Welcome to part 2 of “Resurrection in 1 Corinthians 15, Where Did You Start? I’m sure that you’re like everyone else with many things to do and very little time to get it done. Well, at least that’s what it’s like for me. Taking the time to write a blog post challenges me at times, like now. But, I promised to follow up from yesterday so here we go. After looking at the source of 1 Corinthians 15 from Hosea 5:13f, we continue to examine chapter 6 in the light of what we discover there.
God is punishing Israel for sin. He is the lion that will tear their flesh with a wound that is not healed until they repent and confess their sins. So, is there anyone who would dispute that this context in Hosea chapter 5 and the beginning verses of chapter 6 are about sin, judgment and reconciliation? Well, there is a harmony to the Bible, especially between the Old and New Testaments. In fact, that’s what both Christ and his apostles preached.
In other words, a New Testament theory of resurrection in 1 Corinthians 15 which cannot be supported by Old Testament teaching is most assuredly incorrect. So, let us continue this theme of reconciliation.
Hosea Chapter 6 and 1 Corinthians 15
God introduces the text by Israel’s acknowledgment of their need to return to the Lord. “Come, and let us return to the Lord; For he has torn, but he will heal us; He has stricken, but He will bind us up. After two days he will revive us; On the third day he will raise us up that we may live in His sight. (Hosea 6:1-2).
Now a few questions and comments are in order based on these verses. The yearning to return to the Lord is a direct result of God’s judgment against Israel discussed per chapter 5:13-15. Are they literally torn by a literal 4-footed wild animal? No. But, they were torn by the Lion of the tribe of Judah. It is this metaphorical wound, i.e. this sin-sickness that God would heal.
The timing is unmistakeably the source of Paul’s gospel in 1 Corinthians 15:4. “After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live in his sight. God is going to raise Israel on the third day. Was Israel dead, physically speaking? No. But they were dead in sin, i.e. separated from God. This is why they would seek his face. Absence from God’s presence or from his face is death, –covenantal death caused by sin.
Israel’s Resurrection Is Accomplished Through Jesus Christ Their Messiah
The resurrection of Israel occurs through Jesus Christ. Christ is Israel in that it is from him as the “first of the firstfruits” that all Israel are determined. Anyone who is not of Christ is most certainly not Israel. “And if you are Christ’s then are you Abraham‘s seed and heirs according to the promise. That statement encompasses both Jew and Gentile in the body of Christ.
Now if the problem in Hosea 5 and 6, which is the background text for 1 Corinthians 15 is sin and resurrection therefrom, why does Paul begin his premise in 1 Corinthians 15 drawing from that text and arguing that Christ died for “our” sins? Is there no connection between the chapters? Isn’t the problem the same? Is this the reason we’re told that 1 Corinthians 15 has nothing to do with Old Testament scripture, namely because the evidence supports a soteriological versus a biological focus on 1 Corinthians 15?
Nor can one limit the text to Christ only who rose on the third day. The focus is the nation. “Come let us return to the Lord…He will heal us, he will bind us up, He will revive us, he will raise us up, that we may live in his sight. So, that’s too many “us’es’ and we’s. This helps us to understand why Christ had to die for the nation/world, for if one died for all then were all dead.
Further, it shows that the bodily resurrection (biological body) does not fulfill the text for Israel was not raised biologically in or with him. Nor could they ever be. The only way for Israel to be raised after two days and hence on the third day would be by in some manner sharing in Christ’s resurrection.We have the key to that mystery in Romans 6:3-4.
Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ’s Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
Here’s is God’s spiritual time machine. A man could go back in time through baptism and enter Christ’s death and resurrection. We’re not baptized into our death. Our death can’t save anyone from sin, not even ourselves. Only the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world could do this. Hence, they were baptized into “HIS” death and rose in the likeness of His Resurrection.
So, when we ask, resurrection in 1 Corinthians 15, Where Did You Start?, Hosea 6 would be a very good beginning. Tomorrow, we will look at part 3, and ask the question, “Where do you end in 1 Corinthians 15? As you may have guessed, Hosea is a good place to end as well! Need more clarity on the end times? See a great little book on Christ’s second coming that has helped many increase their grasp on the end times. You can check it out here.
