First & Forever

If you know me, you’ll know that I like order. I love to have things organized and just so. Of course, this doesn’t happen as often as I’d like; I’m learning to relinquish some of that control. My beautiful/slightly cluttered wife is a good check to my obsessiveness—God’s good gift to me in a myriad of ways.

I love order. Disorder frustrates me. Some things just need tidying up. And often, I can’t help myself.

A handful of years ago, I was substitute teaching in the Junior High. Houston was in that class (however long ago that was…). I can’t tell you the teacher’s name, but his desk was my nightmare. It was there, just taunting me. Staring at me in all its disorder and filth.

I lasted two, maybe three class periods before I started organizing and throwing stuff away. I was so proud with the before and after, I sent Meghann and text message, telling her about my good work. This man made this horrific mess, and I cleaned it up.

Her reply: “You can’t do that! You have to put it back. Now. If he comes back, he won’t be able to find anything. Put it back the way you found it.”

That was one of the most difficult things I’ve ever had to do. (I’ve not had a very hard life). It was super painful to undo what I had done. Disorder to order back to disorder.

A good deal of the time, I just can’t help myself.

Some of you are the same—always straightening up, always picking up and cleaning and organizing and throwing stuff away. The times Dixie Vodry has cleaned out the church refrigerators numbers well into the hundreds, I’m sure. A bunch of people make the mess, and one person cleans it up.

You might feel that way around your house. Someone makes the mess, and you’re the one to clean it up. Someone dirties the laundry, and you clean it.

It’s not a bad picture of what’s happening here in 1 Corinthians.

We are two weeks removed from Easter Sunday/Resurrection Morning, and here’s the thing: Jesus is as alive today as He was last week and the week before. We never move away from the resurrection; it has a gravitational pull that keeps us within its grasp. Always.

Jesus is alive. He is risen. He is not dead. This is the Good News about Jesus in a nutshell. What’s more, as we saw last week, if Jesus is raised, it means that we, too, as His people, will be raised. If Jesus isn’t raised, the whole thing goes to pot. There’s no hope, no life, nothing after death.

Thankfully—praise God!—there is resurrection. This isn’t something we have to doubt. We don’t have to wonder about our future; we know that our future will reflect Jesus’ life. We too will be raised. This, without a doubt; not because of us, but because of what Jesus has done.

Jesus came to set things right (and on a much more significant level than straightening up a teacher’s desk). Jesus came to set things right. And He’s coming again to set the whole world at rights. He came to reorder the world gone wrong, the world marred by sin. And He will, soon, return to set the whole world at rights, undoing once and for all, the effects of sin and death.

N.T. Wright: “The resurrection of Jesus was the moment when the One True God appointed the man through whom the whole cosmos would be brought back into its proper order. A man had got it into this mess; a man would get it out again.”

“A man had got the world into the mess; a man would get it out again.”

This is, precisely, the work of God in Jesus Christ. This is what Jesus came to do. This is what Jesus accomplished. He dealt sin and Satan and death a decisive blow. And He’s coming back to finish what He started.

If you have your Bible (and I hope you do), please turn with me to 1 Corinthians 15. If you’re able and willing, please stand for the reading of God’s Holy Word. 1 Corinthians 15, beginning with verse 20:

1 Corinthians 15:20–28 NIV

20 But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. 22 For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. 23 But each in turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him. 24 Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, 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 he “has put everything under his feet.” Now when it says that “everything” has been put under him, it is clear that this does not include God himself, who put everything under Christ. 28 When he has done this, then the Son himself will be made subject to him who put everything under him, so that God may be all in all.

May God add His blessing to the reading of His Holy Word!

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“A man had got the world into the mess; a man would get it out again.” It’s one of the great truths of the gospel that Jesus places Himself as our substitute, taking our place, fixing the mess we’ve made for ourselves.

He began to set things right upon His first advent. Jesus came to save sinners. This is why He was born, because He would save His people from their sins (Matthew 1:21). And so it was. He accomplished what He set out to do: “Christ Jesus died for our sins, according to the Scriptures, He was buried, and He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.”

“A man had got the world into the mess; a man would get it out again.” It’s the resurrection that makes this clear. He took our place, dying our death, and by His resurrection from the dead, He is the One who has come to get us out of the mess we’ve made for ourselves.

We’re so far stuck in the muck and mire, we could not get out ourselves. No way, no how. But Jesus on the other hand…Jesus has conquered. He has pulled us out.

Paul gives us the assurance of our resurrection here in these verses after giving us a glimpse of how things would be if there was no resurrection.

We have the assurance of our resurrection because Jesus is the firstfruits and the reigning King.

Jesus’ resurrection comes first, and then His reign forever.

Christ, the firstfruits

The term firstfruits refers to a first sample of an agricultural crop that reveals the nature and quality of the rest of the crop.

The firstfruits were the first portions of the harvest, and they were given as offerings to God. The firstfruits also indicated that the entire harvest was soon to follow.

In Paul’s outlook, Christ’s resurrection was not an isolated event. It represented the beginning of something much larger. His resurrection promised the rest of the harvest. The full harvest, of which Christ is the first sign, is the harvest of those who have fallen asleep.

The New Testament uses “sleep” as a euphemism (a nice word) for the death of believers. Calling it “sleep” emphasizes that their deaths are only temporary conditions.

Jesus had fallen asleep in death, but in His resurrection, He left that state and entered eternal life. His entry into the “newness of life” was the firstfruits representing much more to come—the resurrection of all believers who have died.

In the book of Genesis, it’s made clear to us that death came through a man.

During Wednesday night Bible Study, we all go round and round about whether it was the man’s fault of the woman’s fault. It’s pretty fun to argue. Don often pokes the bear, and does this when us men are outnumbered significantly. We then talk about whose fault it was, Adam’s or Eve’s.

It’s pretty simple though: Adam’s sin was more than a personal sin. Adam’s sin brought guilt and the divine judgment of death on all humanity. Adam is our representative. In him, we all sin.

And since it was through Adam that death came, it’s not surprising that the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. Remember: “A man had got the world into the mess; a man would get it out again.”

What happened to Jesus in His death and resurrection happens to all who believe in Him. Firstfruits.

As bad as the news of Adam’s fall is, the news of Jesus is better by far.

1 Corinthians 15:22 NIV

22 For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.

This parallel between Adam and Christ must not be misunderstood. The similarity is functional, not numerical.

Those who suffer death in Adam will not all enjoy salvation and life in Christ.

All died in Adam; his condition is ours. But only those who believe in Jesus and unite themselves with Him will live.

Death is universal. Salvation is not.

The point of verse 22 is: Jesus’ resurrection was more than His own resurrection. It is the firstfruits—the promise of general resurrection of all believers.

Adam’s personal life affects everyone joined to him. So, too, Christ’s personal life affects everyone joined to Him.

There’s no question: by virtue of being human, you are joined to Adam. And you will die because of it. When Adam fell, you fell. There’s no question about your relationship to Adam.

There is, however, a question about your relationship to Jesus. You are not by default united to Jesus. You must believe. You must belong to Him by faith. You must make the decision, by faith, to be joined to Jesus. Otherwise, His death does you no good. So here’s the question: are you joined to Him?

Answer that, friends. Each and every one of you.

Firstfruits suggests a certain order. Resurrection will happen to each in turn.

Christ—the firstfruits—has already been resurrected. He is risen!

Christ first (firstfruits), and next, those who belong to Him—those who have saving faith in Christ, will be raised along with Christ. This will take place when Jesus returns.

After Christ returns, then the end will come:

1 Corinthians 15:24 NIV

24 Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power.

It will be the time for the final judgment and the formation of the new creation. At this time, Christ will give over the kingdom to God the Father.

In the Old Testament, the firstfruits of the sacrificial system were symbolic—symbolic of giving over the entire harvest to God.

Christ’s resurrection was symbolic of a much greater harvest to be given to God the Father—the harvest of the entire kingdom—and this after He destroys all dominion, power, and authority.

Any power raised against the kingdom of Christ, whether human or supernatural, will be destroyed.

“A man had got the world into the mess; a man would get it out again.”

This, Paul says, Jesus has done as the firstfruits. His resurrection means something for all of us. We can depend on it.

What’s more, Jesus is reigning and will reign, forever.

Christ, the Reigning King

Paul references an oft-used verse to describe One in the line of King David.

Psalm 110 speaks of the promise of great victories given to the descendants of David. Every time a Davidic king—a king in the line of David—experienced victory over and enemy, he saw these promises come true in his life.

Let’s read this important Psalm together:

Psalm 110 NIV

Of David. A psalm. 1 The Lord says to my lord: “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.” 2 The Lord will extend your mighty scepter from Zion, saying, “Rule in the midst of your enemies!” 3 Your troops will be willing on your day of battle. Arrayed in holy splendor, your young men will come to you like dew from the morning’s womb. 4 The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind: “You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.” 5 The Lord is at your right hand; he will crush kings on the day of his wrath. 6 He will judge the nations, heaping up the dead and crushing the rulers of the whole earth. 7 He will drink from a brook along the way, and so he will lift his head high.

Paul applies this psalm to Jesus, since Jesus is the One who will sit on David’s throne forever. A forever king was promised. And centuries later, the Promised One was born to Mary and Joseph in a Bethlehem manger.

2 Samuel 7:13 NIV

13 He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.

There is something beyond comforting about this great truth, promised from old, of a king in the line of David who will sit on David’s throne forever. And to know that this One is Jesus, the Christ, who reigns and who will reign. Everything will be placed under His feet, the world as His footstool.

Psalm 110:1 NIV

1 The Lord says to my lord: “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.”

Psalm 8:6 NIV

6 You made them rulers over the works of your hands; you put everything under their feet:

This is a clear picture of victory.

At the end of a full day—kids, work, ministry, people, commute, working around the house, checking items off the to-do list—at the end of a full day, there’s nothing like sitting down on the couch and putting my feet up on the ottoman. There’s a sense of accomplishment. The day is done; I’ve made it.

After His resurrection and ascension into heaven, Jesus was seated on the throne of David, ruling over the entire earth (per the promise of God). Jesus took His place next to His Father, sat down in accomplishment, and propped His feet up.

Christ will reign one day (the day of His return) over everyone and everything.

Of course, the last enemy Jesus will destroy is death itself.

Adam brought death into the picture.

But Christ has come to eliminate death. The elimination of death is the last great work of Christ. This will occur when He raises believers to everlasting life and frees them from the power of death.

How can we know that death will be destroyed?

Remember the psalm’s promise: Jesus will dominate everything. There’s nothing He won’t rest His crucified- and risen-feet upon.

“If He is king before He has finally defeated His enemies, must He not be all the more King when He has completely mastered them?” - Cyril of Jerusalem

As the great Son of David, Jesus will reign over all things, including death itself. And if Christ reigns as King over even death, then those in Christ will not be subjected to death’s dominion.

Jesus will reign, not just for a time, but forever. His enemies defeated, finally and forever. All opposing forces vanquished.

1 Corinthians 15:28 NIV

28 When he has done this, then the Son himself will be made subject to him who put everything under him, so that God may be all in all.

Jesus, the Reigning King, will have completed His task to bring glory to His Father and will show God the Father to be all in all.

At the end of all things, when Jesus has set the world to rights, God will be all in all.

Augustine muses:

“God will be the consummation of all our desiring—the object of our unending vision, of our unlessening love, of our unwearying praise. And in this gift of vision, the response of love, this [song] of praise, all alike will share, as all will share in everlasting life.”

Of course, Christ does all He does (including dying for our sins) so that God may be all in all, certainly there is nothing in all the universe that ought to distract us from seeking to do the same.

If this is true—if Jesus is raised and reigning—why would we not spend our lives exalting God, making His name known, giving our lives to Him?

What could be crazier than to say, “Jesus defeated death, but He has no claim over my life?”

It matters that Jesus is raised from the dead first and reigning on high forever. It matters, not just for our salvation, but it matters for our future. This is the source and substance of our hope.

In this disordered, chaotic world, we know that Jesus is going to set all this to rights. He will make all things new, including you.

First, give your life to the One who gave His life for yours. And then, because He is risen and reigning, you will live with Him forever and ever.