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The Resurrection of Christ | Resurrection and Redemption: A Reader’s Guide (Lesson 5)
October 26, 2026 · 1 hr 9 min
This is the fifth lesson in Dr. Camden M. Bucey and Dr. Marcus Mininger’s Reformed Academy course, Resurrection and Redemption: A Reader’s Guide. It was originally recorded for one of Reformed Forum’s International Cohort Reading Groups. This lesson covers pages 74–114 of Richard B. Gaffin Jr.’s Resurrection and Redemption: A Study in Paul’s Soteriology, addressing the following topics:00:00 Introduction and Overview06:44 First Corinthians 15:42–49: Natural and Spiritual Bodies09:01 The Corinthian Objection and Greek Dualism15:54 Continuity and Transformation of the Body19:56 Adam’s Original Body and Eschatological Life28:52 The Two Adams and Two Modes of Existence34:06 The Last Adam as Life-Giving Spirit39:53 The Functional Unity of Christ and the Spirit44:32 Romans 1: Son of God in Power55:01 Resurrection as Royal Enthronement58:19 The Gospel’s Two Historical Foci65:05 Conclusion and PreviewRegister for this free on-demand course on our website to track your progress and assess your understanding through quizzes for each lesson. You will also receive free access to dozens of additional video courses in covenant theology, apologetics, biblical studies, church history, and more: https://reformedacademy.org/course/resurrection-redemption-readers-guideYour donations help us to provide free Reformed resources for students like you worldwide: https://reformedforum.org/donate/#biblicaltheology #redemption #reformedtheology #biblestudyMentioned in this episode:Christ the Center 1000Christ the Center 1000
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October 26, 2026 · 1 hr 9 min · Reformed Forum
This is the fifth lesson in Dr. Camden M. Bucey and Dr. Marcus Mininger’s Reformed Academy course, Resurrection and Redemption: A Reader’s Guide. It was originally recorded for one of Reformed Forum’s International Cohort Reading Groups. This lesson covers pages 74–114 of Richard B. Gaffin Jr.’s Resurrection and Redemption: A Study in Paul’s Soteriology, addressing the following topics:00:00 Introduction and Overview06:44 First Corinthians 15:42–49: Natural and Spiritual Bodies09:01 The Corinthian Objection and Greek Dualism15:54 Continuity and Transformation of the Body19:56 Adam’s Original Body and Eschatological Life28:52 The Two Adams and Two Modes of Existence34:06 The Last Adam as Life-Giving Spirit39:53 The Functional Unity of Christ and the Spirit44:32 Romans 1: Son of God in Power55:01 Resurrection as Royal Enthronement58:19 The Gospel’s Two Historical Foci65:05 Conclusion and PreviewRegister for this free on-demand course on our website to track your progress and assess your understanding through quizzes for each lesson. You will also receive free access to dozens of additional video courses in covenant theology, apologetics, biblical studies, church history, and more: https://reformedacademy.org/course/resurrection-redemption-readers-guideYour donations help us to provide free Reformed resources for students like you worldwide: https://reformedforum.org/donate/#biblicaltheology #redemption #reformedtheology #biblestudyMentioned in this episode:Christ the Center 1000Christ the Center 1000 ...more Show the full description Show less This is the fifth lesson in Dr. Camden M. Bucey and Dr. Marcus Mininger’s Reformed Academy course, Resurrection and Redemption: A Reader’s Guide. It was originally recorded for one of Reformed Forum’s International Cohort Reading Groups. This lesson covers pages 74–114 of Richard B. Gaffin Jr.’s Resurrection and Redemption: A Study in Paul’s Soteriology, addressing the following topics:00:00 Introduction and Overview06:44 First Corinthians 15:42–49: Natural and Spiritual Bodies09:01 The Corinthian Objection and Greek Dualism15:54 Continuity and Transformation of the Body19:56 Adam’s Original Body and Eschatological Life28:52 The Two Adams and Two Modes of Existence34:06 The Last Adam as Life-Giving Spirit39:53 The Functional Unity of Christ and the Spirit44:32 Romans 1: Son of God in Power55:01 Resurrection as Royal Enthronement58:19 The Gospel’s Two Historical Foci65:05 Conclusion and PreviewRegister for this free on-demand course on our website to track your progress and assess your understanding through quizzes for each lesson. You will also receive free access to dozens of additional video courses in covenant theology, apologetics, biblical studies, church history, and more: https://reformedacademy.org/course/resurrection-redemption-readers-guideYour donations help us to provide free Reformed resources for students like you worldwide: https://reformedforum.org/donate/#biblicaltheology #redemption #reformedtheology #biblestudyMentioned in this episode:Christ the Center 1000Christ the Center 1000
Series Reformed Forum
Christ's Resurrection as Eschatological Transformation 0:00 Hi. I'm Camden Busey, host of Christ the Center. And on February nineteenth and twentieth, we will record the one thousandth consecutive weekly episode of Christ the Center live in0:12 Austin, Texas, and we would love you to join us. We have never done anything like this. If you come, you'll join no more than three hundred people from around the world for two days of conversation on reformed0:24 theology and the Lord's work in missions with a banquet and breakfast included. Early bird pricing ends soon, so register at summit dot reformed forum dot org. That's0:35 summit dot reformed forum dot org. This lesson comes from reformed forum's reader's guide to Richard B. Gaffin junior's resurrection and redemption, a study in Paul's0:47 soteriology. It is taught by doctors Marcus Meninger and Camden Busey and was originally recorded for an international reading group cohort. To learn more about our readers guides and related0:59 courses, visit reformed academy dot org. Alright, brothers. Thank you very much. Again, we'll get started and, work on our conversation or1:11 discussion questions here for the second hour. This is this... The fifth session of a planned six sessions, and, we will, be picking back up in two weeks1:23 to conclude our book here, Resurrection and Redemption, a study in Paul's Soteriology. My copy here. And I'm excited to talk, about the the material. This is a very large
1:34 section. We acknowledged that last time, but we no doubt hope to have plenty of... At least get through, the basic points, and to to discuss the basic
1:46 argument in these pages starting on around, I think, page seventy four moving all the way to about one fourteen. It's a lot, but it's very rich and useful
1:58 and exciting. This section, I think, marks a turning point in doctor Gaffin's argue... Argument where he's moving from exploring the believer's resurrection with Christ and considering things more or
2:10 less through the lens of ordo salutis or redemption applied, and then... And our union with Christ, but then turning to examine Christ's own resurrection and what that meant for him. It's
2:21 really quite interesting. That's more or less categorized under the heading of historia salutis or redemption, accomplished. We've been talking about both of those a bit, but but maybe it's a matter of emphasis.
2:34 But doctor Gaffin is really presenting the idea that Christ's resurrection is an eschatological transformation of his humanity by the spirit, and he starts to speak about how Christ has
2:46 become for us life giving spirit. So we're going to look today, and, doctor Meninger will help us, help lead us through this. But we're gonna look at two key passages,
2:58 First Corinthians fifteen forty two through forty nine particularly, and then Romans one three through four. These are passages I've spent a ton of time on in seminary and just in personal study. There are two
3:10 passages, not only key to doctor Gaffin's argument, but, very central in Lane Tipton's writings and thought. So we'll we'll explain and expand on those. There are some
3:22 secondary texts that are important, but maybe a little bit less so to those first two. And these others are second Corinthians three seventeen, which speaks of the lord being the spirit, the lord is the spirit, and then
3:33 acts thirteen thirty three through thirty four, which speaks about being begotten through the resurrection in that quote from Psalm two. So that's a high level look at key texts and, our
3:45 our focus, today. Marcus, do you have any any introductory comments or remarks or just a general reaction to this section?
3:57 Yeah. I mean, I think, having a sense of where we're at is is, important. You know, the doctor
4:09 Gaffin's title to part three development of the theme, you know, doesn't tell you a ton from from the outset. But I think that, what
4:21 we would see here is that part two, really focused on believers and, their future resurrection, their past resurrection, and
4:32 connecting that to Christ as head. So the the first fruits topic, the firstborn from the dead, the the nature of our union with Christ, our being raised with Christ, etcetera. And
4:44 and here, I think in part three, he's gonna do two things, and you've essentially already mentioned the key the key issues, of course. But, in the part we're gonna look at today, I I would say
4:56 he's really kind of expounding upon the change for Christ, what happened for Christ in more of a Historia Salutist
5:08 way, meaning, essentially that the resurrection begins, or or or it it affects an entrance
5:19 into the age to come for Christ. So there's two ages, and we'll get into the details. But, we're looking at this this,
5:31 monumental transition point for Christ. And and remember that the book is trying to focus on what does the resurrection itself contribute to Paul's theology as compared to and
5:43 distinct from Christ's birth, life, death, you know, etcetera. All of those are important in their own way, but the resurrection hadn't, when Gaffin wrote this book, received as much attention.
5:54 So Mhmm.
5:54 What is it? And he's gonna factor it in terms of this great historical change. And then next time when we meet, he's going to start spelling out, how this great historical change, for
6:06 Christ, transitioning from life in this age to life in the age to come, how that then gets explicated by Paul in what we're familiar with as ordo salutis categories with respect to things like
6:17 justification, adoption, sanctification, glorification for Christ, how those terms do and, of course, don't apply to Christ. They don't apply to Christ in exactly the same way as they apply to believers, but they do
6:29 apply, and Paul uses them or, similar phrases. So so we'll get to those ordo salutis categories later this week, for Christ. This week
6:40 is, kind of expositing, the nature of the resurrection change, in terms of a shift of epochs, for Jesus himself.
6:53 Yeah. For him as a subject, and it's quite interesting to consider him not only as a eternal and divine person, but also as god man, because there's a before and after to the... To him
7:05 as incarnate. He wasn't incarnate contrary to Karl Barth and was not incarnate from before the foundation in the world. And there... Then he has a a a personal history, so to speak, relative to,
7:19 incarnation and to the assumption of this divine... Or of his human nature. So shall shall I just read first Corinthians fifteen, the section
7:27 Sure.
7:28 To begin? Let's take a look at, verses forty two through forty nine, brothers. So is it with the resurrection of the dead? What is sown is perishable. What is raised is imperishable. It is sown in dishonor. It
7:40 is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness. It is raised in power. It is sown a natural body. It is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.
7:51 Thus, it is written, the first man Adam became a living being. The last Adam became a life giving spirit. But it is not the spiritual that is first, but the natural and then the spiritual. The first
8:03 man was from the earth, a man of dust. The second man is from heaven. As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. Just as
8:15 we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven. It's very, Aeonic, a e o n I c. We would say age,
8:28 related here. And as you mentioned, doctor Meninger, the significance of, these two epochs and how we have two atoms, a first Adam, a second Adam, or the first Adam and last Adam. Jesus
8:39 is called both second and last. There's only two, and they represent, distinct eras... Distinct... Really distinct modes of existence. And that's that's really the... One of the most important points of this
8:51 particular passage.
8:53 Yeah. And I I think, so the the broader passage is about the resurrection of believers Mhmm. But but Paul continues to come back to,
9:05 the resurrection of Christ as, the crucial piece of data, that helps explain, what is also then true of or will be true of the resurrection of believers in the future.
9:18 And, I think, you know, it's... There's always different places you can jump in, but, it might be helpful here to to seeing the point
9:29 that Gaffin is making with respect to this Historia Salutis epoch shift, to remember some of what we've, talked a bit about before, but to have it in mind again that
9:41 here, in first Corinthians fifteen, Paul's responding to some objections by the Corinthians. Apparently, some of them are denying the resurrection at all, that there is no resurrection in verse twelve.
9:53 And then in verse thirty five of chapter fifteen, he voices this objection, how are
10:05 the dead raised, with what kind of body do they come, more than likely that objection in verse thirty five is a bit sarcastic, because, the term there
10:17 for the dead and and the body, the term... The the Greek term for the dead could also simply mean corpse. And so
10:29 the Greeks, many of them viewed, the body even during its living state as essentially a corpse, like something that's on its way to being a corpse. It's it's this weight and burden.
10:41 And and in their metaphysical dualism, their contrast between the physical and the and the spiritual, they just viewed the body as inherently negative and something that is is a burden to be relieved from only. And
10:53 so the the question in verse thirty five is is probably something sort of like, you know, well, how are the dead raised? With what kind of corpse do they return? You know, like, in its... In the sense of the of the
11:05 question, like like, why would that even be a good thing? I don't want this burdensome, you know, wait back later. You know? So so take that, Paul. Right? And then and
11:16 then Paul's response leading into what we just read is is important to keep in mind. He first starts off and talks about different types of bodies in verses thirty six and following,
11:28 showing that, various bodies differ greatly in their glory. So he talks about, different types of earthly bodies, but then also the contrast between heavenly bodies like stars and earthly bodies, the
11:40 latter... The the former of which the heavenly bodies have far more glory, of course. Then he pushes into a discussion of two different phases in the life of, an organism, the seed phase
11:53 and the plant phase, and shows that, the body of the organism, the seed body, and the plant body are also very different from one another, and that the first body, the seed, has to die
12:04 or break apart and and change, in order for the plant to emerge. And, you know, we can get into the the details there, but
12:16 but the the the point is, even with one in the same organism, it can go through phases of life that have very different attributes, the seeds attributes as contrasted with the
12:28 plants greater attributes. And and then in verses forty two and following, he he applies all of that to the body that's, sown into the ground or that dies and is buried on the
12:40 one hand, and then the body that will be raised. And he and he gives this long list of of contrasts. Right? So the one, the body that will be sown is, perishable.
12:53 It's weak. It's not honorable, but dishonorable. And and then he calls it also a soulish body, which we'll have to exposit that
13:05 some. On the other side, he talks about, the raised body, the future glorified body as something imperishable and characterized by power
13:17 and glory and as something that is spiritual. And and so what he's starting to say then is, different bodies
13:29 have different qualities or traits, and the same body can also exist with very different qualities or traits. The body that is now has very different qualities and traits than the
13:41 body that will be. And so, to to look at the body that is now and say, well, I don't want it back anymore and and I don't even like the idea of resurrection entirely misses the point because it's stuck in
13:53 a Greek dualism that has no inherent eschatology to it, has no inherent view of a greater age of glorification coming to the creation as a
14:04 whole, after the final judgment and Christ's return. And so he's orienting them then to a historical shift, from what is now to the life of the
14:16 age to come with all of these comparisons of of attributes. Right? The set of attributes that the body in the grave has, the set of attributes that the resurrection body will have. And then
14:28 that, of course, leads him to making a a historical comparison between the two Adams in first Corinthians fifteen forty five itself, the first Adam
14:40 and the last Adam.
14:42 Mhmm.
14:42 So that's some background I think is important for our listeners.
14:46 It it certainly must have been must have been quite, evident or, pervasive in Corinth because similar things are being said in second Corinthians four and five,
14:58 namely four, you know, where Paul is talking about suffering and persecution and all of these things. But he also starts to address this idea of what happens when you die and is the goal toShow more
In this video 0:00 Christ's Resurrection as Eschatological Transformation15:00 The Two Adams and the Soulish versus Spiritual Body40:00 Christ as Life-Giving Spirit and Functional Identity with the Holy Spirit50:00 Declared Son of God in Power: Romans 1:3-41:05:00 Resurrection, Redemption Accomplished, and the Priority of Eschatology
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