Christ, the Firstfruits

If Jesus were not alive, any expectation about the future would be only delusion (1 Cor. 15:12–19). “But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead” (1 Cor. 15:20, ESV). His resurrection is a historical event. Consequently, we can be sure that all who have died in Christ will be resurrected at His coming (1 Cor. 15:20–23).

The end of the present evil age will be marked by the bodily resurrection of those who died in Christ (1 Cor. 15:22, 23; Rev. 20:5, 6). As the last Adam, Christ will deliver the kingdom back to the Father by bringing the rulership of this world back to Him (1 Cor. 15:25–28). Christ’s subjecting Himself to God (1 Cor. 15:28) must be understood in terms of how Adam and Christ are depicted in relationship to each other. As the ultimate Adam in the plan of redemption (1 Cor. 15:45), Jesus submits Himself entirely to the will of the Father, something that the first Adam failed to do.

In 1 Corinthians 15:29–34, Paul resumes his thought about the foolishness of denying Christ’s resurrection. He uses the illustration of baptism because it is itself a symbol of a believer’s union with Christ in His death and resurrection (Rom. 6:3, 4; Col. 2:12); it makes no sense to deny the reality of the Resurrection. What is difficult to grasp, however, is what Paul meant by the expression “baptized for the dead” (1 Cor. 15:29).

“Different suggestions have been offered, but it is better to interpret the expression as referring to the decision of some to be baptized so that they would be able to be reunited with dead loved ones at the resurrection. It could also be that the decision to be baptized was a response to the exemplary life of those who had died in Christ. This case would refer to people not being baptized in place of the dead but because of the dead.”—Carl P. Cosaert, “1 Corinthians,” Andrews Bible Commentary: New Testament (Berrien Springs, MI: Andrews University Press, 2022), p. 1652.

Second, risking death would be pointless if there were no resurrection (1 Cor. 15:30–32). It would be better, instead, to delight in the pleasures of this world (1 Cor. 15:32).

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Additional Reading: Selected Quotes from Ellen G. White

During His ministry Jesus raised the dead to life. He raised the son of the widow of Nain and Jairus’ daughter and Lazarus. But these were not clothed with immortality. After they were raised they continued to be subject to death and decay. But those who came forth from the grave at Christ’s resurrection were raised to everlasting life. They were the multitude of captives who ascended with Him as trophies of His victory over death and the grave. . . .
These went into the city, and appeared unto many, declaring, “Christ has risen from the dead, and we be risen with him.” Some were terrified at the sight. They bore the most undeniable evidence not only of their own resurrection, but of the resurrection of the crucified Redeemer. After His resurrection, Christ did not show Himself to any save His followers, but testimony in regard to His resurrection was not wanting. It came from various sources, [including] from the five hundred who assembled in Galilee to see their risen Lord. This testimony could not be quenched. The sacred facts of Christ’s resurrection were immortalized.
Those who had been raised were presented as trophies to the heavenly universe—samples of the resurrection of all who receive and believe in Jesus Christ as their personal Saviour. They were a symbol of the final resurrection of the righteous. That same power that has raised Christ from the dead will raise His church—as His bride—and glorify it, with Christ, above all principalities, above all powers, above every name that is named, not only in this world, but in the heavenly courts, the world above. . . .
Christ was the firstfruits of them that slept. This very scene, the resurrection of Christ from the dead, was observed in type by the Jews at one of their sacred feasts, called the feast of the Jews. They came up to the temple when the firstfruits had been gathered in, and held a feast of thanksgiving. The firstfruits of the harvest crop was sacredly dedicated to the Lord. . . .
As Christ ascends while in the act of blessing His disciples, an army of angels encircles Him as a cloud. Christ takes with Him the multitude of captives as His trophy. He will Himself bring to the Father the firstfruits of them that slept, to present [them] to God as an assurance that He is conqueror over death and the grave.—Christ Triumphant, p. 286.

Christ arose from the dead as the first fruits of those that slept. He was the antitype of the wave sheaf, and His resurrection took place on the very day when the wave sheaf was to be presented before the Lord. For more than a thousand years this symbolic ceremony had been performed. From the harvest fields the first heads of ripened grain were gathered, and when the people went up to Jerusalem to the Passover, the sheaf of first fruits was waved as a thank offering before the Lord. Not until this was presented could the sickle be put to the grain, and it be gathered into sheaves. The sheaf dedicated to God represented the harvest. So Christ the first fruits represented the great spiritual harvest to be gathered for the kingdom of God. His resurrection is the type and pledge of the resurrection of all the righteous dead.—The Faith I Live By, p. 180.