The Look of Victory

The past couple of week we have been dealing with the subject of the resurrection.

The first week was the resurrection of Jesus

Last week was how the resurrection of Jesus indicates that we, as believers, will also be raised at the end.

But what does this look? What is The Look of Victory…

1 Corinthians 15:35–58 CSB

35 But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? What kind of body will they have when they come?” 36 You fool! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. 37 And as for what you sow—you are not sowing the body that will be, but only a seed, perhaps of wheat or another grain. 38 But God gives it a body as he wants, and to each of the seeds its own body. 39 Not all flesh is the same flesh; there is one flesh for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish. 40 There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the splendor of the heavenly bodies is different from that of the earthly ones. 41 There is a splendor of the sun, another of the moon, and another of the stars; in fact, one star differs from another star in splendor. 42 So it is with the resurrection of the dead: Sown in corruption, raised in incorruption; 43 sown in dishonor, raised in glory; sown in weakness, raised in power; 44 sown a natural body, raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. 45 So it is written, The first man Adam became a living being; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. 46 However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, then the spiritual. 47 The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. 48 Like the man of dust, so are those who are of the dust; like the man of heaven, so are those who are of heaven. 49 And just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we will also bear the image of the man of heaven. 50 What I am saying, brothers and sisters, is this: Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor can corruption inherit incorruption. 51 Listen, I am telling you a mystery: We will not all fall asleep, but we will all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we will be changed. 53 For this corruptible body must be clothed with incorruptibility, and this mortal body must be clothed with immortality. 54 When this corruptible body is clothed with incorruptibility, and this mortal body is clothed with immortality, then the saying that is written will take place: Death has been swallowed up in victory. 55 Where, death, is your victory? Where, death, is your sting? 56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ! 58 Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the Lord’s work, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

Great questions - How are the dead raised? What kind of body will they have when they come? They sound like legit questions but they are actually objections to the resurrection.

The Greeks believed in dualism where the soul is good but the body is corrupt - in this view death allowed the soul to liberate itself from the body.

Some suggest that the Corinthians understood that Christians would be resurrected in the same bodies they possessed before death - that God would not perfect those bodies.

No offense - I will be glad to spend eternity with Jesus no matter what but I really would prefer not to have this old broken down body… Paul actually calls them fools for even thinking it is possible.

The crazy thing is that life comes from death.

This seems so backwards but Paul even gives the example of a seed - the seed stops being a seed and produces something else, in a sense it dies.

This is true with plants and even human life - the biology needed to produce a human has to come together and cease being what they once were - thus both die and create something new.

Jesus calls us to do this very thing as we take up our cross and follow Him - remember the cross was not a decoration, it was a strong symbol of dying to self.

We die to the old self and become new creations - this is but a foreshadowing of what is to come.

The new will be different than the old.

A tree doesn’t look like a seed anymore. The properties are buried in the seed and the new creation is the product of what was in the seed.

This does not work with us because what is in us is corrupt and wicked - we need a new seed, Jesus puts His self, His perfect self in us.

While Paul does not describe how our resurrected body will look, Paul does give us 4 differences between our current body and what we will gain at resurrection:

Our mortal bodies are perishable but our resurrected bodies will be imperishable or as the CSB says corrupt and uncorrupt. We are subject to illness, death, pain, and so much more but in the resurrection we will have none of those issues. Something as simple as working now leaves us sore and tired but after receiving our glorified body we can work non-stop and never tire or get sore even.

Our mortal bodies carry dishonor but our resurrected bodies will carry glory. No more sin and disgrace which we are born into. We are free from all that and will reflect the full gory of the risen Lord.

Our mortal bodies suffer weakness but our resurrected bodies will be filled with power. I am not talking about super human strength - in creation we had power and authority over creation but through sin man and the rest of creation was torn apart. In eternity we will reign with Christ… some of that authority He has left us with now.

Our mortal bodies are natural but our resurrected bodies are spiritual. There is some confusion as to whether we will have a physical body or not - I say yes and that is based on scripture. Jesus is the first fruits and as such we can take our clues from Him. Jesus had a body that could be touched, He walked, He ate, and seems to have done just about everything someone who never died. It is best to take the term spiritual not as “immaterial” but more as a reference to the Holy Spirit - our bodies will be renewed by the Holy Spirit - Romans 8:11

Romans 8:11 CSB

11 And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you, then he who raised Christ from the dead will also bring your mortal bodies to life through his Spirit who lives in you.

Unless we receive a resurrected body of a different nature, we cannot receive the full blessings of the gospel.

In an instant we can be changed from this broken body to perfection.

If we are lucky enough to be alive when Jesus returns then we are instantly changed into our glorified self.

Warning - this can happen at any moment and in a twinkling of an eye - a twinkling is that flash of light that reflects off the moisture in your eye.

Once the Lord returns the chance to repent is slim to none.

The look of victory means death is defeated and can never touch us again.

Sin brought death but Jesus rose victoriously over sin and death.

Our victory is not just because Jesus died but because He was raised from the dead…. because we are united in Christ we must be resurrected like Him.

We can give ourselves fully to the work of the Lord.

We can stand firm, unwavering in our faith through the gospel.

What we do is not in vain because anything we do for the Kingdom of God has eternal ramifications.