Christ’s Resurrection

1Now I want to make clear for you, brothers and sisters, the gospel that I preached to you, that you received and on which you stand, 2and by which you are being saved, if you hold firmly to the message I preached to you – unless you believed in vain. 3For I passed on to you as of first importance what I also received – that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, 4and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures, 5and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6Then he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. 7Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. 8Last of all, as though to one born at the wrong time, he appeared to me also. 9For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me has not been in vain. In fact, I worked harder than all of them – yet not I, but the grace of God with me. 11Whether then it was I or they, this is the way we preach and this is the way you believed.

No Resurrection?

12Now if Christ is being preached as raised from the dead, how can some of you say there is no resurrection of the dead? 13But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is futile and your faith is empty. 15Also, we are found to be false witnesses about God, because we have testified against God that he raised Christ from the dead, when in reality he did not raise him, if indeed the dead are not raised. 16For if the dead are not raised, then not even Christ has been raised. 17And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is useless; you are still in your sins. 18Furthermore, those who have fallen asleep in Christ have also perished. 19For if only in this life we have hope in Christ, we should be pitied more than anyone.

20But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead also came through a man. 22For just as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. 23But each in his own order: Christ, the firstfruits; then when Christ comes, those who belong to him. 24Then comes the end, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father, when he has brought to an end all rule and all authority and power. 25For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26The last enemy to be eliminated is death. 27For he has put everything in subjection under his feet. But when it says “everything” has been put in subjection, it is clear that this does not include the one who put everything in subjection to him. 28And when all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will be subjected to the one who subjected everything to him, so that God may be all in all.

29Otherwise, what will those do who are baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, then why are they baptized for them? 30Why too are we in danger every hour? 31Every day I am in danger of death! This is as sure as my boasting in you, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord. 32If from a human point of view I fought with wild beasts at Ephesus, what did it benefit me? If the dead are not raised, let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die. 33Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good morals.” 34Sober up as you should, and stop sinning! For some have no knowledge of God – I say this to your shame!

The Resurrection Body

35But someone will say, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come?” 36Fool! What you sow will not come to life unless it dies. 37And what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare seed – perhaps of wheat or something else. 38But God gives it a body just as he planned, and to each of the seeds a body of its own. 39All flesh is not the same: People have one flesh, animals have another, birds and fish another. 40And there are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies. The glory of the heavenly body is one sort and the earthly another. 41There 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.

42It is the same with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable, what is raised is imperishable. 43It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; 44it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. 45So also it is written, “The first man, Adam, became a living person”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. 46However, the spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and then the spiritual. 47The first man is from the earth, made of dust; the second man is from heaven. 48Like the one made of dust, so too are those made of dust, and like the one from heaven, so too those who are heavenly. 49And just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, let us also bear the image of the man of heaven.

50Now this is what I am saying, brothers and sisters: Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51Listen, I will tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed – 52in a moment, in the blinking of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. 54Now when this perishable puts on the imperishable, and this mortal puts on immortality, then the saying that is written will happen,

“Death has been swallowed up in victory.”

55“Where, O death, is your victory?

Where, O death, is your sting?”

56The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ! 58So then, dear brothers and sisters, be firm. Do not be moved! Always be outstanding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.