Jesus Is Greater Than Death

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‌‌TRUTH THAT SILENCES DEATH
1 Corinthians 15:55–57 NLT
55 O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” 56 For sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power. 57 But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Intro: No one likes to think about death. It is an enemy that stalks everyone, 1 Cor. 15:26; Heb. 9:27. Some die in old age, some die in infancy and others at all ages in between. Some die by disease, wrecks, wars and murder. Some hasten the arrival of death by cooperating with the enemy through engaging in bad habits and harmful lifestyles. Death is our enemy!
1 Corinthians 15:26 NLT
26 And the last enemy to be destroyed is death.
Hebrews 9:27 NLT
27 And just as each person is destined to die once and after that comes judgment,
1.) Death is unnatural. Man was made “a living soul”, Gen. 2:7 . Death entered the world because of sin, Gen. 2:17;Rom. 5:12; 6:23. Only two, Enoch and Elijah, have escaped death, so far!
Genesis 2:7 NLT
7 Then the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground. He breathed the breath of life into the man’s nostrils, and the man became a living person.
Genesis 2:17 NLT
17 except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you eat its fruit, you are sure to die.”
Romans 5:12 NLT
12 When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned.
Romans 6:23 NLT
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.
2.) Death is painful—Ill. Jesus, John 11:35. As hateful and as hurtful as death can be, it does not have the last word! There are some truths found in the Bible that muzzle the wild beast called death. I want to give them to you today and preach for a few minutes about some Truths That Silence Death.
I. THE PLAN OF SALVATION SILENCES DEATH
A. Jesus came to restore everything that death took away, Luke 19:10; John 11:25–26 . He came to bring life back to dead sinners.
Luke 19:10 NLT
10 For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost.”
John 11:25–26 NLT
25 Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying. 26 Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never ever die. Do you believe this, Martha?”
B. Jesus conquered two forms of death.
1.) Spiritual Death—Eph. 2:1–9
Ephesians 2:1–9 NLT
1 Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins. 2 You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil—the commander of the powers in the unseen world. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God. 3 All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God’s anger, just like everyone else. 4 But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, 5 that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!) 6 For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus. 7 So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of his grace and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus. 8 God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. 9 Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.
2.) Physical Death—1 Cor. 15:55–57 .
1 Corinthians 15:55–57 NLT
55 O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” 56 For sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power. 57 But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ.
C. Faith in Jesus brings instant everlasting life, John 3:16; 5:24 . Everlasting life is the present possession of every child of God, John 3:36; 10:28; 1 John 5:12.
John 3:16 NLT
16 “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.
John 5:24 NLT
24 “I tell you the truth, those who listen to my message and believe in God who sent me have eternal life. They will never be condemned for their sins, but they have already passed from death into life.
John 3:36 NLT
36 And anyone who believes in God’s Son has eternal life. Anyone who doesn’t obey the Son will never experience eternal life but remains under God’s angry judgment.”
John 10:28 NLT
28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them away from me,
1 John 5:12 NLT
12 Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have God’s Son does not have life.
II. A PLACE CALLED HEAVEN SILENCES DEATH
A. Salvation destroys death’s power over the soul. Salvation also changes the soul’s eternal destiny. The lost soul is headed to Hell, Psa. 9:17. The redeemed soul is going to Heaven, Phil. 1:21, 23; 2 Cor. 5:1–8 .
Psalm 9:17 NLT
17 The wicked will go down to the grave. This is the fate of all the nations who ignore God.
Philippians 1:21 NLT
21 For to me, living means living for Christ, and dying is even better.
Philippians 1:23 NLT
23 I’m torn between two desires: I long to go and be with Christ, which would be far better for me.
2 Corinthians 5:1–8 NLT
1 For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down (that is, when we die and leave this earthly body), we will have a house in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God himself and not by human hands. 2 We grow weary in our present bodies, and we long to put on our heavenly bodies like new clothing. 3 For we will put on heavenly bodies; we will not be spirits without bodies. 4 While we live in these earthly bodies, we groan and sigh, but it’s not that we want to die and get rid of these bodies that clothe us. Rather, we want to put on our new bodies so that these dying bodies will be swallowed up by life. 5 God himself has prepared us for this, and as a guarantee he has given us his Holy Spirit. 6 So we are always confident, even though we know that as long as we live in these bodies we are not at home with the Lord. 7 For we live by believing and not by seeing. 8 Yes, we are fully confident, and we would rather be away from these earthly bodies, for then we will be at home with the Lord.
B. Heaven, as Paul said, is “far better” than this world, John 14:1–3; Rev. 21:4 . The Lord, our departed loved ones, the saints of all, all await us in glory!
John 14:1–3 NLT
1 “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. 2 There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? 3 When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am.
Revelation 21:4 NLT
4 He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.”
C. There is something beyond the door of death! It is not the end!
III. THE POWER OF THE RESURRECTION SILENCES DEATH
A. It Guarantees Our Saviour—Rom. 1:4
Romans 1:4 NLT
4 and he was shown to be the Son of God when he was raised from the dead by the power of the Holy Spirit. He is Jesus Christ our Lord.
B. It Guarantees Our Salvation—1 Cor. 15:14–20
1 Corinthians 15:14–20 NLT
14 And if Christ has not been raised, then all our preaching is useless, and your faith is useless. 15 And we apostles would all be lying about God—for we have said that God raised Christ from the grave. But that can’t be true if there is no resurrection of the dead. 16 And if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless and you are still guilty of your sins. 18 In that case, all who have died believing in Christ are lost! 19 And if our hope in Christ is only for this life, we are more to be pitied than anyone in the world. 20 But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead. He is the first of a great harvest of all who have died.
C. It Guarantees A Similar Resurrection For Us—1 Cor. 15:20
1 Corinthians 15:20 NLT
20 But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead. He is the first of a great harvest of all who have died.
• Jesus will raise our bodies—1 Thes. 4:13–17
1 Thessalonians 4:13–17 NLT
13 And now, dear brothers and sisters, we want you to know what will happen to the believers who have died so you will not grieve like people who have no hope. 14 For since we believe that Jesus died and was raised to life again, we also believe that when Jesus returns, God will bring back with him the believers who have died. 15 We tell you this directly from the Lord: We who are still living when the Lord returns will not meet him ahead of those who have died. 16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the believers who have died will rise from their graves. 17 Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever.
• Jesus will change our bodies—1 Cor. 15:49, 53–54
1 Corinthians 15:49 NLT
49 Just as we are now like the earthly man, we will someday be like the heavenly man.
1 Corinthians 15:53–54 NLT
53 For our dying bodies must be transformed into bodies that will never die; our mortal bodies must be transformed into immortal bodies. 54 Then, when our dying bodies have been transformed into bodies that will never die, this Scripture will be fulfilled: “Death is swallowed up in victory.
• We will be like Him—1 John 3:1–3
1 John 3:1–3 NLT
1 See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are! But the people who belong to this world don’t recognize that we are God’s children because they don’t know him. 2 Dear friends, we are already God’s children, but he has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is. 3 And all who have this eager expectation will keep themselves pure, just as he is pure.
• A better day awaits us in Heaven—Rom. 8:18
Romans 8:18 NLT
18 Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later.
Conc: Ill. There are two taunting questions in verse 55.... But there is also a major statement of victory in verse 57.
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