Question 1

How does Paul’s “but now” (v.20) function in the flow from 15:12–19 into 15:20–28?

Accepted Answer

In 15:12–19 Paul argues negatively: if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised, and the whole message collapses. Verse 20 turns the corner from that conditional argument to an asserted fact: Christ has been raised. From there, Paul treats Christ’s resurrection as the starting point for a chain of consequences rather than as a disputed possibility. The “but now” signals that Paul is no longer exploring what would follow if resurrection were false; he is building a timeline and outcome sequence because Christ’s resurrection is true.

Question 2

What does the “first fruits” image (v.20) contribute to Paul’s argument about resurrection?

Accepted Answer

“First fruits” presents Christ’s resurrection as the initial portion of a larger “harvest,” not a one-off exception. It suggests continuity between what happened to Christ and what will happen to others: the same kind of event, with Christ first in order. The image also pushes the argument forward in time. If the first portion has already appeared, the rest is anticipated and belongs to the same process. In this passage, Paul uses that idea to set up the ordered sequence in v.23 and the final outcome in vv.24–26.

Question 3

In vv.21–22, how does Paul connect Adam, Christ, death, and being made alive?

Accepted Answer

Paul makes a parallel between two human representatives. Death “came by a man,” and resurrection “also came by a man” (v.21). He then states the corporate results: “in Adam all die,” and “in Christ all will be made alive” (v.22). The main point is that resurrection is not disconnected from the human story; it answers the human problem at its root. Paul is also building coherence: if death’s reach is tied to Adam, then resurrection’s reach is tied to Christ, setting up the later focus on who “belongs to Christ” (v.23).

Question 4

What “order” does Paul give for resurrection events, and what markers define each stage (vv.23–24)?

Accepted Answer

Paul explicitly gives a sequence: (1) “Christ the first fruits,” meaning Christ’s resurrection is first in time and significance. (2) “Then those who are Christ’s, at his coming,” marking the next stage by both a group identity (belonging to Christ) and an event (“his coming”). (3) “Then the end,” which Paul describes as the moment when Christ hands over the kingdom to God the Father after competing powers are abolished (v.24). The passage does not specify the length between these stages, but it does define the order and the key events that characterize each step.

Question 5

According to vv.24–26, what must happen before Christ “delivers up the kingdom” to the Father?

Accepted Answer

Paul says the “end” includes Christ delivering the kingdom to the Father when he has abolished “all rule and all authority and power” (v.24). He explains the necessity: Christ “must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet” (v.25). That reign has a target—total defeat of enemies. Paul names death as the final enemy to be abolished (v.26), connecting back to the earlier Adam/death problem. So the handoff is pictured as occurring after rival powers are nullified, culminating with death itself being undone.

Question 6

How do vv.27–28 clarify what “all things” means, and what exception does Paul explicitly state?

Accepted Answer

Paul quotes the idea that God “put all things in subjection under his feet” (v.27) and then immediately clarifies: when it says “all things,” it is obvious that the one who subjected all things (the Father) is not included among the subjected. That means “all things” is comprehensive in scope but not absolute in a way that collapses the distinction between Father and Son. Verse 28 then describes a further step: once all things are subjected to the Son, the Son is subjected to the Father, with the stated purpose “that God may be all in all.”

1 Corinthians 15:20-28

Scripture