HelpFinder Bible - Flipbook - Page 1412
1 C O RIN T H I A N S 1 5
39 So, my dear brothers and sisters, be eager to
prophesy, and don’t forbid speaking in tongues.
40 But be sure that everything is done properly
and in order.
The Resurrection of Christ
Let me now remind you, dear brothers
and sisters,* of the Good News I preached
to you before. You welcomed it then, and you still
stand firm in it. 2 It is this Good News that saves
you if you continue to believe the message I told
you—unless, of course, you believed something
that was never true in the first place.*
3 I passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me.
Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures
said. 4 He was buried, and he was raised from
the dead on the third day, just as the Scriptures
said. 5 He was seen by Peter* and then by the
Twelve. 6 After that, he was seen by more than
500 of his followers* at one time, most of whom
are still alive, though some have died. 7 Then he
was seen by James and later by all the apostles.
8 Last of all, as though I had been born at the
wrong time, I also saw him. 9 For I am the least of
all the apostles. In fact, I’m not even worthy to
be called an apostle after the way I persecuted
God’s church.
10 But whatever I am now, it is all because God
poured out his special favor on me—and not
without results. For I have worked harder than
any of the other apostles; yet it was not I but
God who was working through me by his grace.
11 So it makes no difference whether I preach or
they preach, for we all preach the same message
you have already believed.
15
The Resurrection of the Dead
12 But tell me this—since we preach that Christ
rose from the dead, why are some of you saying
there will be no resurrection of the dead? 13 For if
there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ
has not been raised either. 14 And if Christ has
not been raised, then all our preaching is useless, and your faith is useless. 15 And we apostles
would all be lying about God—for we have said
that God raised Christ from the grave. But that
can’t be true if there is no resurrection of the
dead. 16 And if there is no resurrection of the
dead, then Christ has not been raised. 17 And
if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is
useless and you are still guilty of your sins. 18 In
that case, all who have died believing in Christ
are lost! 19 And if our hope in Christ is only for
this life, we are more to be pitied than anyone
in the world.
20 But in fact, Christ has been raised from the
dead. He is the first of a great harvest of all who
have died.
21 So you see, just as death came into the
world through a man, now the resurrection
page 1042
from the dead has begun through another man.
as everyone dies because we all belong
to Adam, everyone who belongs to Christ will
be given new life. 23 But there is an order to this
resurrection: Christ was raised as the first of the
harvest; then all who belong to Christ will be
raised when he comes back.
24 After that the end will come, when he will
turn the Kingdom over to God the Father, having
destroyed every ruler and authority and power.
25 For Christ must reign until he humbles all his
enemies beneath his feet. 26 And the last enemy
to be destroyed is death. 27 For the Scriptures
say, “God has put all things under his authority.”* (Of course, when it says “all things are
under his authority,” that does not include God
himself, who gave Christ his authority.) 28 Then,
when all things are under his authority, the
Son will put himself under God’s authority, so
that God, who gave his Son authority over all
things, will be utterly supreme over everything
everywhere.
29 If the dead will not be raised, what point is
there in people being baptized for those who are
dead? Why do it unless the dead will someday
rise again?
30 And why should we ourselves risk our
lives hour by hour? 31 For I swear, dear brothers and sisters, that I face death daily. This is
as certain as my pride in what Christ Jesus our
Lord has done in you. 32 And what value was
there in fighting wild beasts—those people
of Ephesus*—if there will be no resurrection
from the dead? And if there is no resurrection,
“Let’s feast and drink, for tomorrow we die!”*
33 Don’t be fooled by those who say such things,
for “bad company corrupts good character.”
34 Think carefully about what is right, and stop
sinning. For to your shame I say that some of
you don’t know God at all.
22 Just
The Resurrection Body
35 But someone may ask, “How will the dead be
raised? What kind of bodies will they have?”
36 What a foolish question! When you put a
seed into the ground, it doesn’t grow into a
plant unless it dies first. 37 And what you put in
the ground is not the plant that will grow, but
only a bare seed of wheat or whatever you are
planting. 38 Then God gives it the new body he
wants it to have. A different plant grows from
each kind of seed. 39 Similarly there are different
kinds of flesh—one kind for humans, another for
animals, another for birds, and another for fish.
40 There are also bodies in the heavens and bodies on the earth. The glory of the heavenly bodies
is different from the glory of the earthly bodies.
41 The sun has one kind of glory, while the moon
15:1 Greek brothers; also in 15:31, 50, 58. 15:2 Or unless
you never believed it in the first place. 15:5 Greek Cephas.
15:6 Greek the brothers. 15:27 Ps 8:6. 15:32a Greek
fighting wild beasts in Ephesus. 15:32b Isa 22:13.