“That God May Be All in All”: 1 Corinthians 15:20–28 – Part 4

Click here for part 1, part 2, and part 3.

There are three orders of resurrection in 1 Cor 15:23–24. The first is Christ. Paul uses compact and succinct language to describe the second and third orders of the resurrection in 1 Cor 15:23–24a. The second order of the resurrection includes “at his coming those who belong to Christ” (1 Cor 15:23). “Those who belong to Christ” are obviously believers.

Comparing Scripture to Scripture, further examination of the term “coming” (parousia) sheds further light on how exactly each believer is resurrected at this time.

The term parousia is used 24 times in the NT. It can refer generally to someone’s present or future “presence” (1 Cor 16:17; 2 Cor 7:6, 7; 10:10; Phil 1:26; 2:12), the future “coming” of the day of God (2 Pet 3:12), and the “coming” of the antichrist (2 Thess 2:9).

For its remaining 16 uses, the term parousia is most often used to refer to the future “coming” of Jesus Christ. Christ’s parousia includes the positive judgment of believers (1 Thess 2:19; 3:13; 5:23) that takes place when living believers are raptured and the dead in Jesus are resurrected before the day of the Lord (1 Thess 4:15; cf. 1:9; 5:2, 9), a complex of events which at least includes seven years of wrath that God pours out upon the earth with the goal of redeeming His chosen nation Israel (cf. Dan 9:24–27). This coming of Jesus is imminent and is followed by a judgment of believers (James 5:7, 8; cf. 2 Cor 5:10). Believers are therefore motivated to persevere in light of His coming (1 John 2:28).

His parousia also includes the judgment and removal of unbelievers (Matt 24:3, 27, 37, 39) and the antichrist (2 Thess 2:8), both of which take place at the end of the abovementioned seven years of wrath (cf. Rev 19:15, 20–21; cf. 6–19). His coming is therefore one of power (2 Pet 1:16). It is followed by the resurrection of believers, that is, those who were martyred during these seven years (Rev 20:4–6). Believers in the OT will be resurrected at this time as well (Isa 26:19–21; Dan 12:1–2).

From the above, one can see that the term parousia can generally refer to a complex of future events. Concerning the resurrection of believers, there is one resurrection of “those who belong to Christ” to take place “at his coming,” a resurrection of every single believer who has ever died in the past, made alive at various points within the coming of Christ, but all within the coming of Christ. While Paul is perfectly willing to elaborate elsewhere on other future events (e.g., 1 Thess 4–5; 2 Thess 2), his focus here is to summarize briefly that believers are made alive at the coming of Jesus Christ.

In contrast to “those who belong to Christ” who are resurrected “at his coming,” there are those who do not belong to Christ, being those resurrected at “the end.” Just as the first two orders obviously involve people (“Christ the firstfruits” and “at his coming those who belong to Christ”), so also this third order includes people as well, though it is stated more succinctly (“the end”).

Multiple arguments can be made to explain what Paul himself says in brief, that the resurrection includes three orders of people, the second order taking place after the first, and the third order taking place after the second.

First, as just mentioned, just as the first and second orders of the resurrection involve people, so also it is natural to conclude that the otherwise ambiguous third order called “the end” involves people as well.

Second, Paul’s use of “then…then” (epeita…eita) to introduce the second and third orders (1 Cor 15:23, 24) indicates that they each chronologically follow a similar and previously mentioned order. In fact, Paul has already used these transitional adverbs to show a chronological progression within this very chapter. In speaking to a progression of post-resurrection appearances by Christ, Paul noted that He “appeared to Cephas, then [eita] to the twelve. Then [epeita] he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then [epeita] he appeared to James, then [eita] to all the apostles” (1 Cor 15:5–7). The order of these terms is reversed in 1 Cor 15:5–6 (eita…epeita), and the order is the same in 1 Cor 15:7 as it is in 1 Cor 15:23–24a (epeita…eita). The terms are interchangeable and basically synonymous, which is why both can be translated “then.” If Paul meant to conflate the events of 1 Cor 15:24b–28 with “the end” of 1 Cor 15:24a, this use of adverbs makes it difficult to detect. Instead, he intentionally separates these events from one another in a chronological series, indicating that, just as there is a gap of time between the first and second orders, so also it there is a gap of time between the second and third.

Third, with this exegesis in hand, as we would expect, 1 Cor 15:23–24a is complemented by John’s eschatology in Revelation 20. For both authors, there is a resurrection of believers (1 Cor 15:23b with Rev 20:4–6), a kingdom ruled by Christ (1 Cor 15:24b with Rev 20:4, 6), and a subsequent resurrection of unbelievers (1 Cor 15:24a with Rev 20:5, 13). Death itself is destroyed (1 Cor 15:26 with Rev 20:14), and then the Father and Christ are enthroned over the kingdom in the eternal state (1 Cor 15:24b, 28 with Rev 21–22; cf. 22:1, 3).

Next week, we’ll finish this series.

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David Huffstutler is the senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Troy, MI. He blogs here, where this article first appeared. It is republished here by permission.

Photo by Dominik Schröder on Unsplash