The Best Is Yet To Come

Text

1 Corinthians 15:24 NASB95

then comes the end, when He hands over the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power.

I would have you know that Kingdom encourages us to look at things on a macro level

God didn’t just come alive in the church age but in ages before

God didn’t just require obedience now, He always did

God didn’t just have a kingship after Christ died, He always did

Salvation on a macro level

God is not waiting for us to get to heaven to let us know what it will be like

He didn’t do that with Israel

Introduction

The letter to the Corinthians addresses issues that were causing division in the church

The letter addresses matters of a practical nature

The letter also addresses matters of doctrinal concerns

Chapter 15

This chapter is significant because of what it deals with: The resurrection.

We notice the REALITY of the resurrection

We notice the RESULTS of denying the resurrection

We notice the REWARDS of beilieving the resurrection

We notice the encouragement to REMAIN faithful

It is in the third section [the rewards for believing the resurrection], that we gain our encouragement today.

The argument previously made is that if Christ did not raise

Preaching is vain

Faith is vain

Sin still remains

All who died are lost

No hope exist for those who live

1 Corinthians 15:20 “But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep.”

Firstfruits

The firstfruits indicated a few things

It’s the first/choicest - Jesus was the first to rise from the grave never to die again

Garauntee that more fruit will come for the season - If the first fruit comes more will follow after it

Indicated the quality of fruit to come - If this is the fruit that we get now, can you imagine what the entire harvest would look like

What it gave you was a “foretaste of what is to come”

1 Corinthians 15:21–22 “For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.”

This verb “will be” is future tense - meaning it is something that is still coming.

The Best is Yet to Come

This introduces a concept of salvation that is worth exploring

Salvation is spoken of in scripture in three ways

Past - Justification vs. 1 “you received it”

Present - Sanctification vs. 2 “you are being saved”

Future - vs. 24 “hands over the kingdom”

[So salvation is not just an event, it’s a process

God saves us and now God is shaping us]

1 Peter 1:5 “who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”

2 Peter 1:10–11 “Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble; for in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you.”

It’s a Process, that’s why we need to dig in]

1 Corinthians 15:24 “then comes the end, when He hands over the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power.”

Then comes the end - end of what? The earthly existence, the human experience. There’s a day coming when all of this will end

This is the end of God’s redemptive movement on the earth in His Kingdom

God is saving, shaping, moulding, developing, growing, changing US now!!! But this will end

2 Corinthians 5:18–19 “Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.”

When He hands over the kingdom to the God and Father -

Firstly, this spoken of redemptively since Jesus is God, He and the Father are one - They own the same thing John 17:10 “and all things that are Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine; and I have been glorified in them.”

“It is important, however, to recognize that since God and Christ as Lord are “One,” this emphasis is not upon a “discontinuation” of Christ’s Lordship as such, but upon its culmination within the terms of its purpose for this world and Christ’s kingdom here.”

Thiselton, Anthony C. The First Epistle to the Corinthians: A Commentary on the Greek Text. W.B. Eerdmans, 2000, p. 1231.

“the kingdom” - also ref. in vs 50 “flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom” - The rule “those that are Christ at His coming” (vs.23)

The Encouragement

The things we enjoy now are just a foretaste of what’s to come

Joy

Peace

Grace

Saftey from the demonic powers

Life

This future reality calls us to hold on, HEAVEN AWAITS!!!

The Best Is Yet To Come