The Radical Change of the Body

Introduction:

Attention: Someone has written, There is a preacher of the old school but he speaks as boldly as ever. He is not popular, though the world is his parish and he travels every part of the globe and speaks in every language. He visits the poor, calls upon the rich, preaches to people of every religion and no religion, and the subject of his sermon is always the same. He is an eloquent preacher, often stirring feelings which no other preacher could, and bringing tears to eyes that never weep. His arguments none are able to refute, nor is there any heart that has remained unmoved by the force of his appeals. He shatters life with his message. Most people hate him; everyone fears him. His name? Death. Every tombstone is his pulpit, every newspaper prints his text, and someday every one of you will be his sermon.

Need:

Textual Idea:

Sermon Idea:

Interrogative:

Transition:

1. The change is NEEDED (1 Cor. 15:50)

1 Cor. 15:50 “I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.”

There are two clearly understood reasons why the change is needed.

A. The human body is flesh and blood.

It is physical, not spiritual. It is made of physical material and substance, not spiritual material and substance. It is of the earth, not of heaven; and they who are of the earth are physical and earthly, not spiritual and heavenly.

Man’s body in its present state is made:

To live in the physical world and dimension, not in the spiritual world and dimension.

To oversee the kingdoms of this world, not to inherit the Kingdom of God.

B. The human body is perishable, not imperishable.

This is clearly seen in everyday experiences. The human body ends: it ages, dies, decays, deteriorates, and wastes away to nothing but dirt and dust. It has embedded within its very nature the seed of corruption.

The point is that the human body must be completely changed if it is to ever become imperishable and given the privilege of living in the Kingdom of God. The human body must be changed and recreated, totally remade.

2. The change is a BRAND NEW REVELATION (1 Cor. 15:51-52)

1 Cor. 15:51-52 “Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 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 shall be changed.”

The word “mystery” means revelation, a fact that would never be known unless God revealed it. Man could never find out about the resurrection without God telling him. Man knows about the resurrection and radical change of man’s body because God told him. Man has no other way to find out about it. It is one of the mysteries, one of the revelations that God has chosen to make known to man. And what a glorious hope it is! Note four quick facts stated about the radical change of the body:

A. The resurrection involves both the living and the dead.

The word “sleep” refers to those who have passed on into the presence of the Lord and are now resting from their labor and suffering in this world.

Note the words “we shall not all sleep.” Paul is not saying that he and some others will be alive when the resurrection takes place. He is revealing a mystery about all believers: when Christ returns there will naturally be some believers still living and some who have already died. The point is that both the living and the dead will receive recreated bodies, new bodies, bodies radically and completely changed.

B. The resurrection will be quick, sudden change.

The word for moment (Gk. atomos) means indivisible, that which cannot be cut. It is the word from which we get the English word atom. The idea is that the resurrection will take place so quickly:

that you could not divide the time into two moments.

that you could not blink an eye.

C. The resurrection will be at the end time, at the end of the world.

This is what is primarily meant by the last trumpet. It will be the last trumpet ever blown; however, it will be the trumpet that will summon the end of our bodies lying in the graves and living in this corruptible world. It will be the trumpet that will sound the end of the world as we now know it.

D. The resurrection and the change of the body are both an absolute surety.

Note the strong affirmative “wills and shalls” of this verse:

The trumpet will sound

The dead will be raised imperishable

We shall be changed

There is no question about the event to take place. God has revealed the glorious fact: He Himself shall raise the dead and change all our bodies.

John 5:25 “Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.”

John 6:40 “For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.””

John 11:25 “Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live,”

1 Cor. 15:22 “For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.”

2 Cor. 4:14 “knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence.”

1 Thess. 4:16 “For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.”

3. The change will be the INFUSION OF A TOTALLY NEW NATURE (1 Cor. 15:53)

1 Cor. 15:53 “For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality.”

Note two significant facts:

A. The nature of the believer’s present body is perishable and mortal; the nature of his new body will be imperishable and immortal.

The “perishable” and “mortal” nature means that men are earthly; that they age, deteriorate, die, decay, and decompose. Every man, no matter who he is, is earthly and will return to the earth once he dies unless Jesus returns while he is living on the earth.

The “imperishable” and “immortal” nature means: believers will be made heavenly; they will be transformed and given a perfect nature that will never age, deteriorate, die, decay, or decompose. They will be completely free from defilement and depravity. They will be given a body that is perfect, a body that is diametrically opposed to their present body, a body that is perfected forever to live with God in the new heavens and earth.

B. The word must shows the absolute necessity for the change of man’s body.

If man is to live with God, his body must be changed. It is essential, a must, an absolute necessity if a man is to live forever.

Luke 20:36 “for they cannot die anymore, because they are equal to angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection.”

John 8:51 “Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.””

John 11:26 “and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?””

Rom. 2:7 “to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life;”

2 Cor. 5:1 “For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.”

1 Thess. 4:17 “Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.”

2 Tim. 1:10 “and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel,”

4. The change will SWALLOW DEATH (1 Cor. 15:54-56)

1 Cor. 15:54-56 “When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.”

It will bring victory over the grave. Paul pictures the believer in the future, as already standing before the Lord in the Kingdom of God. He sees the believer as already imperishable and immortal. When that day comes, then it can be shouted that “Death is swallowed up in victory.” Note what is said about this glorious day of victory:

A. The victory was promised by God long, long ago.

Is. 25:8 “He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the Lord has spoken.”

B. The victory conquered the “sting” of death.

The “sting” of death is sin (v. 56). There are two reasons why the sting of death will be gone forever:

Sin gives death power. Men die because of sin. Rom. 5:12 “Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—” When God gives men a perfect body, then the sting is removed. Death will be no more.

Sin surrounds death with all its fears. If men are perfected, then sin is erased from the picture, and there is no death or surrounding fears. Death becomes helpless.

C. The victory will be over the power of sin.

What is it that gives power to sin, that gives sin control over men? It is the law of God. When believers stand perfected before God, the law hovering over men’s heads will be done away with. There are two reasons why the power of sin will be gone forever:

The law gives sin its power. The law and its standards show men their shortcomings. If men are perfected, then there is no need for the law because there is no sin. Rom. 4:15 “For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression.”

If men are perfected and there is no law, then there is no condemnation. Rom. 5:13 “for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law.”

1 Cor. 15:26 “The last enemy to be destroyed is death.”

Rev. 21:4 “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.””

5. The glorious victory over death has been wrought THROUGH THE LORD JESUS CHRIST (1 Cor. 15:57)

1 Cor. 15:57 “But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

It is through Him and Him alone that man can be resurrected from the dead and given an imperishable and immortal body. How is it possible for man to live forever through the Lord Jesus Christ? Very simply, because He fulfilled the law of God. This means at least two things:

A. Christ fulfilled the law of God by never sinning.

He never broke the law of God, not even once. Therefore, He secured perfect righteousness; and because His righteousness is perfect and ideal, it becomes the model and pattern for all men. IT stands for and covers the unrighteousness of all men. His perfect righteousness overcomes sin and its penalty — it condemns sin. It is to be noted that He condemned sin “through/in the flesh.” Rom. 8:3 “For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh,”

B. Christ fulfilled the law in that He bore the condemnation and punishment of the law for man.

As the Perfect and Ideal Man, Jesus Christ could bear all the violations and punishment of the law for man. Jesus Christ as the Ideal Man could die for all men.

When a person believes in Jesus Christ, truly believes in Him, God counts that person’s faith as righteousness. The person is not righteous, but God loves His Son so much that He honors any person who honors His Son. He takes the person’s honor of His Son, the person’s faith, and counts it as righteousness, as the right to live in His presence. It is the person of faith, the person who believes in the Lord Jesus Christ that shall be resurrected and given a body that is imperishable and immortal. The victory over death is through the Lord Jesus Christ.

Rom. 5:1 “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Rom. 8:1 “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

Rom. 8:3 “For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh,”

Heb. 2:14-15 “Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.”

1 John 5:4 “For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.”

6. The change demands STEADFAST LABOR (1 Cor. 15:58)

1 Cor. 15:58 “Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.”

A. The charge is to believers, genuine believers: “beloved brothers.”

The promise is a resurrected and changed body is not to unbelievers.

B. The believer is to be steadfast and immovable. Why? Because he has such a glorious hope: the hope of being resurrected and given an imperishable and immortal body. The hope of this glorious fact should stir the believer to be steadfast and immovable in serving the Lord Jesus Christ.

The word steadfast (Gk. hedraioi) means to be firm, fixed, determined, purposed, faithful. The believer is to stand fast and fixed in his belief and labor for the Lord, determined to live for the Lord and to carry out his purpose for the Lord. The believer is to be faithful to the end.

The word immovable (Gk. ametakinetoi) means to be unyielding, unshaken, undisturbed. The believer is not to be fickle in his service for the Lord. He is to stand as solid as rock in his beliefs and in the serving of the Lord.

C. The believer is to abound in the work of the Lord.

Note two significant points:

The word labor (kopos) means toiling and working to the point of exhaustion and fatigue, to the point of collapse.

The word always means never cease, never stop, never slacken up, never quit, never retire.

D. The believer will be rewarded.

What a challenge to the believer! Yes, how could less be expected when the promise of being resurrected and given a new body has been given to a person? The believer’s labor will not be in vain, that is, left empty and unrewarded. The believer who:

is steadfast

is immovable

is always abounding and laboring in the work of the Lord

will be rewarded: resurrected and given a new body.

John 15:9 “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love.”

Gal. 6:9 “And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.”

2 Tim. 4:5 “As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.”

Heb. 12:1 “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,”

1 Pet. 1:13 “Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”

Rev. 3:11 “I am coming soon. Hold fast what you have, so that no one may seize your crown.”

Job 17:9 “Yet the righteous holds to his way, and he who has clean hands grows stronger and stronger.”

Conclusion:

Visualization:

Reiteration:

Action: