For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive (1 Corinthians 15:21-22).

In these weeks leading up to Easter, also known as Resurrection Sunday, we have been taking a “deep dive” into Paul’s passionate plea to the Corinthian church to understand Jesus’s death, burial, and resurrection rightly. 

In the portion for this week, Paul is laser-focused on the validity and effect of the resurrection of Jesus. You might ask why? After all, he indicates that this group did, in fact, believe that Jesus actually rose from the dead (vs.11). 

Well, it turns out that although some of the Corinthian Christians believed that Jesus was resurrected, they didn’t understand or believe that they too would be raised from the dead and have eternal life, in heaven, along with Jesus in glorified bodies. 

Paul’s plea is for them to understand that if they do not embrace this truth, then all the logic of their faith falls apart. It is kind of a big deal that they understand this correctly. 

Since the 1st century, there have been all sorts of belief systems and philosophies that have set themselves up against the truths of God. Confusion and misunderstandings were not uncommon due to cultural contexts and norms that run counter to the Way of Jesus, as well as down-right heresies. As a result, people like Paul have worked tirelessly to offer believers an accurate view of the redemptive plan of God. 

In this section Paul says, “For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive” (vv. 21-22). Sin entered the world when Adam doubted what God said and chose his own way back in Genesis chapter three. 

“The resurrection of the dead,” or lives transferred from sin and death into eternal life, was made through the God-Man, Jesus. His death and resurrection then makes ours, as believers, a reality. 

The most famous passage in the Bible states this truth very simply, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only Son, so that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). Jesus’s death, burial and resurrection offers us new life - but not just for the life here on earth, but also for the one to come. 

Jesus, thank you that through your death, burial, and resurrection you have transferred us from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light and made a way for us to dwell with You forever. In the coming days and weeks, would You help us to comprehend the magnitude of what You have done on our behalf?  In Your Mighty Name, Amen.