My Hope in Resurrection

Welcome and Setup: Briefly greet the online audience, explaining the format and how they can interact through comments or reactions during the stream.

Overview of Today’s Topic: Highlight the centrality of the resurrection in Christian theology and its practical implications for daily life.

Announcements:

Ladies are on their way to Ladies Conference - probably there by now

This Sunday, the Uzzells will be with us

Bible quiz coming up May 4

Azalea parade May 5 - still need candy!! - see Sis martin

no PM service

May 12 - Muffins with Mom - Mother’s Day!!

Something that we all take for granted is the resurrection of Christ

Pretty much all of Christianity believes in the resurrection of Jesus as part of how He was our Savior

We believe that He died for our sins and rose from the dead on the 3rd day.

Not long ago, we celebrated Easter, the holiday that coincides with Passover and celebrates the resurrection of Jesus Christ after His crucifixion

While this is a pretty normal part of Christianity, it was not just a normal part of Judaism in the first century.

Among the Jews, there were two schools of thought…groups whose names you’re likely familiar

Pharisees and the Sadducees

Pharisees were a group that believed in the resurrection of the dead

This was a miraculous event that had been experienced in their history

For instance Elisha

Shunammite woman was promised a child, but he died of heat stroke

She went to get the man of God and he laid on top of the boy (very much paraphrased) and the boy sneezed 7 times and was then revived

Sadducees however didn’t regard the idea of resurrection as possible

They only used the Torah (first 5) as cannon

rejected the writings of the prophets and other historical documents found in our OT today

These were two strongly opposing sects of Judaism

Discussion Question

Why is it so easy to believe in the resurrection today?

Leave your answer in the comments.

Most Christians believe in the resurrection today

There are a few who do not, but nevertheless, it is considered a common belief among Christians

Main Content (60 minutes)

1. The Foundation of Resurrection (20 minutes)

Before we get into Paul’s statements on the resurrection, let me remind you of his history

Paul grew up as a Pharisee.

Learned in Bet-Midrash all he could about the Scriptures and what they taught

Being a part of the Pharisee’s sect, he studied even the historical documents that spoke of resurrections as well as the prophecies that alluded to the resurrection

Paul is heavily founded in this particular doctrine, even after his conversion to Christianity…because his Christian faith is based upon his Jewish faith.

So, Paul begins to retort a falicy found in the Corinthian church

They had heard teaching and had come to believe that they were living in the blessings of the age to come (the blessing of the end times) that the resurrection was either unimportant or just an allusion

So Paul’s retort starts with

1 Corinthians 15:3–4 ESV

3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,

He points out that the resurrection of Christ is a fulfillment of scripture

it is something that is of critical importance as part of our salvation (v 3 - for our sins)

He rejecting this notion that the resurrection of the dead is just an allusion to something else that will happen or that it is unimportant at all

He clearly makes the argument.

1 Corinthians 15:12–13 ESV

12 Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised.

1 Corinthians 15:16–17 ESV

16 For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.

Paul emphatically presents this idea that if the resurrection is not real, just an allusion to something else, then Jesus’ death upon the cross was all for naught

If Jesus died for nothing, and is still dead to this day, then our sins are not washed away and we’re still guilty as we were when we came to Him

The result of this belief is that we too have hope

If there is no resurrection of Christ and of us, then those who have died are just dead…there’s nothing else that can happen for them

But if Christ did rise…if the resurrection is real, then there lies our hope

Paul wrote to the Thesselonians

1 Thessalonians 4:13–17 NKJV

13 But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. 15 For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. 16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.

question

How does the hope of resurrection shaped your beliefs and your life?

2. First flesh and then Spirit

As we read through this chapter, Paul teaches us

1 Corinthians 15:50 ESV

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

flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God

We, in our own carnality are incapable of being saved

Many will tell you that you have to live a certain way or recite a certain prayer to be saved and I have to respectfully disagree with that

This passage right here makes it abundantly clear that there is nothing we can do to inherit heaven for ourselves

Instead, as Paul began to explain in the verses preceeding this, the way God created everything, including Jesus, there first had to be flesh

Adam, the first man was created as flesh and as a living soul

From there, the fallibility of mankind was seen

We see The Fall and if you’re completely honest with yourself, you’ll have to acknowledge that none of us are capable of being sinless

That’s where the “second Adam” comes in…Jesus

He first had to have a physical body to inhabit…something corruptible…and then His Spirit had to come and dwell within it (incorruptible)

Ultimately, when Jesus came to earth, as He was God walking around in the flesh, He had to take dominion over every natural part of the flesh

First, he had to overcome the will of the flesh

To do that, He had to live a life without sin

This is something that none of us are able to do

Then He had to overcome the will of the flesh

We see when He was praying in Gethsemene that He didn’t want to go through the crucifixion

He didn’t want to have to face His accusers

I isn’t exactly natural for us to choose to do something that we just don’t want to do.

But this is what He did

Then, He had to overcome the grave…He had to defeat the corruptibility of flesh

The thing that enabled Him to do all of this was the Spirit of God within HIm

the very same Spirit that God has filled many of us with

So when Paul is telling us that the flesh cannot inherit the Kingdom of God, He’s telling us that alone we’re not capable

But when we are filled with God’s Spirit and our flesh dies, the carnal and temporal dies, that’s when the miraculous happens

1 Corinthians 15:53–55 ESV

53 For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. 54 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.” 55 “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”

Because of the resurrection of Christ, we too have this hope of resurrection.

We too have this hope of restoration and peace

I praise God that in Him we have a hope

When we have taken off the flesh and put on the Spirit

When the corruptible dies, the mortality of us dies

Then if we’re filled with the Holy Spirit, we put on incorruption and immoratlitty

This is the hope of the resurrection

This is the hope of eternity and it’s completely based upon the Resurrection

3. Implications for Christian Living (20 minutes)

Practical Teachings (1 Corinthians 15:58): What does it mean to "stand firm" and commit fully to the work of the Lord?

Paul closes out this chapter with this command for his followers

1 Corinthians 15:58 ESV

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.

In lieu of the resurrection, be steadfast, immovable and always abounding in the work of the Lord

question

What does the resurrection have to do with the way we live?

Paul gives clear and concise guidance to the Corinthians

because we have a hope of resurrection, because we have a hope of eternity, it should change the way we live

We should not be found in the exact same state as we were when we came to God

This hope…this understanding, it should change us

It should shape the way we live

Paul wrote in Romans

Romans 6:4–5 ESV

4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.

Just like Jesus was dead and buried, our flesh will also be dead and buried, but just like He resurrected, so shall we.

It should shape our actions, our behavior, our everything.

Closing Prayer: Lead a prayer for renewed hope and purpose, inviting the Holy Spirit to deepen the viewers’ understanding and commitment to live out the resurrection power.

Call to Action: Encourage viewers to reflect on the series and implement one change in their life based on their understanding of 1 Corinthians.

Related Media

Related Sermons