p. 14 | INTERNATIONAL SERIES

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Apr 1, 1903

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 29, No. 13.

INTERNATIONAL SERIES

THE SUNDAY SCHOOL

LESSON 2.—APRIL 12.—THE RESURRECTION.

Lesson Scripture, 1 Cor. 15: 20, 21, 50-58, A. R. V.

(20) “But now hath Christ been raised from the dead, the first-fruits of them that are asleep. (21) For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.”

(50) “Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood can not inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. (51) Behold, I tell you a mystery: We all shall not sleep, but we shall all be changed, (52) in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. (53) For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. (54) But when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. (55) O death, where is thy victory? O death, where is thy sting? (56) The sting of death is sin; and the power of sin is the law: (57) but thanks be to God, who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. (58) Wherefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not vain in the Lord.”

Note.—The lesson includes the entire chapter, with a brief review of Christ’s resurrection and the forty days following. It is suggested that the teacher win the attention of the class by asking what most men fear most. The answer will be death; but it should be sin. For the Christian, the promise of the resurrection removes the fear of death.

Golden Text.—“Now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first-fruits of them that slept.” 1 Cor. 15: 20.

SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS.

(1) What positive truth does Paul affirm in regard to Christ? What did He thus become? Verse 20. Note 1. (2) How did death enter the world? What followed? and through whom? Verse 21. Note 2. (3) What declaration does Paul make in regard to flesh and blood? In regard to corruption? Verse 50. Note 3. (4) What does Paul proceed to expound? What experience would some escape? But what experience would be common to all? Verse 51. (5) How much time would be consumed in this change? When will it take place? What two events will immediately follow the sounding of the trumpet? Verse 52. Note 4. (6) What must the corruptible do? What must the mortal do? Then what are all up to the time of the resurrection? Verse 53. (7) When this great change has been wrought, what glorious fact will then be realized? Verse 54. Note 5. (8) What triumphant questions will then be asked of death? Verse 55. (9) What constitutes the sting of death? What relation does the law sustain to sin? Verse 56. Note 6. (10) What should this victory over sin and death lead us to exclaim? Through whom was that victory won for us? Verse 57. (11) Because of this what does Paul exhort the followers of Christ to do? Because that victory has been achieved, what may the Christian know? Verse 58.

NOTES.

1. “The first-fruits.”—Christ is the first-fruits of them that are asleep because His resurrection is the pledge and assurance of the resurrection of His people. He is the first sheaf in the great harvest of life, the precursor of the treasures of the harvest field to follow. On the fact of His resurrection hangs the whole plan of salvation. Without that, the Gospel itself would be nothing.

2. “Since by man came death.”—Romans 5:12 states it in this way: “Therefore, as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin; and so death passed unto all men, for that all sinned.” “Man” and “one man” in these texts refer to Adam and to Christ, as we see by 1 Cor. 15:22: “As in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.” In Adam’s sin the whole world is counted as sinning; but in Christ’s righteousness every repentant sinner is counted righteous. How is it possible, then, to accuse God of injustice in counting all sinners when He has made such ample, such free provision for the righteousness of all?

3. “Neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.”—One of the strongest texts in the Bible to prove that man is mortal. We do not inherit or enter into heaven now, because we are mortal, corruptible, perishable. There is coming a time when those who have been loyal to God will be imperishable, incorruptible, immortal. Then they can enter heaven. That time is pointed out in verse 52—the time of the resurrection, at the sounding of the trumpet of God. This is described in 1 Thess. 4:16. The expression quoted at the beginning of this note is but another way of saying, “neither doth mortality inherit immortality.” It means just that. We are not mortal and immortal at the same time; but we are mortal now and will remain so until after the resurrection; and only those who are Christ’s will have immortality then. This is the teaching of the whole chapter—and of the Bible.

4. “We shall be changed.”—Changed from mortal to immortal, receive the resurrection body. When will that change be made, that gift be given? The verse itself tells: “We shall be changed” at the sounding of “the last trump;” the dead will “be raised incorruptible”—receive their resurrection bodies—after “the trumpet shall sound.” Then they have not been incorruptible, immortal, until the trumpet of the resurrection sounds. The only possible conclusion is that the dead have remained dead until that time, and that immortality is given at that time.

5. “So when this corruptible.”—Paul, as if to leave men without excuse for ignorance on this point, reiterates the truth of the mortality of man; that incorruption, immortality, comes only at the resurrection, when “the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven, with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God.” That shout is the shout of victory over Satan and sin, the command to the sleeping saints to arise. See also Isa. 26:19-21.

6. “The sting of death is sin,” because sin has stung the race, and death is the result. Death is the result of sin as well as the wages for it. “By the law is the knowledge of sin.” The law makes the sin to appear what it is; it points out sin. Paul says: “I had not known sin, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet,” etc. It is in this sense that the law is said to be the power, or strength, of sin.