Restoration and Faithfulness

Good Morning CV First! It’s great to be with you. If you don’t know who I am or if this is your first time tuning in, I’m Pastor Josh Taylor, the family pastor here at CV First. Given our circumstances I haven’t had the pleasure of meeting many of you face to face, but I pray that will change soon.

And as we get started, if I go to fast for you or you miss something or you just have further questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to me.

Hopefully you have your Bible with you, if you would open up to 1 Corinthians 15. We are going to be journeying from verse 12 through 49 today.

Before we get into our passage today I wanted to spend a few moments talking about God’s faithfulness. As it is certainly applicable in all facets of our lives, definitely within our passage today and certainly given our worldly circumstances.

Maybe you are sitting there today even asking yourself what exactly is God’s faithfulness.

“ His attribute that displays his trustworthiness based on his unwavering commitment to his people through his promises and covenants that find their ultimate fulfillment in the person of Jesus Christ.”

From the very beginning of time God has been faithful.

From the moment that man was created to this very moment God has had this unwavering commitment to His people. He has made promises and kept them and His trust is without flaw.

The moment that humans fell…even in our state of complete unrighteousness God never turned away and said well I tried. No, He kept his promises and He immediately went on this rescue mission for us. Ultimately, resulting in this pinnacle moment of Jesus coming and taking our penalty of sin so that we could be restored.

God is faithful. Even when His people are not.

And we can see, as God has been faithful from the beginning....His people, including us have continued over and over to be unfaithful. But we shouldn’t wallow in our failure, we should rejoice in God’s overcoming of our failure. That’s not to say we shouldn’t grieve our sinfulness, but we can’t let that debilitate us. We have to keep praising Him, repenting and doing better.

Isaiah 25:1 ESV

1 O Lord, you are my God; I will exalt you; I will praise your name, for you have done wonderful things, plans formed of old, faithful and sure.

The Word continually reminds us of that faithfulness. It is mentioned over and over again just in the book of 1 Corinthians. We don’t even make it 10 verses into 1 Cor. before Paul reminds us of God’s faithfulness.

1 Corinthians 1:9 ESV

9 God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

In a quick search, I was able to find over 400 verses that mention God being faithful....... It is who He is.

And so, with that faithfulness, with his trustworthiness, His promises and commitment to His people......what do we do with that?

I do not bring politics into the preaching of God’s Word and I won’t today either, but I would be remiss if I didn’t at least mention the fact that we had presidential debate this past week. Now, neither I or my wife watched it but going off my FB feed just about everyone else did. And over and over again I saw the criticisms, the despair, for many, the loss of hope. And it was truly heartbreaking....

Because our hope IS not and cannot be placed in any man. Certainly not in a political party. They cannot bring about the change or offer the hope that this nation and this world needs. As Christians, we cannot tout politicians as temporary messiahs. Because there is only one of those and His name is Jesus. If we want our nation to change, if we want this world to change, give it want it needs…Christ our Lord.

And I should even say, earnestly pray for our leaders......not with an agenda or your own selfish ambition but with genuine care. They need it. They too, like you and me, are worthy of God’s grace, mercy, love and forgiveness.

But, at the end of the day God is the only one who can truly be trusted because His faithfulness is unwavering. So, if you or anyone you know feels lost, hurt, abandoned, without hope, like this world is out of control......please listen. God is in control. We are upheld by His righteous right hand. And when we believe in Him,we are never without hope.

And as we will see in our passage today....His promises are great and his faithfulness to those who call upon Him will be kept.

Pray

As we look at this passage today we will break it down into 3 sections.

1. Our resurrection is essential.

2. Our resurrection is a certainty.

3 Our resurrection will give us a new body.

Paul is dealing with conflicting views and addresses the false teachings that were happening in regard to the resurrections and the eventual resurrection of us and what happens to our bodies.

So, lets look at the first section.

- Read Verses 12-19

Christ’s resurrection is the basis for our resurrection

Paul is making it very clear in the first 7 verses that there is a resurrection of the dead and that resurrection of the dead starts with Christ. For the time, he was combating this opposing view of what the resurrection was and is.

Christ’s resurrection was already an established belief and Paul reminded us of that in verses 1-11. Believing that Christ was raised from the dead is essential to being a Christian, but also within that so is believing in the resurrection of the dead in general because that is the hope. Through Christ’s sacrifice and resurrection, death has been defeated and we are no longer slaves to it.

As much as Jesus was God, he was also a man. And God’s raising of him also signified that humans in general can and will be resurrected.

When it comes to this.... the two resurrections stand or fall together. You can’t have one with out the other. And if we say there is no resurrection, we are in turn saying that the gospel is without merit or worth.

Keeping in mind, that Jesus came to take on our full punishment and for Him to do that, though He was fully God, He was fully man. So, His resurrection signifies to us that man…humans, will be resurrected.

Plus, for the original audience this had been well known and taught from the O.T. So, it’s not like they hadn’t heard this before.

Daniel 12:2 CSB

2 Many who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake, some to eternal life, and some to disgrace and eternal contempt.

This was what had been taught.... and a very sobering reminder that as much as those who call on the name of Jesus will be saved, those that don’t will find eternal contempt......This message is too important.

And that is Paul’s point here- if we discredit this then what Christ did is meaningless, our faith is worthless and we still are in our sin and have no redemption. Furthermore, those that have died are without redemption and are there is no hope for them.

To sum this up, Paul shows us that the resurrection is essential to faith and even gives us seven consequences if there were no resurrection. 4 of them are theological, 3 are personal.

Christ would not be risen

There would be no point in preaching the gospel

Our faith in Christ is worthless

Everyone who claimed to see and those who preached it would be liars

We all would still be slaves to our sin

Believers who passed on would have eternally perished

He sums this up in verse 19 with the 7th, that if we are only living for Christ in our present, we should be pitied.

Why should we be pitied if that is all we have? Because it lacks substance.

Chocolate Bunny analogy

1 Corinthians: The MacArthur New Testament Commentary Christians Would Be the Most Pitiable People on Earth

A Christian has no Savior but Christ, no Redeemer but Christ, no Lord but Christ. Therefore if Christ was not raised, He is not alive, and our Christian life is lifeless. We would have nothing to justify our faith, our Bible study, our preaching or witnessing, our service for Him or our worship of Him, and nothing to justify our hope either for this life or the next. We would deserve nothing but the compassion reserved for fools.

So to deny the resurrection of Christ or the dead is to dismiss the Gospel.

And that should spring board us into our second section- Our resurrection is a certainty.

Read Verses 20-34

We must be quick to follow with verse 20 because to end on verse 19 would be to give no hope but Paul quickly follows it with this amazing truth...

Here is the reality-

1 Corinthians 15:20 CSB

20 But as it is, Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

If you had any concern over this. If there was a doubt about him being raised.........here it is. Christ was raised from the dead so that you might be raised too.

Christ’s resurrection guarantees our resurrection, when we are in Him.

Understand this. All of this applies to the believer.....and should bring hope to the non-believer.

As we move through the next 8 verses, Paul is outlining 3 truths for us as he starts laying out some really major things about us being resurrected, Jesus defeating the enemies of God, restoration that would come.

1. We have a redeemer

Verses 20-22

This all doesn’t work if we don’t have a redeemer.

The fall of Adam left us dead. Our sin guaranteed our destruction. But Christ’s sacrifice and resurrection paved the way for us to go from death to life.

And that’s really important. Often times we talk about Jesus dying on the cross for our sins.....and that’s really important but equally important here is Jesus being resurrected from the dead. Because the point Paul is making is if Jesus doesn’t defeat death, then there is no hope for us.

We must be in Him to benefit from that though. This just isn’t for anybody, but this is for those that call upon the name of Christ. That expression “In Him” is used often in Paul’s letters because it’s used to describe that union between believers and Christ. We see in the next verse. Those that receive the resurrection belong to Christ.

Don’t forget this. When we are in Christ, we are not our own anymore. We were bought and paid for by His blood.

1. We have a redeemer 2. We are redeemed

So, verse 23 really sums up for us the immense blessing and benefit of all this.

We will be redeemed.

Christ is the firstfruits of this. He has been raised but for the rest of us we don’t know when that will happen. But it will be at his second coming. We don’t have enough time to dig real deep into this but it will happen according to God’s plan and based upon scripture, in stages.

First for the church, those that have placed their trust in Him.

1 Thessalonians 4:16 CSB

16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the archangel’s voice, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.

Then for those who come to the truth during the tribulation- Rev. 20:4

And then that of the O.T. saints- Isa 26:19-20

We don’t know when this will happen exactly, but we do know it will happen. Paul makes that much clear.

1. We have a redeemer 2. We are redeemed 3. God will bring about restoration

Every few years we hear about the end of the world…someone predicts something…climate change is killing the planet..etc. But the reality is nothing ends until God says it does. And we see here in verse 24 there will be an end but it will only happen when Christ has finished what He was sent to do. And the reality of it is it’s not really even an end, it’s more of a completion or fulfillment. Because when Christ has finished.... all things will be restored as they were designed to be. Sin will be no more. God will reign supremely uncontested. This is God’s redemptive plan since the beginning.

And it culminates in this way:

Christ will abolish everything that is in opposition to God and then return to God what is His.

We see Paul laying this out for the Corinthians so that they understand how big this is. This is a moment that has been building and building and is still building.

Christ will reign and defeat the enemies of God.

The language used here-putting His enemies under His feet comes from the common practice in ancient times of kings and emperors always sitting enthroned above their subjects, so that when the subjects bowed they were literally under, or lower, than the sovereign’s feet. With enemies, a king often would literally put his foot on the neck of the conquered king or general, symbolizing the enemy’s total subjection. As Christ rules all of His enemies will be put in subjection to Him, under His feet, so that God’s sovereign plan may be fulfilled.

And when it is all said and done, our God, three in one, will rule forever.

Revelation 11:15 ESV

15 Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.”

Verse 29-34

If it hasn’t become apparent, the resurrection is important because the resurrection means that death has been defeated. This curse for sin that has come upon humanity was given a cure. Through Christ, our atoning sacrifice, we can be raised into life.

The resurrection gives meaning to the Christian life.

Now, I want to spend a moment in verse 29 as we encounter probably one of the most difficult verses in all scripture due to all ways it can be interpreted. When we encounter verses like this it’s really important we tread carefully as to not give meaning that definitely is not intended. Simply put though, it’s true meaning is probably lost to us, so whatever you hear is simply a guess. But even in guesswork we can still be doctrinal careful and hold to core biblical truths.

Many heretical teachings have come from this verse, so let’s dispell a major untruth now-

It’s not teaching the dead can be baptized vicariously. It’s not teaching that salvation can come to those who have died by another person being baptized for them.

We know from scripture that salvation happens on an individual basis. Meaning my faith can’t save you. So, with that logic, baptism certainly cannot save another.

With that being said, one interpretation is that Paul is pointing out that people are being saved and baptized based on the faith of those that have gone before. So, with that if they have been influenced in their faith by someone who is dead what’s the point if they won’t be resurrected into eternity with Christ.

I know for many of us, someone else’s faith may not have saved you, but it certainly influenced you, maybe even to the point of learning more about Christ and eventually accepting Him. Whether that was someone you knew personally, or saint who died long ago.

Paul continues by pointing out to them the immense sacrifices that have been made in the backdrop of the resurrection.

We are called to sacrifice daily for the cause of Christ.

If there was no point to this Christian life, why are we sacrificing for it. Why put ourselves out their if there is no security to look forward to. That’s Paul’s message here. They have risked their lives over and over. If this wasn’t true, then what was the point of it all.

The same for us. We are called to sacrifice.

Luke 9:23 CSB

23 Then he said to them all, “If anyone wants to follow after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me.

To be a follower of Christ, requires personal sacrifice. Like Paul says here in verse 32, which is reference to Isaiah 22:13. What good is it, if the dead are not raised?” Lets eat and drink, tomorrow we die. For Isaiah, he, like Paul, was rebuking his listeners for not taking God’s message seriously.

That also begs another question for us as believers.

Are we truly sacrificing daily for the Gospel?

Because, when we are sacrificing, truly sacrificing.... the significance of this, takes on a whole new level of importance in our lives.....

And hits keep coming from Paul.....

He ends this section with a firm truth about Christian living.

Our behavior matters to God

Read Verse 33-34

When we associate ourselves with people who are in opposition to God’s truth we set ourselves up to fall into temptation.

This is not to say you can’t have non-believing friends....... It DOES mean you must know the truth and be willing to make a stand for it though.

Paul implores here to the Corinthian believers to snap out of it and stop sinning. Because they should know better and should be leading those that don’t towards the truth. Not the other way around.

This can be a very slippery slope and Paul knows that. The enemy isn’t always blatant. Sometimes our steps away from God and his truth are subtle as we have a tendency to give in here or give in there.

That’s why we must know the truth of scripture and be sound in doctrine.

Paul says that if that is where we are in our Christian life....... Giving in to the world around us because of the pressure. Giving into friends or even family because we want to be accepted. Then shame.

Because there is nothing more important than the truth of the Gospel....... and the world, our friends and family need that more than they need us to pander.

Read Verses 35-49

God’s promise will be fulfilled when we are resurrected with a new heavenly body

Paul is dealing with lots of confusion and probably some outright rejections.

Two big questions come out of this that he addresses.

How are the dead raised?

What kind of bodies will the dead have?

And based on his response, these were not just a simple questions, but laced with doubt, mockery and criticism.

Like many instances with Jesus, these questions were meant to entrap and embarrass, not to discover the truth.

Paul response can seem somewhat harsh.

BUT, this seeming rejection puts into question and disregards God’s sovereign nature......Paul takes the approach- Who cares, basically how or what. God is in control and will make it happen as he sees fit.

Paul asked the same thing before King Agrippa

Acts 26:8 CSB

8 Why do any of you consider it incredible that God raises the dead?

This is God, the creator of all, we are talking about.

To these doubters, Paul does responds by using this illustration from nature. (V.36-41)

You plant a seed.

It begins to grow.

Then it finishes the growth and looks nothing like it did before.

So the idea here is for the seed to grow it actually dies, decomposing as a seed so that it can come to life in its plant form. Growing into it’s full maturity.

John 12:24 CSB

24 Truly I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains by itself. But if it dies, it produces much fruit.

This was the same of Jesus as he died and was raised. We too shall die in our earthly bodies and be given life in a new.

In verses 39-44, Paul is simply stating that our new resurrected bodies will be different from our earthly bodies and that each of them will also be as unique as the stars, sun and moon are.

As our bodies are weak, feable, sinful and will fail now. Our new heavenly bodies will be without flaw and will last forever.

Because the contrast of Adam who became a mortal. Christ came to give life forever.

Read verse 49

Once again, we will not know when this happens, but we will know when we finally see Jesus in all His glory.

1 John 3:2 ESV

2 Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.

And as we will see next week. This will be a victorious moment!

Closing

Some things to reflect on.

I know this was a lot to digest. But the core of what Paul was fighting was unbelief. Disbelief in the resurrection and who Jesus was.

It matters who Jesus is. We can’t make him into our own version that suits us and we can’t take his actions and twist them into things that they weren’t intended for.

Christ is the Messiah. The Savior of the earth and he came to suffer on the cross, by taking on the sins of humanity, so that we would not have to. He died and then defeated that death by being resurrected.

That is the truth. And if we don’t believe that or only believe parts of it that sound good. We don’t know the truth. Because who Jesus is and what he did matters.

That’s why Paul went into such explanation on this topic. Because as Christ was raised we will be too and that is the hope he gives us. That our sins are forgiven when we trust in Him and we will be restored before our heavenly father, raised up to spend eternity with Him.

And that is the message that must be proclaimed. If you don’t know Him this morning....If you have never accepted Christ as your savior, I implore you to make that happen. If you have questions or don’t know what to do, please reach out. This is too important.

His Gospel, the truth..... is a promise that cannot and will not be broken. Because our God is faithful to keep His promises, even we are not, He will always.