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wonderfully helped us out in genealogical research, placing in our
hands so munificently the records of our fathers, the year 1921 bids
fair to double the number of 1920 ... Genealogy and its handmaid,
temple service, contemplate tracing the family line back to Adam, and
administering the ordinance of baptism ...'.
The strange idea contained in these words, and the enormous energy and
patience expended upon the '5,500 volumes of genealogy' in the Library at
Utah, are swept aside by the one majestic statement, 'As in Adam all die,
even so in Christ shall all be made alive'.
The meaning of verse 29 appears to be this. It reads on from verse 19,
'If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most
miserable'. For what is the good of being baptized? It is merely a baptism
into death if the dead rise not. Baptism, however, is not only 'into His
death' but:
'We are buried with Him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was
raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also
should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together
in the likeness of His death, we shall be also in the likeness of His
resurrection' (Rom. 6:4,5).
The apostle follows the question, 'Why are they then baptized for the
dead?' by another which illuminates his meaning, 'And why stand we in
jeopardy every hour? ... I die daily' (1 Cor. 15:30,31).
The grand conclusion with its spiritual exhortation must not be omitted
in this summary:
'Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always
abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your
labour is not in vain in the Lord' (15:58).
The connection between the resurrection and reconciliation is shown to
be vital. Resurrection takes us out of the sphere of Adam to place us into
the sphere of Christ.
The allied subjects, immortality, the soul and hell, that necessarily
come into any argument concerning resurrection are touched upon in this great
chapter, and though not exhaustive in their treatment, give sufficient
teaching for any whose mind is not already closed by prejudice.
A consideration of the question, Will all men be raised from the dead, or is
resurrection reserved for the redeemed only?
Arising out of the study of the great theme, the resurrection, a number
of problems present themselves, which may be profitably considered, before
bringing this study to a close.
The testimony of Job 19:25-27 links the resurrection of the believer
with the great Kinsman-Redeemer, and is one of a series of passages that show
that resurrection is the fruit of redemption, that the believer is as surely
'ransomed' (Job 33:24) from the grave (Hos. 13:14) as he is from sin, and
that Christ can only be 'the firstfruits' (1 Cor. 15:20) of those for Whom He
died. Added to this, there is Isaiah 26, which speaks of two classes and
their relation to resurrection.