending greetings to the Corinthians from various believers, Paul returns to the subject of love to close the book. He already spent the better part of a chapter teaching us what love looks like and helping us realize love's importance. But in these closing verses, Paul uses even stronger language than he did earlier in the book.

He says, "if anyone has no love for the Lord, let him be accursed." In other words, love God or be damned. That's unsettling! How can we be given such an ultimatum? Well, I don't think it is an ultimatum. I think its a warning that if you don't love Him, you are not His.

When you come to understand how God revels Himself in the Bible, you must either love Him or hate Him. Those who love Him, love Him because they are His. And troubling statements will not cause them to stumble though they must wrestle through them at times. Those who have no love for him will simply reject Him and go into eternity as His enemy.

1 Corinthians 16:15-18

"Now I urge you, brothers—you know that the household of Stephanas were the first converts in Achaia, and that they have devoted themselves to the service of the saints— be subject to such as these, and to every fellow worker and laborer. I rejoice at the coming of Stephanas and Fortunatus and Achaicus, because they have made up for your absence, for they refreshed my spirit as well as yours. Give recognition to such men."

Biblical leadership looks very different from the corporate model. The top down structure of the business world elevates the leader to a position of superiority. And if he lords it over his underlings, that's just his right. But in the church, the business pyramid is flipped on its head. The leader is the servant of all. He is to lift those he leads up before the Lord.

Paul tells the Corinthians to subject themselves to their leaders. And yet, there seems to be no condemnation of Apollos for not doing what Paul wanted him to do. Believers are supposed to subject themselves to their leaders. But their leaders are not to demand submission.

What does the servant / servant-leader relationship look like then?

• There is no superiority or inferiority. No person's position, wealth, or influence make him better than any other person.
  
• Spiritual leaders are to lead by serving. And their service is very valuable both to other leaders and to the church at large.
• Believers are to voluntarily put themselves under the direction of their spiritual leadership. But they are not to blindly follow their leaders. Those under leadership are still responsible to think and make decisions for themselves, before God.

1 Corinthians 16:12-14

"Now concerning our brother Apollos, I strongly urged him to visit you with the other brothers, but it was not at all his will to come now. He will come when he has opportunity. Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love."

Paul had a strong opinion about what Apollos should be doing. He believed Apollos should go minister to the Corinthians. But Apollos wanted to continue ministering where he was. Knowing that the Corinthian believers were going to be without the benefit of Apollos' help, Paul urged them to stand firm in the faith and in love.

God gifts the church with preachers and teachers to lead His people toward a closer walk with Him. When a church is struggling, no man no matter how gifted, is the answer. But God can use a man to direct His people toward Himself. The pastor is to be directing God's people to follow him in watchfulness, to be firm in the faith, to be strong, and to act in love.

1 Corinthians 16:10-11

"When Timothy comes, see that you put him at ease among you, for he is doing the work of the Lord, as I am. So let no one despise him. Help him on his way in peace, that he may return to me, for I am expecting him with the brothers."

Timothy was to be put at ease by the Corinthians. The NASB translates the phrase "without cause to be afraid." I doubt that this was a fear for his life or safety. This is more like the apprehension you feel when visiting someone for the first time when you really want them to like you. Timothy, no doubt, wanted to start relationships that would be used to minister to the Corinthian believers. So Paul tells the Corinthians to recognize Timothy's desire to serve the Lord and to accept him and help him in that. Timothy was to be honored, not held in contempt.

As one often on the receiving end of this type of situation, I certainly find it easier to serve the Lord when people warmly welcome us. The cold barriers that people put up to protect themselves more often damage than protect.

1 Corinthians 16:5-9

"I will visit you after passing through Macedonia, for I intend to pass through Macedonia, and perhaps I will stay with you or even spend the winter, so that you may help me on my journey, wherever I go. For I do not want to see you now just in passing. I hope to spend some time with you, if the Lord permits. But I will stay in Ephesus until Pentecost, for a wide door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many adversaries."

I need to be content to say the same type of thing. Being a missionary, raising support, I have been asked from the beginning, "when do you plan to be there?" I've always hated that question. It's frustratingly difficult to give a difinitive answer. The question is asked in almost every church we visit and is a constant reminder of the uncertainty of our schedule. Usually I say we want to be in Romania by . . . or it will depend on . . .

I don't have to know when God will have us where in Romania. I will make plans and have intensions. But I must always remember that God has something for me everywhere He puts me, and He is to be trusted even if He doesn't follow my plan.

1 Corinthians 16:1-4

"Now concerning the collection for the saints: as I directed the churches of Galatia, so you also are to do. On the first day of every week, each of you is to put something aside and store it up, as he may prosper, so that there will be no collecting when I come. And when I arrive, I will send those whom you accredit by letter to carry your gift to Jerusalem. If it seems advisable that I should go also, they will accompany me."

Beginning to wrap his letter up, Paul moves from the subject of the resurrection to some final, practical considerations. The first of these is a voluntary collection of funds for the struggling saints in Jerusalem. The believers in Corinth were instructed (probably because they asked about it) to systematically prepare a gift that could be delivered to the believers in Jerusalem. The Corinthians were to gather everything together and have it ready to go to Jerusalem before Paul arrived at Corinth. The gift was to be delivered by trustworthy believers of Corinth. Paul had not yet decided if he would accompany them on the journey to Jerusale or have them go on without him.

There are several potential lessons in these directions for those who have oversight over fellow believers' giving.

• Do not resort to emotional or heavy handed tactics when collecting money. Paul wanted everything taken care of before he arrived. Perhaps this was so that people did not feel pressured to give by an apostle.
• The farther a spiritual leader can be from the actual control and handling of the funds, the better. Paul was considering going to Jerusalem, but he was not going to take the collection himself. Whether or not he went, several trustworthy laymen were to make the delivery.
• Each believer was to personally decide what God would have him give. There is no call for a certain amount. They were simply to set "something aside . . . as he may prosper." While percentages are helpful guides, the important thing is that we are giving and that we are sensitive to what God wants us to give.

1 Corinthians 15:58

"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."

Because of the confidence that Christians can have about what lies ahead, our lives should be resolute. We should have an immovably fixed persistence to our lifestyle. We should be driven to serve the Lord. The text says we should be "abounding in the work of the Lord." The word translated abounding conveys the idea of an abundance. We do not merely meet expectations, fulfilling the minimum required to get by. We exceed what anyone might expect of us. We push forward with an insatiable drive to serve the one who freed us from all fear because we want to bring Him glory. And He is most clearly glorified by our worship spreading to others. When we worshipfully serve the Lord, the Holy Spirit uses our efforts to bring others to meet the Savior.

1 Corinthians 15:54-57

"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. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."

Death marches relentlessly forward upon the human race. We can evade it temporarily, but at the time appointed, this life will end for all of us. And for those without confidence about what lies ahead, death has a terrible sting. It strikes wide, deep, and long. Death conquers and conquers and conquers still. But it's victory is not universal.

Those who know Christ as their savior will experience no sting in death. For them "death is swallowed up in victory." They have nothing to fear: sin (the sting of death) has been paid for by Christ's death and the law (the deadly force of sin) has been satisfied by Christ's obedience in life. While it is true that some who are trusting in Christ still fear the unknowns of death, Christians can at least be certain that since Jesus was not defeated in death, we will not be either. Don't fear what you don't know. Rejoice in what is certain.

1 Corinthians 15:50-53

"I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 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. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality."

We cannot in our current form experience the fullness of blessing that God has in store for us. Physical bodies are temporal, limited, and decaying. Spiritual, heavenly blessings are unending, unending, and so far beyond us that they can only be fully enjoyed in spiritual bodies.

Not every Christian must die to experience these blessings. Some will be transformed without death at Christ's return. It will happen in an instant. The day will seem like any other, then mortal to immortal, dieing to incorruptible.

This truth is encouraging on a couple of levels.

1. We will eventually be freed from the pains of decay that we are progressively subjected to as we grow older.
2. We will enjoy a fuller, deeper fellowship with God.
3. We will be freed from the corruption of temptation to sin.
4. Whether or not we experience death, we "must" experience this new life.
   

1 Corinthians 15:46-49

"But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual. The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. 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. Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven."

There is no disputing that we are dust. Our predecessors all lived their lives and died. After death (with the exception of the occasional ice man), they all decomposed, returning to dust. But that is not all that awaits us. If we, though faith in Christ, are of heaven, then we will follow Him in victory over death. "We shall also bear the image of the man of heaven."

1 Corinthians 15:45

"Thus it is written, 'The first man Adam became a living being'; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit."

If you slow down and really attempt to understand this verse, it is mind blowing! God created Adam. He breathed into him the breath of life. And Adam became a living soul. Some time later, God (in the person of Jesus) took on flesh, the very thing that He Himself had breathed life into so long ago. His motivation for doing this was to give life to those who had squandered it. And the giving of life would come at a high cost. Through His death, Jesus gives life.

I am like the first Adam, a living soul. God has given me life, and I have often turned away from Him in sin. But I will be like the second Adam. Jesus has already given me spiritual life and will complete it in His time by also giving me a spiritual body. “If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body” (44b).

1 Corinthians 15:42-44

"So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body."

As the seed’s death brings about the life of a new plant, so also the Christian’s physical death brings about a new spiritual life. What are the differences between the seed and the plant (that is our current bodies and Christians’ resurrection bodies)?

Our current bodies will die. All the health care in the world will not extend a person's life into eternity. But our resurrection bodies will never wear out. They will last forever.

Our current bodies will rot away in a manner that most people find revolting and not a subject for polite conversation. But our resurrection bodies will be things of unfading magnificence. We will be glorious in form and in appearance.

Our current bodies are wrought with debilitating illnesses. Cancer, diabetes, the flu, the cold, and infections are just a few of the many things that weaken rich and poor alike. But our resurrection bodies will have a God-given, unshakable, unyielding power. We will no longer be subject to our present ailments. These frightening maladies that occupy our time, attention, and money will all be behind us (perhaps a distant memory).

Our current bodies are limited, and we are not inherently able to understand or even receive spiritual truths. But our resurrection bodies will themselves be spiritual. That plain of existence that now seems so distant and illusive shall be our pleasant and blessed reality.

The fact that we have a physical body should be a constant reminder of the body to come. For Christians who are nearing the end of their lives, this is a clearer reality. But all of us who have a saving relationship with Christ would do well to remember the blessings to come.

1 Corinthians 15:35-41

"But someone will ask, 'How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?' You foolish person! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. And what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare kernel, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain. But God gives it a body as he has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body. For not all flesh is the same, but there is one kind for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish. 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. 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."

The scoffer makes light of the reality of the resurrection. “How is it possible,” he laughs, “that a body could decay to nothing and then come back to life?” Paul responds by pointing out that the death of a seed brings about the life of a plant. When you place a seed in the ground, you don’t look for that seed again. Its death brings about new life.

Likewise, the Christian’s physical death will bring about new life. He shall be raised. I believe that there will be some kind of connection to our physical bodies, but they will not be what we now know them to be now. It’s not as if our hands, feet, skin pigmentation and follicle distribution are going to be exactly reconstituted at our resurrection after the decay of death does away with them. Our bodies will be raised, but we will not be as we now are. God will use our physical bodies to give us new heavenly bodies.

The scoffer dismisses the truth of the resurrection as unreasonable. But his supposed reasonableness is in fact foolishness. God will bring the dead to life, and He will do it in a way that will likely surprise even the believing recipients.

1 Corinthians 15:29-34

"Otherwise, what do people mean by being baptized on behalf of the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized on their behalf? Why are we in danger every hour? I protest, brothers, by my pride in you, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die every day! What do I gain if, humanly speaking, I fought with beasts at Ephesus? If the dead are not raised, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.” Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.” Wake up from your drunken stupor, as is right, and do not go on sinning. For some have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame."

Without the resurrection, what is the point? If the dead will not live again, then why bother giving attention to what comes after death. Without the resurrection, Christian sacrifice is ridiculous. If this life is all there is then, unmediated hedonism is the best there is to live for.

Although fulfilling selfish pleasures is the best that many people have, the passionate pursuit of satisfaction in earthly pleasures always leaves the pursuer empty. What's more it has a degenerative effect. Seeking joy and not finding it, the hedonist goes ever further away from God, thinking that there will be true pleasure in his next gratification, but all the time he is going ever further from the only source of true satisfaction.

How then should I live? I should provide avoid sin, providing an example of a joy-filled life without sinful self-gratification. I should live in the knowledge that Christ has been raised from the dead and the knowledge that I will follow Him in this. Knowing my end, I should display it for others to see.

1 Corinthians 15:27-28

"For 'God has put all things in subjection under his feet.' But when it says, 'all things are put in subjection,' it is plain that he is excepted who put all things in subjection under him. When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all."

Christ is always victorious. He is the supreme ruler of all that has been created. If something is, it is subject to Him. And yet, even He is in subjection to the Father. Our world is in rebellion. Christians are often in rebellion. I have a deeply rooted rebellious strain in my heart. But we are all all under Christ.

The Father put the Son over us all. We may buck against this. We may deny it, but it is reality. The stars, the moon, and all heavenly bodies; the trees, the wind, and the clouds; the whales, the bears, and the insects—they all praise God. They are in subjection. One day all people shall recognize God’s absolute authority. And finally, death itself will be in subjection.

If this is Jesus’ position, who am I? What right do I have to do as I please? How can I call His actions into question? I am small; I have no right to act independently; I can ask questions, but I must not question.

1 Corinthians 15:24-26

"Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death."

Death has been called many things: a predator, a friend, a relief, a mercy, a fearful unknown, the great equalizer. Here, the Bible calls death an enemy. Death was not part of God’s original design for humanity. It was the consequence that God warned would come if Adam disobeyed. Sin put man at odds with God, and death is part of the terrible baggage that comes with enmity with God.

Thankfully, the one man, Jesus has already broken the power of death, bringing spiritual life to those who trust in Him. But people still die, and many do so without even knowing the spiritual life that they could have had in Christ. There will, however, be a time when death is destroyed. After Jesus crushes all other rebellion, He will permanently the last remnant of disobedience—death.

I would get what I deserved if I got death. But Christ died so that I would not have to die, and now I will never know spiritual death. If it was my sin an disobedience that took Jesus to the cross and if sin and the accompanying death puts me in opposition to God, how can I continue to sin.

1 Corinthians 15:20-23

"But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ."

One man made one choice, to disobey God. Pridefully, Adam chose to elevate Himself to the position of judge of good and evil even though the consequences for doing so had already been explained to him, Adam decided that it was alright for him to do what God told him never to do. Because of Adam’s sinful choice, all men are spiritually dead, and we will all die physically. Why should we suffer for Adam’s decision? Adam was our federal head. We were in Adam, and when he sinned, we sinned.

But there is another man—Jesus Christ. And through him came not death but resurrection from the dead. Adam’s choice to disobey God is daily killing us all. Jesus’ choice to be obedient unto death is daily giving life. He gives us spiritual life, and will upon His return grant an unending, non-decaying, incorruptible physical life.

This new life is previewed by the One who is already living it. Jesus is the first to be raised unto this kind of life. And at His second coming, all those who are His will be physically raised unto this new life that He lives already.

How then shall I live? I should recognize the devastating and far reaching consequences of my sins. Sin is a merciless killer! My sin effects more people than I can imagine and for a longer time than I can imagine. Knowing this, I must flee from sin. Instead, I must choose life. I choose to come to Him who is life, who will ever-live, and who will grant that His own live with Him.

1 Corinthians 15:16-19

"For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied."

Christianity is nothing if Christ did not raise from the dead.

Pascal’s Wager asserts that it’s reasonable to believe in the gospel because if it’s true and you don’t accept it, you will spend eternity in Hell. But if it’s false and you have accepted it, then you have lost nothing. Those who make that assertion are generally well meaning, but the Bible never presents the decision to follow Christ as a well thought out insurance policy.

Pascal's assertion is that "if Christ has not been raised" then a person will be fine be fine either way, whether he is believing or not believing. Paul's assertion is that if we have hope only in this life and that if our trust is in a dead Christ then "we are of all people most to be pitied."

If our hope in Christ is only good during this life, then it is no good. What a waste our life would be if we spent it looking forward to something that was never to come.

How then shall I live? I shall live with a confident hope, knowing that my hope is well founded. Even those who now deny it will eventually give glory to the risen Christ. Jesus triumphantly conquered death, and those who follow Him shall not be pitied. It is for me to doubtlessly follow the one who truly rose from the dead.

1 Corinthians 15:12-15

"Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised."

The bodily resurrection of Jesus from the dead is not only an indisputable reality; it is an indispensable reality. Without the resurrection, Christianity is a cruel farce, and Christians are pathetically trusting in the worthless, empty hope of life beyond death. Without the resurrection, the apostles were a band of liars, and I am a liar too.

How then shall I live? I shall live confidently trusting that the resurrection did happen (as later verses reinforce). I shall not give an inch on this very important doctrine. I shall speak truth and rejoice in the reality that I am trusting in a risen savior.

1 Corinthians 15:10-11

"But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed."

All the credit goes to God. If there is anything good that is done by the Christian, it is because of God’s work in his life. Even if you have done a lot, God is the one empowering you to do it.

Paul saw and did much. And yet Paul pointed the attention away from himself and toward God. God was the one who put the desire to minister in his heart, and God was the one that empowered him to act.

How then shall I live? I shall live like it all depends on God, for it does. I must depend on Him, and after He acts, I must praise Him.