Creeds & Confessions on the Resurrection and Judgement (Pt. 3)

This morning I was out for a drive at sunrise. On the horizon was a peachish, orange circle. As I looked at it with the clouds around it and wistfully spread in front it I was surprised…surprised that I was looking at it…it was the sun after all. Or was it? I wasn’t sure which direction I was driving. Remember this was sunrise, I had not had my morning coffee. Maybe it was a last glimpse of the moon in the early morning hours? But no, I was driving east…it was the sun. For reasons unknown to me I was able to look at it. I’m no scientist who might explain why, yet I’m not dumb enough either to fix my eyes on it either. For those few minutes I was amazed at how the tolerable the sun was as I drove. I began to wonder if the combination of it being so low in the sky, as well as it being masked with thin clouds would have allowed me to look at it those few times briefly.

As the drive came to an end I remembered how another Son came into view 2,000 years ago. That Son also was simple in appearance. There was no brilliance or blinding power. He could be interacted with like any other person on earth. Now, just as the sun started low in the sky yet grew in brilliance and potency to the point of being blinding, so also there is coming a day when The Son will be back on this earth with a brilliance brighter than the sun, yet miraculously we will be able to see and enjoy that majestic glory, that unimaginable beauty.

Confessions & 1 Corinthians 15

In picking up on the train of thought from the previous post we will look at a second passage which undergirds our confession of Christ’s return to raise the dead and judge all. I am utilizing common passages given by the London Baptist Confession (Baptist), Westminster Confession (Presbyterian), and Belgic Confession (Reformed). This way we are seeing what a large portion of the protestant faith has affirmed for centuries and generations regarding the work of Christ at “the end.”

Here we will look at a key passage which tells us about that day: 1 Corinthians 15:20-26, 50-53.

1 Corinthians 15:20-26

“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.”

“But each in his own order…”

• Christ’s resurrection was Paul’s great subject to discuss in kicking of 1 Corinthians 15 (see v.12-19). It is here in 15:20-26 that he transitions to specifically discussing the resurrection of “those who belong to Christ”. This creates a progression which leads into the next verse: resurrection of Christ, resurrection of saints, then the “end”.

“Then comes the end…”

• We must ask ourselves: Is there a lengthy portion of time between he resurrection of those who belong to Christ and “the end” when the kingdom is delivered up? This is certainly no easy text to navigate through, nor is the question simple, nor is there space here to adequately work it out, however let us consider:
• 1) Although there is a lengthy, undefined amount of time between Christ’s resurrection and our resurrection we cannot say that it necessitates a lengthy, undefined amount of time between our resurrection and “the end”.
• 2) When we consider Matthew 25:31-33; John 5:28-29; 1 Thessalonians 4:14-17; & 2 Thessalonians 1:7-10, with a focus on the teaching they share, we find great reason to see the event of our resurrection and the end being back-to-back. I will be posting a blog in the near future displaying why I believe these texts to show us just that.
• 3) We begin to see reason to conclude in this text that upon resurrection the end of this world as we knows it commences for Christ’ work is complete in it. Hence he delivers up the kingdom to the Father.

“In the evangelists and epistles the resurrection of the righteous and that of the wicked are spoken of as contemporaneous, and since their separation in time is nowhere else revealed, the only proper inference is that they are to occur together.”

Charles Hodge on 1 Cor. 15:24

“After destroying every rule and every authority and power…”

• A quick point to make that will impact later blogs: This passage shows us the future reality of Jesus raising those who belong to him as immediately preceding “the end” when he delivers up the kingdom. That kingship was exercised from the time of his resurrection and ascension in which he is now “destroying every rule and every authority and power.” I point this out briefly because it will inform later posts on the…wait for it…yes, the “millennium”. According to the apostolic preaching of Acts Jesus’ kingship that was promised in Psalm 110:1 has begun. And that is what we see come immediately after this in 1 Corinthians 15:25.

“For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet…”

• To summarize: At our resurrection Jesus delivers the kingdom to the Father which he has been reigning over. In this reign he destroys every rule, authority, and power that oppose him. Now, the text directly above is emphatic because this must occur that the scriptures (Psalm 2; 110) be fulfilled.
• Now we may ask, what is going to mark “the end” of his kingly campaign of this world? That end arrives when one certain enemy is defeated: death.

“The last enemy to be destroyed is death.”

• When and how is this enemy defeated? The resurrection. Once the resurrection occurs there is no need for any lengthy, undefined amount of time. The final step of the redemption of the people of God is complete: they are raised “imperishable…in glory… in power… with a spiritual body…”
• Let me put it this way: The statement that “The last enemy to be destroyed is death” (15:26) is spoken of earlier when Paul speaks of our resurrection in 15:23.
• Therefore, 15:24-25 is telling us what happens after all of Christ’s enemies, including the last enemy, death, are “put…under his feet.” There is no more work to be done, no more conversions; nothing left of his redeeming work to complete. The end of the world as we know it will have come and the time will be then for the new creation.

In the progression of 1 Corinthians 15 this is a crucial passage to grasp. From here Paul moves to specifics about what the resurrection body is while also giving analogies regarding how it occurs.

When he comes to 15:50-54 he revisits the return of Christ and resurrection of those who belong to him. I will only speak to this briefly as it pertains to the passage above. We will look at it more in length in the next post when we examine it along side 1 Thessalonians 4:14-17

1 Corinthians 15:50-54

I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”

What I want to leave you with from 1 Corinthians 15 is that in light of the chapter as a whole the events of 1 Corinthians 15:50-54 are events that go hand-in-hand with what we looked at in detail from 15:20-26. The clear commonality between the two is their centeredness on the resurrection of those who belong to Christ.

In 15:20-26 we briefly read of the resurrection amid something of a time line. Here Paul pulls out the microscope to give us a close look at it. In other words this is to take 15:23 in more clear and detailed view (“then at his coming those who belong to Christ.”).

This point will heavily influence the next post. In the next post as mentioned above we will look at 15:50-54 and see the similarities in shares with 1 Thessalonians 4:14-17.

Conclusion:

Here in 1 Corinthians 15, and other referenced passages, we see why the confessions and creeds express belief as they do. Although the space did not allow for it here, it would be wise for anyone seeking to better understand our Lord’s second coming to spend time in 1 Corinthians 15. That chapter gives perspective and confidence in the moment with hope for the future.

Two Applications:

1. If you come from a confessional church like a Lutheran, Reformed, Presbyterian, or historic Baptist you may be more than familiar with such confessions. You may have heard them every Sunday of your life when you attended your home church. To you I would say not to take those confession for granted but use them as a springboard into the word of God. Maybe use the chapters of a your churches confession as a guide to your personal devotions. In your devotions read the passages like the ones we have looked at which give foundation to the confession your tradition upholds. On the other hand, maybe you come more from the camp: No Creed but Christ. Please do not be quick to write off confessions and creeds as man made documents that replace scripture. Although they can be abused, as can anything in the hand’s of mankind, they can be well used for teaching upcoming generations. We must understand that confessions are man made writings which concisely convey the key content found in Holy Scripture.
2. The resurrection as God’s final redemptive work on his people should, when earnestly considered, bring joy to the Christian. Anyone who has been in relationship with Christ for any number of weeks already knows the joy of forgiveness and the sweetness of fellowship with our King. The longer one lives in maturing faith the sweeter it gets. Now imagine the unbridled beauty and pleasure of God enjoyed in the new imperishable, glorious, and powerful bodies in which you will be raised. You will enjoy and take pleasure in God unhindered as never before. All the joy in salvation you have known in this life, and that of all the saints combined cannot give equal to just one Christian’s experience in the new creation of God. Enjoy the day you are in as a justified sinner, looking to the day you will be a glorified saint.