The Firstfruits of Redemption
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He goes on to say in verse 13, “But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not
risen: And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. Yea, and
we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ:
whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not. For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ
raised.” What is the other side of that? What if Christ is raised? Then other dead are raised, too.
It’s no surprise why the devil is trying to muddy the waters on this, because this is it. If Jesus
really was raised from the dead, He has power over death and over sin. This life is not all there
is, and if you’ll believe on Him, you can be raised, too. Oh, glory to God! It’s the culmination of
the Gospel. It’s the pinnacle of the Good News!
He was raised from the dead, and because He was, we will be. We will either be changed at His
coming, or if we live out our lives and our body dies, then we’ll be raised from the dead. Your
body—no matter where it is—will be raised from the dead and glorified.
You might say, “I thought we were talking about healing. Why are you talking so much about
this?”
If we believe God can do this to the body, then it shouldn’t be much of a stretch to believe He
can do a little repair work on it in this life down here to keep us going until we get to that. He
could raise a body that is completely decomposed, that you can’t even find. There are bodies of
saints who have been dead for centuries. There are bodies of saints that were lost at sea, and
sharks got them. Where’s their body? There are saints who died in the Sahara, whose bones were
bleached, decomposed, scattered, and blown to the four corners of the earth. Where is their
body? It’s still here. God knows where every cell is. He put it together the first time; He knows
how to reassemble it.
Wouldn’t it be glorious to be alive and remaining? Because the Bible says the dead in Christ are
going to rise first. (1 Thessalonians 4:16) We would get to see that. Well, if we’re still alive, it
could happen.
First Corinthians 15:20 says, “But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits
of them that slept.” It didn’t say
only
fruit. If there’s a first, then there’s a second, and a third,
and a fourth, and a nine millionth. You are in there somewhere. I’m in there somewhere. “For
since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die,
even so in Christ shall all be made alive.” Are people dying? Are all men on the earth dying?
Then as surely as that’s happening, people are going to be raised from the dead. That’s what he is
saying. It’s because what happened in Adam is not more powerful than what happened in Jesus.
He said, “But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at
His coming.” He is coming. “Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom
to God, even the Father; when He shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. For
he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is
death.”
We have never known an existence without death. Everything around us dies. It has always been
that way since the time we came in here. Flowers die, trees die, animals die, and people die;
