A Wrap on the Resurrection
Notes
Transcript
Just a few loose ends to tie up on this topic
We’re looking toward this glorious moment in time
Chapman: “Glorious Unfolding”—everything being resolved
>Sara Anne Wood’s dad “We will see her again at the resurrection!”
Remember, “we” is the church, believers; non-believers have no such hope; no “glorious unfolding” for them
Not the final word…not Paul’s final words…just the final thoughts in this letter
Caution on context…we have potential for some eschatological error here…on the “last trumpet”
Main Idea: Linking the coming resurrection with the daily grind of life
Main Idea: Linking the coming resurrection with the daily grind of life
Final Comments on the Resurrection
Final Comments on the Resurrection
Vv. 50-54
Much duplicated in
For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep.
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.
There it was not necessary to emphasize the change in form as it was in Corinth
Flesh and blood can’t make it into the final Kingdom
>Perishable and imperishable are not compatible—oil and water
>Transformation for those still living will also be necessary
>>Illustration of sleep again used for death (nursery doors)
Dead raised and living changed to immortal bodies (spiritual bodies)
Running application: just as the new bodies will not be subject to decay, they will not be subject to sin
>My physical aches and pains will be gone
>My spiritual aches and pains will be gone
Change will be fast
Twinkling, literally throwing a look
At the sound of the last trumpet
And in that day a great trumpet will be blown, and those who were lost in the land of Assyria and those who were driven out to the land of Egypt will come and worship the Lord on the holy mountain at Jerusalem.
And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
Trumpet in the OT signalled the appearance of God
Trumpet also symbolic of the call to gather, as for battle or other gatherings, worship
Christ appears…and it will be the final gathering of the church—prepare for take-off
Nothing necessarily connects this to the final trumpet in Rev. 11:15-19
>These trumpets deal with judgments during the tribulation
>Trying to link this with the 1 Cor. context doesn’t work
Final Claim of Victory
Final Claim of Victory
The trumpet announces this change
Paul melds 2 texts:
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.
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.
Sidebar commentary—don’t get hung up on words where translations differ…Paul used words that didn’t quite match any OT texts; but got the point across
Two apparent victories for Death
In the Garden
At the Cross
The resurrection of Jesus defeated death
Our resurrection will complete the victory over death
The life of mankind has been, is, will continue to be marked by disobedience and death
Along with that, physical and spiritual pain, suffering…all that sting of the curse
Only one cure—Jesus Christ
Faith in the facts…from the failure and the fall to the redemption and the resurrection
Without the fall, no need for redemption
We have to deal with those realities in this life…and often the doubts that accompany them
Is this hope of ours real? Am I trusting in something substantial—or just myth…just a dream
Final Commands to the Readers
Final Commands to the Readers
Be steadfast
Keep on being made steadfast…or keep on making yourself steadfast
Can be read either way
If passive voice, the effort is from the outside; if middle, from self
Maybe left ambiguous for a reason
>Our effort, enabled and empowered by the Spirit?
Be immovable
Same language construction
Unshakable would work as well
Think rock-like…bedrock-like
Always abounding in the work of the Lord
Not my job… really?
No small jobs…really
Just an FYI, the job of a pastor is to equip the saints for the ministry of the Word...
Church is not a spectator sport
A. T. Robertson, Word Pictures of the New Testament:
Pastor Bill:
Defeat doubt by doing
This is Paul’s closing here
Interesting word usages—don’t really translate well
Knowing…as though you had already seen it completed
A certainty expressed
Easier today? We have the totality of the revelation of God’s Word
We can read the ending
... your labor in the Lord is not in vain
Another interesting word structure
“having seen, we now know”
Back to the main idea
Our faith in the Hope which we have…the future we see…is enhanced by our behavior as we hope in this future—in the present day
Having faith in all that is in the past