All who belong to Christ will be given new life

1 CORINTHIANS 15:12-22

If you have never seen the movie It’s a Wonderful Life, it tells the story of George Bailey, played by James Stewart in 1946. He has had a difficult day, and the pressure causes him to reflect on past life choices—many of which involved personal sacrifice to help those around him. He feels these sacrifices have deprived him of his own opportunities to live a fulfilled life. As things become bleak, he comes to the heartbreaking conclusion that it might have been better if he had never been born.

In that moment, an angel comes alongside him to show that his life has had a profound impact on those around him and that the world is undeniably better because he is in it. The angel reveals an alternative world without George, making the truth unmistakable.

Just as in It’s a Wonderful Life, where George Bailey wrestles with despair and doubts about the worth of his life on Christmas Eve, the Corinthian church also struggled with deep doubts—particularly about the resurrection. They feared that if Christ had not been raised, they were still in their sins and would face God’s judgment. Their actions, rooted in uncertainty, reflected a spiritual state that Paul urgently sought to address.

Paul proclaims that because Christ has been raised from the dead, he is the “firstfruits,” guaranteeing that more fruit—new life—will follow. Paul appeals to his readers by pointing to his own transformation: once struck down on the road to Damascus while zealously persecuting the early church, he became part of this new harvest, living a new life identified with Christ.

How does this speak to us today—far removed from Corinth, living in a time when life may not feel wonderful, even as we approach a season of celebration?

For Paul, the resurrection fulfilled everything God promised. It was not only victory over death but also victory over sin. Being identified with Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection means we are also identified as the fruit of God’s redeeming work, the ones brought near after the separation caused by sin.

This becomes the foundation of our new life as God’s children, pointing to His ongoing work of reconciliation. We celebrate Christ’s coming at Christmas because He stepped into time, was born among us, and lived a life that culminated in the payment for our sins. Rising from the dead, He led the way for us to become that fruit.

One of the greatest changes this brings is the transformation of our hearts—our stone hearts becoming hearts of flesh—and shaping us into people who love as described in 1 Corinthians 13: patient and kind; not envious or boastful; not arrogant or rude; not insisting on our own way; not irritable or resentful; not rejoicing in wrongdoing but rejoicing in the truth. Love that bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things.

This is the kind of love George ultimately shows toward his friends and family as he realizes his sacrifices were not in vain. And in the same way, our hope in the resurrection is not in vain; it is the secure foundation of our new life in Christ.