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The Message Bible MSG
1 Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand.
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Friends, let me go over the Message with you one final time - this Message that I proclaimed and that you made your own; this Message on which you took your stand
2 By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.
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and by which your life has been saved. (I'm assuming, now, that your belief was the real thing and not a passing fancy, that you're in this for good and holding fast.)
3 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance : that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,
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The first thing I did was place before you what was placed so emphatically before me: that the Messiah died for our sins, exactly as Scripture tells it;
4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,
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that he was buried; that he was raised from death on the third day, again exactly as Scripture says;
5 and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve.
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that he presented himself alive to Peter, then to his closest followers,
6 After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep.
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and later to more than five hundred of his followers all at the same time, most of them still around (although a few have since died);
7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles,
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that he then spent time with James and the rest of those he commissioned to represent him;
8 and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.
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and that he finally presented himself alive to me.
9 For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.
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It was fitting that I bring up the rear. I don't deserve to be included in that inner circle, as you well know, having spent all those early years trying my best to stamp God's church right out of existence.
10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.
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But because God was so gracious, so very generous, here I am. And I'm not about to let his grace go to waste. Haven't I worked hard trying to do more than any of the others? Even then, my work didn't amount to all that much. It was God giving me the work to do, God giving me the energy to do it.
11 Whether, then, it is I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed.
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So whether you heard it from me or from those others, it's all the same: We spoke God's truth and you entrusted your lives.
12 But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?
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Now, let me ask you something profound yet troubling. If you became believers because you trusted the proclamation that Christ is alive, risen from the dead, how can you let people say that there is no such thing as a resurrection?
13 If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised.
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If there's no resurrection, there's no living Christ.
14 And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.
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And face it - if there's no resurrection for Christ, everything we've told you is smoke and mirrors, and everything you've staked your life on is smoke and mirrors.
15 More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised.
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Not only that, but we would be guilty of telling a string of barefaced lies about God, all these affidavits we passed on to you verifying that God raised up Christ - sheer fabrications, if there's no resurrection.
16 For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either.
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If corpses can't be raised, then Christ wasn't, because he was indeed dead.
17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.
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And if Christ wasn't raised, then all you're doing is wandering about in the dark, as lost as ever.
18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost.
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It's even worse for those who died hoping in Christ and resurrection, because they're already in their graves.
19 If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.
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If all we get out of Christ is a little inspiration for a few short years, we're a pretty sorry lot.
20 But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
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But the truth is that Christ has been raised up, the first in a long legacy of those who are going to leave the cemeteries.
21 For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man.
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There is a nice symmetry in this: Death initially came by a man, and resurrection from death came by a man.
22 For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.
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Everybody dies in Adam; everybody comes alive in Christ.
23 But each in turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him.
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But we have to wait our turn: Christ is first, then those with him at his Coming,
24 Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power.
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the grand consummation when, after crushing the opposition, he hands over his kingdom to God the Father.
25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.
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He won't let up until the last enemy is down -
26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death.
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and the very last enemy is death!
27 For he “has put everything under his feet.” Now when it says that “everything” has been put under him, it is clear that this does not include God himself, who put everything under Christ.
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As the psalmist said, "He laid them low, one and all; he walked all over them." When Scripture says that "he walked all over them," it's obvious that he couldn't at the same time be walked on.
28 When he has done this, then the Son himself will be made subject to him who put everything under him, so that God may be all in all.
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When everything and everyone is finally under God's rule, the Son will step down, taking his place with everyone else, showing that God's rule is absolutely comprehensive - a perfect ending!
29 Now if there is no resurrection, what will those do who are baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized for them?
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Why do you think people offer themselves to be baptized for those already in the grave? If there's no chance of resurrection for a corpse, if God's power stops at the cemetery gates, why do we keep doing things that suggest he's going to clean the place out someday, pulling everyone up on their feet alive?
30 And as for us, why do we endanger ourselves every hour?
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And why do you think I keep risking my neck in this dangerous work?
31 I face death every day—yes, just as surely as I boast about you in Christ Jesus our Lord.
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I look death in the face practically every day I live. Do you think I'd do this if I wasn't convinced of your resurrection and mine as guaranteed by the resurrected Messiah Jesus?
32 If I fought wild beasts in Ephesus with no more than human hopes, what have I gained? If the dead are not raised, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.”
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Do you think I was just trying to act heroic when I fought the wild beasts at Ephesus, hoping it wouldn't be the end of me? Not on your life! It's resurrection, resurrection, always resurrection, that undergirds what I do and say, the way I live. If there's no resurrection, "We eat, we drink, the next day we die," and that's all there is to it.
33 Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character.”
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But don't fool yourselves. Don't let yourselves be poisoned by this anti-resurrection loose talk. "Bad company ruins good manners."
34 Come back to your senses as you ought, and stop sinning; for there are some who are ignorant of God—I say this to your shame.
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Think straight. Awaken to the holiness of life. No more playing fast and loose with resurrection facts. Ignorance of God is a luxury you can't afford in times like these. Aren't you embarrassed that you've let this kind of thing go on as long as you have?
35 But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come?”
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Some skeptic is sure to ask, "Show me how resurrection works. Give me a diagram; draw me a picture. What does this 'resurrection body' look like?"
36 How foolish! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies.
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If you look at this question closely, you realize how absurd it is. There are no diagrams for this kind of thing.
37 When you sow, you do not plant the body that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or of something else.
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We do have a parallel experience in gardening. You plant a "dead" seed; soon there is a flourishing plant. There is no visual likeness between seed and plant.
38 But God gives it a body as he has determined, and to each kind of seed he gives its own body.
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You could never guess what a tomato would look like by looking at a tomato seed. What we plant in the soil and what grows out of it don't look anything alike. The dead body that we bury in the ground and the resurrection body that comes from it will be dramatically different.
39 Not all flesh is the same: People have one kind of flesh, animals have another, birds another and fish another.
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You will notice that the variety of bodies is stunning. Just as there are different kinds of seeds, there are different kinds of bodies - humans, animals, birds, fish - each unprecedented in its form.
40 There are also heavenly bodies and there are earthly bodies; but the splendor of the heavenly bodies is one kind, and the splendor of the earthly bodies is another.
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You get a hint at the diversity of resurrection glory by looking at the diversity of bodies not only on earth but in the skies - sun, moon, stars - all these varieties of beauty and brightness. And we're only looking at pre-resurrection "seeds" - who can imagine what the resurrection "plants" will be like!
41 The sun has one kind of splendor, the moon another and the stars another; and star differs from star in splendor.
42 So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable;
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This image of planting a dead seed and raising a live plant is a mere sketch at best, but perhaps it will help in approaching the mystery of the resurrection body - but only if you keep in mind that when we're raised, we're raised for good, alive forever!
43 it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power;
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The corpse that's planted is no beauty, but when it's raised, it's glorious. Put in the ground weak, it comes up powerful.
44 it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.
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The seed sown is natural; the seed grown is supernatural - same seed, same body, but what a difference from when it goes down in physical mortality to when it is raised up in spiritual immortality!
45 So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being” ; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit.
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We follow this sequence in Scripture: The First Adam received life, the Last Adam is a life-giving Spirit.
46 The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual.
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Physical life comes first, then spiritual -
47 The first man was of the dust of the earth; the second man is of heaven.
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a firm base shaped from the earth, a final completion coming out of heaven.
48 As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the heavenly man, so also are those who are of heaven.
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The First Man was made out of earth, and people since then are earthy; the Second Man was made out of heaven, and people now can be heavenly.
49 And just as we have borne the image of the earthly man, so shall we bear the image of the heavenly man.
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In the same way that we've worked from our earthy origins, let's embrace our heavenly ends.
50 I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.
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I need to emphasize, friends, that our natural, earthy lives don't in themselves lead us by their very nature into the kingdom of God. Their very "nature" is to die, so how could they "naturally" end up in the Life kingdom?
51 Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed—
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But let me tell you something wonderful, a mystery I'll probably never fully understand. We're not all going to die - but we are all going to be changed.
52 in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.
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You hear a blast to end all blasts from a trumpet, and in the time that you look up and blink your eyes - it's over. On signal from that trumpet from heaven, the dead will be up and out of their graves, beyond the reach of death, never to die again. At the same moment and in the same way, we'll all be changed.
53 For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality.
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In the resurrection scheme of things, this has to happen: everything perishable taken off the shelves and replaced by the imperishable, this mortal replaced by the immortal.
54 When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”
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Then the saying will come true: Death swallowed by triumphant Life!
55 “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?”
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Who got the last word, oh, Death? Oh, Death, who's afraid of you now?
56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.
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It was sin that made death so frightening and law-code guilt that gave sin its leverage, its destructive power.
57 But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
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But now in a single victorious stroke of Life, all three - sin, guilt, death - are gone, the gift of our Master, Jesus Christ. Thank God!
58 Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.
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With all this going for us, my dear, dear friends, stand your ground. And don't hold back. Throw yourselves into the work of the Master, confident that nothing you do for him is a waste of time or effort.
Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica. All rights reserved worldwide.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.