The Creed ends on a note of great hope and assurance in the face of death. We saw in Study 5 that the resurrection of Jesus is essential to his saving work on the cross. It is God’s great victory cry over the grave and death. The fact of Jesus’ physical resurrection (Luke 24:36-43) means that we have a physical hope beyond the grave—a “life everlasting” that is tangible and concrete.

In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul is countering those who say there is no resurrection or that it has somehow already occurred. In verses 35-58, he seeks to answer the two most obvious questions about resurrection. His answer doesn’t provide all the details we might want, but he lays out the logic and certainty of resurrection.

Read 1 Corinthians 15:35-49. What are the features of the resurrection body (v. 42-44), and whose image shall we bear?

Read 1 Corinthians 15:50-58. What is the “mystery” here (v. 51) and what will come true when the resurrection occurs? 

In Philippians, Paul gives us a stunning portrait of a man who believes in the resurrection and the life everlasting. Faced with death, he states: “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain” (Phil. 1:21). In Philippians 3:11, he speaks of “somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead”. This doesn’t mean he is uncertain of whether he will be resurrected; just that he doesn’t quite know how.

Read Philippians 3:10 – 4:1. If we are to follow Paul’s example, what does it look like to live now as people who believe in the resurrection and the life everlasting?