Mining Grace

1 Corinthians 15:19-20 – If in this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied. But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

There are tremendous blessings to be had for the Christian in this life. To walk the earth the Lord has created and at the same time to know that you are at peace with him is a humbling joy. To meet together Lord’s Day after Lord’s Day with your brothers and sisters in Christ is sweet fellowship. To have real needs, physical and spiritual, met through the gracious providential hand of the Lord is real contentment. Surely we need not underestimate Paul’s glorious statement in Ephesians that all of the riches of the heavenly realms are ours in Christ right now. Yet Paul says something startling in this text. If your Christianity exists entirely of the earthly blessings you receive from your birth to your death and no more than that, you are to be a man most pitied. If there is nothing beyond the day you close your eyes for the last time then all of your Christianity is empty. Why is this? It is because the value and focus of Christianity is centered on the resurrection of the dead and on Jesus Christ as the firstfruits of the resurrection of the dead.

Paul is addressing a heretical teaching in the Corinthian church that said there was no resurrection of the dead. Paul knew this was not simply a question about how many angels can stand on the head of a pin. He knew the question of the resurrection of the dead struck at the very heart of Christian religion.

There must be a resurrection of the dead for Jesus to be who he said he was. Jesus was finally murdered for being labelled the king of the Jews. One of the more repugnant things he had said, in the opinion of the scribes and Pharisees, was that he could tear down the temple and raise it up again in three days. The gospel writers were clear that he was talking specifically about his bodily resurrection. Jesus said he was going to bind the strong man. Jesus said he would conquer death. Jesus said he was going to be with his father. Jesus told a poor dying criminal that he would be with him in paradise. Jesus said he was inaugurating the new covenant in his blood. Jesus said he would come again. None of these things are true if he did not rise from the grave. The resurrection of Jesus is the proof and proclamation of his triumph over sin and death. It is the visible declaration that he is the second Adam. The resurrection of Jesus is the foundation of all the gospel promises. If that foundation is taken away, the entire house falls. Jesus’s resurrection must be true. What glorious words then are 1 Corinthians 15:20, “But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead.”

There must be a resurrection of the dead for us to be who Jesus said we are. Did Jesus satisfy the demands of the Covenant of Works? Did he satisfy the law’s loud thunder? Did he quench Mount Sinai’s flame? Did he actually purchase redemption for his people? Was it enough? Did our sin swallow him up like a stone thrown in the ocean? Was the torn veil a way really opened for us and for our spiritual progeny into the throne room of God? The resurrection of Jesus is the foundation of our redemption. If that foundation is taken away, the entire house falls. Jesus’s resurrection must be true. What glorious words then are 1 Corinthians 15:20, “But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead.”

There must be a resurrection of the dead for the glory of God to truly be eternal. We await the glory of God. We long for it. Our Triune Lord has so intrinsically linked his glory and our good that we cannot find happiness outside of worship. Worship of God is satisfaction for the Christian. If we are to hold firm to the promise that God has held out to us of life eternal, of worship eternal, then we must hold out that he will be eternally glorified through the Lord Jesus Christ. If the body of Jesus is still in the sands of Israel then his glory is tarnished. His mission is incomplete. He is vanquished, conquered by death and sin. The resurrection seals for us all of the eternal value promised in the covenant of grace. Jesus’s resurrection from the grave proves his eternal worth. It proves that his atonement was enough. It proves that he has a right to sit down at the right hand of his Father until all things are made a footstool under his feet. The resurrection proves his right to receive eternal worship. That is what we long for and what we are waiting for. There will come a day when we and this world pass away. There will come a day when we will stand before the throne of the lamb that was slain but yet stands and worship him into all eternity. That eternal worship will make our few years on earth seem like a fleeting dream before the dawn of eternal joy. If there is no resurrection then this passing world is all we have. If there is no resurrection then there is no eternal worship of an eternal Lord. If there is no resurrection then there is no eternal joy and happiness held out for the child of God. If there is no resurrection then there is no eternal glory of God. The resurrection of Jesus is the foundation of God’s eternal glory. If that foundation is taken away, the entire house falls. Jesus’s resurrection must be true. What glorious words then are 1 Corinthians 15:20, “But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead.”