1 Corinthians 15:12-49

12We all speak this message: God raised Christ up after his death. But some of you say that dead people do not live again.

13Anyone who says that is wrong. If dead people do not live again, then Christ did not rise up after his death. He would still be dead.

14And if God did not raise Christ up, it does no good for us to tell God's good news to people. There would be nothing for you to believe.

15We would have been telling lies about God, because we told you that God raised Christ up after his death. But if dead people do not live again, that would not be true.

16So, if dead people never rise to a new life, then Christ himself did not rise after his death.

17And if Christ did not rise, then you have believed a false message. God would still say that you are guilty, because of your sins.

18Also, think about those people who believed in Christ but they have already died. If dead people do not rise to a new life, those people would have no life with God.

19As believers, we trust Christ to lead us into a new life after death. But if we only trust him to help us in this life, we should be very sad. Everybody should be very sorry for us, more than for anyone else.

20But it is really true that God raised Christ up after his death. He rose up to go to God in heaven. He was the first, so we know that believers who die will also rise up.

21All people die because of what one man did. That was Adam. And it is because of another man that people can rise up after death to a new life. That is Christ.

22As people, all of us belong to Adam's family. So all of us must die. But all people who belong to Christ will live again after death.

23It is like this: First of all, Christ died and then he became alive again. Then, when Christ returns, his people will live again too.

24After that, the end of everything will happen. Christ will win against every ruler and power and authority. He will give the kingdom to God, the Father. God will rule over everything.

25Christ himself must rule as king until he has won against all his enemies.

26The last enemy that he must destroy is death.

27It says in the Bible, ‘God has put all things under his authority.’ But it is clear that the words ‘all things’ do not include God himself. No, because it is God who put all things under Christ's authority.

28When God has put all things under Christ's authority, then God's Son, Jesus Christ, will put himself under his Father's authority. Then God will have complete authority over all things, everywhere.

29Think about this. Some of you have let people baptize you on behalf of believers who have already died. But if dead people do not rise up to a new life, there is no reason to baptize anyone on their behalf.

30Also, think about us! All the time we are in great danger.

31Yes, every day I come near to death! Why do I tell you this? It is because I am proud of you. I am proud because we all belong to Christ Jesus our Lord.

32At Ephesus city, people attacked me like wild animals and I fought against them. But that would be worth nothing to me if dead people do not rise to a new life. If dead people do not live again, then we could say: ‘Tomorrow we will probably die. So we should just eat and drink as much as we like.’

33Do not let anyone deceive you. Remember this: ‘If you become a friend of bad people, you also will live in a bad way.’

34So start thinking properly! Stop doing wrong things! Some of you do not really know God. I am saying this to make you feel ashamed.

35One of you may ask, ‘How does God raise dead people, to make them alive again? What kind of body will they have?’

36Do not think like a fool! When you plant a seed in the ground, it has to die first. Then it can become alive again and grow into a new plant.

37You put just a seed into the ground. It might be wheat or it might be another kind of seed. You do not put into the ground the whole plant that the seed will become.

38But God makes that seed become a plant. Each plant has its own special body that God has chosen for it.

39Also, things that are alive do not have the same kind of body. People have one kind of body. Animals have a different kind of body. Birds and fish also have a different kind of body.

40Also, there are things up in the sky that are different from the things here on the earth. They have different bodies. Also, the things in the sky are beautiful in a different way from the things on the earth.

41The sun is beautiful in a special way. The moon is also beautiful in a special way, but it is different from the sun. The stars are beautiful too, and each star is beautiful in its own special way.

42It is like that when God raises a dead person to a new life. We bury the dead person's body in the ground and it becomes spoiled. But when God raises it up, it will live for ever.

43When we bury the body, it is not beautiful. But when God raises it up, it is very beautiful. When we bury the body, it is weak. But when God raises it, it is strong.

44What we bury in the ground is a human body. But the body that God raises up is a spiritual body. There is a human body that belongs to this earth. So there also has to be a spiritual body that belongs to heaven.

45It says in the Bible, ‘The first man, Adam, became a person who received life.’ But Christ is like the last Adam. He is a spirit who gives life to people.

46The spiritual body does not come first. No, what is human comes first. Then, after that, what is spiritual comes.

47God used soil from the ground to make the first man, Adam. But the second man came from heaven.

48People who live on the earth have bodies like the first man. That is the man that God made from the soil of the earth. People in heaven have bodies like the man who came from heaven.

49Now God has given us bodies that look like the first man. One day we will have bodies that look like the man who belongs in heaven.