Total Time: ~2.5 to 3 hours
Focus: Understanding the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ not just as a historical event, but as the non-negotiable foundation of our faith, the guarantee of our future, and the ultimate reversal of sin and death.
🧱 Session 1 — The Bedrock: An Unshakeable, Witnessed Fact (45-60 mins)
Theme: The Gospel is not a philosophy or a good idea; it is a report of a verifiable, historical event—the death, burial, and bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ, confirmed by hundreds of eyewitnesses.
📖 Reading
1 Corinthians 15:1–11 — Paul reminds the Corinthian church of the simple, factual Gospel he delivered to them, grounding it in the testimony of those who saw the risen Christ.
📖 Key Passages
- 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 – “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:”
- 1 Corinthians 15:5-6 – “And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve: 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.”
🔍 Word Study Suggestions
| KJV Word | Original Language | Original Word | Definition |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gospel | Greek (NT) | εὐαγγέλιον (euaggelion) | “Good news” or “a good message.” In the Roman world, it often referred to the announcement of a new king or a great military victory. |
| Rose again | Greek (NT) | ἐγείρω (egeirō) | To awaken, to raise up from a seated or lying position. It’s a physical, bodily action, not a spiritual metaphor. |
📚 Historical & Cultural Context
- The Corinthian Doubt: Paul is writing to a Greek church in Corinth. Many Greek philosophies, like Platonism, taught that the physical body was a prison for the soul and that “resurrection” was purely spiritual. Paul confronts this head-on by listing specific, named, living eyewitnesses to Jesus’ bodily resurrection, essentially saying, “This is not a myth; go ask these people yourselves.”
🗣️ Discussion Questions
- Paul says the resurrection is “of first importance.” Why do you think he places it at the very top of the list?
- Paul lists over 500 eyewitnesses. How does this historical evidence challenge the idea that the resurrection was just a story the disciples made up?
- Paul includes himself in the list of witnesses, calling himself the “least of the apostles.” How does his personal testimony of being transformed from a persecutor to an apostle add weight to the truth of the resurrection?
🧱 Session 2 — The Linchpin: If Christ Is Not Risen… (60 mins)
Theme: The resurrection is the linchpin holding all of Christianity together. Without it, the entire structure of our faith collapses into a meaningless and pitiable exercise.
📖 Reading
1 Corinthians 15:12–22 — Paul lays out the devastating logical consequences if the resurrection isn’t true, and the glorious, life-giving reality because it is.
📖 Key Passages
- 1 Corinthians 15:14 – “And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain.”
- 1 Corinthians 15:17 – “And if Christ be not risen, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.”
- 1 Corinthians 15:20 – “But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.”
🔍 Word Study Suggestions
| KJV Word | Original Language | Original Word | Definition |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vain | Greek (NT) | κενός (kenos) | Empty, without content, hollow, useless. Paul is saying that without the resurrection, our faith has no substance or power. |
| Firstfruits | Greek (NT) | ἀπαρχή (aparché) | The first portion of the harvest offered to God as a promise and guarantee of the full harvest to come. Christ’s resurrection is the “firstfruit” that guarantees our own. |
📚 Theological Framework
- The Great Reversal: This passage contains one of the most powerful reversals in Scripture. “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive” (v. 22). The death and corruption that entered the world through one man’s disobedience is completely undone and reversed by the life that entered the world through one man’s resurrection.
- The All-or-Nothing Proposition: Paul leaves no middle ground. The resurrection is either true, and our faith is everything, or it is false, and our faith is nothing. He stakes the entire coherence of the Gospel on this single, historical event.
🗣️ Discussion Questions
- Paul says that if Christ is not risen, “ye are yet in your sins.” Why is the resurrection necessary for our forgiveness? What does it prove about Christ’s sacrifice?
- What does it mean for Jesus to be the “firstfruits” of the resurrection? How does this give you confidence in your own future?
- If our faith is not in vain, but is based on a victorious, risen King, how should that change the way we face our daily problems and fears?
🧱 Session 3 — The Victory: Death, Where Is Thy Sting? (45-60 mins)
Theme: Because Christ is risen, death has been defeated. It has lost its power and its finality. Our future is not a fearful unknown, but a guaranteed victory.
📖 Reading
1 Corinthians 15:50–58 — Paul concludes his argument with a triumphant declaration of victory over death and an encouragement for how we should live in light of this reality.
📖 Key Passages
- 1 Corinthians 15:54-55 – “So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption… then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?”
- 1 Corinthians 15:58 – “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.”
🔍 Word Study Suggestions
| KJV Word | Original Language | Original Word | Definition |
|---|---|---|---|
| Victory | Greek (NT) | νῖκος (nikos) | Victory, conquest. The imagery is of a decisive, final triumph over an enemy. |
| Sting | Greek (NT) | κέντρον (kentron) | A sting, like that of a scorpion, or a goad used to drive cattle. Death’s “sting” was sin, and its power was the Law. Christ has disarmed it. |
🧠 Reflection & Application
- The passage says “Death is swallowed up in victory.” What does that image mean to you? How does it change the way you view your own mortality?
- Paul’s final command is to be “stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord.” How does the certainty of the resurrection empower us to do this?
- Notice the beautiful reversal: In verse 14, Paul said without the resurrection our faith is “in vain.” Here in verse 58, he says because of the resurrection, our labor is “not in vain.” How does this truth give meaning and purpose to your life today?