New Hope Together | 1 Corinthians 15

1 Corinthians 15:1-7, 12-14, 35-38, 42-44, 51-58 (NIV)

1) Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. 2) By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. 3) For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4) that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5) and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. 6) After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. 7) Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, 

12) But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13) If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14) And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.

35) But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come?” 36) How foolish! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. 37) When you sow, you do not plant the body that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or of something else. 38)But God gives it a body as he has determined, and to each kind of seed he gives its own body.

 42) So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; 43) it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; 44) it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.  If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.

51) Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— 52) in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53) For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. 54) When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” 55) “Where, O death, is your victory?  Where, O death, is your sting?” 56) The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57) But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 58) Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

TAKEAWAYS

Who We Are:

1. We are people who believe that Jesus is alive.  (v 3-8)
2. We are people with a shared future (v 35-54)
3. We have the ability to bounce back in all circumstances. (v 58)