The Ressurrected

Introduction:

We have had a mission team in from Indy this past week to help us serve alongside the community, and alongside many of you, at our 2 family day events — which were incredible by the way! Thank you to all of you who joined us — it is such an honor to get to serve with you and see how the Lord can use just simply making ourselves available with a posture of servanthood — lets not taker for granted what we got to do this week! For this is what the local church does — it knows, loves, and serves its community so that some may know Jesus as Lord, just as we are being ever transformed into the image of the son, Jesus.

But, as the mission team arrived on Monday, I told them something that they didn’t believe at the time… But I assure you they believe now… As they began to introduce themselves one by one —- I told them the one thing i’lll surely remember is to forget some of these 11 names that I just got introduced to —- not that I won’t try… but I swear my brain plays tricks on me ——

the reason I cant remember names is because I can only truly see them as a daughter or son of the king……. LOL // for instance my guy Ryan here eneded up being Nick-Ryan for a minute because I knew one of them was correct but i couldn't remember which one it was….

it made me think of people that i’ve known for a long time —- people that I do not have a hard time remembering their name… but I have a hard time thinking of them as the same person as they once were…. have you ever has this happen? You knew someone who was living in all sorts of sin —- with no regard or acknowledgment for Christ —— and then you see their life be transformed by the gospel —- you sometimes listen to them speak and you just can’t believe the hope in their voice, the life they have found in Christ, the joy they love others with ——

at the heart of todays passage is how this has been made possible. We as Christians call this resurrection life —- its the very thing that was only made possible by the resurrection of Jesus from the grave.

1 Cor. 15:12-28

English Standard Version (Chapter 15)

The Resurrection of the Dead

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. 14 And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. 15 We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. 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. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19 If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.

20 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. 23 But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. 24 Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. 25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death. 27 For “God has put all things in subjection under his feet.” But when it says, “all things are put in subjection,” it is plain that he is excepted who put all things in subjection under him. 28 When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all.

Resurrection Life is our Hope for today, tomorrow, and forever

1 Cor 15:12-18

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. 14 And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. 15 We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. 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. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19 If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.

Paul, once again as we have said many times throughout this sermon series, is addressing this question not because he felt like chatting about it, but because this would have been a real question brought up in the life of the Church of Corinth. v.12b — “how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?”

it is easy to romanticize this era in the church —- on the heels of Jesus’ actual life, death, burial, resurrection, and ascension —- just a couple decades after those things took place — we find ourselves with the Church of Corinth

you may think of how blissfully happy they were to have found hope in Jesus — and because it was so soon after Jesus’ time on earth they must have been filled with much faith:

one commentary said this “this time in the church age was filled with famine, pushback, martyrdom, attacks, and much heresy.”

sometimes, we start to hear a similar tune in our cultural moment, we may hear things like “the Church is outdated and irrelevant, that the church hates many in our community, and we don’t even have to fantasize about the heresy that is found in and around the church”

but we can never lose track of —- when jesus said “upon this rock I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it” —- and look at us, on June 15th 2025 — the Church still stands today. That is no testimony about our resilience —- that is a testimony of Gods power

what Paul is going to establish in this text is a belief that Christians have that is absolutely central to who we are in Christ. Both something we must believe to be a Christian, as well as a worldview in which we adopt once we do become believers —— and when we believe this everything changes.

There is two distinctions that Paul is going to address in this first half of our passage that I want to turn your focus to:

If Christ did not raise from the grave, than our trust in Him is in vain and our faith is pointless

Christ did not die for sins, and raise from the grave, for Himself. He did so for us —- this means our firm foundation is found in His dearth, Burial, and resurrection

lets tackle the first thing Paul addresses:

1 Cor. 15:12-15

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. 14 And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. 15 We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised.

we must feel the severity of what Paul is proclaiming here ——

if Christ did not physically raise from the dead than all of our preaching and all of our faith is done so for NO REASON.

we, as Christians, believe in a historical resurrection, meaning we believe Jesus physically dies and that He physically rose from the grave. heart beating again. breathe filling His lungs again.

Now, Why is this so important in the Christian faith? Why do we HAVE to believe that He rose from the grave to find all of Christian belief to be true?

A) firstly, the resurrection establishes the validity of Jesus’ authority and identity as the Son of God

the whole of scripture, from cover to cover, is about Jesus Christ —— the O.T points us to Him and the N.T looks back at His coming —- and we now collectively look forward to his coming again. ——

The biblical worldview defines clearly the relationship God has with mankind — one that is meant for union with God —- made to multiply His image across the world while being in right relationship with the creator of the heavens and the Earth —- When this relationship, this union between us and God was broken by sin, God, in His loving kindness would set out to redeem His people back to Himself.

The Bible, the Old Testament more specifically, clearly depicts the son of God, who will take on flesh and become like us, and He will come to put death to death through His substitutionary atonement — that is the death and burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ —- where Jesus exchanges our sin for His righteousness

this is the only way back to right relationship with God, who created us, who knew us before we were even in our mothers womb, and who deeply loves and cares for you:

Romans 1:2-6

English Standard Version (Chapter 1)

2 which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, 3 concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord,  through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations, 6 including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ

so, if the whole of scripture is centered on the person and work of Jesus Christ, and what Jesus has come to accomplish on our behalf is the death of death forever and life made possible through the God-man’s resurrection —— than to not believing in the physical bodily resurrection of our lord Jesus — is to undermine the whole of scripture and therefore to undermine the validity of the Son of God

So, to believe in a physical bodily resurrection of the son of God who took on flesh is central to belief in Jesus Christ and in so we are acknowleding His Authority and Identity over us.

B) Christ did not die for sins, and raise from the grave, for Himself. He did so for us —- this means our firm foundation is found in His dearth, Burial, and resurrection

“Christ did not die for Himself, but for us He died and for us he rose from the grave —- therefore His resurrection is our firm foundation and what was accomplished in Him, must be fulfilled in those who trust in His name”

if we fail to see what the resurrection made possible for us then we fail to see Gods master plan at work — that our God is a promise keeper, he is a savior, and that He never ever let us go —- even in the darkest seasons and int he depths of sin — our God was relentless in His pursuit of His people

Maybe you do not have an issue believing in the resurrection —- maybe you have a hard time believing that you could be saved from your sin as a result of it

in our cultural moment I hear the phrase “inferiority complex” often

DEFINITION: Constant feeling of inadequacy in your daily life

Church, I feel so tempted to approach the throne of grace like this…. not feeling worthy to be saved —- for Father, you know what i’ve done, you know my heart, how could what is Christs be mine as well?

sure, Christ lived a sinless life, bore the cross for me, but am i deserving of this resurrection life?

listen to this Son and Daughter of the king… The Father did not send the Son to the cross to set a good example…. or to make for a heroic story…. but for life to be made possible for those who place their trust in Him. Not based on your merit, or worthiness to be saved, or the strength of your faith…. but by the blood of the Son of God and upon the merit of his perfection has life been made possible for you!

The Father wants to tell you… welcome home child.

John 16:33 (ESV)

I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

2. All Authority In Heaven and Earth Belongs to our God

1 Cor. 15:20-28

20 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. 23 But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. 24 Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. 25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death. 27 For “God has put all things in subjection under his feet.” But when it says, “all things are put in subjection,” it is plain that he is excepted who put all things in subjection under him. 28 When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all.

v. 21-22

21 For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.

here is our story!

christ had to come: because in the Garden of Eden sin entered all of humanity

Christ is the only one that could save: Because the Father created out of the love He had for the Son — therefore the only one who had the authority and identity to save all of humanity is the Son of God

I often tell people that one of the most beautiful things in the Christian life is that it provides for us order amongst what may feel like chaos, that there is a designer to this life — and His design is good and gracious and loving.

what comes with this design is authority —- we as believers sit under His authority —- and this design had a beginning and it has an end — look with me at v. 23-

1 cor. 15:23-25

23 But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. 24 Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. 25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death. 27 For “God has put all things in subjection under his feet.”

the beginning was the perfect community of love between the father, the son, and the Holy Spirit as they created humanity in this world —- the end will come when the kingdom of God is delivered up again — where we find union with God in full oncemore —- and until that day our hope is found in the resurrection that is made possible in Christ

Our God is good, and our God is gracious, but one thing this passage ought to stir up in us is the Lordship of our God —— He is Lord and therefore He is my governance — He is the way - and all things are subjected under Him —- for he is in all, though all, and upholds all things

application questions:

How does resurrection life that was made possible in Christ impact your daily living?

How is Jesus Lord in your life? What in your life has not been given to Him?

Who needs to have resurrection life that is stuck in sin in your life?