1 Corinthians 15:20-28
But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For “God has put all things in subjection under his feet.” But when it says, “all things are put in subjection,” it is plain that he is excepted who put all things in subjection under him. When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all.
Welcome to Getting ready for Sunday, a podcast of first Lutheran Church. Each week I introduced the readings for the upcoming Sunday with some notes and explanation so you can be ready for worship when you arrive. I look at the Old Testament, Psalm epistle and Gospel reading for the upcoming Sunday and offer a few notes and explanation. The Epistle reading for Sunday, November 26, is first Corinthians chapter 15, verses 20 through 28. But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order, Christ the first fruits, then it is coming those who belong to Christ, then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God, the Father after destroying every rule, and every authority and power, For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under His feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For God has put all things in subjection under His feet. But when it says all things are put in subjection, it is plain that he is accepted, who put all things in subjection under him. When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him, who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all. Here ends the reading this passage first Corinthians chapter 1520, through 28, is part of a long passage all about the resurrection on the last day, the whole chapter, First Corinthians 15 is about it. It talks about the witnesses of Christ's resurrection, that our faith then is in vain if Christ has not been raised from the dead. And it describes the wonderful promise of the bodies that we have, that when Jesus returns in a moment, in a twinkling of an eye, we will be changed. Here in this passage, it reminds us that Jesus Christ is the pattern for all who are in him. For everyone who is in Christ, he is the pattern for us, as it says, but in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. The first fruits are the the fruits that come at the beginning of a harvest. So if you have like an apple tree, the first apple that you pick is the first fruit. And you don't say that's the final harvest, what you say is, I can't wait for all of these apples to become ripe. Well, that's what Jesus is like, Jesus is the beginning, the first Apple picked from the grave to rise up and become alive. So all in Christ will continue. And Paul makes a divide, he says, For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. So the natural state is that we are all like Adam, in Adam, we all die. In Christ, we will all be made alive. And so the pattern of this world is the pattern of being with one with Adam, the pattern of the next world of the resurrection, is that all in Christ will be made alive. Jesus Christ showed us he paved the way by entering into death on the cross, by being buried in the tomb, and destroying the power of death forever over us. And now we wait for when he returns, to raise us from the dead. Now he continues, then comes the end when He delivers the kingdom to God, the Father after destroying every rule, and every authority and power, For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under His feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. So the end is coming. When Jesus comes, he will put all authorities and powers under his feet, that means he will subject them he will win. And I think what that means is that every kind of authority, every kind of power that might try to compete with Christ, even though things that God has established for our good will be put underneath him under his power. And right now, there are so many things that are trying to compete with Christ for His authority over us. We have governments that want us to have our loyalty to them more than to Christ. Families treat their siblings or parents or anything like that, as more important than Jesus Himself. We have temptations and every sort of thing that is in our way. But the worst of them all. The worst of the enemies is death. Jesus will destroy death. Now this is an odd thing to say, for Christians who have often been taught that the goal of the Christian life is to die and go to heaven. We think, ah, once I have died, then I can be with Jesus forever. But even that is still not the full gift of salvation. Because death is an enemy. And when we are dead, our bodies on the ground our souls with Christ in heaven, we still are waiting for the glorious day of the return. And when Jesus finally returns, death will be destroyed forever. All things will be under Jesus under his control, and we will live for with him forever. This passage ends with a rather confusing set of ideas, or it's at talks about being things being put under Jesus's feet and then under God's feet. So the idea here is that all things are being put under Christ's feet as the king of all of creation. And then later, he delivers that kingdom to the Father. And St. Paul wants everybody to know that when all things are put under the sun's feet, that doesn't include the Father. And so even then, the father is over Christ, who is all in all. That's all we have for today. We'll see you on Sunday. Bye
Transcribed by https://otter.ai