1 Corinthians 15:20–49

²⁰But now Christ has come back from the dead. He is the very first person of those who have died to come back to life. ²¹Since a man brought death, a man also brought life back from death. ²²As everyone dies because of Adam, so also everyone will be made alive because of Christ. ²³This will happen to each person in his own turn. Christ is the first, then at his coming, those who belong to him ⸤will be made alive⸥. ²⁴Then the end will come. Christ will hand over the kingdom to God the Father as he destroys every ruler, authority, and power. 

²⁵Christ must rule until God has put every enemy under his control. ²⁶The last enemy he will destroy is death. ²⁷Clearly, God has put everything under Christ’s authority. When God says that everything has been put under Christ’s authority, this clearly excludes God, since God has put everything under Christ’s authority. ²⁸But when God puts everything under Christ’s authority, the Son will put himself under God’s authority, since God had put everything under the Son’s authority. Then God will be in control of everything. 

²⁹However, people are baptized because the dead ⸤will come back to life⸥. What will they do? If the dead can’t come back to life, why do people get baptized as if they can ⸤come back to life⸥? 

³⁰Why are we constantly putting ourselves in danger? ³¹Brothers and sisters, I swear to you on my pride in you which Christ Jesus our Lord has given me: I face death every day. ³²If I have fought with wild animals in Ephesus, what have I gained according to the way people look at things? If the dead are not brought back to life, “Let’s eat and drink because tomorrow we’re going to die!” ³³Don’t let anyone deceive you. Associating with bad people will ruin decent people. ³⁴Come back to the right point of view, and stop sinning. Some people don’t know anything about God. You should be ashamed of yourselves. 

We Will Have Bodies That Will Not Decay

³⁵But someone will ask, “How do the dead come back to life? With what kind of body will they come back?” 

³⁶You fool! The seed you plant doesn’t come to life unless it dies first. ³⁷What you plant, whether it’s wheat or something else, is only a seed. It doesn’t have the form that the plant will have. ³⁸God gives the plant the form he wants it to have. Each kind of seed grows into its own form. ³⁹Not all flesh is the same. Humans have one kind of flesh, animals have another, birds have another, and fish have still another. ⁴⁰There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies. Heavenly bodies don’t all have the same splendor, neither do earthly bodies. ⁴¹The sun has one kind of splendor, the moon has another kind of splendor, and the stars have still another kind of splendor. Even one star differs in splendor from another star. 

⁴²That is how it will be when the dead come back to life. When the body is planted, it decays. When it comes back to life, it cannot decay. ⁴³When the body is planted, it doesn’t have any splendor and is weak. When it comes back to life, it has splendor and is strong. ⁴⁴It is planted as a physical body. It comes back to life as a spiritual body. As there is a physical body, so there is also a spiritual body. 

⁴⁵This is what Scripture says: “The first man, Adam, became a living being.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. ⁴⁶The spiritual does not come first, but the physical and then the spiritual. ⁴⁷The first man was made from the dust of the earth. He came from the earth. The second man came from heaven. ⁴⁸The people on earth are like the man who was made from the dust of the earth. The people in heaven are like the man who came from heaven. ⁴⁹As we have worn the likeness of the man who was made from the dust of the earth, we will also wear the likeness of the man who came from heaven.