Paul restates the gospel he received and delivered as of first importance. Christ died for sins according to the Scriptures, was buried, and was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures. He lists the eyewitnesses, including more than five hundred brothers at once, most of whom were still living and could be asked. Last of all Christ appeared to Paul, the least of the apostles, whom grace transformed.
Some Corinthians denied a future bodily resurrection. Paul traces the consequences: if the dead are not raised, Christ is not raised, preaching is empty, faith is futile, believers are still in their sins, and they are of all people most to be pitied. But Christ has in fact been raised as the first fruits. As in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. Christ must reign until He has put all enemies under His feet, and the last enemy to be destroyed is death.
Paul then addresses the nature of the resurrection body. A seed sown must die before it springs to life, and God gives it a new body. The body is sown perishable, in dishonor, and in weakness; it is raised imperishable, in glory, and in power. Just as believers have borne the image of the man of dust, they will bear the image of the man of heaven. At the last trumpet, the mortal will put on immortality, and death will be swallowed up in victory. Therefore believers should be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the Lord's work.