Many witnesses saw Jesus after he came out of the sepulchre: they met with him, touched him, talked with him and ate with him. Therefore Paul affirms: “Now is Christ risen from the dead” and as Jesus is only the first of many he adds: “and become the firstfruits of them that slept”. Just as so many die as a result of Adam’s disobedience, so many will be made eternally alive through Christ’s obedience: “For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive”.
God has set times in his purpose for the granting of immortality, one being when Jesus himself was raised and another when he returns from heaven: “But every man [will be made alive] in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterwards they that are Christ’s at his coming”. These immortal men and women will reign with Jesus in the kingdom of God on earth until “the end” when others also will be raised: “Then the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father: when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power, for he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death”. When this is accomplished, God’s purpose revealed in the Bible will be finished and the earth will be inhabited only by righteous and immortal people.
Some asked what body those raised from the dead would come forth to (the verb has the dative case so it should be 'to what body', not 'with what body'). And the answer is that God will give them a body that pleases him and that is appropriate to the life they will live, as has been the case with all the bodies he has created - "so also is the resurrection of the dead". There is a natural body and there is a spiritual body and, just as we have inherited the natural body from Adam, so we will inherited the spiritual body now possessed by Jesus. This will necessitate a change from our vile body to his glorious body. (Philippians 3:21).Waiting for response for Philippians 3:21 He will come, the Lord from heaven, as a life-giving spirit and will change the bodies of his brethren and sisters so, like him, they will be pasrtakers of the divine nature! (2 Peter 1:4).Waiting for response for 2 Peter 1:4
Knowledge of God’s purpose gives us a glorious hope for the future. If we die we will be raised to eternal life; if we are alive when Jesus returns we will not die but be changed to be immortal: “Behold, I shew 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 trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption and this mortal must put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory”. With this wonderful prospect before Christ’s disciples, Paul exhorted them: “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord”.
Verses 1,3-4,54
Waiting for response for 1 Corinthians 15:1,3-4,54"Death is swallowed up in victory" - This is one of the great messages of the Bible: death will be overcome so that men and women live for ever. This will be achieved by raising people from the grave and making them immortal, and this process has already begun through Jesus' resurrection. This is an essential element of the gospel and is the beginning of this chapter: “Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel... for I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures”