“For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive” (1 Corinthians 15:22 ESV).
The apostle Paul explained the critical importance of the resurrection of Jesus to the gospel message, saying “If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins” (1 Cor. 15:17). He then explained how Christ’s resurrection fits into the overall story of the Bible. For he connected the gospel story back to the Genesis story and the origin of humanity’s sin problem and therefore our death problem.
For we are all children of Adam and as such, subject to the wages of sin, which is death. Yet, God has sent Christ Jesus, who is like a “second Adam” (1 Cor. 15:45-49). Through faith in Christ we are born again, becoming the righteous children of God and receiving eternal life. Christ is the new Adam, the prototype, the “firstborn among many brothers” (Rom. 8:29).
We were born into the human family of Adam and we have inherited the things of Adam. But being born again into the family of God through faith in Christ, we have become inheritors of the things of Christ. Since Christ is raised, so we who believe will also be raised. Just as Christ’s death on the cross was necessary to pay sin’s wages, so Christ’s resurrection was necessary to make us alive in Him for eternity.
PRAYER: Dear Heavenly Father, we thank You for Jesus. For we who were dead in our sins have been made alive through faith in Jesus. Strengthen us to tell the world of Your great love for us. In Jesus’ name, amen.