Funeral Sermon - Life Out Of Death

1 Peter 3:18 ESV

18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit,

FEW THINGS ARE MORE EFFECTIVE than a funeral for reminding us that life is temporary. The purpose of a memorial service is to honor one whose earthly life has come to an end. Death is often viewed as the end. But that is not really the truth. Death will teach us differently, if we stop long enough to listen. The death of a loved one can be a time for honest reflection on our own life, if we open our hearts to its message.

The central message of the Bible is a message of hope — that the death of one can bring life to many. You may ask, “How is that possible? How can death possibly bring about life? All that I see in death are sadness and grief. What good can come out of something as painful and difficult as death?”

One verse from God’s word will help us answer that question. First Peter 3:18 reads, “Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit.” This verse communicates an amazing truth — that God brings life out of death — and it tells us how God does this. God brings life out of the death of his only Son, Jesus Christ. In this short verse from 1 Peter, we see the Son of God described in three ways.

1. Christ Is Our Sacrifice

First, we see Jesus Christ as our sacrifice: “Christ also suffered once for sins.” The first three chapters of the Bible tell us why there is death and where it came from. We learn that God created man from the dust of the earth and breathed into him the breath of life. Death was not God’s original intention.

We were made by our Creator to enjoy life — and to enjoy it with him. As creatures made in the image of God, man and woman enjoyed a unique relationship. This included intimate fellowship with their Creator. God told them their close relationship would continue as long as they remained obedient to his command not to eat from a certain tree in the garden. If they disobeyed God, there would be consequences. God warned them that they would surely die. Rather than obeying God and remaining in this special relationship with him, the man and woman chose to rebel against his authority. And just as God had said it would be, death was the result.

Immediately, the couple experienced spiritual death. They knew they were no longer at peace with God, and they hid from his presence. Physical death followed their spiritual death. Eventually, Adam and Eve and all those descended from them would die. Their bodies would fail and succumb to old age or sickness, or they would experience death at the hands of sinful people or from the natural effects of a cursed world.

Immediately after their sin, God gave his disobedient people a sign of hope. God killed a lesser creature, an animal, and made clothing out of the skins. This was the first indication that God would accept a substitutionary sacrifice, that the death of one could “cover” the sins of another. We see this theme repeated again and again in the Bible.

Later in biblical history, God commanded a man named Abraham, the father of the Jewish nation, to offer his son as a sacrifice in order to test the loyalty of his love. We read the story in Genesis 22. Abraham trusted that God had the power to raise his son from death, so he obeyed, but before the knife was plunged into the boy’s chest, God provided a ram to be offered as a sacrifice in place of Isaac.

Several hundred years later, during the time of Moses, God delivered his people from Egyptian bondage. After bringing several plagues on the Egyptians, God instructed his people that a final plague of death would come. To protect his people, God commanded each household to kill a lamb and sprinkle its blood on the doorposts of the house. Where no blood was seen by the Lord, the firstborn in that house would die. Yet if the Lord saw blood, he would pass over the house, leaving the firstborn alive. God’s people were saved through the sacrifice of a lamb. God would eventually establish a formal sacrificial system so his people’s sins could be forgiven based on the death of an animal.

Why does this matter? Because understanding the historical and cultural background helps us understand what John the Baptist meant when he first saw Jesus. John exclaimed: “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29). The Bible refers to Jesus as the “Lamb of God” because he was sent by God to be the ultimate sacrifice for sin — to give his life so that men and women might live and be delivered from the curse of sin and death. As Jesus hung on the cross, he took the penalty of our sin on himself, becoming our sacrifice and our Savior. His death now brings us life.

2. Christ Is Our Substitute

Second, the verse from 1 Peter indicates that Jesus Christ is our substitute: “Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous.” God is holy. This means he is perfectly moral and just and cannot tolerate the presence of sin. His very nature requires that justice be done. But as we have seen, he will accept a sacrifice for sin. Since we are unjust, our sacrifice is unacceptable. We cannot right our own wrongs; we cannot make up for our sin. In our great need, the perfect Son of God became a man. And being man, he could die in man’s place as our substitute. Being God’s sinless Son, he is the perfect sacrifice, acceptable to God the Father. Because of this, a wondrous exchange takes place the moment a person turns from his or her sin to trust in Christ for salvation. The apostle Paul writes, “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21). As the sinner’s substitute, Christ allowed the weight of man’s guilt to be placed on him on the cross. God the Father then poured out his righteous wrath on his Son, punishing our sin once and for all (Hebrews 7:27). Jesus died as if he was guilty, though he was not.

There is another side to this exchange. When we as sinners turn to Christ in repentant faith, God credits the righteousness of Christ to our spiritual bank account and declares us righteous. We are justified in his sight, not by our own works or attempts to please God, but by faith in the One who took our punishment for us. In Galatians 2:15 – 16 Paul writes these words:

Galatians 2:15–16 ESV

15 We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; 16 yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.

Jesus Christ died to satisfy God’s justice and give us life by taking away our sin and gifting us with his righteousness.

His death now brings us life.

3. Christ Is Our Savior

Third, Jesus Christ is our Savior. “Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God.” God’s purpose in sending his Son was to satisfy his righteousness and justly deal with man’s sin, as we have seen. And God accomplished this through the sinless life and atoning death of Jesus. The sacrifice of Christ as our substitute now provides a way for our broken relationship with God to be restored. John, one of Jesus’ close followers, says it this way:

John 3:16–18 ESV

16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

God has provided salvation for us through his Son, Jesus Christ. If you will come to him by faith, you will be forgiven and will receive his gift of eternal life. He who is the Savior will become your Savior. But the opposite is true as well. All who reject God’s offer of salvation stand condemned and will only see God’s face in the final judgment — not the face of a loving Father, but the face of a just Judge.

We must remember that death is not the end.

For some, death is the beginning of eternity apart from God because they refused to turn from their sin and instead rejected the giver of life — their sacrifice, substitute, and Savior. Jesus says in John 14:6, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

Yet for others, death is the beginning of eternity, an eternity spent in the presence of God because their trust was in the person and work of Jesus Christ alone. God brings life out of death. What will death be for you?

Tautges, Paul. Comfort the Grieving: Ministering God's Grace in Times of Loss (Practical Shepherding Series) (pp. 81-86). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.