The Pulpit Commentary — 1 Corinthians — Section 524

Head and Representative, :ind through him comes to all the race deliverance from tho gram. In ueither has the personal, responsible act of men, apart from their rcprcscn- tafrrn heads, a place. The disadvantage through Adam and the advantacre 0 throtwh Chri~t come to all men, apart from their choice or desert. But this only applies to pbys1c.:l death and the recovery from that death. Personal sin and personal repentance and faith have issues unaffected by the general headship of Adam and Christ. 'l'be just and the unjust die through Adam; the just and the unjust rise through Christ: but they do not rise to the same future. What follows upon personal transo-ression and impenitence will be borne in the body delivered from death; and, similarly~ that which follows upon personal repentance and belief in Christ. III. h·s ORDEI\. 1. Ghrist. First, as the cause. He is " the Firstfruits "-the earliest and the most costly and the most precious of the harvest. And also the pledo-e of the gener,11 harvest. He is the Firstfruits presented and accepted, and we who a~e in him shall be accepted also, for we shall be" like him." 2. The saved. "They that are Christ's." This is after the resurrection of Christ; how Iona after we are not told. But it will be "at hi~ comin?;.'' In his ~rst advent we ha;e redemption; in his second advent, resurrection. " The Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first" (1 Thess. iv. 16). 3. The rest of mankind. '"l'hen cometh the end "-the end of the resurrection-the rising of those that remain, as well as the end of the dispensation. The lost have the place of least honour. They were "first" in many things in life, but now they are "last." IV. !Ts MODE. 1. By the sound of a trumpet. (Ver. 52; see Matt. xxiv. 31.) The dead shall hear, for the summons shall be of God. Those who stopped their ea,rs on earth will not then be able. "The hour is comiug, in the which q.ll that are in the graves shall hear bis voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resu1Tection of damnation" (John v. 28, 29). 2. Sudden. This seems to be suggested by ver. 52. The change of the living will be sudden; the change of the dead also. Men generally die slowly; they will be raised from the dead instantly. The dead have been long in gathering -how many centuries have passed, how many more, perhaps, to come !-but probably in "the twinkling of an eye" will they be delivered from <leath. This strikingly illustrates Christ's power over the grave-how completely he has conquered, and holds in subjection, death. V. lTs VICTORY. It will be a triumph. It will show forth the victorious might of Christ. He triumphed in bis own resurrection; that triumph will be consummated in the completion of the resurrection, when all, of every race and colour, are mised by his power. VI. lTs coNCOMITANTS. The following seem here to be closely connected with the final resurrection :-1. The universal victory of Ghrist. He shall conquer, and conquer all that now oppose him. "All rule, all authority and power," must fall before him. All enemies shall presently be under bis feet. The powers of evil now seem great and strong, the kingdom of righteousness comparatively small and feeble; but at that day Christ will be King, and to him " every knee shall bow." 2. 'l'he destruction of deu.tli. The destroyer shall be destroyed. The shock of the great resurrection will be too much for his kingdom. The death-bonds Ieng since broken by Christ shall then be burnt. Man's mortality shall cease for ever. Death shall die and know no resurrection. 3. The delivering up of the kingdom by Ghrist to the l!'ather. Christ, as Mediator and Administrator of the kingdom of God, will then have completed his special work, and the direct rule of God as God will be reinaugurated. Christ will still remain as God-Man, the Head of his own people, and as one in the '1odbead will 1iarticipate in the Divine reign. 4. 1'he subjection of the Son to the Father. As he was before his mediatorial work began. One with the Father (" I and my Father are one") in nature, but voluntarily subordinate as a son to a father. 'l'he Son as such will not be conspicuous in rule as now, but God will be "all in all." The united Deity will reign as one, and in the Deity the Son is subordinate in position to the Father.-H. Vers. 29-34.-Some things that follow upon the denial of the resurrection. L THB ·OH. xv. 1-58.] 'l'HE FIRST EPISTLE TO 'l'HE CORINTHIANS. 535