The Resurrection of Jesus Christ and Believers
1) The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the Christian Gospel.
Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to
you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you
are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless
you believed in vain. For I delivered to you first of all that which I
also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the
Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third
day according to the Scriptures, 1 Corinthians 15:1-4
Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated
to the gospel of God which He promised before through His prophets in
the Holy Scriptures, concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who was
born of the seed of David according to the flesh, and declared to be
the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the
resurrection from the dead. Romans 1:1-4
For You will not leave my soul in Sheol, nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption. Psalm 16:10
2) There were numerous eye witnesses of the resurrected Jesus Christ.
and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. After that He was
seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part
remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep. After that He was
seen by James, then by all the apostles. 1 Corinthians 15:5-7
Him God raised up on the third day, and showed Him openly, not to all
the people, but to witnesses chosen before by God, even to us who ate
and drank with Him after He arose from the dead. And He commanded us to
preach to the people, and to testify that it is He who was ordained by
God to be Judge of the living and the dead. Acts 10:40-42
But God raised Him from the dead. He was seen for many days by those
who came up with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are His witnesses
to the people. And we declare to you glad tidings—that promise which
was made to the fathers. Acts 13:30-32
3) The Apostles preached the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
Then last of all He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due
time. For I am the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be
called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the
grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain;
but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace
of God which was with me. Therefore, whether it was I or they, so we
preach and so you believed. 1 Corinthians 15:8-11
And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was
manifested in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen by angels,
preached among the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up in
glory. 1 Timothy 3:16
4) The resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead conquered sin.
Now if Christ is preached that He has been raised from the dead, how do
some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if
there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen. And if
Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also
empty. Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God, because we have
testified of God that He raised up Christ, whom He did not raise up—if
in fact the dead do not rise. For if the dead do not rise, then Christ
is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are
still in your sins! Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ
have perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of
all men the most pitiable. 1 Corinthians 15:12-19
For he who has died has been freed from sin. Now if we died with
Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that
Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer
has dominion over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once
for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Likewise, you
also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in
Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:7-11
5) The resurrection of believers in Jesus Christ will be at His return.
But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits
of those who have fallen asleep. For since by man came death, by Man
also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so
in Christ all shall be made alive. But each one in his own order:
Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ’s at His coming.
1 Corinthians 15:20-23
For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for
the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body
that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working
by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself. Philippians
3:20-21
6) The resurrection of Jesus Christ guarantees the elimination of death.
Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father,
when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power. For He
must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet. The last enemy
that will be destroyed is death. For “He has put all things under His
feet.” But when He says “all things are put under Him,” it is evident
that He who put all things under Him is excepted. Now when all things
are made subject to Him, then the Son Himself will also be subject to
Him who put all things under Him, that God may be all in all. 1
Corinthians 15:24-28
And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no
more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for
the former things have passed away.” Revelation 21:4
7) Believers should not neglect the resurrection since pagans believe in life hereafter.
Otherwise, what will they (pagans) do who are baptized for the dead, if
the dead do not rise at all? Why then are they (pagans) baptized for
the dead? And why do we stand in jeopardy every hour? I affirm, by the
boasting in you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily. If,
in the manner of men, I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what
advantage is it to me? If the dead do not rise, “Let us eat and drink,
for tomorrow we die!” Do not be deceived: “Evil company corrupts good
habits.” Awake to righteousness, and do not sin; for some do not have
the knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame. 1 Corinthians 15:29-34
But all things that are exposed are made manifest by the light, for
whatever makes manifest is light. Therefore, He says: “Awake, you who
sleep, arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light.” See then
that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the
time, because the days are evil. Ephesians 5:13-16
8) The resurrected body will be glorified in incorruption.
But someone will say, “How are the dead raised up? And with what body
do they come?” Foolish one, what you sow is not made alive unless it
dies. And what you sow, you do not sow that body that shall be, but
mere grain—perhaps wheat or some other grain. But God gives it a body
as He pleases, and to each seed its own body. All flesh is not the same
flesh, but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of animals,
another of fish, and another of birds. There are also celestial bodies
and terrestrial bodies; but the glory of the celestial is one, and the
glory of the terrestrial is another. There is one glory of the sun,
another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for one star
differs from another star in glory. So also is the resurrection of the
dead. The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption. 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. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. And so it
is written, “The first man Adam became a living being.” The last Adam
became a life-giving spirit. 1 Corinthians 15:35-45
For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have
a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the
heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with
our habitation which is from heaven, if indeed, having been clothed, we
shall not be found naked. For we who are in this tent groan, being
burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed,
that mortality may be swallowed up by life. Now He who has prepared us
for this very thing is God, who also has given us the Spirit as a
guarantee. 2 Corinthians 5:1-5
9) Believers will be like Jesus Christ in the resurrection.
However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, and afterward the
spiritual. The first man was of the earth, made of dust; the second Man
is the Lord from heaven. As was the man of dust, so also are those who
are made of dust; and as is the heavenly Man, so also are those who are
heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall
also bear the image of the heavenly Man. 1 Corinthians 15:46-49
Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed
what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be
like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. 1 John 3:2
10) Believers will be changed when Jesus Christ returns.
Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the
kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption. 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 incorruptible,
and we shall be changed. 1 Corinthians 15:50-52
For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive
and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those
who are asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a
shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And
the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain
shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in
the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort
one another with these words. 1 Thessalonians 4:15-18
11) Believers have received the victory through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put
on immortality. So, when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and
this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the
saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” “O Death,
where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?” The sting of
death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God,
who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians
15:53-57
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according
to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through
the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance
incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in
heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for
salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 1 Peter 1:3-5
12) Jesus Christ proclaims there will be a resurrection of believers.
The same day the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to
Him and asked Him, saying: “Teacher, Moses said that if a man dies,
having no children, his brother shall marry his wife and raise up
offspring for his brother. Now there were with us seven brothers. The
first died after he had married, and having no offspring, left his wife
to his brother. Likewise, the second also, and the third, even to the
seventh. Last of all the woman died also. Therefore, in the
resurrection, whose wife of the seven will she be? For they all had
her.” Jesus answered and said to them, “You are mistaken, not knowing
the Scriptures nor the power of God. For in the resurrection they
neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels of God in
heaven. But concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read
what was spoken to you by God, saying, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the
God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? God is not the God of the dead,
but of the living.” And when the multitudes heard this, they were
astonished at His teaching. Matthew 22:23-33
Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” Martha said to Him,
“I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes
in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes
in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?” John 11:23-26