I believe in the resurrection and eternal life.23

Intro/scripture

1 Corinthians 15:12–28 NIV

12 But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14 And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. 15 More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. 19 If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied. 20 But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. 22 For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. 23 But each in turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him. 24 Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. 25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death. 27 For he “has put everything under his feet.” Now when it says that “everything” has been put under him, it is clear that this does not include God himself, who put everything under Christ. 28 When he has done this, then the Son himself will be made subject to him who put everything under him, so that God may be all in all.

and then

John 3:36 NIV

36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.

Pray.

Funerals are the place where we all want to be Christian.

Funeral illustration to begin. People that have had little interaction with faith.

Hope.....

General hope versus ultimate hope

Our ultimate hope is in the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting. What I am going to do this morning is taking you all the way to the future and then bring it all the way back.

I believe in the resurrection of the body

Ok so we have already talked about Christ’s resurrection several weeks ago. I wanted to stress that belief in his resurrection is the lynch pin....it cascades from here if we turn up our noses here. It cannot be a metaphor...

If Christ is not raised then our sins are not forgiven, our faith is futile and more, today, our ultimate hope is nonsense.

See it again:

1 Corinthians 15:13–14 NIV

13 If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14 And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.

I want to talk about:

what is the resurrection

why is this our ultimate hope

What is the resurrection?

The undercurrent of the entire new testament is belief in this. Those NT writers had to process what they saw in Jesus and what Jesus told them about what this would be like. And yet, none of them are able to fully describe what this will be like. 1 Cor 15 is the closest we get.

1 Corinthians 15:42–44 NIV

42 So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; 43 it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; 44 it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.

What is he doing here? Don’t get lost in the english with a spiritual body. This does not mean we are like etherial ghosts. Paul uses a metaphor

The Apostles’ Creed: A Guide to the Ancient Catechism “The Resurrection of the Body”

So Paul tries to explain it using the image of a seed (1 Cor 15:35–49). The body now is like a seed, and the life of the resurrection is like the tree. There is an unimaginable difference between the seed and the tree. They do not look alike. You would not be able to guess the appearance of the tree by looking at the seed. Yet their identity is the same. In the same way, Paul says, our mortal bodies will be planted and will be raised immortal in Christ. Paul calls this “a mystery” (15:51). In the coming life we will be the same identical persons that we are now—yet unimaginably different. “We will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye” (15:51–52).

There is continuity with our bodies. our physical mind, body, soul, resurrected. But it will also be completely different. Even unrecognizable in some ways. We see that as Jesus is sometimes unfamiliar because the resurrected body is completely different. And yet scars present, he eats with the disciples. He talks with them.

I am stressing this point for a reason. Jesus is not resuscitated. And neither will we be.

Why is this our ultimate hope?

Well let’s see what it looks like when it takes place, turn to Revelation 21:1-7

Revelation 21:1–7 NIV

1 Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4 ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” 5 He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” 6 He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life. 7 Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children.

There will be no more death, or symptoms of death in the world.

Old age… failing. This may not be on everyone’s radar.

do this for any length of time and you see tremendous loss. many in here have experienced it.

no more cancer

example with Type 1 diabetes

There will be no more reason for tears and mourning

We will forever be in the presence of God, as God’s children.

I believe in life eternal

We say in our creed we believe in the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting.

Life everlasting means what it does but it can kind of get away from intended meaning in our modern minds. I hear life everlasting and it is just life gets extended forever. Most of us have had at least 1 day where we would say, nope. dont want that. Do not want this life forever.

The Apostles’ Creed: A Guide to the Ancient Catechism “And the Life Everlasting”

The Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges tells the story of a man who drinks from a river of immortality and becomes immortal. But without death, life lacks definition; it doesn’t mean anything. One day the man learns of another river that can take immortality away. And so for centuries he wanders the earth and drinks from every spring and river, seeking to end the curse of endless life. “Death,” writes Borges, “makes men precious and pathetic; their ghostliness is touching; any act they perform may be their last.”

“You cannot make life better just by increasing it.”

Eternal life is about a present experience too. I am trying to with everything to get you to feel this. the NT but John’s gospel in specific is clear about this....

John 3:36 NIV

36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.

John 5:24 NIV

24 “Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life.

Both of these are current realities. Has eternal life. The future changes the now.

Listen if you are overcome in anxiousness, fear, nervousness. If you are burned out, if you are overworked, if you are constantly exhausted, if you are overwhelmed....

There is a chance some of those general hopes have become your ultimate hope. And your fear and anxiety, or whatever you are facing is a check engine light, telling you there is something wrong under the hood.

Amen is our “Yes!”

Stool..... from sermon of last time.

Do you know what the last line is? It is Amen, YES.

Here is the deal.... I will end our series by challenging a little:

Saying Yes to God, means he is our biggest yes

Saying yes to God means some of our yes’s, should be no’s

I just think some of us functionally sit on this stool. Like we go through the motions, but there is no committment here. Saying yes to God is more than a decision....it is an allegiance.

Refusing to do the work:

The infinitely powerful, intimately personal Father

Jesus our Lord. Fully God, fully human. Really lived, really died, really rose. Jesus the king.

The Holy Spirit, God’s breath, the power sealed in us

The church

the forgiveness of sins

and our eternal hope

We will not measure ourselves on worship attendance. But on this work.

I spent some time this week attending a Pastor theology seminar at United Theological Seminary. We focused on the body of work of the late Dr. William Abraham. Until his untimely death a couple years ago, he was one of the most well respected Wesleyan theologians. His contributions are great and have deeply impacted the way I think about the heritage of the church universal and across time. But also his writings on evangelism and Christian formation.

Evangelism, according to Abraham, is the body of proclamation that initiates people into the Kingdom of God that has come in Jesus Christ. Not just a confession of sin and commitment to Christ, but bringing people across the threshold of faith and then formation into that kingdom.

A pastor shared at the end as we were debriefing all we heard. She said, I feel like I need to lead my people out the back door, around the building and back into the front door again.