Stakes of the Resurrection

Intro

When we talk about the resurrection, there is a lot at stake with this one belief. In fact, if the resurrection is not true, have have no reason to be here worshiping together, listening to me today.

But not only does it have an effect what we are doing here this morning, it has an effect on all of our life. This concept of life beyond the grave has practical application for this moment in all of our lives.

I know that most of you here today believe in Christ’s resurrection. But I want us to see today how His resurrection has a meaningful impact on our lives right now.

In Roman times, when 1 Corinthians would have been written, a father would give his son a special robe for his coming of age party. Then the boy would have to say

“I have the right to do anything.” -Roman Citizen coming of age.

For the culture Paul is writing to, the body did not exist beyond this life which gave freedom to do as we please in this life.

But this concept is not just for the ancient culture. This idea that our lives are free to do as we please also is subtly at work in our era.

A Hell’s Angel candidate for the motorcycle group is credited with this quote.

“I have tried marriage, and the home and the kids, and it ain’t hitting on nothin’. What I like about the Pagans is that every night you can get drunk, have a blast, and enjoy yourself. Broads and booze and everything they got to offer.” -Hell’s Angel Candidate

This statement is someone crass, but we see the same heart of the Roman society. Eat, drink, be merry, for tomorrow we die.

But for us who believe in the concept of a resurrection beyond this life, our lives are not the same as those around us.

We might wonder and question why we live as Christians. Does our faith mean very much? Yes we believe Jesus rose, and yes we think we believe in a future resurrection, but how does that help me right now in this moment of my life?

Our present lives are impacted both by the reality of a past historical resurrection and our future resurrection.

MAIN POINT: Because the resurrection is true, it transforms not only our eternal destiny but also the way we live right now.

I. Absurdity If Christ is Dead v12-19

First today, we the the absurdity if Christ is Dead.

We spent last year looking at the first 11 verses of this chapter and Paul’s proofs of the resurrection and how we can know it is true.

If you would like my 11 reasons for the resurrection, you can tap the circle of the chair in front of you and find the link third down from the menu that pops up.

A. The Message of the Gospel v12-15

In verse 12, Paul asks, with all those proclaiming Christs rising from the dead, including eye witness accounts, how can you say there is not a future resurrection of the dead?

The word used here is the Greek word Anastasis. In Greek, it carries this idea of rising from being ill. I think of our congregation that has just gone through various sicknesses over winter. It has been sad to work through all of these and miss out on everyone being together. Last week was the first week in a long time that I think almost everyone was better and we were together. It felt a bit victorious and like we were rising together.

Mid cold, when we feel horrible, we look forward to rising from the sickness. But Paul’s resurrection is far more significant, not rising from illness, but rising from the dead.

Christ’s resurrection has an impact on the future resurrection of the dead.

Paul now wants to connect these two ideas, that you cannot have one without the other.

At this time, Greek philosophy was a part of Corinthian culture. They did believe in an afterlife, but the afterlife only existed of disembodied souls forever. You’re eternity was spent as a spirit.

The idea of afterlife is common in religion. Reincarnation, your soul or life indwelling another body. Or maybe your life reenters the eternal life force that exists. You’re energy returns to the earth’s energy. Your body goes back to the spirit world after this life.

But Christianity is distinctly different. It claims there is a physical resurrection of the dead. You’re soul and your body will exist together for all of eternity.

This concept was not just something Paul had to fight in the Roman era, it was something we fight today. Many believe that this life is all there is. Nothing more exists beyond this life.

So to respond to this, Paul is going to follow this natural line of logic if we believe that there is not future resurrection.

Here is what he will show us.

There are three unbreakable links in the chain that is holding up our faith. Jesus’s resurrection, Forgiveness, and our future resurrection. If any of these are broken, our faith doesn’t matter as the rest of them fall apart.

So Paul starts with the reverse in verse 13. If there is not future resurrection, resurrection does not exist, then not even Christ has raised.

And its here we see that the gospel message itself is affected.

In WWII, the British didn’t want the Germans to know about their new radar system that allowed them to shoot down enemy planes like never before. They started propagating that their pilots ate a lot of carrots, and that enabled them to have incredible vision, and even see in the dark. This was false, and has now led many parents to tell false things to their children still today!

This was a meaningless falsehood intended to divert reality.

Us proclaiming the gospel, both in our words and in the actions of our lives is a meaningless falsehood if the resurrection is not true. It is meaningless. If there is not resurrection from the dead, and Christ is still dead.

Paul goes on to say we should also be guilty for misrepresenting God. Who we claim to speak for.

B. Our Faith v16-17

Paul continues this line of reasoning for the absurdity of no resurrection with its effect on our faith in verses 16-17. Verse 16 is the same as verse 13. Paul is again tying us to this idea of all of these things being connected.

If there is no resurrection, then Christ is not alive. And if Christ is not alive, your faith is meaningless. And if your faith is meaningless, you are still in your sins because you have not been forgiven of them or freed from them.

Notice that for Paul, significant for your sins being forgiven, is not just Jesus dying on the cross and taking your punishment, but him rising from the dead to bring you new life.

The death of Jesus for our forgiveness of sins our current lives being made holy to God mean nothing if not bound together with Christ’s resurrection. If one is false, both are false.

My parents gave our Children bikes for Christmas. A generous gift, but one that they would not be able to use for many months in the first part of the Maine Year. Guess what our kids have been waiting for? Ground to use them. For the reality of ground resurrecting from the snow melt. Just this last week they were able to use them for the first time. But having these bikes during winter was like saying “Look, I have secured fun for you! But you cannot use it.”

This is what Christ’s death without his resurrection is. Christ’s death without resurrection is like him saying “Look, i have given you forgiveness and a clean life, you just can’t use it.”

You cannot have forgiveness apart from Christ’s resurrection.

Christ’s resurrection is representative of our spiritual resurrection. Christ didn’t stay dead, and our spiritual lives did not stay dead. Our sin has been buried by Christ, and he has raised us to new spiritual life with him.

Everything in Christianity hinges on the resurrection of Christ.

If someone asks you what is the most important part of your faith, you might answer with the truth that Jesus rose from the dead, so we will live also.

C. The Already Dead v18-19

Notice also the impact on the already dead in verses 18-19. Those who have already died, but believed in Christ, cease to exist beyond this life.

Dying in Christ just means that they believed and followed Jesus in this life.

Their lives lived for Christ mean nothing, as they cease to exist for all of eternity.

And then the comment he makes that if we only have hope in this life, we should be the most pitied people of all.

Many religions have a dead leader that they follow. Some even claim that their leader lives. But we are boldly claiming that everything is depended on the resurrection of the one we call Lord.

I have heard people say things like “Well, even if it’s not true, at least I lived a good moral life.”

But Paul’s audience would not have said this. To follow Christ in the first century AD was to give up your life with the high threat of being killed. The Roman Empire hated Christians. Nero blamed Christians for Rome’s destructing and would unrelentingly torture and kill them. Even impaling Christians on stakes and lighting them on fire so that his garden would be lit. To be a Christian under the Roman empire was not something you did just because or to live a moral life.

If we are committing our lives to this radical life in Jesus, what is the point if this life is all that there is?

The physical resurrection of Christ forms the basis of our trust in God’s evaluation of reality.

There may be times when you doubt that there can be life beyond this one.

There may be times when you don’t know if all that you have given up to follow Christ will be worth it in the end, if death is the final end.

You might question the reality of a future resurrection.

You might question if God really exists.

But when we question the reality of the future resurrection, Paul is pointing us to the past, to look at the verifiable fact of the empty tomb.

Because this is true, you can know that the life you live in the present will be worth it because after this life, you, like Christ, will not stay dead.

II. Actuality of Christ being Risen v20-28

Now we see the actuality of Christ being risen in verses 20-28.

Paul is done with the death dirge of the absurdity of no resurrection, and now proclaims in verse 20, the FACT that Christ has been raised from the dead.

Just like the first song we sang today. “Low in the grave he law.” Moving into “Up from the grave he arose!”

Do you want to know what word existed in the previous section that does not exist in this section? The word “IF.” Look at how many times it appears starting in verse 12. And after this repetition, there is a dramatic change. He is doing something different.

Notice he says “The fact.” You can’t argue this fact. This is the now reality. Again, I would point you to look at the 11 reasons for FACT of the resurrection of Christ you can find on our website, starting with what Paul says in the beginning of this chapter.

And what does the FACT of Christs resurrection do? It becomes the firstfruits for everyone that dies.

Firstfruits are the first part of your crop to be enjoyed and to be proof that their is more to come. First fruits are the guarantee for the full harvest.

Firstfruits are sometimes the best quality, which is true of Christ, but it more so here means first in Chronological order. Christ is the first to rise from the dead, to be followed by us who believe.

First fruits help us with an anticipation.

The people who owned our house before we did planted a mass amount of blackberries. And not the little thumbnail ones, but the proper large blackberries. Being our first year last year, we didn’t even know how many there was. But when they first started to get ripe, we went out, and picked so many blackberries. All five of us out there picking as many as we could for a solid hour. We thought we did a pretty good job. But the next few weeks showed us that there was far more than we could have imagined. A great number of blackberries that continued. What we thought was all of the harvest was just he firstfruits. There were times when we would pick all that we could, and then we would have to wait patiently for more. Our kids would want to be out everyday picking whatever ones were close enough to ripe, but the first ones we had reminded us to be patient for the rest of the harvest.

Now this year, when we go out to pick the earliest blackberries of the season, we will know that they are just the firstfruits of many more to come.

Firstfruits require us to patiently wait and trust God for fulfillment. We know more will come with the promise that he has already given us some.

So it is for resurrection. The firstfruit of what we have experienced in the Resurrection of Christ becomes the assurance and hope that we will also experience resurrection ourselves. We patiently wait on God and trust him for the fulfillment of all those who trust Christ as Savior to rise with him someday.

Christ’s resurrection is not an isolated event in history that does not impact you today. It is not like reading about the construction of the Taj Mahal and then realizing it has no impact on your life.

The historical fact of the resurrection give us hope right now in this moment of our lives. It reminds us that this life is worth living for Christ right now in this moment and will be forever as we experience life with God.

Paul then goes on to compare Adam and Christ. We might be naturally asking, how can Christ’s resurrection stand for all humanity? Well, just like Adam represents all of humanity in death. And through him death came to us all. And now, through Christ, life came to us all.

A good book introduction should let you know where the book is generally going and how the points of the book will be presented. I read more non-fiction than fiction.

Adam was the book introduction to humanities death, and Christ is the book introduction to humanities life.

Christ undoes what Adam did. And not just adam, but all of us following Adam. We have all sinned. We have all disobeyed God and not lived up to his standard. But Christ comes to reverse all of the wrong that we have done.

Notice the order of redemption found in verses 23-24. All set in order by Christ. Christ’s resurrection. Then he comes back to give us resurrection, then the end when everything is conquered.

Just like he is putting all things under his reign, death is just another one on the list. We don’t worry about death or fear the afterlife. Christ has come to conquer even death.

This order is a call for us to be patient. We might be frustrated with the way our lives our going.

Why if Christ is reigning is he not changing my present circumstance?

Why does he allow all of the evil in the world around me to continue?

Verse 26 could be translated “The last enemy being defeated is death.” This one is in process.

Paul reminds us that God’s great plan has already been set in motion by Christ’s resurrection, so we patiently wait for the end of all things.

This changes the way we live and have hope in our lives.

I’ve heard of nurses coming to Jesus because of how Christians faced imminent death compared to unbelievers. Not in frustration, fatalism, an attitude of fear, an attitude that this is all there was for us, but with great hope that death is just a gateway to eternal life with God.

When we have opportunities to discuss death with unbelievers, let it be known that we have a different perspective on how we approach the topic of death. Seeze conversations with the topic of death. It is an opportunity to talk about life beyond death.

The eternal significance of our resurrection with Christ, based on the resurrection of Christ, changes our outlook on life in the present.

III. Application of Christ being Risen. v29-34

Last, we see the application of Christ being risen in verses 29-34. This is where the truth of the gospel resurrection impacts our lives today.

A. Baptism v29

In verse 29, we see the application affects our baptism.

This is one of the more challenging verses in the New Testament. I would love to be able to grab Paul by the shoulders and say “What were you thinking?!? Could you please have made this more clear?”

One commentator said there was 40 different views on this verse. I believe they can be summed up in four. If you’re really curious, come and talk to me afterward.

Setting the debate aside, We know baptism is a sign, it doesn’t save us. But we know that baptism displays the Death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. But we also know it identifies us with Jesus. Christ. Our sin is buried, and God has resurrected our souls to new life. But in baptism, we also remember that this is not just a spiritual promise, but a physical one as well. Our decaying bodies, though they will die, will be raised to new life with Christ and glorified at his return.

Regardless of which view you take, Paul is making a point in this context that baptism is meaningless if you don’t believe in resurrection.

But because we do believe in resurrection, baptism is an acknowledgement of Christ’s resurrection in the past, our current spiritual state of resurrection, and our promised future physical resurrection.

B. Willing to Suffer v30-31

We also see willing to suffer in verse 30-32.

Paul reminds them of his current state of fighting beasts in Ephesus. This is a reminder to the Corinthians that Paul is currently suffering as he proclaims the gospel.

He’s reminding them that he would not be risking his life if the resurrection did not exist. He wouldn’t be caught wasting his time.

While we don’t face the same beasts of opposition that Paul faced, we certainly can identify with feeling like we die everyday. Living for Christ means setting aside (or putting to death) what we think is important and submitting to his rule.

While this feels like death, we know that Christ is bringing about life through it.

C. Live Differently v32-34

Then look at Paul’s ending commission for us to live differently.

He says the dead are not raised, then we should eat, drink, because tomorrow we will die and nothing matters. This sounds similar to the Hell’s Angel individual we started this sermon with.

Without resurrection, you are reduced to bodily pleasure and physical life on earth. You have one shot, so party it up and give it all you got.

Bad company corrupts morals. If you are aligning with people who do not believe in the truth of the gospel, your actions and ethics will show.

You’re belief has practical effects on your ethics and your conduct.

Our belief in the resurrection changes the way we live.

Your theology, what you believe about God, effects your doxology, how you live for God.

If you are here today, and you are convicted by the way you are living your life, don’t start by trying to fix your morals, your ethics, your practices. Start with changing your belief about Christ and his resurrection and the impact it has on your life.

God needs to change our minds and our hearts before our actions change.

We see Paul’s strong warning at the end. Wake up from your drunken stupor.

This is not a physical drunkenness, but a spiritual one. Stop meandering through life like a drunk person does. Wake up and live like you believe in the resurrection. Take action to follow Christ because you know he is coming back for you.

Temporary pleasures mean nothing compared to the infinite joy we experience now in Christ, and the complete weight of glory we will experience in the final resurrection.

Beyond the Walls (Grace and Growth)

If you are here today, lost in your sin, apart from God because of your sin, you don’t have to stay that way. Christ came to give you hope. Listen to the gospel for you from verses 3-4 of this chapter. 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.

You can have freedom from you sin, but it is only found in putting your faith and trust in Jesus. Come and talk to us today to find out how you can KNOW that you have eternal life.

Before Erika and I were married, we were long distance for many months. The reality of the hope of our wedding changed the way we lived in that moment. It was not easy. We both worked many hours to save up for our wedding and starting out life. We both weren’t doing our dream jobs, or even jobs we really wanted. We deprived ourselves of opposite gender relationships to stay emotionally committed to the other person. We felt lonely being a part. We read books and worked through hard issues to prepare ourselves to be the best that we could be. But we intentionally chose to live differently based on a future event that would happen.

So it is in a greater way with how we live our lives today with the future resurrection in mind.

Wake up and know that our prayer, our bible reading, our gathering together, our worship, our killing of sin in our lives is based on the reality of Christ’s resurrection.

Have hope that the future resurrection grounds our faith and our practices this week.

Lets respond to the Word together as we bow our heads and close our eyes.

Father, as you work to put all things under your authority, please help me to submit to you.

Jesus, Thank you that I can base my hope in your resurrection.

Spirit, help me to live this week like I truly believe in a future resurrection.