Often called the “resurrection chapter of the Bible,” 1 Corinthians 15 presents Paul’s defense of the resurrection.
To non-Christians, the very notion that there could be a resurrection of the dead was more than undesirable. The called it a “hope of worms, a detestable thing which God cannot and will not do.” The very idea that bodies, long decayed, could be brought back to life simply made no sense.
Paul addresses this matter in three points:
First, the resurrection is a crucial doctrine of Christianity.
Second, Jesus was resurrected, and there are eyewitnesses to back up that truth.
Third, the resurrection is not the breathing to life of a decayed body, but the recreation of a spiritual body that differs from the decayed one in that the new one can never die again.
Why is this so important?
Because the resurrection speaks to the very hope of Christianity. If there is no resurrection, then there is no judgment, and certainly nothing to look forward to. Jesus died for nothing.
But also because the resurrection is a figure of what God intends for our lives here. Raised with Christ through faith and baptism, we are called to live no longer like decaying people, but like people who will live forever.