Pastor Carlos Montoya finishes out a devotional reflecting on the Glorious Exchange.
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The apostle Paul was a master wordsmith, with undeniable rhetorical skills. One of the greatest examples of this is reflected in 1 Corinthians 15 as he carefully crafts his argument regarding the future physical resurrection of believers. The basic argument for this great truth is grounded on the reality of the glorious resurrection of Jesus Christ.
A brief outline of the first 11 verses can be structured as follows:
Verses 1-4 The Unadulterated Gospel of the Resurrected Christ
Verses 5-8 The Unmistakable Appearance of the Resurrected Christ
Verses 8-11 The Unmerited Preaching of the Resurrected Christ
The flow of these eleven verses can be expressed this way: The unadulterated Gospel of the resurrected Christ is proven by the unmistakable appearance of the resurrected Christ which gives cause to the unmerited preaching of the resurrected Christ. With this foundation established, Paul presents his case for the glorious future resurrection of believers in verse 12...
Now if Christ is preached, that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?
Paul appeals to the established fact of Christ’s undeniable resurrection to highlight the absurdity of thinking that there wouldn’t be a resurrection of the dead for believers: How can some say there is no resurrection of the dead if Christ’s resurrection is a known fact? This is Paul’s fundamental premise! In other words, the resurrection of Christ absolutely guarantees the future resurrection of believers. It is absurd to think otherwise!
But Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, furthers his argument by presenting a hypothetical negative situation in verses 13 to 19: What if Christ did not rise from the dead? What would that look like? What would be the consequences? He then details the dreadful effects of such a situation. But the most alarming ones are stated in verses 14 and 17…
Verse 14 - … then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain.
Verse 17 - … your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins.
This is absolutely horrifying! In unequivocal terms, Paul declares that faith in the death of Christ would produce eternal damnation (…[being] still in your sins), if it were not for Christ’s resurrection. Think about this! The double imputation as expressed in Friday’s devotional, is for naught - is completely worthless - if Christ had died but had not risen from the dead. The cross, the shed blood, the sacrifice, the taking upon Himself the sins of sinners, the punishment of the very wrath of God is totally useless if Christ had not risen from the dead! Wow! Here, Paul establishes an inseparable bond between Christ’s death on the cross and His glorious resurrection. The two must go together to accomplish our glorious hope! The resurrection of Christ was the final seal to guarantee the glorious exchange. In verse 20, Paul departs from the hypothetical situation and returns to the certainty of Christ’s resurrection by saying…
But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep.
Since Christ has been truly and gloriously raised from the dead, believers, upon their death (those who are asleep) have the glorious hope of the glorious exchange to experience their glorious resurrection!
This is what we celebrate on Resurrection Day!