Death is Defeated - 1 Corinthians 15:3-4; 50-58

Introduction

1 Corinthians 15:50–58 (ESV)

I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 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. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. 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. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

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.

Why is Easter important? We do we each year take time to emphasize the death and resurrection of Jesus? What does his resurrection mean for us?

here in this passage Paul answers these questions in terms of victory. We are a people who long to be victorious in life, whether it’s in a game, in our professional or personal lives, or if it’s over a major Issue, such as social and cultural issues or even a major conflict like war.

Pastor Kent Hughes says that victory presumes two things:

1) there is an adversary or opponent. The adversary might be other people (coworker, friends, family, other competitors), a power system (a boss, politics, capitalism/socialism), or even yourself (weaknesses, addictions, limits on time or ability).

2) it is better to win than to lose. No one really wants to lose. there might be some who are more competitive than others, but everyone has some sense of competition. No one plays to intentionally lose.

So the first question is, what Do we need victory over? What is the adversary that Christ’s resurrection has achieved victory for us?

Death is Our Adversary

1 Corinthians 15:50 (ESV)

I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.

We live in a world that is dying. Everything is dying around us. It might be relationships, jobs, dreams, cultures and societies.

But of course, the thing we all feel most intimately is that our bodies are perishing.

We are all dying and we all feel it. And somehow, deep down, we all know that death is unnatural.

Marilyn A. Mendoza, “The Fear of Death and the Rise of Psychedelics,” Psychology Today. Mendoza’s blogpost at Psychology today references the work of Irvin Yalom who did a study and found that most psychological disorders and anxieties stem from individual’s fear of death.

We were created to be eternal creatures and death is an unnatural part of life, even though it is the most common experience of all people. There are experiences that we might not be able to share with others, but death is one experience that we all share with everyone else.

C.S. Lewis has said that “100 percent of us die, and the percentage cannot be increased.” (The Weight of Glory)

The Cause of Death

If we were created to be eternal, why is there death?

This is where we have to go back to the beginning of the story.

In Genesis 1, we see that God created everything and He created it to be good, including and especially the creation of man and woman.

In Genesis 2, we see a more detailed account about God’s creation of mankind and how He created man and woman in His image, to exercise dominion over the earth, to multiply over the face of the earth. He gave them freedom over all the creation except one part, the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Only One tree in the midst of many was prohibited from Adam and Eve.

In Genesis 3, a new character enters the story, the serpent. The serpent talks with Eve, with Adam right there with her, by the way. And he gets her to question the goodness and trustworthiness of God. He tempts and entices Eve to take of the fruit, believing that it was good for wisdom and that they could be their own gods. Both she and Adam chose to believe the lie rather than believe God.

Sadly, this decision, and every sinful decision since, including those made by you and me, have been our attempts to be god and have brought death into the world.

The Result of Death

This decision, to rebel against God, separated Adam and Eve from God. God removed them from the garden He placed them in.

But it also separated them from one another. They began to blame one another.

And it separated them from life, as God promised that they would grow old and die and return to the earth from which they were created.

Over and again we see that sin brings forth death.

Romans 6:23 (ESV)

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

This death has affected, not just humanity, but all of creation.

Romans 8:22 (ESV)

For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.

We all know this world is broken and not what it should be and this is why. We have the inward hope that things should be better because God created them to be better. However, sin has brought forth death and all of creation is groaning in this death.

Finding Victory Over Death

1 Corinthians 15:51–57 (ESV)

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. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. 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. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Looking for Victory in the Wrong Places

Paul, in this passage, tells us that there is victory to be found over death. However, the question is, where are we looking for it?

In Verse 56, Paul tells us that the sting of death is sin and the power of sin is the law.

Again, the problem, as we have seen, was created because we refused to submit to and trust God. Instead we believed the lie of the serpent and chose to rebel against God to become our own gods. We all have been stung by death because of our own sin.

But try as hard as we might, we cannot overcome our own sin. The power of sin is the law.

There are two approaches to the Law that cause us to ignore the problem of death:

We try to find life by ignoring the Law

This is the way that is being promoted through the “follow your heart” mentality. We know we are broken. So the current thought is, to fix ourselves, we need to be our true selves.

The brokenness is there only because we are listening to others about some arbitrary standard of truth, which we need to do away with. As soon as I can embrace my own truth and be who I feel like I should be, then I can overcome the brokenness I feel within myself.

However, it doesn’t matter how much I “follow my heart.” I will never remove the sense of brokenness within me. This is why, no matter how much I get, I always want more. If I get that promotion, the money will still not be enough. I will want the next biggest house, the newest car, the next best iPhone. Someone might think, my current relationship isn’t fulfilling to me, so I need to find someone new only to find that next person has different flaws to irritate them. We cannot fix our problem by ignoring God’s law and doing things our own way.

We try to find life by trusting the Law

However, the other way of trying to fix this problem is by trying to fix ourselves by trusting in the law.

This is really the same thing as before, but dressed up with a choir robe. We think we can earn our way to wholeness by showing how good and righteous and holy we are. We want to find satisfaction and victory over death by our own accomplishments.

It is still seeking to trust in something other than God for our life and salvation. Trying to find life in the law is still as sinful as taking of the fruit of the tree of good and evil because we are rejecting God so we can be our own god and savior.

We all long for something better than what is. And we have tried to fix it, but I think many of us have come to realize that we need some kind of supernatural help to fix what is wrong.

For the last 20 or more years, we have seen the rise of popularity of super hero movies. But super heroes did not start in this past generation.

Super heroes found their beginning with heroes like Popeye in 1929 and then later with the Phantom and Superman in the mid to late 30s. They rose to prominence in the late 30s and into the 40s during the Great Depression and WWII. Heroes like Superman and Captain America gave hope to a people who saw only death all around them. These super heroes declined in popularity until the mid 1980s as they found new life and popularity again. It is interesting to note that these heroes have gained attention during times of great cynicism over world affairs. It’s as if people knew that the solution to the world’s problems were bigger than what any normal person could solve, so we turn to fictitious heroes with superhuman power.

Find Victory Only in Christ

There is victory over death to be found. However, as hard as we might try, that victory cannot be found in ourselves or in anything else this world has to offer.

Again, the popularity of super heroes should tell us that we are beginning to realize that our hope has to lie outside of ourselves and that the problem of death and the hopelessness of this world can only be conquered by a super human/supernatural power.

Look at Paul’s words in 1 Cor. 15:51

1 Corinthians 15:51 (ESV)

Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,

Paul says a change is coming. A change from the perishable to the imperishable. From death to life. However, He does not say that we will change ourselves. There is a passive voice here that tells us that the change from death to life is going to happen to us, not by us.

1 Corinthians 15:52 (ESV)

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.

In verse 52, we see that the dead will be raised by someone else. The dead cannot raise themselves.

What can the dead do? Nothing.

Someone lying on an ER table whose heart has stopped cannot bring life back to themselves. But there are doctors and nurses who can help resuscitate someone who has died.

This is the message of Easter. Victory and life has been won for us. It has been won for us by Christ.

1 Corinthians 15:57 (ESV)

But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Instead of trusting in our hearts or in our ability to follow the Law, we need to place our trust in the only One who can save us, Jesus Christ!

Christ is the Solution to the Problem

So what has Christ done to solve the problem?

1 Corinthians 15:3–4 (ESV)

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,

Christ’s Work on the Cross

First, we have to remember that the wages of sin is death. We are all dying because of our sin and rebellion against God.

However, Christ, the Son of God, has come to earth as a fully human man, to live the life we should have lived. And then He chose to die on a wooden cross, bearing upon Himself the full wrath of God against our rebellion against Him.

Nobody took His life or forced Him to die in our place. He willingly laid down His life to take the penalty of our sin upon Himself.

Romans 5:8 (ESV)

but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

And we know that He did not just appear to be dead. He really died. The Romans ensured that those who were executed upon their crosses really died. When they stuck the spear into His side, the saw the separation of the blood and water which indicated that He truly was dead.

And as a result, Christ was buried because He truly died. Only death can make the full payment of sin, which is why this world is dying.

Christ’s Resurrection

But Christ didn’t stay dead. And this is where the victory comes in. Christ was buried, but He didn’t stay in the tomb.

He came out alive! His complete and total physical resurrection was the sign that God had accepted His death for the payment of sin and now death has no more power.

Because of Christ’s resurrection:

1 Corinthians 15:54–55 (ESV)

“Death is swallowed up in victory.”

“O death, where is your victory?

O death, where is your sting?”

Death is defeated because of Christ’s work on the cross and His resurrection!

Jesus really is the True Super Hero who has accomplished what no one else could ever do.

The Defeat of Death

Because of Christ’s victory over death, death will not have the final say over creation.

Yes, we all are still growing older to the point of dying. And we all will die unless Christ comes before that day. However, death is not the end of the story anymore.

There are those who will be changed, who will receive new bodies that are imperishable and immortal.

We all currently have our perishable and mortal bodies. But many will get to experience the change from the perishable to the imperishable, from the mortal to the immortal.

Who gets to experience this victory that we are all looking for?

John 3:16 (ESV)

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

1 Corinthians 15:57 (ESV)

But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Those who are in Christ Jesus get to receive this promise. Those who have believed in Him, who have trusted in Him. Again, the sin of Adam and Even was that they chose to believe the lie of the serpent instead of believing in God. Salvation is found by believing in and trusting in Christ alone!

Conclusion

For those of us here who have been believers for any length of time, the good news of Easter is an encouragement to us to keep on believing and pressing on.

1 Corinthians 15:58 (ESV)

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.

Do not give up, even when life seems to get harder. Jesus Christ has won the victory and we are called to be steadfast in our faith and trust in Him.

Perhaps you are here this morning and you have been trying to overcome the futility and brokenness of life in your own way. Maybe you have tried to find life in the desires of your heart or in trying to trust in your own goodness.

Christ Himself is the greatest satisfaction your heart will ever find. He alone has satisfied the requirements of the law that we can never live up to. He alone has the life that we are meant to live. His death on the cross and His resurrection are the hope that you are looking for. If you want to experience the kind of life you were created for, the life that will continue on, even as our perishable bodies end, Jesus is the One whom you are looking for.

I would love to share with you today how you can find salvation and victory over death in Christ Jesus.