(1 Corinthians 1:7-8) 7 so that you are not lacking in any gift, awaiting eagerly the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, 8 who will also confirm you to the end, blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
(1 Corinthians 2:6) 6 Yet we do speak wisdom among those who are mature; a wisdom, however, not of this age nor of the rulers of this age, who are passing away;
(1 Corinthians 15:51-55) 51 Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53 For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality. 54 But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, "DEATH IS SWALLOWED UP in victory. 55 "O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR VICTORY? O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR STING?"
This verse screams first century fulfillment. Paul says, "we will not all sleep". If you were in Corinth, and you were the original intended audience for this letter, what would you have understood that to mean? You would have obviously understood it to mean that the second coming would happen before all of the people living at that time had diedperhaps even you! Why? Because that's exactly what Paul is saying. Compare the above verse to 1st Thessalonians 4:15-16
(1st Thessalonians 4:15-16) 15 For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.
They are conveying the exact same thought. Paul is telling first century believers in both Corinth and Thessalonica that they will not all die before the second coming. They use almost identical wording about some living and some dying, and the trumpet, etc. How can Paul be so confident that first century believers will not all die before Christ's second coming unless he believed Christ's coming would be in "this generation" and before all the disciples had died?
In regards to the above passage, compare verse 52 to the following other two passages.
(1 Corinthians 5:52) 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.
(1 Thessalonians 4:16) 16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.
(Mat 24:31 NASB) "And He will send forth His angels with A GREAT TRUMPET and THEY WILL GATHER TOGETHERHis elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.
Again, all three passages are speaking of the same event. The second coming of Christ. In the Corinthian and Thessalonian passages Paul is telling those believers they would see it. Why? Because in the Olivet Discourse Matthew 24:31) Christ said all of this would happen in "this generation". When you begin to line up all these scriptures the evidence becomes almost overwhelming that the second coming of Christ was expected and fulfilled in that first century.
