Our Triumphal End

Introduction

The Roman Empire was one of the greatest military forces to ever live on the earth, but the thorn in their side was Carthage, which was another empire in Northern Africa.

War waged between Carthage and Rome for many, many years.

Carthage was under the lead of Hannibal, who was one of the greatest generals and military leaders to ever lead. Hannibal after all, has sailed to the European continent, marched his war elephants and armies over the Alps, and defeated Rome in a powerful battle.

The war with Carthage weighed on those who lived in the Roman Empire. How long will this war last? What will be the casualty list? How many will die? Or, will Carthage actually win?

However, eventually, Rome was able to deal a death blow to Carthage. On Carthage’s home soil, a Roman general named Scipio Africanus decidedly defeated Hannibal on his home turf. This was a deciding victory. Carthage soon fell to the Roman Empire.

Roman historian, Livy, recorded that the victory at Zama lifted a crushing weight from Rome. The fear that had gripped the Republic for over a decade gave way to confidence and resolve.

Even before the official end of the war, Rome moved forward like a people who already knew the outcome.

As Christ followers, we live in the in between much like the Roman army. And the fatal blow to sin and death have been dealt, but we have still been asked to fight. But we fight as those assured of victory - not as those worrying over it. This changes the way we fight.

Read 1 Corinthians 15:50–58.

Explanation

1 Corinthians 15:50–52.

Your flesh and blood cannot inherit God’s Kingdom.

Your flesh and blood cannot inherit it, because it is incompatible with it. You are by the default of your sin compatible with hell, but you are not compatible with heaven.

In the way that a fish with gills cannot breath out of water, and a mammal with lungs cannot breath in water - you are incompatible with the environment of heaven.

This is because the environment of heaven is the unhindered holy-beyond-comprehension presence of God.

Moses, in Exodus 33, asks God, “God, will you show me your glory.” And God tells Moses, you couldn’t handle my glory. So God, hides Moses in a cleft of the rock on Mt. Sinai, then he walks past Him.

A transformation must happen - something in your life has to change - so that you can spend an eternity with God. That which is sinful stand in the presence of the sinless one.

God makes us ready to be in His presence. Because you have sinned, sin is present in your life, has power over your life, and a penalty is due for that sin. And Christ on the cross, for those of us who have trusted in Him, slowly and steady begins to destroy that sin in our lives.

When you are justified, you are free from the penalty of sin.

When you are sanctified, you are free from the power of sin.

When you are glorified, you are free from the presence of sin. There will come a day that you are no longer encumbered by sin.

God eradicates the effects of sin from your life.

He first removes the penalty - placing the penalty upon his son.

He next removes the desires of sin from your heart - freeing you day by day from the power of sin through conviction, repentance, and empowerment by the Holy Spirit.

Why doesn’t God glorify us right now? God is teaching us what true joy is, and joy is an acquired taste for people whose taste buds are bent on sin.

A hobby of mine is coffee. I love to make a good cup of coffee.

When I first started drinking coffee, I would put half a pound of milk and sugar in my coffee. I feel like we all start that way.

But I started to get into making a good cup of coffee. You can get beans from certain regions and even trace them to specific estates.

You can taste the difference in the beans from different continents, regions, etc. But to taste it, you can’t put cream in it.

While you may think cream makes it better, it is robbing you of the joy of the complexity of the beans.

But one day - in one fell swoop - God is going to eradicate sin forever.

The trumpet in this passage marks a new day!

In the Old Testament, a trumpet marked an assembly, a festival, a war, or a royal proclamation. The final trumpet will mark ALL FOUR of these points.

A royal proclamation - the King is here. There is forever, an unhindered and uncontested throne.

An assembly - God is calling everyone to himself. Come and see Him and worship Him.

A festival - Jonathan Edwards // Heaven Is A World of Love // There in heaven this fountain of love, this eternal three in one, is set open without any obstacle to hinder access to it. There this glorious God is manifested and shines forth in full glory, in beams of love; there the fountain overflows in streams and rivers of love and delight, enough for all to drink at, and to swim in, yea, so as to overflow the world as it were with a deluge of love.

A War - The battle has been won. The war with sin and Satan has been won.

“The dead will be raised imperishable.”

You lost your expiration date the day you gave your life to Jesus.

The dead will be raised in Christ on that day.

1 Corinthians 15:53–54 “For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.””

Our resurrection stems from Christ’s resurrection.

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

So, I want you to imagine something: You are on the elevator at the top of one of the tallest skyscrapers in the entire world. And as you get to the top, you marvel at the height, but the more floors you go down you begin to appreciate the amount of steel, the beautifully decorated lobbies, and the amount of people inside. But when you get to the base, you have a sense of AWE. What kind of a foundations does it take to hold up such a humongous building.

But as for the height today - We are perishable, but we will one day put on something that is imperishable. We will have a new body and a completely new life.

What is trading the perishable for the imperishable? Matthew McCoullough

Spotless Righteousness - I hear the phrase in pop culture, “You are enough.” That is a lie. Zechariah 3 // Joshua the high priest is standing before the throne of God and Satan stands before the throne accusing him. God rebukes Satan and “The Angel of the Lord” gives him a new robe.

Perfect Holiness - How many of your dad’s said, “it always something.” And as you’ve grown up, you realize this is true. There is always something to buy, fix at your house, do, cover, take care of, etc. And maybe you feel the same way about the state of your soul. One day, perfect holiness means no more repentance, no more sin, no more bad thoughts or longings. You will be free.

Untouchable Security - I love to travel, and I have been all over the world. But there is something about placing my feet back on American soil that just brings me a sense of safety. No matter how nice, beautiful, or luxurious your trip, there is something about coming home.

Painless, Deathless, Tearless Existence - There are some of you who carry immense mental and physical pain this morning. There are others of you who are facing the imminence of your own death or the death of one you love. Even more of you have felt pain and sorry that is unimaginable at the death of someone you love. One day, beloved, it will be no more.

Endless, Perfect Love - Love is the most “life-giving” source in the entire universe. However, it is hindered by ourselves and our sin. One day, Jonathan Edwards states, “We will have love unhindered by anything.” There will be a free-flowing fountain of love directed at us forever.

1 Corinthians 15:54–57 “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.”

Only the Christian can sing a song that taunts death. “Death, you have no victory and no sting.”

“When we’ve been there 10,000 years, bright shining as the sun, we’ve no less days to sing God’s praise than when we first begun.

For sinful humanity, death brings about an eternal hell. That is the sting

The sting of death is sin. The fact that death is a separation from God is horrific.

Death is the bite, and the consequences of sin are the teeth, but Jesus has knocked the teeth out of the mouth of death.

It will bite us, but there will be no eternal pain.

But for the blood-bought saints of God, death ushers us to His throne.

In the end, our God is so powerful that death will serve your good more than your evil.

Death will get you to the one who ends death forever.

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

Lyndon B. Johnson once remarked on reading Abraham Lincoln’s biography, “I’ve been reading Carl Sandburg’s biography on Lincoln and no matter how great the book’s supposed to be, I can’t bring Lincoln to life. And if that’s true for me, one president reading about another, then there’s no chance the ordinary person in the future will ever remember me. No chance. I’d have been better off looking for immortality through my wife and children and their children in turn instead of seeking all that love and affection from the American people. They’re just too fickle.”

I found this discourse so sad. At the end of the day, whether a president or not, we have a man wrestling for affection and worth and significance and legacy, only to realize that he wasn’t going to have it.

Invitation

Know God.

Repent of Sin.

Join a Local Church.