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From the moment Jesus appeared to Paul at his dramatic conversion, Paul
never hesitated to proclaim Him as the mystery of the ages and great Redeemer of sinful humanity (1 Corinthians 15:1-20
Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein
ye stand; 2 By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.
3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to
the scriptures; 4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:
5 And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve: 6 After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once;
of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep. 7 After that, he was seen of James;
then of all the apostles. 8 And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time. 9 For I
am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10
But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly
than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. 11 Therefore whether it were I or they, so we preach,
and so ye believed. ). To Paul, Jesus was the Messiah, God's Son, the center of the gospel, and the One through whom
"all things were created" 12 Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that
there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen:
14 And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. 15 Yea, and we are found false
witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead
rise not. 16 For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised: 17 And if Christ be not raised, your faith
is vain; ye are yet in your sins. 18 Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. 19 If in
this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. 20 But now is Christ risen from the dead, and
become the firstfruits of them that slept. What a stress he lays upon it: Moreover, brethren, I declare
unto you the gospel which I preached to you. It was what he constantly preached. His word was not yea and nay: he
always preached the same gospel, and taught the same truth. He could appeal to his hearers for this. Truth is in its own nature
invariable; and the infallible teachers of divine truth could never be at variance with themselves or one another. The doctrine
which Paul had heretofore taught, he still taught. How uncontrollably evident was Christ's resurrection from the dead,
when so many eyes saw him at so many different times alive, and when he indulged the weakness of one disciple so far as to
let him handle him, to put his resurrection out of doubt! And what reason have we to believe those who were so steady in maintaining
this truth, though they hazarded all that was dear to them in this world, by endeavouring to assert and propagate it! Even
Paul himself was last of all favoured with the sight of him. It was one of the peculiar offices of an apostle to be a witness
of our Saviour's resurrection; and, when Paul was called to the apostolical office, he was made an evidence of this sort;
the Lord Jesus appeared to him by the way to Damascus, That he was one born out of due time, an abortive, ektroma,
a child dead born, and out of time. Paul resembled such a birth, in the suddenness of his new birth, in that he was not matured
for the apostolic function, as the others were, who had personal converse with our Lord. He was called to the office when
such conversation was not to be had, he was out of time for it. He had not known nor followed the Lord, nor been formed in
his family, as the others were, for this high and honourable function. This was in Paul's account a very humbling circumstance. Not
meet to be called an apostle. The least, because the last of them; called latest to the office, and not worthy to be
called an apostle, to have either the office or the title, because he had been a persecutor of the church of God. Indeed,
he tells us elsewhere that he was not a whit behind the very chief apostles -- for gifts, graces, service, and sufferings,
inferior to none of them. Yet some circumstances in his case made him think more meanly of himself than of any of them. A
humble spirit, in the midst of high attainments, is a great ornament to any man; it sets his good qualities off to much greater
advantage. What kept Paul low in an especial manner was the remembrance of his former wickedness, his raging and destructive
zeal against Christ and him members. How easily God can bring a good out of the greatest evil! When sinners are by divine
grace turned into saints, he makes the remembrance of their former sins very serviceable, to make them humble, and diligent,
and faithful. All that is good in us is a stream from this fountain. Paul was sensible of this, and kept humble and
thankful by this conviction; so should we. Nay, though he was conscious of his own diligence, and zeal, and service, so that
he could say of himself, the grace of God was not given him in vain, but he laboured more abundantly than they all:
he thought himself so much more the debtor to divine grace. It would follow hereupon that the preaching and faith of
the gospel would be vain: If Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith vain, This supposition
admitted, would destroy the principal evidence of Christianity; and so. Make preaching vain. "We apostles should be
found false witnesses of God; we pretend to be God's witnesses for truth, and to work miracles by his power in confirmation
of it, and are all the while deceivers, liars for God, if in his name, and by power received from him, we go forth, and publish
and assert a thing false in fact, and impossible to be true. And does not this make us the vainest men in the world, and our
office and ministry the vainest and most useless thing in the world? What end could we propose to ourselves in undertaking
this hard and hazardous service, if we knew our religion stood on no better foundation, nay, if we were not well assured of
the contrary? What should we preach for? Would not our labour be wholly in vain? We can have no very favourable expectations
in this life; and If Christ be not raised, the gospel is a redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins. No
remission of sins is to be had but through the shedding of his blood. And had his blood been shed, and his life taken away,
without ever being restored, what evidence could we have had that through him we should have justification and eternal life?
Had he remained under the power of death, how could he have delivered us from its power? And how vain a thing is faith in
him, upon this supposition! He must rise for our justification who was delivered for our sins, or in vain we look for any
such benefit by him. There had been no justification nor salvation if Christ had not risen. And must not faith in Christ be
vain, and of no signification, if he be still among the dead?Would infer that Christ's ministers and servants were of all
men most miserable, as having hope in him in this life only, which is another absurdity that would follow from
asserting no resurrection. Their condition who hope in Christ would be worse than that of other men. Who hope in Christ.
Note, All who believe in Christ have hope in him; all who believe in him as a Redeemer hope for redemption and salvation by
him; but if there be no resurrection, or state of future recompence (which was intended by those who denied the resurrection
at Corinth), their hope in him must be limited to this life: and, if all their hopes in Christ lie within the compass of this
life, they are in a much worse condition than the rest of mankind, especially at that time, and under those circumstances,
in which the apostles wrote; for then they had no countenance nor protection from the rulers of the world, but were hated
and persecuted by all men. Preachers and private Christians therefore had a hard lot if in this life only they had hope in
Christ. Better be any thing than a Christian upon these terms; for in this world they are hated, and hunted, and abused, stripped
of all worldly comforts and exposed to all manner of sufferings: they fare much harder than other men in this life, and yet
have no further nor better hopes. And is it not absurd for one who believes in Christ to admit a principle that involves so
absurd an inference? Can that man have faith in Christ who can believe concerning him that he will leave his faithful servants,
whether ministers or others, in a worse state than his enemies? Note, It were a gross absurdity in a Christian to admit the
supposition of no resurrection or future state. It would leave no hope beyond this world, and would frequently make his condition
the worst in the world. Indeed, the Christian is by his religion crucified to this world, and taught to live upon the hope
of another. Carnal pleasures are insipid to him in a great degree; and spiritual and heavenly pleasures are those which he
affects and pants after. How sad is his case indeed, if he must be dead to worldly pleasures and yet never hope for any better!Because
he is indeed the first-fruits of those that slept. He has truly risen himself, and he has risen in this very quality
and character, as the first-fruits of those who sleep in him. As he has assuredly risen, so in his resurrection there is as
much an earnest given that the dead in him shall rise as there was that the Jewish harvest in general should be accepted and
blessed by the offering and acceptance of the first-fruits. The whole lump was made holy by the consecration of the first-fruits,
and the whole body of Christ, all that are by faith united to him, are by his resurrection assured of their own. As he has
risen, they shall rise; just as the lump is holy because the first fruits are so. He has not risen merely for himself, but
as head of the body, the church; and those that sleep in him God will bring with him. Christ's resurrection is
a pledge and earnest of ours, if we are true believers in him; because he has risen, we shall rise. We are a part of the consecrated
lump, and shall partake of the acceptance and favour vouchsafed the first-fruits. (Colossons 1:16 For by him were
all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions,
or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:) He is so far from beginning himself
a creature that he is the Creator: For by him were all things created, which are in heaven and earth, visible and invisible.
He made all things out of nothing, the highest angel in heaven, as well as men upon earth. He made the world, the upper and
lower world, with all the inhabitants of both. All things were made by him, and without him was not any thing made which
was made. He speaks here as if there were several orders of angels: Whether thrones, or dominions, or principalities,
or powers, which must signify either different degrees of excellence or different offices and employments. Angels,
authorities, and powers. Christ is the eternal wisdom of the Father, and the world was made in wisdom. He is the eternal
Word, and the world was made by the word of God. He is the arm of the Lord, and the world was made by that arm. All
things are created by him and for him; di autou kai eis auton. Being created by him, they were created for
him; being made by his power, they were made according to his pleasure and for his praise. He is the end, as well as the cause
of all things. To him are all things; eis auton ta panta. .
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