The Resurrection's Great Mystery

We live in a highly psychologized culture...one of the evidences of that is the identification of a myriad of phobias…

I would venture to say that everyone in this building and even watching online, either presently, or in the past, could identify a fear of some kind...the list of phobias seems endless…

On the screen you will see a list of some of strangest phobias on record...I will let you try to pronounce them as best you can...

Arachibutyrophobia (Fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of your mouth)

Nomophobia (Fear of being without your mobile phone)

Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia (Fear of long words)

Ephebiphobia (Fear of adolescents)

Ergophobia (Fear of work)

Phobophobia (Fear of phobias)

Please don’t think I am making light of fears people struggle with...

most fears are related to some traumatic experience someone had and subsequently associates that traumatic experience with those objects…

I share those with you to cause us to pause for just a few moments and consider that by nature, humans are prone to fear...

There is one phobia that plagues all humanity...

Thanatophobia — Fear of Death

People who experience a phobia of death usually experience intense feelings of anxiety, dread, fear, or “doom and gloom” at the mere mention of death or any references to it.

The fear of death also often coincides with fears about:

What happens to the body and consciousness after death?

Time slipping away

Suffering that can take place when someone is dying

Being alone and lonely

The unknown aspects of death

But here is the glorious reality of the significance of today...When Jesus rose again, He conquered death and all the fears associated with it are swallowed up in Him!

With that in mind, please turn to 1 Cor 15.

Context of Corinthians...

It was written around 55 AD, while Paul was on his 3rd missionary journey from the city of Ephesus.

When it comes to the Corinthians, at least at this point in their history, they were proud, spiritually immature, divided, and riddled with problems…

you could have called them Hot Mess Bible Church and would not have been far off.

You can think of 1 Corinthians as a book of correction...Paul was correcting a lot of wrong theology and practices that plagued this church.

In this book of correction we see the most extensive discussion of the resurrection of anywhere in the NT…because there were some in this church who got it wrong and there are serious implications to our faith if we mess it up!

I wish we had time to examine the entire chapter...1 Cor 15 is a lengthy discourse on the resurrection and the implications of it!

The resurrection is the single most important event in the NT that separates our faith from all others...

The Christian church is helpless and hopeless if it is stripped of the reality and historicity of the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ.

A. W. Tozer

1 Corinthians 15:3–4 “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,”

The resurrection is the cornerstone of the gospel message...as Paul says “it is a matter of first importance”.

it validates Jesus' divine mission and teachings

it completes the mystery of salvation...

It provides the basis for the forgiveness of sins and justification of believers.

Without the resurrection, our preaching and faith would be considered worthless.

Think about this...Jesus is the only spiritual founder and leader who died and is alive today!

Founder of Islam, Muhammad is still dead.

Hindu founder, Buddha is still dead.

Mormon founder, Joseph Smith is still dead.

JW founder, Charles Taze Russell is still dead.

Every pope that died is still dead!

Peter, John, Paul, James, Luther, Calvin, Zwingli are all still dead (for now)!

Every spiritual leader credited with being the originator or leader of their faith system, if they have died, they are still dead!

NO OTHER GRAVE OR TOMB IS EMPTY EXCEPT THAT OF JESUS!

To deny the resurrection of Jesus is to undermine the authority of the Scripture!

One of the serious problems plaguing this church was the existence of some who were questioning whether the resurrection was real.

See that in 1 Corinthians 15:12 “Now if Christ is preached, that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?”

So Paul goes on to explain the implications of there being no resurrection.

I encourage you to read the entire chapter on your own… read it and read it again...allow the Spirit to encourage your heart as you digest each word...

This morning we are going to focus on the conclusion of chapter 15...1 Cor. 15:50-58.

What we will see in our text this morning is that regardless of what happens this side of heaven…

there is no need to fear death or anything else, because the resurrection gives believers confidence for living today with anticipation of our own future resurrection.

For the Christian, all the fear of death is cancelled in the hope of bodily resurrection.

Main Point: Jesus’ Resurrection Provides Hope For Our Glorious Future!

Paul was a great thinker and in this discussion he anticipated questions his teaching would raise...1 Corinthians 15:35 “But someone will say, “How are the dead raised? And with what kind of body do they come?””

Because there were some who doubted the resurrection, it was difficult for them to envision a decayed or even burned body to bring forth a new body...if it was not the same body, how could one speak of a resurrection?

Greek philosophers taught the immortality of the soul but denied the immortality of the body.

Jewish mindset was that God created man as a unit of body and spirit...at death the spirit returns to God who gave it and the body returns to the dust of the earth (Eccl 12:7)...at the resurrection the dead will rise with the same body that perished.

Corinthians were influenced more by the Greek philosophers than the Jews, so they told Paul that raising a person from the dead was impossible...

The resurrection’s great mystery is revealed in Paul’s closing statements of the Resurrection Chapter!

Our Transformation Is Necessary (50-53)

Section summary — Our mortal bodies will not be revived, they will be transformed to live eternally!

Our Physical Bodies Cannot Enter Eternity As They Are Right Now!

1 Corinthians 15:50 “Now I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.”

Flesh and blood = designates the corruptible body of everyone who is human...the physical body, as it is right now, is subject to sin and death.

The physical part of man must die to be renewed and transformed into a glorified body.

Paul is saying that the mortal body in its present condition of corruption cannot be in the presence of incorruption...God Himself.

Paul uses parallelism here...

look back to verse 42...sown a perishable body...raised an imperishable body...

That which is sinful and corrupt cannot enter the presence of God and obtain that which is in-corrupt...

That which bears the corruptible sinful image of the first Adam must be transformed into the incorruptible sinless image of the second Adam.

Look at verses 47-49 — READ...

Paul contrasts the first man Adam and those who have borne his image with the second man and those who will bear his image.

The first man was made of earth (Gk choikos, “earthy”), an expression Paul coined in allusion to Gn 2:7.

This language emphasizes the transitory nature of those who are related to the first Adam, with bodies that return to dust.

The “second man” from heaven refers to Jesus in his glorified humanity, as God-man and Messiah, who is coming from heaven to impart imperishable eternal bodies to those who have borne the image of the man of dust.

Without the perfection of our physical bodies, we cannot enter the eternal kingdom...

Kingdom of God = refers to the eternal state...look back to verses 24-28...

He’s talking about that final stage in which God’s kingdom is set free from powers that now reign...

All these powers must submit to Jesus who then delivers the kingdom to God.

One of the powers that still reigns is death...Read 1 Corinthians 15:26 “The last enemy that will be abolished is death.”

At that point...death will no longer reign!

Those who are in Christ will then receive their full inheritance...eternal place in heaven with Him!

Even Those Still Alive When Jesus Comes Will Be Transformed!

Again Paul anticipates a question “How will the believer be changed to inherit God’s kingdom?’

1 Corinthians 15:51 “Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed,”

Mystery = is something new the OT writers had not seen...

“We will not all sleep” — not all believers will face death...those who live to the end will be changed at Christ’s return and so will all those who have died in the Lord.

See also 1 Thess 4:15-17.

His concern is to show that change is necessary for the living as well as the dead.

Paul is not promising that some believers to whom he was writing would survive death but only indicates that some would be alive at the time of Christ’s coming.

I don’t know if Paul assumed that he and the Corinthians belonged to the last generation of Christians or not...

Paul’s point is simple: even the living believers at the time of Christ’s coming must undergo transformation in order to be fit for the age to come.

Whether we are alive or dead at the time doesn’t matter...all who are in Christ will be changed!

Our Transformation Will Be Instantaneous With Continuity.

1 Corinthians 15:52–53 “in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality.”

v. 52 — The change will not be a long-drawn-out affair.

Moment translates atomos, ‘that which cannot be divided’, i.e. the smallest possible unit (we get our word ‘atom’ from it)...unit being time.

Twinkling (rhipē) is connected with the idea of throwing.

The twinkling of an eye is the time it takes to cast a glance, or perhaps to flutter an eyelid.

The trumpet is linked in the Old Testament, in the teaching of Jesus and in contemporary Judaism with the events in the end time (cf. 1 Thess. 4:16.

Trumpets were frequently used at times of festivity and triumph, and to summon God’s people...ideas which are in place here.

The sounding of the trumpet seems to be the signal for those who died in Christ to rise and come to Him.

Last refers not to the last in a series of trumpet blasts but last among events on earth.

It marks the end of things as we know them.

The dead will be raised imperishable, which prepares the way for Paul to repeat his statement that we will be changed.

He makes it abundantly clear that he does not envisage a return to the sort of life we live now.

V. 53 — Paul brings out something of the nature of the change.

singling out the cessation of ‘corruption’ (liability to bodily decay) and mortality.

These things are totally incompatible with life in the hereafter.

Paul stresses the continuity between our present and our future states with a fourfold use (in verse 53 and the next, verse 54.)

Notice how Paul uses ‘this’:

‘this’ perishable, ‘this’ mortal.

Paul is emphasizing that it is this perishable and this mortal that will be clothed with imperishability and immortality.

Put on = Clothing metaphor... pointing us to the truth that the body is not the real person; it is only its clothing.

In the life to come the real person will put on another suit, a body that is not subject to decay or death.

1st truth = Our Transformation is Necessary

Our Triumph Is Assured (54-57)

1 Corinthians 15:54–57 “But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, “Death is swallowed up in victory. “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Verse 54 — repeats the parallelism of v. 53 and adds two time references...when and then...Paul speaks as if the future has already occurred...

The fulfillment took place initially when Jesus rose from the dead.

This is another reference of the tension we live in between the already and not yet...for already Christ has risen and we have risen to new life in him...not yet have we attained the fulness of that new life.

Paul quotes from Is 25:8 and Hos 13:14.

From Isa 25:8 = Death is swallowed up in victory!

swallowed up = passive = meaning someone does this action...God is implied...

Death is the subject = God eliminates death...

Death must be destroyed (15:26) so that “God may be all in all” (15:28).

Even though death wields its power, as Christ’s last enemy, God will destroy it.

Looking back to Jesus resurrection enables him to look forward to the resurrection of all believers.

V.55 — He then proceeds to taunt death...Hos 13:14...death where is your sting?

Right now death hurts...and appears to be the victor exempting no one...

But God gets the last word...death loses!

The exchange of corruptible for incorruptibility comes only when death and corruption are swallowed up by Jesus Christ.

Paul is not teaching the doctrine of “soul sleep”—a suspended state for believers between physical death and the change into glorified bodies.

Scripture tells us that Believers are with the Lord immediately after death (e.g., Lk 23:43; Ac 7:55–59; 2Co 5:1–8).

Somehow, when Jesus comes again, our soul and body will be reunited into one perfect being as we become fully like Christ!

56... Paul follows up with his own commentary and puts the taunt of death into proper perspective.

Sin is the cause of death, and knowledge of sin comes through the law...the law is an instrument of death because the sinner is unable to keep the law and fulfill its demands...it is the law of God that demands death for sin that gives death the stinging power...(see Rom 7).

Our hope rests in Jesus who fulfilled the laws demands on our behalf and gives us victory over death!

57...Paul cant help now but to break out in thanksgiving!

We now have victory over sin and death because of Christ.

Through his death and resurrection, he set us free from the bondage of sin and declares us righteous before God.

We now are on a path of sanctification and glorification that will see its ultimate conclusion in eternity.

Even though death still wins right now, we need not fear it...we are absolutely certain that Jesus is alive, he conquered death...and our identity with Him means we conquer death too!

Victory is guaranteed to the believer, because Jesus provided it!

Truth 1 - Our Transformation is Necessary

Truth 2 — Our Triumph is Guaranteed

Truth 3 —

Our Toil Must Be Faithful (58)

1 Corinthians 15:58 “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.”

In light of all Paul shared in chapter 15, believers are to be actively engaged in the Lord’s work!

Be steadfast, immovable = regardless of the onslaught of opposition, we cannot waiver from our commitment to the Lord.

Signifies an inability to move from our spiritual moorings...

Paul is not talking about retaining the status quo in the church...

He wants people to grow in their love for the Lord and communicating Him to others...

Always abounding = excel...with constancy...

Work of the Lord = Preaching, teaching, living out the truth of the gospel...

Ephesians 4:15–16

Ephesians 4:15–16 NASB95

but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.

Colossians 1:28–29

Colossians 1:28–29 NASB95

We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ. For this purpose also I labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within me.

Matthew 5:16 NASB95

“Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

Knowing our toil is not in vain...

that which is done out of love and thankfulness for our Savior will not be forgotten...

Hebrews 6:10 NASB95

For God is not unjust so as to forget your work and the love which you have shown toward His name, in having ministered and in still ministering to the saints.

Lesson for Life — Keep On Keeping On!

It is clear from this text that our present “flesh and blood,” corruptible bodies cannot qualify for heaven.

We must undergo change.

That will come at the Second Coming of Christ. Some believers, having died, will be resurrected; others, still alive, will undergo the same kind of transformation.

All will exchange corruptible, mortal bodies for those not subject to dissolution or death.

And in that experience the final victory will be ours.

Not only will we have triumph over death, but—more important—over the sin that gave death its power and over the penalty of death demanded by the law.

That truth calls for thanksgiving to God, since this victory is His by Christ, given to us.

Until then, Jesus resurrection provides for ours and that truth calls for renewed stability and commitment, for an abounding love for the work of the Lord.

We are assured that our labor for Him will not go unnoticed!

John 11:25–26 NASB95

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?”