The Corinthian Correspondence, Part 29: 1 Corinthians 15:35-58; "Your Best Life . . . THEN"

The Corinthian Correspondence, Part 29; 1 Corinthians 15:35-58: "Your Best Life . . . THEN" About 15 years ago, Scripps Survey Research Center at Ohio University asked regular church goers the question, "Do you believe that, after you die, your physical body will be resurrected someday?" About half said yes. If this question were asked today, I'm certain that the results would be much worse, for trust in the Scripture as God's word is not nearly as strong as it was about 10 years ago. For example, in a newly released study, less than half believe that the Scripture is 100% accurate in all that it teaches and touches. Ergo, those who believe what the Bible teaches about the doctrine of the resurrection are in the minority. I trust all of us here at Grace United and those who have tuned in through FB live are indeed, "minority believers" and that we believe the Bible is God's word from cover to cover. Today, we are finishing up 1 Corinthians 15. This portion of Scripture makes up the largest amount of teaching in the New Testament about the resurrection. So far, we have seen that the bodily resurrection of Jesus is a gospel issue--that among other things, in order to be a Christian a person must believe that Christ rose again bodily from the grave, not spiritually. We've also seen that Christ's resurrection means that the sins of God's people are forgiven. Paul plainly tells us in v.17, if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Third, the resurrection means that perfect justice will ultimately be done. Jesus told us in John 5:25-29: "Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. And he has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man. Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment." There is coming a day when all will be resurrected from their graves and stand before the King and judge of the world, and everybody will give an account of himself or herself to the Resurrected, Ascended, Lord. Perfect justice will be administered to every person who has ever lived. No wonder Paul says in relation to this day, "Therefore, knowing the terror of the Lord, we persuade others" in 2 Corinthians 5:11. Fourth, Christ's resurrection guarantees the resurrection of the Christian. We who fall asleep in Jesus--who die being Christians--will wake up on the other side of the threshold that divides this life from the next. Christians will never die again. Christians will live forever, enjoying and serving the King, who was himself raised from the dead. As we have seen so far in this chapter, the doctrine of the resurrection is part of the very foundation of the truth. Without the resurrection, God's agenda for eternity stops right here. But there are those who would have us live for this life only-to go after the best this life can offer. That true life stops when our heart stops beating. Yes, I'm talking about what seems to be Joel Osteen's signature book, "Your Best Life Now." And yes, I took the plunge. I actually read some of it. And in full disclosure, I will say that part of me longed for what he was selling. Who doesn't want the very finest that this life can offer? Abundance of material things, influence on others' lives, prestige, and so much more--all of it is promised in "Your Best Life Now." But. There are strings attached. The meme of the book goes something like this: if you want to receive what you want from God, you have to first conceive it in your mind and heart. It's almost like a backwards version of Psalm 37:4: "Delight yourself in what you can conceive in your heart, and the Lord will give you those desires." Or in Osteen's words: "conceive it in your mind, then expect to receive it from God." We're going to return to Mr. Osteen a little later. But let me remind us of why Paul wrote what amounts to about 1200 English words talking about the doctrine of the resurrection. There were some who considered themselves part of the Corinthian church but denied God's revelation that bodily resurrection is true. But like with so much of God's truth, resurrection of the body is at cross purposes with what the world believes. One church historian writes what the typical person believed about the idea of bodily resurrection in the First Century: "Resurrection in the flesh appeared a startling, distasteful idea, at odds with everything that passed for wisdom among the educated." As it was then, so it is now: it is usually the more enlightened who leave so-called religious superstitions behind. "You are hayseed hicks if you really believe all that religious stuff, especially that ridiculous idea of bodily resurrection." So, in our passage for today 1 Corinthians 15:35-58, we will see beyond the grave to the other side. We are going to put to rest forever the contemporary proverb that ties us to this life: "you can be so heavenly minded that you are no earthly good." Divine truth tells us that the more heavenly minded we are the more earthly good we can be. Because God has given us the hope of righteous resurrection, we can do the most good in this life. We can indeed be steadfast, immoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord precisely because, as our Lord told us in John 14:19, "Because I live, you also will live." Here is where we are heading in this passage. In vv.35-49 we see Paul proving the idea of resurrection by just watching nature. Resurrection is just the way things are in God's world. In vv.50-58 will see how Paul gives the glorious picture of how things will be precisely because of Christ's resurrection. Let's read together vv.35-41 as we see Paul build his case for the Corinthians to notice the truth of resurrection in creation. He begins with the question and sets up the obvious: if there is to be a bodily resurrection, there must be a body to resurrect! Paul writes: But someone will ask, "How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?" You foolish person! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. And what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare kernel, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain. But God gives it a body as he has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body. For not all flesh is the same, but there is one kind for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish. There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is of one kind, and the glory of the earthly is of another. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory. Don't you love the way Paul lays out the logic? First he chides the accuser by telling them how foolish the question is. In the mind of the Greek there was a strict division between the spiritual and the physical: spirit was spirit and physical was physical. How could a body be put together once decay set in? Paul sets out to answer it. Remember though how Paul just finished reminding them of Christ's resurrection. See, we at Grace United have taken 3 weeks now to go through the verses that the Corinthians would have heard in just a few minutes--how that God raised Christ from the dead within 3 days after he died--before the decay of his body began to take hold: 1 Corinthians 15:4 Paul continues to remind the Corinthians that anything that is seen has a physical appearance. Whether it is a grain of wheat, land animals, fish, birds or even stars, God has given a body to every individual thing we can see, as God has deemed suitable. And it is this truth--that God has created all things and that it's God who has given each individual a body as he sees fit, that is missing in the pagan Greek mind. And this is what is missing in our day as well. Think of the theory of macro evolution that public school students are taught as fact. To them, matter is eternal. Sprinkle in time and chance and shazzam! Just like that we have everything we have! God was absent in Greek thinking; God is absent in our thinking. So, the really important question that we need to ask in our day is simply, "Could God create all there is with a word?" If the answer is yes, then in one sense, that is the end of the discussion. Now is not the time or place to address macro evolution theory but let me have you chew on Hebrews 11:3 for awhile: "By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible." The macro evolutionist has his or her system of faith and therefore understands the data in one way. We who believe creation happened as God said it did understand the same data another way--the true way! So Paul, having established that it was God who gave bodies to all things that could be resurrected, now describes the "dynamic" of the resurrection of humans. Let's read vv.42-49: So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown -a dead person is put into the ground -- is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. Thus it is written, "The first man Adam became a living being"; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual. The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven. Notice in these verses that Paul tells the Corinthians how much better Christian resurrection is later on than mere physical life is now. He contrasts the old, natural, biological life with the new supernatural, spiritual life: perishable v. imperishable. Dishonor v. glory. Weakness v. power. Natural v. spiritual. After these things Paul goes from generalities to specifics. Adam, the First Adam, was created from the dust of the ground and became an animated physical being. Christ, described as the last Adam, at his resurrection became a life-giving spirit. Notice how Paul describes him. The last Adam was not invisible, but visible. Doubtless Paul told the Corinthian Christians about Jesus' post resurrection appearances, like what Luke recorded in his gospel in Luke 24:36-43: As they were talking about these things, Jesus himself stood among them, and said to them, "Peace to you!" But they were startled and frightened and thought they saw a spirit. And he said to them, "Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? 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." And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. And while they still disbelieved for joy and were marveling, he said to them, "Have you anything here to eat?" They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate before them. Here's Paul's point: Though Christ had a body, is was spiritual. A glorified body. This body could be touched. Jesus could eat with it. There were visible wounds in his hands, feet and side, but they did not hamper him. He could appear and disappear at will. And when he ascended, the Lord Jesus was able to do that because he had and still has a spiritual body. In vv.46-49 in 1 Corinthians, Paul now makes it personal. In essence, Paul says it's all about being of the first or of the last that makes an eternal difference-intimately associated with the First Adam or Last Adam. The First Adam is of the dust--only. The highest he can go, by way of analogy is the ground; so are all who identify only as belonging to the First Adam. These are mere "people of earth." Those who have their central orientation and ultimate ties to this life only are those who are of the dust--the First Adam. The last Adam, however, is ultimately from heaven. We say ultimately, because the Second Person of the Trinity became like the First Adam, with a full human nature. He was the Son of God. Christ was crucified, died, raised from the dead and ascended to the Father's right hand. He was, and is, in Paul's words, the Last Adam. All those who of the Last Adam--who are followers of Christ, having repented of their sins and believe the gospel--are now associated with the Last Adam. Every Christian, as Paul tells us in v.49, has borne the image of the First Adam in this life, and we will bear the image of the Last Adam in the next life. As Christ's dead body was sown into the ground and was raised in a glorious spiritual body, so all who are of Christ--who fall asleep in Jesus, will be raised with a spiritual body like his. Hallelujah! And now, Paul gives the glorious picture of how things will be, precisely because of Christ's resurrection, and he does this by unveiling the amazing mystery found in the Old Testament in vv.50-58. Again, a mystery is not something that has never been known before. We might say that it is truth which was mentioned before, and is now explained. Let's keep that in mind as we read this amazing passage, vv.50-57: I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. 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." "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. I would have loved to have been in Paul's presence as he wrote these lines, wouldn't you? Can't you picture the joy on his face as he penned these precious words? These words in these verses were not given to Paul in direct communication from God's heart to Paul's mind. No, they are words of Scripture already revealed to God's people! It was Isaiah who originally wrote these words. Remember the reason for God's raising up this prophet. God's people were blowing it. They were living in sin. God used the prophets to call his people back to himself. And through Isaiah, the Lord lets his people know that salvation is not only for the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. No, there will come a time when the Lord will open the floodgates and salvation will be offered to everybody! Hear these incredible words of victory in Isaiah 25:6-9: On this mountain the LORD of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine, of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined. And he will swallow up on this mountain the covering that is cast over all peoples, the veil that is spread over all nations. 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. It will be said on that day, "Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us. This is the LORD; we have waited for him; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation." And it is this mystery, concealed in Isaiah, that Paul is about to explain. Let's notice the facts of this victorious mystery, the resurrection of the righteous, beginning with the what: There is a vast difference in substance of those who attain to the resurrection and those who live here on earth. Paul calls this inheriting the kingdom of God. And the prerequisite for entering into the kingdom of God is that death or rapture must happen first. Either our bodies are sown into the ground and God raises us with spiritual ones, or we are instantly changed at the rapture when Christ returns. In v.51 we see the "who" of the resurrection, the ones Isaiah talked about. In Paul's explanation of Isaiah's words, the "we" are those of the Last Adam. And those of the Last Adam, -- they won't all sleep -- but they will all be changed. In vv.52-53 Paul explains the "when" and "how" of the resurrection: in a moment, twinkling of an eye, last trumpet. When will the last trumpet be? Directly after the second to the last trumpet! Of course there are many ideas about when the last trumpet will be sounded. It seems like there are as many ideas as there are informed Christians! But there is a description of this in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17: "For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord." So when will this be? Your guess is as good as mine. Your firm opinion is as good as mine. The Lord knows. But we do know that whenever the Lord descends from heaven, he will give a cry of command. There will be some who will not sleep and they will be changed without dying. The rest will be reunited with their divinely remade glorious bodies, like the Lord's spiritual body, and we will all meet the Lord in the air to be with him forever. But why will God's people be resurrected? In a word--victory! Remember how Paul said that Christ is the firstfruits of the resurrection in v.20? Firstfruits was a promise of more to follow. This, my dear brothers and sisters is the bottom line. When we are all raised or changed and attain glorious bodies, what does that spell? V-I-C-T-O-R-Y! Victory over death! God gives us the victory over death through Christ--wonderful. But what is even more wonderful is the grand and glorious victory God has wrought. Every time a soul comes into the kingdom of Christ is a soul who is guaranteed victory over death. Every victory over death spells the defeat of the devil again and again and again. Abject humiliation! And this victory is so glorious that if we get ahold of this it will change the way we live for the rest of our days until we leave this life. Notice again the power of Christ's resurrection in his people. What does Paul do in v.55? He taunts death! "O death, where is your victory? O death where is your sting?" Now, how is Paul, a mortal man, able to taunt death? Because of Christ, he no longer is mortal! Christ has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel! See, dead people can't taunt anything. But Paul, and every Christ follower can taunt death because in Christ all are made alive! Now notice in vv.56-57 how death works-the enemy we have victory over. The sting of death is sin and the power of sin in the law--as in broken law. Picture it like this: you may have heard of the Asian Murder Hornet. I saw a presentation of some strange man who actually volunteered to get stung by this hornet. One sting affected this man for about 36 hours. Consider sin like a stinger of, not an Asian murder hornet, but a soul murder hornet. One sting carries deadly toxin into the soul of every person who has broken the Law of God. The truth is we have all been stung by a soul murder hornet. But all who are of Christ can indeed taunt death even on this side of the grave. That is how sure the Christian is in Christ's victory over death! A boy and his father were driving down a country road one afternoon, when a bumblebee flew in the car window. The little boy, who was allergic to bee stings, was petrified. The father quickly reached out, grabbed the bee, squeezed it in his hand, and then released it. The boy grew frantic as it buzzed by him. Once again the father reached out his hand, but this time he pointed to his palm. There stuck in his skin was the stinger of the bee. "Do you see this?" he asked. "You don't need to be afraid anymore. I've taken the sting for you. The only thing the bee can do to you now is buzz." We as God's people do not need to fear death anymore. All the enemy can do is buzz at us. Christ died and has taken the stinger of the soul murder hornet. Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ! So, what can we say to these things? Verse 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. Because our resurrection is coming, be steadfast! Because we can taunt the most potent weapon the devil has, be immovable. Because we are forgiven of our sins, we can prove our love and gratitude to the Lord, by continuing to abound in the Lord's work. For we know that in the Lord our labor is not in vain. As we finish up this most amazing truth in 1 Corinthians 15, allow me to return to Joel Osteen and his notion of "our best life now." I mentioned at the beginning of the message that Osteen's ideas fed my sinful nature. Again, who does not want what the world has to offer, especially when it is so often packaged in a dazzling display? But the dazzling display is deadly. Is the world really something to give our lives to? Remember John's words in his first letter? He instructs us in no uncertain terms how we are to see the world and the things in it in 1 John 2:15-17: Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world-the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life-is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever. So what Osteen has done is to teach all those who have bought into his scheme to love the world and the things in the world. He insists that we can have the best this life can offer. Here is an excerpt from the book "Your Best Life Now, -- 7 Steps to Living at Your Full Potential." "Osteen asks everyone to examine what he or she really believes. Our beliefs will prove either a barrier or vehicle as we strive to go higher, rise above our obstacles, and to live in health, abundance, and victory." One reviewer, "Diva_G" gives this glowing report as to how this book changed their life: "Joel Osteen shows anyone willing to be open minded the tools to navigate the rough seas of life and yet live 'Your Best Life.' He does not teach pie in the sky intangible things. He teaches us how to feel good about ourselves and others. Is that so wrong?" Precious souls like Diva_G have been deceived into thinking that our conceiving the best this world can offer is the very best life can offer. But C.S. Lewis gives a corrective here. He writes in "Mere Christianity:" "Aim at heaven and you will get earth 'thrown in': aim at earth and you will get neither." If I could dialogue with Joel Osteen, I think I would say something like this: "Joel, you claim that we can have the best life now. But your signature statement fails in so many ways. Joel, C.S. Lewis wrote in some of his works things that far outweigh your ideas. Words like these: "If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world." "Joel, what you have done in your book is weaken precious souls made for another world-one which is far better than our present state. You have trained people to have very weak desires of things that really matter. Lewis had people like you, Joel, in mind when he wrote that "we are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased." What was it that compelled Christians to run to the danger of the pandemics--without PPE--which killed large portions of the populations in the first 2 centuries to serve even their enemies? It was the hope of the resurrection. Even though they knew that the disease would probably kill their bodies, they were convinced that a precious soul was worth the risk if only the lost afflicted with the plague might see the love of God and turn to Christ. Paul told the church leaders in Ephesus in Acts 20:24: "I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God." How could Paul view his life in this way? Something far better awaited him: The hope of the resurrection was what motivated Paul to do what he did-to literally pour out his life for the sake of the Lord and for others. See, he did the most earthly good in this life precisely because he was so heavenly minded. "Joel, your problem, and the bitter root of your ideas is that in teaching them to love this world and the things in his world is teaching them to be far too easily pleased in things that really matter. Things of eternal nature. No, Joel, the best life is not now, the best life is then." And so, my dear brothers and sisters, may we with reckless abandon count our Lord as more valuable than our lives. We who know and love the Lord have the resurrection awaiting us after this life is over. Remember the words of Jesus, as he contemplated the cross and what came after: "Because I live, you also will live." Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.