The Pulpit Commentary — 1 Corinthians — Section 507

vain, and Christian faith was in vain. What a new EcclesiasteR is here! "Vanity ,of vnnitiea, all is vanity." But was this all? If a denial of man's resurrection necessitated the rejecti,.m of Ch1ist's resurrection; if the loss of bis resurrection swept .away bis atonement, seeing that there was no proof of its validity, and hence no assurance of pardon and pea.:e; if the nullification of the atonement destroyed the· value of preaching and the worth of believing ;-could there be any addition to tl,c amount and quality of these dreadful consequences? Yes; the train of evils followin:; this new doctrine of no resurrection was lengthened out still further; for "they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished." All departed Christians are lost. 'There is no heaven for them, and the touching words," fallen asleep in Jesus," are mocking rhetoric. Again, the thought recurs-Was this crediole ~ Another vanity must be superadded: affection for the departed, the tenderest and holiest of all human feelings, that which perfects the love unable to obtain its complete growth while the object lived to the eyes and was clasped in the arms; this most beautiful and noble .affection is idle sentimentality, for they have "perished." At this point something more than log:ical reasoning is involved. The deepest instinct of the soul in its human relationships is in issue. Is this instinct a cheat, a falst-bood? We, the apostles and the five hundred brethren, are not the only "false witnesses," but your nature, the very -core of your nature, is a deceit and mockery. You have lost your Christ and his .apostles, lost your faith, lost your friends. Nothing precious is left; you dare not trust your firme~t instincts. " Most miserable!" Con I, 1 there be a greater torture? " If in this life only we have 1-:!ope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable." The hope of being with him hereafter, of seeing and enjoying him, of becoming more and more like bim,-this is our heaven of anticipation; the crown is "a crown of righteous- ness;" the eternal reward is neare1· and fuller communion with him. But this hope is all vain. Himself uncrowned, himself left to the dishonour of the grave, what can Chri~t be to you and what relief afford you-you of all men most wretched? Other men resign themselves to their dreams of earthly joy~, seek the pleasures of sense and find them, fall down and worship Satan and get their kingdoms of power and wealth and passion. These you have denied yourselves and put far from your pursuits. Heaven bas been enough for you. But lo! this heaven is a vain hope, a fleeting -creature of fancy, and you are the victims of a supreme folly, the lowest on earth in hopeless misery. This mournful picture is not allowcJ. to detain the eye, for St. Paul immediately says (ver. 20), "Now-is Christ riseri from the dead, and become the first- fruits of them that slept." There is the fact of bis resurrection; there is also the ,doctrinal import of the truth with respect to believers ; so that after sbowi ug the absurdity of the opposite view, he now lays down II positive assertion in conformity with the first stage of bis argument. Christ bas risen, but in what character and relation? 'l'he answer is, "The Firstfruits of them that slept." A vast harvest is in the future, and be is the Firstfruits. Was not the first sheaf a specimen of the matureJ. fiehl, .a thank offering to the God of providence, a pledge of the full ingathering? In all things he was to have" pre-eminence," and consequently in this, that he was" the first begotten of the dead." Previous resurrections had occurred, but in no sense were ·they "firstfruits," since no representative or mediatorial character appertaineJ. to them, nor did they involve the idea of a Divine covenant. The significance of Christ's ,return to life is that, having been "reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life." 'l'he specialty of his vicarious .sacrifice gives specialty to his resurrection, which is the beginning of his exaltation to be a Prince and a Saviour, "for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins." And in this, humanity appears historically no less than prospectively: "Since by man -came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead." It is, in each instance, a race-fact be is contemplating, and be sees the race as existing in the natured headship -of Adam and in the spiritual headship of Christ. "As in Adam all dio" a natural death, "even so in Christ shall all be made alive "-restored to existence as it consists in the union of soul and body. Further on, St. Paul specializes the difference between Adam and Christ; here and in the context, it is the similarity of attitu<lo towards the human family which he presents. 'l'o sec the unlikeness, we must first sec tho resemblance, and, accordingly, be institutes a parallel between the two, Adtim and Christ, as preparatory to the divergence which be introduces when <liscussing other 516 rIIE FIRST EPISTLE 'l'O THE CORINTHIANS. [cH. xv. l-5S..