📖WEB · 1 Corinthians 15:23
What does 1 Corinthians 15:23 mean?
"But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then those who are Christ’s, at his coming."
— 1 Corinthians 15:23 (World English Bible)
Surrounding context
But now Christ has been raised from the dead. He became the first fruits of those who are asleep.
For since death came by man, the resurrection of the dead also came by man.
For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.
But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then those who are Christ’s, at his coming.
Then the end comes, when he will deliver up the Kingdom to God, even the Father; when he will have abolished all rule and all authority and power.
For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.
The last enemy that will be abolished is death.
Explanation
1 Corinthians 15:23 says that resurrection from the dead happens in a specific sequence rather than all at once. Christ was raised first, as the "first fruits," and then those who belong to him will be raised when he returns. Paul is describing an order of events, not a single simultaneous occurrence — Christ's resurrection came first historically, and the resurrection of believers will follow at a future point tied to his second coming.
This verse sits within Paul's extended argument in 1 Corinthians 15, the great resurrection chapter, written to a church in Corinth where some members were denying that the dead are raised at all. Paul responds by anchoring everything in the historical fact of Christ's resurrection, which he has already defended earlier in the chapter by listing eyewitnesses. Having established that Christ was truly raised, Paul now argues that Christ's resurrection guarantees and precedes the resurrection of believers. The image of "first fruits" comes from Old Testament harvest practice, where the first portion of a crop was offered to God as a pledge and guarantee that the rest of the harvest would follow. By calling Christ the first fruits, Paul is saying his resurrection is not an isolated miracle but the beginning installment of a larger harvest — the resurrection of all who belong to him.
Theologically, this verse teaches that Christ's resurrection and the believer's resurrection are inseparably linked. Because Christ was raised bodily and is alive, those united to him by faith have a guaranteed future: they too will be raised. The phrase "those who are Christ
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