We are born into this natural world and as we come to know Jesus Christ, we are born into the kingdom of God, but we still have this natural body. Paul instructs the Corinthians in the ways of the Holy Spirit, they are to seek the gifts, but also must learn to subject themselves to the move of God for the group whenever they “come together”. The problem is that in 1 Corinthians 14:26 (LEB) “each one of you has a psalm, has a teaching, has a revelation, has a tongue, has an interpretation” because the Spirit of God does speak to each of us individually. Paul tells them though when they are in a group they are to give way, to let others speak. The emphasis is not on many speakers but on evaluating what is spoken in 1 Corinthians 14:29 (LEB) “Let two or three prophets speak, and the others evaluate”. Paul then moves on and says in 1 Corinthians 15:26 (LEB) “The last enemy to be abolished is death” and this will culminate in the resurrection of the dead where our natural, corruptible, mortal bodies will be raised a more glorious “spiritual body” in 1 Corinthians 15:44 because Jesus Christ in 1 Corinthians 15:45 (LEB) “the last Adam became a life-giving spirit”.
Tongues Are for a Sign
Let All Things Be Done Decently
1 Corinthians 14:26–40
Paul emphasizes the use of the gifts of the Holy Spirit in the lives of Christians. And, since the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, there are many that have felt the unction, the leading, the strong desire to speak out something that the spirit of God is speaking to them. God does speak to each of us individually if we are listening. Now though, Paul adds something that we each must consider when we “come together” because now we are to consider not only what the Lord is speaking to us, but what the Lord is speaking to the whole body together in
1 Corinthians 14:26 (LEB) Therefore what should you do, brothers? Whenever you come together, each one of you has a psalm, has a teaching, has a revelation, has a tongue, has an interpretation. All things must be done for edification.
When we come together it is not the time for us to randomly speak out, but it is a time for each to carefully consider how the Spirit of God is moving and only contribute where we have a message that adds. Paul doesn’t emphasize the speaking but instead stresses the importance of evaluating what is being said in
1 Corinthians 14:29 (LEB) “Let two or three prophets speak, and the others evaluate”.
because what the Holy Spirit speaks to each of us individually may be only for us and not for the whole body together. When bringing a word in public, as a word from the Lord, our natural nature may rise up and we may begin to speak our own words. Paul asks them, as a reminder to be humble and think carefully about what they say in
1 Corinthians 14:36 (LEB) “Or has the word of God gone out from you, or has it come to you only?”
The Gospel I Proclaimed to You
1 Corinthians 15:1–11
Christ Has Been Raised From the Dead
In Christ All Will be Made Alive
1 Corinthians 15:22–34
God is implementing His plan of redemption and it is founded on the work of Jesus Christ. There is a clear promise from God in 1 Corinthians 15:22 that “in Christ all will be made alive”. And while it is a little cryptic in these few passages, Jesus has taken His place “to abolish all rule and all authority and power” in 1 Corinthians 15:24 it is the authority of the devil and his fallen angels that Jesus is taking and the final enemy Jesus will put down or “abolish is death” in
1 Corinthians 15:26 (LEB) “The last enemy to be abolished is death”.
and Paul is making this point to bring us to the end of the story which is the resurrection from the dead. This resurrection is our future, our hope and the reason we endure. Why else would we put ourselves in danger in
1 Corinthians 15:30 (LEB) “And why are we in danger every hour?”
it is because there is hell waiting for those that have not come to a saving knowledge of Christ. We know that they need to call “upon the name of the Lord” even if they do not know it yet themselves and how will they hear without us as it says in
Romans 10:13–14 (LEB) For “everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved.” 14 How then will they call upon him in whom they have not believed? And how will they believe in him about whom they have not heard? And how will they hear about him without one who preaches to them?
The Last Adam Became a Life-giving Spirit
1 Corinthians 15:35–45
It is easy for us to understand from the natural world that there are different kinds of bodies and they are described in
1 Corinthians 15:39 (LEB) “Not all flesh is the same, but there is one flesh of human beings, and another flesh of animals, and another flesh of birds, and another of fish”
then Paul goes on to describe the difference in the “heavenly bodies” distinguishing them with the use of the word glory in
1 Corinthians 15:40–41 (LEB) “and heavenly bodies and earthly bodies. But the glory of the heavenly bodies is of one kind, and the glory of the earthly bodies is of another kind. 41 There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars, for star differs from star in glory”.
He then goes on to describe the resurrection of the dead which in this progression from natural to celestial to spiritual brings us into a realm we have no natural counterpart for. We can though, understand that it is a higher level, somehow a more glorious body than anything we have seen or known and is “raised in incorruptibility” in 1 Corinthians 15:42 and “raised in power” in 1 Corinthians 15:43 and “a spiritual body” in 1 Corinthians 15:44.
What we have known in the past is from the first Adam “a living soul” but now, in Jesus Christ, we come into contact with this “life-giving spirit” in
1 Corinthians 15:45 (LEB) ‘Thus also it is written, “The first man, Adam, became a living soul”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit’.
Study Verses
- 1 Corinthians 14:26–40 Let All Things be Done Decently
- 1 Corinthians 15:22–34 In Christ All Will be Made Alive
- 1 Corinthians 15:35–45 The Last Adam Became a Life-giving Spirit
Today’s Reading
- 1 Corinthians 14:13-40
- 1 Corinthians 15:1-45