The Pulpit Commentary — 1 Corinthians — Section 523

III. A VITAL QUESTION. With the answer Cbristbnity stands or falls. This the apostle willingly admits. Note what amongst other things is involved in the denial of the resurrection of Christ. 1. The falsity of the witnesses. (1) Yet everythincr these witnesseR Bay and ~o has the savour of sincerity. They live lives of humility, purity, unselfishness; and m support of the asserted fa.et of the resurrection arc willing to die. Yet if they knew their statement to be false, they bad nothing to gain, but everything to lose, by making it. (2) They must have been false, not deceived. The circum- stances of Christ's repeated appearances, as narrated by the evangelists, render it inconceivable that the witnesses should have been victims of ill1:sion or imposture. (3) False witnesses of God. Their sin was directly agaiast the Eternal. They blasphemously asserted that be bad done what they knew he had not. (-1) Their condition was most deplorable; ver. 19, "If we have only hoped ia Christ in this life, we are of all men most miserable." For we have said it is not hope of Christ's resurrection that we possess, but our solemn testimoay in God's sight has been that we were personal witnesses of the resurrection of Christ. Our claim has been, not hope, but. certainty. Now, if we only have the former whilst we have professed to possess the latter, how great is our crimiaality ! how miserable is our condition! how dread mnst be our future! We have been guilty of the basest misrepresentation in a matter of the highest moment. Other interpretations of ver. 19 seem to involve, what most Christians will strenuously deny, that if Christianity be a delusion, the condition of the believer in the present life is more miserable than that of the unbeliever. 2. All preaching of the gospel is vain. Instead of the proclamation of the truth, it becomes the dissemina- tion of a lie. It is empty, unreal, has uo basis. The gospel so rests upon Christ's resurrection that, when one succumbs, the other must share the same fate. 3. Paith is vain. It must be.useless to trust to one whose won! has alreadv failed. To bnild our hopes upon one whose most solemn assertion has fallen to the ground would be nothing but sheer madness. 'rhe "Lord Jesus Christ," indeed, disappears, and we have left, as the object of our faith, oaly one like to ourselves. • 4. Living beliwers are unsaved. Christ, we read," was raised for our justification" (Rom. iv. 25); but if he did not rise, we are not justified. In penalty and power sin still attaches itself to us. And yet we feel that the burden has !(One and that the power is broken! How can these things be? 5. The dead in Christ are perished. Not annihilated, but before God without a Mediator! God and the future remain if Christ did not rise, but those who have fallen asleep in Christ, believing on him, have found in him no help, have fouud through him no pardon. With all thdr sins upon them, they have entered into tbe presence of their Maker and Judge. What a relief to tnrn to the confident utterance of Paul," But now is Christ risen from the dead" (ver. 20) ! How thankful should we be for the clear, satisfactory, conclusive evidence of Christ's resurrection which we possess! And careful should we be not to hold loosely, or to deny, some doctrine which may seem of comparatively small importance, because we cannot understaud it fully or because it conflicts with our preju,lices. Much more may be involved than we think of. Somo of the Corinthiaus denied the resurrection of the body, but appear to have been willing and desirous to accept the rest of the gospel revelation. '!'hey, perhaps, did not sec how the single denial destroyed the whole fabric. But Paul shows that if the resurrection of the body be denied, the resurrection of Christ must be, and that this invokes the destruction of the claims of Christ as the Messiah and Saviour and the entire overthrow of the gospcl.-H. Vers. 20-28.-The resurrection. I. ITS CAUSE. Christ-the second Adam. Through the first Adam, death; through the Bfcond Adam, the resurrection from the dead. vVe see how much depends upon Christ, how much upon his resurrcctiou. 'Through him we expect to rise; but if he did not rise, how can we rise tbrou;,:h him'? "But now is Christ risen," and so our prospect is m,clouded. He has passed through the grave to make a way for us. He found the bonds of death strong; we shall find them broken. He lives, and through him we shall live also. He has conquered tho grave whilst in our nature, and now holds it as conquered for us to pass through. II. ITS UNIVERSALITY. "As in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be maue alive." Adam was the first head and representative of the lwman race; he fell, and one of the consequences of his fall was the grave for all men. Christ was ti.ic 5econd 534 THE FIRST EPIS'l'LE TO THE CORIN'l'HIANS. [en. xv. 1-58.