Three Things The World Can't Take Away

A priest, Let’s call him John, buys a lawn mower at a yard sale. The owner of the lawn mower is named Bob.

John Takes his new mower home and he pulls on the starter rope a few times with no results.

Well John is ticked that he got taken. He storms back to the yard sale and tells the Bob, the previous owner, “I can’t get the mower to start!”

Bob sees how upset John is so he replies, “That’s because you have to cuss to get it started.”

You see, John is self-righteous and in a foul mood so he answers, “I’m a man of the cloth. I don’t even remember how to curse.”

Without missing a beat Bob answers, “You keep pulling on that rope, and it’ll come back to you.”

The world can take your money, your dignity and whole host of other things. Today we will be looking at three things the world can’t take away from you.

Historical/Cultural Context -

Paul preached the gospel in Corinth in the early 50s AD during his second missionary journey (Acts 18:1–18). When opposition grew fierce there, the Lord Jesus spoke to him in a vision assuring him that he had ‘many people’ in the city (Acts 18:10). With this encouragement, Paul stayed on for eighteen months, ‘teaching them the word of God’ (Acts 18:11). God used Paul’s ministry to bring about the birth and establishment of the church in Corinth.

Biblical Text -

1 Corinthians 15:35–49 NKJV

But someone will say, “How are the dead raised up? And with what body do they come?” Foolish one, what you sow is not made alive unless it dies. And what you sow, you do not sow that body that shall be, but mere grain—perhaps wheat or some other grain. But God gives it a body as He pleases, and to each seed its own body. All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of animals, another of fish, and another of birds. There are also celestial bodies and terrestrial bodies; but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. There is one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for one star differs from another star in glory. So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption. It is sown in dishonor, it 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. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. And so it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, and afterward the spiritual. The first man was of the earth, made of dust; the second Man is the Lord from heaven. As was the man of dust, so also are those who are made of dust; and as is the heavenly Man, so also are those who are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man.

-[Prayer]-

Life Principle - The World Can’t Take Away Your Value, Your Destiny, And Your Ability To Be The Image Of Christ.

Life Point- We Will Be More Than What We Are

Exegetical -

1 Corinthians 15:35–38 BSB

But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come?” You fool! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. And what you sow is not the body that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or something else. But God gives it a body as He has designed, and to each kind of seed He gives its own body.

Homiletical -

How are the dead raised and what kind of body will they have?

remember this section is talking to believers, not unbelievers.

We know that unbelievers will be raised as well and will be tormented for all eternity.

Hebrews 9:27 BSB

Just as man is appointed to die once, and after that to face judgment,

Daniel 12:2 BSB

And many who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake, some to everlasting life, but others to shame and everlasting contempt.

Jude 7 BSB

In like manner, Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, who indulged in sexual immorality and pursued strange flesh, are on display as an example of those who sustain the punishment of eternal fire.

Revelation 20:11–15 BSB

Then I saw a great white throne and the One seated on it. Earth and heaven fled from His presence, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne. And there were open books, and one of them was the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their deeds, as recorded in the books. The sea gave up its dead, and Death and Hades gave up their dead, and each one was judged according to his deeds. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death—the lake of fire. And if anyone was found whose name was not written in the Book of Life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

But this section is not for that, this section is written to the believer

John 5:24 NKJV

“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.

I was dead, but now I am alive. I was blind, but now I see.

You know what the problem is with the believer who is still human?

He wants to know everything that God is doing and how it will be done.

He wants God to explain everything to his little bitty brain.

Let me tell you something, it ain’t going to happen.

You know why?

Because my friend you are finite, and He is Infinite.

You dwell in time, He dwells in infinity and eternity.

As we discussed last week it is not for us to know everything. However, by experience I can know God and trust God because He has been good to me. Because he is not slow as we wold consider slowness. Because He is God and I am not.

1 Corinthians 15:36–38 BSB

You fool! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. And what you sow is not the body that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or something else. But God gives it a body as He has designed, and to each kind of seed He gives its own body.

As we found out earlier “it is appointed unto man once to die and then the judgement.”

This body right here that we have? It will be done away with. This body of man that short and stocky? Is just but a seed that will be to come.

The body that will be to come will be so much greater than the body we have now. This body is but a starting point. A type and shadow of what is to come!

Life Point - Our Value Comes From God

Exegetical -

1 Corinthians 15:39–45 BSB

Not all flesh is the same: Men have one kind of flesh, animals have another, birds another, and fish another. There are also heavenly bodies and earthly bodies. But the splendor of the heavenly bodies is of one degree, and the splendor of the earthly bodies is of another. The sun has one degree of splendor, the moon another, and the stars another; and star differs from star in splendor. So will it be with the resurrection of the dead: What is sown is perishable; it is raised imperishable. It is sown in dishonor; it 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. So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being;” the last Adam a life-giving spirit.

Homiletical -

Did you know that our scientific method of how we classify things is not scripturally correct?

You see God does not classify us with the animals, though we share characteristics with them.

He classifies us as our own classification. Human. We have both body and spirit, which is not something the animals can claim. Nowhere in scripture does it say that all dogs go to heaven, or that cats go to hell.

Nowhere does it say that animals have something that transcends this life like a human being does.

Did you know that they heavenly bodies are different than this earthly one and not all stars are the same?

You see people believe the Bible is not a text book on science, and they’re right!

But the Bible does have science in it, and where it speaks to science it is always right.

We find that the longer we study the world around us the more that man’s modern day science lines up with The Word of God.

It would be a whole lot easier to start with the Word of God, show it is true and go from there.

Now I know that what I just said was controversial in some circles. Well you know what? This is America and you have the right to be wrong, and so do I.

Paul uses the material world around us to make a spiritual point here

1 Corinthians 15:42–44 BSB

So will it be with the resurrection of the dead: What is sown is perishable; it is raised imperishable. It is sown in dishonor; it 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.

During WW2 there was Eugenics that were going on in Nazi Germany. People and babies were murdered just because they had what some would consider a defect and they thought that human beings have no real intrinsic value outside of serving the state and thereby all of mankind. If you could not serve then you become a drain on society and do not deserve to live.

Abortions happen today because they say the baby is just a clump of cells and it has no intrinsic value. It is just a drain on the body and its’ resources.

They are wrong. The Bible clearly states here, as in many other places, that “If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.”

This means that you are not you in body only, but in spirit as well.

What makes you, you, is both natural and spiritual. They are intrinsically linked and have value.

For Jesus to save you is both spiritual and physical. You cannot separate them.

You are saved to the uttermost. Body, soul, and spirit.

Illustration -

Some of our best thinkers, by the way, were not considered “healthy.” One example is Stephen Hawkins. While he was an atheist, his thoughts on other subjects advanced our understanding of the universe in massive ways.

Some of the best preachers, teachers, and commentators all had some physical ailment.

Paul had his thorn in the flesh.

2 Corinthians 12:7–10 BSB

or because of these surpassingly great revelations. So to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly in my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest on me. That is why, for the sake of Christ, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Notice he starts his list with weaknesses that he will boast in. In several translations that is translated as infirmities.

I think the thorn was his eyesight as it failed him in his later years. I can’t be dogmatic about that, but it could be.

Galatians 6:11 NKJV

See with what large letters I have written to you with my own hand!

It is believed that when he wrote Galatians he dictated it, except for the last part.

Why?

So that there would be no question it came from him.

Life Point - We Will Be Transformed To Be In The Image Of Jesus

Exegetical -

1 Corinthians 15:46–49 BSB

The spiritual, however, was not first, but the natural, and then the spiritual. The first man was of the dust of the earth, the second man from heaven. As was the earthly man, so also are those who are of the earth; and as is the heavenly man, so also are those who are of heaven. And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so also shall we bear the likeness of the heavenly man.

Homiletical -

Now Paul is going to draw some conclusions based on history and the first and second Adam. Meaning Adam and Jesus.

In our timeframe the first Adam brought forth death due to his sin. He unleashed all sorts of sickness, diseases and evils on the earth because of one sin. But sin does not stay alone, no it multiplies and causes chaos wherever it goes.

In our morality, ethics, and physical beings. We are still suffering those consequences.

Paul is not separating the humanity of Jesus hear, but is drawing a comparison. Jesus was and is still 100% God and 100% man.

What does Paul say about Adam here?

1) He is of the dust.

2) he is earthly, and because of that so are we.

3) We have born the likeness of Adam.

What does Paul say about Jesus here?

1) He is spiritual.

2) He is of Heaven, and because of that so are the born-again.

3) We will bear the likeness of the heavenly man, Jesus.

Notice the order that he puts this in.

First came the natural and then the spiritual, the supernatural.

Just as we are currently dealing with sin and its’ end result, death. So is the born again Christian dealing with the regenerating power of God and its’ end result which will be life. Which includes the resurrection of the Christian to a new body.

We have not attained and received the entirety of the promise of God, yet we have. It seems almost paradoxical, but yet not.

2 Corinthians 1:22 BSB

placed His seal on us, and put His Spirit in our hearts as a pledge of what is to come.

Ephesians 1:13–14 BSB

And in Him, having heard and believed the word of truth—the gospel of your salvation—you were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the pledge of our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession, to the praise of His glory.

The Holy Spirit is the seal that cannot be broken. On our regeneration and rebirth in Christ we are sealed with the Holy Spirit for the promise that is to come, when we shall be fully redeemed and in a new body.

This is why I can say:

I have been saved - Christ has come into my life and being and has regenerated and made me a new person.

Romans 8:1 NKJV

There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.

I will be saved - God is sanctifying me, more and more as I walk out my salvation in His hands.

Philippians 2:12 BSB

Therefore, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence, but now even more in my absence, continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling.

I will be saved - On the day of His appearing I will be given a new body and my transformation to be like Christ will be completed.

Philippians 1:6 BSB

being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

1 Thessalonians 4:13–14 BSB

Brothers, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you will not grieve like the rest, who are without hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, we also believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in Him.

1 Thessalonians 4:16–18 NKJV

For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.

Life Principle–

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