1 Cor. 15:50-58 Swallowed Up Death
Christ the wisdom and power of God • Sermon • Submitted
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· 16 viewsAll who are in Christ will be changed forever at his coming and share endlessly in his victory over death.
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Swallowed Up Death
Swallowed Up Death
Do not read the text at this point.
rinthians 15:50-58
Not right that you are not here.
It is right and that He is not here. He is not here for He has risen.
6 He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, 7 that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.”
Likely skip the next verses.
36 As they were talking about these things, Jesus himself stood among them, and said to them, “Peace to you!” 37 But they were startled and frightened and thought they saw a spirit. 38 And he said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? 39 See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” 40 And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. 41 And while they still disbelieved for joy and were marveling, he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?” 42 They gave him a piece of broiled fish, 43 and he took it and ate before them.
44 Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” 45 Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, 46 and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, 47 and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things. 49 And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”
Luke 24:36What propelled the early church forward…the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the hope of sharing in his resurrection.
What propelled the early church forward…the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the hope of sharing in his resurrection.
Today, we celebrate the swallowing up of death…today we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Read 1 Cor 15:50-58
Main Idea: All who are in Christ will be changed forever at his coming and share endlessly in his victory over death.
Main Idea: All who are in Christ will be changed forever at his coming and share endlessly in his victory over death.
Remind ourselves of the connectivity of 5.
1 Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.
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,
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.
Christ is the firstfruit of a great harvest to come…a harvest of life that swallow up death.
All who are in Christ will be changed forever at his coming.
All who are in Christ will be changed forever at his coming.
50 I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.
“brothers” “we” those who are in Christ. those who trusting in Christ alone for their salvation.
flesh and blood represents the corruptible. Does not mean the that your body in and of itself is bad and must be done away with. The corruptible cannot inherit the kingdom of God.
The perishable (that which fades away and dies) cannot inherit the what is imperishable…will never die or decay.
What must happen? A massive and miraculous change...
51 Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
“mystery” that which was once hidden is now revealed
sleep- reference to those who have died.
CS Lewis has said that “100 percent of us will die, and the percentage cannot be increased.” (Um 283)
“changed” undergo a massive transformation.
When will this change take place?
52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. not a slow and gradual change…instant and lasting change
What will the massive change entail?
For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. 53 For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality.
What happened to Jesus on the resurrection Sunday, will happen to all who are in Christ on the day of his coming.
4 For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.
Illus: Think of the most alive time in your life. Does not compare with the life that is to come.
John Donne’s poem gives us a taste of this exultation:
Death, be not proud, though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadful, for, thou are not so;...
One short sleep past, we wake eternally,
And death shall be no more; death, thou shalt die. (Dever 168)
What was once marked by death and decay will never again decline or die…because
All who are in Christ will share endlessly in his victory over death.
All who are in Christ will share endlessly in his victory over death.
54 When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:
The new normal…the permanent state of things has changed from perishable to imperishable from mortal to immortality. The promise has been fulfilled in Christ.
“Death is swallowed up in victory.”
Illus: Sinkhole swallowing trees, cars, and houses. Gone forever. Positive swallowing.
Death is swallowed never to be seen again...
8 He will swallow up death forever;
and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces,
and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth,
for the Lord has spoken.
Isaiah 25:8
Death is defeated...
55 “O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?”
8 He will swallow up death forever;
and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces,
and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth,
for the Lord has spoken.
Death forever dealt a death blow by life.
14 I shall ransom them from the power of Sheol;
I shall redeem them from Death.
O Death, where are your plagues?
O Sheol, where is your sting?
Compassion is hidden from my eyes.
ransomed and redeemed. purchases and set free. death and sin no longer have power of us.
In love and compassion, the Father sent his only Son to die in our place...
56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.
2 word pictures…
The sting of death is the lethal poison delivered from sin.
Power of sin is the law. The law reveals the effect of the poison…1. We break God’s law(all have sinned) 2. We delude ourselves into thinking that we can keep God’s law perfectly and it still condemns us.
The One who is the giver of life humbled himself to death. He took the lethal sting of death, the result of sin though He knew no sin. The sinless One who kept the law perfectly, broke the power of the law to condemn us by exchanging his righteousness for our unrighteousness. He died in our place and rose again on the third day breaking the back of sin.
When He comes, He will bring death to its final and complete end.
57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
“gives” present active divine prerogative.
When will Corona Virus end? When will things go back to normal? We hate the unknown and long for answers...
What do we do in the meantime in light of the resurrection and the coming of Christ?
31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? 33 Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36 As it is written,
“For your sake we are being killed all the day long;
we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”
37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
We do not know when or how Covid 19 will be brought to an end. We do know that all sin and death will be brought to an end at the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Both now and at his coming, nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? 33 Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36 As it is written,
“For your sake we are being killed all the day long;
we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”
37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers,
So What?
So What?
Because of the finished work of Christ on the cross, the certainty of his resurrection from the dead, and the sure promise that He will swallow up death at his coming, all who are in Christ press on until that day.
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.
No day seemed more desperate than the day right after the death of Christ. All seemed lost.
What were the disciples to do? Would they die next?
Then…on the third day, according to the Scripture and just as He said, Christ rose from the grave defeating death.
Now, in this uncertain day, we wait for life.
We wait in certainty that He will swallow up death at his coming.
As a result, we give ourselves to Him. With unwavering devotion and energy that is not our own, we press on for the sake of Christ knowing that our labor in the Lord is not in vain.
Illus: Heroes are grocery store workers, truck drivers, and health care providers. Our culture is finding out where greatness lies. Greatness is in service.
We are also finding out that we trusted in false gods.
Wake up my friend, these difficult days we are living should remind you that He is coming and that He must come to set all things right. Turn your hearts to Him and trust Christ for his redeeming work on your behalf.
Rest my brothers and sisters as you press on, knowing that your day of true and lasting rest is coming where death will be no more. Life will swallow death forever. Christ is your life.
As He breathed deep on that resurrection morning…breath deep and live.
Illus: unmasked faces
12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.
PRAYER
Song: Turn your eyes....
Offering
Enjoy this moment of rest and joy.
24 Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, 25 to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.
Jude 24
END