One Seed One Resurrection 1 Cor 15 |Two Guys And A Bible

I want to talk about one seed and one resurrection. And the reason for that is because we have this dichotomized view of resurrection, that resurrection is first out of sin death. And then secondly, at the time of the end, it's a resurrection out of physical death. And I believe that is totally erroneous. It's a fallacious interpretation. And the scriptures say nothing about a physical resurrection of bodies coming out of the grave at the time of the end. And I believe that 1 Corinthians 15 clearly shows that to be the case, especially when it's paired with lots of other scriptures that focus on it. And so what I'm going to do tonight is as far as I can get, I'm going to speak about some of the passages that would demonstrate that. First from 1 Corinthians 15, from the Old Testament, 1 Corinthians 15, and then I'm going to go to another epistle to kind of draw some parallels. And I wish I would have been able to chart all that out, but time ran out on me. I didn't get an opportunity to do it. So let's go ahead and get underway. I will first begin by putting up a chart. Let's see if I can grab hold to the chart that I have. So I'm going to have to go back to Zoom to find that. And we will share this chart. Let's see. Let's see here. So give me a second to get this up. See if that happens. Okay. I think we're good to go. Hopefully I got the right one. All right. Yeah, I think this is it. All right. So one seed and one resurrection. The background for 1 Corinthians 15 is, and there are several passages in the Law and the Prophets that we find. And of course, our premise is that resurrection and the eschatology of the New Testament is the fulfillment of all things that were written in the Old. So that being said, I'm going to point out a couple of scriptures that form the framework for Paul's resurrection motif in 1 Corinthians 15. One would be Hosea chapter 5. And I might have done better just putting the scriptures on the screen, but I'm going to encourage you to go back and read them because I know that we're going to more than likely run out of time to go through everything that I want to talk about tonight. So in Hosea chapter 5, the scripture talks about the offense or the sin, the iniquity of Ephraim and Judah. And because of their sin, God would abandon them. He would tear them like a lion. He would go away until they acknowledged their offense, until they repented of their sins. Now, the context of Hosea 5 continues through Hosea 6, which is precisely what Paul is quoting in the beginning of 1 Corinthians 15. So when we look at Hosea 5, we should see that. Now, I'm going to go ahead and read what I have on the screen for chapter 6 so you can see what I'm talking about. But just pick that up from the reading of chapter 5, and you'll see how the continuity of the context proceeds into chapter 6. So now he's calling upon them to repent from the sins that they had been charged with and were guilty of in chapter 5. And he says, come, let us return to the Lord, for he has torn, but he will heal us. He has stricken, but he will bind us up. Now, they're not going to the emergency room for medical attention by a medical doctor. This is speaking of their turning away from sin and God healing them from their sin. So that's the context from which 1 Corinthians 15, the first few verses are drawn. And so he says, after two days, he will revive us. Now watch, on the third day, he will raise us up that we may live in his sight. So they're in death because of their transgressions and their iniquity. But when they are healed, they will come out of that death into righteousness, into life, and live before God. So it's a living, that is the antithesis of their sin death. And this would take place, as you see here, he says, after two days and on the third day. Well, that's a reference to Christ being raised on the third day in order to deliver men from their sins. And so we're going to talk about that as we move forward. So he says, let us know, let us pursue the knowledge of the Lord. His going forth is established as the morning. He will come to us like the rain, like the latter and the former rain to the earth. Then we have another text in Hosea chapter 13. And in Hosea 13, the scriptures talk about, again, the concept of sin that Israel was humble until they lifted themselves up with pride in the worship of Baal. And in so doing, they died. He says, when he was humble, of course, they lived before God. But once they sinned, they died. Now, that wasn't their physical death. That's talking about the same thing that chapter five was speaking of. And as a matter of fact, if you look at chapter five and six and compare it with Hosea 13, you will see the language is almost similar. The judgment of punishment is similar. And the context, of course, is the same. Verses one and two, when Ephraim spoke trembling, he exalted himself in Israel. But when he offended through Baal worship, he died. Now they sin more and more. Now this can't be physical death because he's talking about them sinning more and more and have made for themselves molded images, idols of their silver, according to their skill. And so that was their sin, their idolatry, et cetera. And they died as a result of that. So this is sin death that we're talking about. And again, in verse 13, it says the sorrows of a woman in childbirth shall come upon him. He is an unwise son that speaking of tribulation and anguish, et cetera, for he should not stay long where children are born. I will ransom them from the power of the grave. Now, remember their death was not physical death. And so this ransoming from the grave is the antithesis of that death. It's the opposite of that. So he's not talking about bringing them out of physical death. He's talking about bringing them out of their sin death, restoring them back to him, reconciling them. And so I will redeem them from death. Oh, death, I will be your plagues. Oh, grave, I will be your destruction. Pity is hidden from my eyes. Just because we see the word grave, we should not think of literal graves. And I would refer you to Ezekiel chapter 37, where again, he uses graves to talk about captivity and the deliverance of Israel out of that state. So what we have here is we have an inclusio in 1 Corinthians 15, where the first couple of verses of the chapter quote from Hosea chapter five and six, particularly six. And then the last few verses in 1 Corinthians 15 quote from Hosea 13, showing you that within that framework of the beginning verses and the ending verses, we are dealing with sin. We're dealing with sin death and deliverance out of sin death. Now, people want to make that physical death, but we're going to try to demonstrate very clearly that this is not about physical death and physical bodies coming out of the grave as far as the resurrection is concerned. One seed, one resurrection. Now let's look at the text in 1 Corinthians 15, where it says, moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel, which also I preach to you and wherein also you stand and by which also you are saved. Now, what is he talking about being saved from? That's salvation from sin. It's the gospel. The gospel was the power of God unto what? Salvation to everyone that believes. So we're dealing with deliverance from sin right off the get-go as they say, right from the bat. And he says, I deliver to you first of all, that Christ died for our sins, according to what? According to the scriptures. Well, those are the scriptures that I spoke about in Hosea 5, in Hosea chapter 13. And you could also go to Hosea chapter 2, even one and two, and see a similar thing in terms of God saying that he was going to sow them unto himself in the earth. That would also be the time of marriage, which is also connected to the parrhesia and the eschatological deliverance. But we don't have enough time to go into all of that, but you do have the sowing concept or motif in Hosea chapter 2, verses 18 through 23, and particularly in verse 23. So that's the start of it. But then at the end of the chapter, he says 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. So at the end of the chapter, he's still talking about the very same thing that he spoke about in the beginning of the chapter. It was sin. Now let's go through and do a little survey in 1 Corinthians 15. And you know, I didn't even realize that I had these scriptures on the board, but this, I mean, on the screen, or in my lesson, I should say, but now they're on the screen. So you can see them of what I just said. There's Hosea 5 and 6, you know, and Hosea 13 and 1 Corinthians 15, as well as 1 Corinthians 15, 56 and 57. All right. So that's the correlation between them. So we cannot deny this. Now, I had a conversation with the gentleman on Facebook not too long ago, and he was arguing for sin death in the beginning and physical death at the end. But when I cited the text in Hosea chapter 13, he acknowledged that Hosea 13 was about sin death as well. As a matter of fact, I think he even changed his resurrection paradigm if I read him correctly on another post, but let's go further. Let's see, we're on that slide. And where do I want to go next? All right. Now let's look at some of the language in 1 Corinthians 15, so that you can see how prolific the concept of sin is throughout the chapter. Now, this is the chapter that people want to make physical bodies out of, but let's see how many references. And I don't know if I got them all, but I got a lot of them in 1 Corinthians 15, all of which are dealing with the subject of sin. All right, we've already talked about Christ died for our sins. All right, so there's verse 3 that mentions Christ dying for sins. We've already talked about the gospel, and I'll mention it again later, that the gospel was preached for salvation from sin. Then in verse 17, he tells them that if Christ is not risen, then is our preaching vain, and he says your faith is also vain. Well, what does vain faith mean? If your faith is vain, that means you have no faith, and that would mean that you are yet in a state of sin. And that's Paul tells them. He didn't say you are yet in your physical bodies. He said your faith is vain if the dead ones do not rise, and you are yet in your sins. Now, he goes on in verse 18. I didn't put that verse up there, but that's verse 18, and then says, okay, if that's the case for the living, that if Christ is not risen, or if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen, your faith is vain, you're yet in your sins, that's to the living. Then what about those who had already fallen asleep in Christ? In other words, Christians who had died. Then he's saying they also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. Well, perish stands over against eternal life. It means that they have no salvation. And in John 3.16, for example, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes in him, what? Should not perish. You see the relationship of believing whosoever believes in him should not perish, should not die, and should not lose their salvation. But if they don't believe in him, then they're condemned. That means they have no salvation. They would yet be in their sins. So here, more verses that focus on sin. Now, the dead ones of 1 Corinthians 15 are also in a state of sin. Now the dead ones are not to be identified with the living saints, nor those who had fallen asleep in Christ. The dead ones would be those who were already asleep before Jesus rose from the dead. Why do we say that? Because he has solidarity with the dead ones. Because he was a part of that group. And when Jesus rose from the dead, there were no Christians. So he's not talking about believing Christians when he talks about the dead ones. He's talking about people under that old covenant like Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Enoch, Noah, etc. David, all of those righteous men of the old covenant are what he has in mind. You can see references to them in Hebrews chapter 11. And so he's saying, or the scripture is showing us that the dead ones would yet be in sin. Because if Christ is not risen, how can he deliver them from their sins? If he couldn't deliver the living ones, how could he deliver the dead ones from their sins? And that's what the scripture teaches us in Romans chapter 11 verses 26 and 27, when it says, for the deliverer will come out of Zion and will turn away what? Ungodliness, that's sin, that's iniquity, from Jacob. For this is my covenant to them when I take away their sins. And that is a text that applies to the eschatological consummation. And so we can see, therefore, that sin was still an issue at the time of the Parisian. Now, in Hebrews 9 and verse 15, to show you that he's dealing with those under the old covenant, he said, and for this reason, he is the mediator of the new covenant that by means of death, and I want you to hold that thought in mind, that by means of death, for what reason? For the redemption of the transgressions, which were under the first covenant, those who are called might receive the premise of the eternal inheritance. So they might receive the kingdom, they might receive the salvation, they might receive incorruption, they might receive immortality, and they weren't in a physical body. So he died for the redemption of the transgression for their sins. So in first Corinthians 15, when the scriptures talks about them, speaking of them as the dead ones, the dead in English, but when you look in the Greek, it's the dead ones, then it demonstrates that they are yet under sin, and they could not be delivered from that until Christ the Redeemer died to deliver them. And that's what Hebrews 11 is about, because at the end of the chapter, it says, for these all died in faith, verses 39 and 40, not having received the promise, God having provided something better for us, those would be New Testament saints compared to the Old Testament saints, that they apart from us should not be made perfect. All right, the making of them perfect would be another way of speaking of resurrection, bringing them to that full grown state, bringing them into righteousness. I had something in mind, but it slipped that quick, so I'm just gonna keep moving, because I'm rushing here, I'm trying to get through a lot of material for the lesson tonight. All right, so we've already talked about preaching for salvation from sin, that's 1 Corinthians 15 and verse 2, that's verse 12, that's verse 14, and that's verse 15. So look at all of these passages that are still focused on the sin motif of 1 Corinthians 15, yet people wanna talk to us about physical bodies coming out of the grave. Then he says, as in Adam all died, this is another text that's focused on deliverance out of sin. I realize that people think that the death of Adam in Genesis chapter 2, verses 16 and 17 has to do with physical death, but the scripture there says, of every tree of the garden you may freely eat, but of the tree which is in the midst of the garden you shall not eat of it, for in the day that you eat of it, you shall surely die. And I believe the scriptures that Adam died that day, and the death that he died was a separation from the father, that's what death is in terms of redemption and the salvation, it is being redeemed out of sin death. Now it was typified by exiles in the Old Testament, but all of those were pointing to the true exile, which was sin death, just like Jesus told the disciples in John chapter eight, when he says, if you continue in my word, then are you my disciples indeed, and you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free. Well, the Jews who were in his presence said, we are Abraham's seed and we've never been in bondage to any man, how then are you saying that we shall be made free? And Jesus told them, whoever is the bond slave of sin, or is the servant of sin, is the bond slave of sin. So what he's telling them is that since they were in bondage to sin, they were therefore under that state of sin death, they were in exile from God, even though they were in the land, they were in exile from God, and that's the point that he's making in that text. All right, so when the text says, as in Adam all die, that's a parallel to Romans chapter five in verse 12, when he talks about for by one man or through one man sin entered the world, notice sin into the world and death by sin, and therefore says death passed upon all men because all men sinned. So when men break the law, break the commandments of God, refuse to be obedient and rebel against him, that's sin, and as a result, they die if there is no forgiveness, if there is no redemption out of that covenantal death that was experienced. And that's what 1 Corinthians 15 verses 21 and 22 is about, it's a parallel to Romans 5, 12, and 14, when he says, nevertheless, death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the similitude of Adam's transgression. Well, when he said death reigned from Adam to Moses, and if you pick up also on Romans 5, I think 20 and 21, moreover, the law entered that the offense might abound. Now watch how he defines offense, but where sin abounded, grace did much more abound, that as sin has reigned unto death, even so might righteousness reign through grace through Christ Jesus our Lord. So he's making the contrast then between their offense, their sin, and it was the law that strengthened that because there was no redemption through the law for sin. They either had to keep it perfectly, James 2.10, or they failed in every single point. Now, they broke the entirety of the law because they said, you know, all that you've said we will do, and that's what, you know, caused them to be under the curse of the law because they couldn't keep all of the law. Anyway, let's move forward. So from that perspective, as in Adam all die, he's talking about they sin through their own breaking of the law, even though they didn't commit the sin that Adam did, they yet sinned, and that caused them to fall under transgression. We've already quoted the text related to that. So there's 1 Corinthians 15, 21 and 22. Now here's the key text, and I'm going to come back to it. Let's see, I'm trying to watch this clock here because I haven't even gotten off of this slide, and there's so much more to go here, but here's the key text that I want you to focus on. Christ has become the first fruit of them that slept, 1 Corinthians 15, 20. Now, I want you to think about that. Christ has become the first fruit of them that slept, and looking at that text, trying to decide which way I want to go with it at this point, because it comes early in the lesson, but it's one of the focal points of the lesson. One thing I'd say about it, the word first fruit from apartheid means that the resurrection process began in Christ and was already underway from the time of his resurrection, starting with the proclamation of the gospel on the day of Pentecost, and that's why you see in James 1 and verse 18, the scripture says, of his own will he brought us forth that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creation. So they became a portion of the first fruits. There were two parts of the first fruits. You had the time of the barley harvest, which was the first of the first fruits, Exodus 23 and verse 19, and then 50 days later, you had the wheat harvest, which was on the day or beginning with the day of Pentecost, and that's what's indicated here. So Christ was the first fruit, the first of the first fruit, and then you had those mentioned in James 1, 18, in Romans 8, in Revelation 14, and maybe Revelation 7, that are also called first fruits, but none of them had experienced a physical body resurrection, yet they are part of the first fruits with Christ in solidarity with him, both in kind and nature. The other important point to remember about the first fruits, the word apartheid, is that it indicated, what did I say at first? I said that it indicated that the resurrection had begun, but it also implied that the consummation of resurrection was at hand, was near, because the harvest, when you think about harvest, harvest always occurs within the same season that the first fruits does. I know there are some farmers on the line tonight. You don't wait generation after generation after generation after generation to take in the harvest once you begin that process, once the first fruit has been taken. That's telling you that, you know, it's time to reap, and of course, they had two segments of the harvest, the grain harvest, and then the fruit and vine harvest at the end of that process, but anyway, we'll go on because I want to see how much I can get back to this verse later on. Then the scripture talks about the delivering up of the kingdom to God. Well, what is that all about? It's about deliverance from sin. How do we know? Because in Colossians 1 in verse 13, the text says, who has delivered us, and it's using the same word, who has delivered us from the power of darkness into the kingdom of his dear son. Now, it's an already, but not yet, it's not consummated. You know, I wonder if the people who think that resurrection comes in two different natures, sin, death first, redeemed from that, and then a physical body later, do they also believe you have two kinds of kingdoms, the spiritual kingdom first, and then a physical one later, they might as well go back to the dispensational camp, but that's their view of resurrection. And why do I say that? Because the kingdom itself is resurrection. If you look at Daniel chapter two and verse 44, when the scripture says, and the God of heaven shall set up a kingdom, the word anesthesoi, or anesthesi, excuse me, I think is correct, is used, it's the word for resurrection. So God is talking about raising up the kingdom. He's talking about resurrection. Kingdom is a resurrection text. Matthew 8, 11, and 12 as well. When you see Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob sit down in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out. And of course that was AD 70. But watch, we're talking about, as Colossians 1.13 says, delivering them out of the power of darkness. Well, that's the power of verses 16 and 17. When Paul talked about his preaching, let me go read it so you can hear it from the text. Acts 26, the verse is 16 and following. He says, but rise and stand on your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to make you a minister and a witness, both of the things which you have seen and of the things in which I will yet reveal to you. I will deliver you from the Jewish people as well as from the Gentiles to whom I now send you, to open their eyes, not physically. See, that's the opposite of having your eyes open to sin like in the garden. But he says to open their eyes to the truth, to righteousness, in order to turn them from darkness to light. Look at the context of Colossians 1.12. It was the kingdom of light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive what? Forgiveness of sin and inheritance among those who are sanctified in me. So the deliverance of the kingdom is about deliverance out of sin and the consummation of that. That's why you have the text in 1 Corinthians 15.50, flesh and blood shall not inherit the kingdom of God. The kingdom is the inheritance, that's resurrection, but it doesn't come with observation and it's certainly not a physical body. Then you have baptism. Well, what was baptism for? It was for the remission of sins. Why are they then baptized for the dead if the dead ones do not rise at all? We already showed that they were in sin. Now, I know that's a controversial text. I'm not going to spend a lot of time talking about it, but that's what I would say about it at this point. It's still dealing with sin. Then look at verse 22 of 1 Corinthians 15. That's also a text dealing with sin. 1 Corinthians 15.22, when Paul talked about some who did not have the, no, that's not verse 22, that's verse 32, I believe. Let me double check it. I wrote in a hurry. So let's see. Yeah. Verse 32 and 30, yeah, 32. 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? Now watch what he says. Let us eat and drink for tomorrow we die. Now that text is not just sitting there for no reason. That text is sitting there for judgment on those who reject the resurrection, who reject the knowledge of God, who reject faith. When you look at the context in Isaiah chapter 22, God was calling on Israel to repent. Isaiah 22. And let's, I'm going to start reading at verse eight. He removed the protection of Judah. You looked in that day to the armor of the house of the forest. You also saw the damage to the city of David, that it was great. And you gathered together the waters of the lower pool. You numbered the houses of Jerusalem and the houses you broke down to fortify the wall. You also made the, let me see if I'm reading in the right place. Yes. All right. You also made a reservoir between the walls for the water of the old pool, but you did not look to its maker. So God is saying they didn't look to him, nor did you have respect for him who fashioned it long ago. And in that day, the Lord God of hosts called for weeping and for mourning. So in other words, he's trying to get them to repent of their sins, to be sorrowful for their sin. He called for weeping and for mourning for baldness and for girding with sackcloth, which is one of the actions they would take when they were in a state of repentance. But instead, what do they do? They have parties. They have a good time. They continue on with their feasts and felt festivals without repenting, read Isaiah chapter one, and you'll see where that gets them. And he says, but instead joy and gladness, slaying of oxen and killing sheep, eating meat and drinking wine. These are rebukes. Let us eat and drink for tomorrow. We die. It was judgment and condemnation for sin. I'm just demonstrating in first Corinthians 15, that this entire chapter from start to end has sin motifs woven all the way through it. And yet people want to turn it into physical bodies. Then the next point is verse 34, where he says, awake to righteousness. What is righteousness? The opposite of living in sin, the opposite of being in a state of sin. It's coming out of the covenant where they couldn't deal with sin. So he says, awake. And what is awake all about? Resurrection, but a resurrection to righteousness, awake to righteousness and do not sin for some have not the knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame, awake to righteousness and do not sin. He didn't tell them, do not have a physical body. He said, do not sin. Then we get to, and that's a quote from Daniel 12, two and three, which of course, according to Christ in Matthew 24, 21 would take place at the time of the great tribulation, fulfilling Daniel 12 in verse one, which was in connection with the fall of Jerusalem, the tribulation that led up to that event. Then in 1715 Psalms, David spoke of wanting to awake to be in the likeness and the righteousness of God. Let's look at that one real quick. This is where Paul is drawing from. And he's drawing from passages that deal with sin and deliverance from sin. Not a single one of them had to do with deliverance from a physical body. I'm going to have to stop somewhere. Cause I want to get the other part of this lesson that I want to talk about. Now in Psalm 1715, as for me, I will see your face in righteousness. I shall be satisfied when I awake in your likeness. What likeness was he talking about? The likeness of righteousness, awake to righteousness. So David's resurrection was a resurrection into righteousness, his deliverance out of sin. All right. Then we talk about the natural man, the natural man, which does not refer to a physical body. I wish I could take the time to read you some of N.T. Wright's comments on this and some from Gordon Fee, but I don't have the time to do it, but check out N.T. Wright's book on resurrection. He makes some mistakes there. So N.T. Wright is wrong on some of these passages, but he's right on some, and he makes some good comments on the parts that he's right. And Gordon Fee is the same way. He makes some great comments where he's right, but he messes up because they both want a physical body resurrection that they think is in the future. And even if they think it was fulfilled in 70 AD, they're still wrong. But at any rate, and not them because they are futurists, but I'm talking about the ones even among preterists who believe that resurrection at the time of the end is physical body resurrection. You're totally lost on that issue. Now, he says of the natural man, he says there's a natural body, there's a spiritual body. But the natural man, and then he says in verse 46, it's first the natural, then the spiritual. Well, if you're arguing for physical resurrection, why are you placing the spiritual first, citing texts like Ephesians 2 and verse 1, and you who were dead in trespasses and sins, he has made a lie. See, they'll quote that and say, you see, they already had spiritual resurrection. So the resurrection of 1 Corinthians 15 must be physical. Wrong, wrong, wrong. The scripture says the natural is not first, but the spiritual. I mean, excuse me, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, then afterward the spiritual. So how do you get spiritual resurrection first, and then a natural resurrection second, when the Bible says it's the natural first, and then the spiritual second. But here's the important thing. The word natural or psychikos in the Greek doesn't even refer to a physical body. That's not a composition of biological flesh. The natural man is the man who is in sin. It compares with Adam, with the earthly man, with the one out of dust. 1 Corinthians 2 and verse 14 says this, but the natural man does not receive the things of the spirit of God. And what does the scripture say in Romans 8? If any man does not receive the spirit of God, he does not belong to him. There's your natural man. It's a man who breathes, who can see with his eyeballs, who can talk with his mouth and smell with his nose and hear with his ears and walk about, but he just doesn't have the spirit of God. That's what made him a natural man. And in Jude talks about him, in Jude, what is it, verse 19 or 20, somewhere in that connection. Let me see if I put it down here. One, verses 18 and 19. Jude said they were mockers who would come about in the last time of which he had told them walking after their own ungodly lusts. These are natural or sensual persons. Same word used in 1 Corinthians 15. So they are sinners. So that's the contrast between the natural man and the pneumatic costs or the spiritual man. One is a sinner. One is not. One is under a stake or a covenant of sin. The other is not. And that brings us to corruption. Corruption is sin. The first time the word corrupt is used in scripture is used in connection with the flood or God's premise of judgment upon them. When he said, you know, they all were corrupt and the majority of uses in the scriptures, and I would challenge anybody to go and take out your Strong's Concordance and check this out, that the majority of references in the scriptures that deal with corruption slash incorruption are dealing with the state of sin or moral depravity as opposed to the physical composition of the body. Now I have the research in from all the Greek philosophers and the classical use, medical use, et cetera, where the term mortal do not refer to physical bodies. They even say, and this is what I found interesting, that Paul's use of it is not the physical body as well. And they had no skin in the game. They're just giving you how the term was used. I don't have time to present that tonight. At any rate, that's what corruption is because his discussion on corruption and mortality is remedied by what he says in verse 56, when he says this mortal must put on immortality, this corruptible must put on incorruption. For when this mortal puts on immortality and this corruption puts on incorruption or vice versa, I may have them backwards, then shall the saying be brought to pass, death is swallowed up in victory. Now, how does he explain or define the death? He goes back to Hosea, which we established from the beginning and says the sting of death is sin. So that's how mortality is swallowed up. That's how incorruption is swallowed up. The sting of death is sin. That's the mortality. That's the incorruption. And the strength of sin is the law, just like Romans 5, 20 and 21, Romans 5, 20 says. And he says, but thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Okay, that gives us 11 minutes to look at the text that I wanted to talk about. There's so much that I didn't cover in this message, but let me kind of give you some hints. Now, the chapter opens with Christ dying for sin. Again, I would challenge those of you who want to talk about physical bodies to note that every time the scriptures talk about Jesus dying, it's in a context of his dying for sin. Let me give you some examples. I can't go through all of them. In Acts chapter three, when he talks about the promise of Abraham being fulfilled, he says, God has sent forth Jesus to bless you and to turn every one of you from your iniquities. That's from sin. And he's citing the promise of Abraham, Genesis 12. So it was about turning them from sin. That's what Jesus' death was all about. You have Romans chapter four, I think it's verse 25, maybe, that Christ was delivered up for our offenses and he was raised for our justification. What's justification? Deliverance out of sin, death. First Peter chapter three and verse 18. I just drew a blank, but let me see if I can read it real quick. Verse 18 says, for Christ also suffered for what? Once for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God being put to death in the flesh. That's a locative. That means the realm in which he died, but he was raised in the spirit and it had nothing to do with physical modulations of his body. He had the same body, touch me, see and feel me, put your hands in the holes, give me a piece of fish, et cetera. For spirit does not have flesh and bone as you see I have. Some other scriptures, Ephesians 2.1, those who were dead in sins, he has made alive, that's connected to Jesus' death. Ephesians 1.7, in whom we are having redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace. We have Hebrews 1.3, when Christ as high priest purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high. We've talked about Hebrews 9.15, Hebrews 8.12 and 10.16, the new covenant, he has made the new covenant where he remembers sins no more. All of that's connected to the death of Christ. There are many more, Galatians 1, either three and four, Christ died for our sins that he might deliver us from this present evil age, that's the old covenant age, not the age in which we now live. If one died, then all were dead, that's talking about deliverance from sin. So over and over again, Romans 8, one through four, Galatians 2 and verse 20, Colossians 1.14. So let's see, I got eight minutes, so now let's turn to Colossians. And this is really where I wanted to be for this message tonight, in order to deal with this one seed, one resurrection. So let me ask you the question, let's go back to the first fruits of 1 Corinthians 15.20. How many seeds have you ever planted? Let's say you plant an apple seed and you get both an orange tree and an apple tree from the one seed. You see, that doesn't make any sense in the natural realm, does it? But that's what people are arguing. They're arguing we get a spiritual resurrection and a physical resurrection from the same seed that is sown. And Christ is the seed of Abraham. He's the one through whom all come together. And when you look at 1 Corinthians 15, you can go read right on this. I was kind of shocked that he came to the same conclusion that I did. But the seed in 1 Corinthians 15 refers back to the dead ones, and it also is the body. So the dead ones equals the seed, which equals the body. And we've shown you what kind of death they were under and wanting deliverance from. But let's go to Colossians chapter one, and let's note something in Colossians one. Now the text says, and we're still dealing with the first fruits. You see, Colossians talks about the first born from the dead. Oh boy, there's so much stuff that I want to talk about in this chapter. And I got six minutes. Excuse me. 1 Corinthians 15 is also a creation motif from Genesis one and two. This is why Paul goes through that language. Resurrection is the beginning of the new creation. So think about that. How many creations do you have in Christ? Do you have a spiritual creation and then another physical creation? That's the logic of the two resurrection view. You can't escape it, but he's only one first fruit. So how you get two different results from one seed, impossible. Now let's note something in Colossians one. We'll start reading and you will see by the way that Colossians one has all the elements of first Corinthians 15 in it. And that's what I really wanted to chart out for you, but I didn't get an opportunity to do it. Now, one thing that first Corinthians 15 talks about is the image of God. We have born the image of the earthy. We shall also bear the image of the heavenly. Well, look at Colossians one in verse 15. He is the image of the invisible God. So if you're bearing the image, you're bearing the image of the invisible one. So the image in first Corinthians 15 cannot be different from the image in Colossians chapter one. He is the image of the invisible God. Notice the first born over all the creation. The first born is just the, the animal kingdom or human kingdom that correlates with the botanical kingdom with seeds, et cetera, and plants. The first born is equivalent to the first fruit. So if Jesus is the first born over all creation, what's the context, the context of Colossians one is the same context of first Corinthians 15. Notice in verse 13, in that context, he delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom. So there's the deliverance of the kingdom, but watch in whom we have redemption through his blood for the forgiveness or the forgiveness of sins. He is the image of the invisible God, the first born over all creation, but by him, all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible where the thrones of dominions or principalities of powers, all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things. And in him, all things consist. Now watch verse 18, and he is the head of the body. We have a body in first Corinthians 15, and we have a body in Colossians one. Do you think the body in Colossians one is different from the body in first Corinthians 15? No, it's not. We have the same first fruit in both chapters. He is the head of the body, the church who is the beginning. That's what first fruits mean. Christ was the beginning of the harvest. And so the beginning of the harvest, you can't have the one seed planet and you got all kinds of crops popping up. It's one crop that's in solidarity in nature and time, et cetera. And so he is the head of the body, the church who is the beginning, the first born from the dead. But see, this first born has to do with the church. That's a spiritual entity. That's not a physical one. That in all things, he might have the preeminence for it pleased the father that in him, all the foolish should dwell. That's first Corinthians 15, what verse 28, that Christ may be all in all, but you see that in Ephesians one 22 and 23 in the body, which is the church. What was the purpose of all of that? And you, excuse me. And by him to reconcile all things to himself by him, whether things on earth, things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of his cross, Christ is doing all of this by virtue of his resurrection from the dead. He's the beginning of the new creation. That's a Genesis motif. Genesis one and two, and you who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works yet now has he reconciled you now watch this. Here comes the consummation in the body of his flesh. Well, that's the body Jesus died with the physical body, but notice it says in the body of his flesh through death, that's the body that died. What's the purpose of it to present you holy and blameless and above reproach in his sight. That's the eschatological consummation. It's connected to the body of Christ for which Jesus died and became the first born from the dead. The text is no different from first Corinthians 15. If indeed you continue in the faith, grounded in steadfast and see continuing the faith. If you don't, what's that sin and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which was salvation, which you heard, which was preached for salvation from sin to every creature, all the creation, the catechesis under heaven of which I, Paul became a minister. And Paul said, if Christ is not risen or if the dead ones are not risen, our preaching is vain. Your faith is vain. Now watch. I now rejoice in my sufferings. Remember Paul fought with beasts at Ephesus and he asked the question, what advantage is it to me if the dead ones rise not well now he's suffering to do what to fill up in his flesh, what was lacking in the afflictions of Christ. So whatever Paul was suffering for, that's what Jesus suffered and died for. Let's take a look. I now rejoice in my sufferings for you and fill up in my flesh. What is lacking in the afflictions of Christ. He suffered afflictions when he was in the physical body unto death for the sake of his body. What body Jesus said, destroy this temple. And in three days, I will raise it up. He spoke of the temple of his body. That's the body for which the foundation was laid in acts four, 12 and 13. And that we see in Ephesians chapter two, 19 through 22, it's the body of Christ, the church that he's just mentioned in this context. Notice he said for the sake of his body, which is the church of which I became a minister, according to the God who was given to me for you to fulfill the word of God. The mystery doesn't Paul talk about the mystery in first Corinthians 15. Behold, I show you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed. That's what Colossians is talking about. The mystery that fulfills the word of God, which has been hidden from ages, go to Ephesians three, five, and six, and look at what the mystery is, which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to his saints to them. God will to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the saints or the Gentiles, excuse me, which is what Christ in you, the kingdom of God in you, the hope of glory. You don't get two hopes out of one seed, one seed, one resurrection. That's the glory of the resurrection body of first Corinthians 15. Watch him. We preach warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus. Philippians one five said, Paul, thank God on behalf of the Philippians for the work that had been begun in them that he would complete or perfected in the day of Christ. The perfection is resurrection. That's Hebrews 11, 39 and 40. To this end, I also labor striving according to his working, which works to me mightily. Nothing in Colossians one mentions anything about deliverance of a physical body from the grave. It's parallel to first Corinthians 15. I had to rush through it. Didn't have enough time to develop everything that I wanted to say, but I hope you got the message. It is now time for us to conclude. And so I want to express my appreciation for those of you who are here and Don Preston, as I said, couldn't be here because he's probably suffering from a toothache or something. He had to go to the doctor to have a tooth extracted. And so I was left holding the bag tonight. Hope that it's given you some insights to look at, some things to further study, but just remember one seed, one resurrection. You don't get two resurrections of two different natures, two different kinds out of the one seed that was sold. And that's the message with that. I'm going to say good night to you and we'll see you on the next edition of two guys and a Bible, hopefully with two guys.