For The Sake of the Gospel # 19
Life after Death: Part Two

For those who believe in Christ, life after death means resurrection from the dead. Put another way, life after death does not simply mean the survival of our soul or spirit; it means the restoration of our body (in a new and transformed way) as well. Thus it is the whole of us, not just a part of us that will be saved on the Last Day.

St. Paul presents us with an extended discussion of the resurrection of the resurrection of the dead in 1 Corinthians 15. Like many contemporary Christians, the Corinthians believed in some sort of life after dead, but they did not believe that they would be raised from the dead. They confessed that God had raised Jesus from the dead, but they failed to understand that God would raise them from the dead as well. It is in response this situation that Paul writes what he does about the resurrection of the dead in 1 Corinthians 15.

Paul begins by reminding the Corinthians (and us!) of the central message of the gospel he preaches, which he summarizes in this way: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures; that he was buried; that he was rasied on the third day in accordance with the scripture; that he appeared to Kephas [Peter], then to the Twelve. Next, Paul provides the Corinthians with a list of witnesses who saw the risen Christ: a group of 500 people, James, and all the apostles. Finally, Paul affirms that the risen Lord appeared to him as well. The resurrection of the dead, then, is at the very heart of what Christians believe about Christ. Indeed, if one fails to believe that God raised Jesus from the dead, one is no longer a Christian.

Having reminded the Corinthians that the resurrection of Christ is the central content of the gospel they believe, Paul asks the Corinthians why some of them are saying that the dead will not be raised. For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised and our faith is in vain. But if Christ has been raised from the dead, as Paul contends, then those who have died in Christ will also be raised from the dead.

The essence of Paul’s argument can be summarized in this way: What happened to Christ will happen to those who believe in him. If Christ has been raised from the dead, then believers can be confident that they will be raised from dead. If God has saved his own Son from death by raising him from the dead, then believers can be confident that God will save them from death as well. They can believe in eternal life.

In 1 Corinthians Paul speaks of Christ “as the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.” In saying this, Paul affirms that the resurrection of Christ is the beginning (“the firstfruits”) of a larger harvest—the resurrection of all who believe in Christ. The resurrection, then, is not an event that happened only to Christ, it will happen to all who believe in him as well. The resurrection life that Christ enjoys is the resurrection life that we will enjoy; for what happened to Christ will happen to us. But what is this resurrection life? What kind of body will we enjoy? That is the topic I will address next week.
Fr. Matera