The Resurrection & the Life

The Resurrection and The Life

Primary Passage: 1 Cor. 15:35-41

Introduction:

Last week we took a look at the importance of the Resurrection.

Without the death and resurrection of Jesus, there is no hope for any of us.

You see, the entirety of this thing ‘resurrection’ is unique to Christianity. That as Christ was dead according to the Scriptures, and Raised up according to the scriptures, we are also to be raised up by him according to the scriptures. Not just our spirits but we will be given new or transformed lives bodies as well.

This is unique because most other religions have this thing against the suffering of the body. They see it as evil and weak and something that should be shed. God however created our bodies good and we have corrupted them through both being born under the curse of the fall, and for some of us our own personal doing as well.

Around 2,000 years ago, Christ set out on a donkey to usher in the new messiah to God’s people. The world was forever changed that week. Hell and the Grave was completely defeated. The cross held the most precious gift in the history of not only mankind, but in the history of the universe.

We affectionately celebrate this week, today, and refer to it as Palm Sunday! Now, please bare with me as we take a look first at what writes of the importance that hinges upon the reality of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ of Nazareth.

Please stand with me if you can, for the reading of God’s Word.

The passage is 1 Cor. 15:35-49

1 Corinthians 15:35–49 ESV

35 But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?” 36 You foolish person! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. 37 And what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare kernel, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain. 38 But God gives it a body as he has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body. 39 For not all flesh is the same, but there is one kind for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish. 40 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. 41 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. 42 So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. 43 It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. 44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. 45 Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. 46 But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual. 47 The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. 48 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. 49 Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.

Let us Pray!

The early church had a real problem. There were those among them that did not believe in the resurrection. Paul, wrote back to them in a lengthy letter that showed them not only how they were wrong, but how they got there in the first place.

Last week, we saw that without the resurrection of Jesus’ completely dead body, there was no reason for us to continue on as Christian’s and just go do something else.

I want to suggest this morning, that we have neglected this topic and as a result, many of our children have done just that. They leave the church, some never to return. Why? Because it is an absolute waste to believe in Jesus if He did not raise from the grave.

Our children, look at Christianity and see all of its problems (which are always people generated btw), and feel foolish or maybe even ashamed to be associated with the Faith.

You see, the power in just the knowledge that Jesus was raised from the grave, is life changing when we truly internalize it. Altering how we see ourselves, and how we see the world around us. The good news of Jesus Christ shows us that his salvation is one that is complete and secure, as he has already conquered death, hell, and the grave. Combine that with the knowledge that this gospel is meant to save you not just in eternity, but right now, starting in many cases by saving us from ourselves.

1 Corinthians 15:55 ESV

55 “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”

The resurrection of the saints is not something that was up for debate in the early church,

it was rebuked and the same should be true for today. If you believe in a half-baked Jesus that you believe was just a spirit when he was raised up; you are not even talking within the bounds of Christian orthodoxy.

And unfortunately, that is the news Paul recieved while he was a way. The Church in Corinth needed council, correction and encouragement because doubt crept into the daily lives and fabric of the Christian community there.

Not just any doubt but the doubt of whether Jesus had actually died, and had he actually raised from the dead.

In 1 Cor. 15:35 Paul answers either a question that had been asked or that he anticipates being asked.

1 Corinthians 15:35 ESV

35 But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?”

Paul answers this by explaining the resurrection by using plant seeds as an example, saying;

1 Corinthians 15:36–39 ESV

36 You foolish person! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. 37 And what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare kernel, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain. 38 But God gives it a body as he has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body. 39 For not all flesh is the same, but there is one kind for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish.

In other words, Paul points out the that like a tiny seed, this body must be shed in death to accept the body we were always intended to have.

Death is not the final answer for us. But it has nothing to do with our power or victory over death, instead it has everything to do with the power and authority of the one who’s blood has paid our debt of sin.

While some may say that it would be okay with them if they were just spirits floating around with Jesus;

God shows us that every part of a human being has intrinsic value, including the body.

Jesus shows us that when he raises from the dead and remains in a physical body, and even ascends in it. Every part of who you are as a person is important enough to God that you should receive it in its fullness or full bloom, at the resurrection.

Mind, Spirit, and Body, all will be reformed as God always intended!

There are some that try to act as if resurrection is some sort of modern Christian invention. But we can confirm that at a minimum, Jesus taught his followers about the final resurrection. We see in John chapter 11 that Martha knew great deal about the doctrine of resurrection, and she knew it as we in the orthodox Christian community do to this day.

John 11:17–27 ESV

17 Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. 18 Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off, 19 and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother. 20 So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house. 21 Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.” 23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” 24 Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” 25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” 27 She said to him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.”

Martha would see what Jesus meant by these words, as he raised her brother Lazarus from the dead; but I am guessing his words became even more enlightening as she observed the Christ after his resurrection.

Jesus truly is the “resurrection and the life.” and of this there can be no dispute because to believe otherwise is to believe something not Christian at all.

After raising Lazarus from the grave, the religious leaders were already plotting to have Jesus killed. The atmosphere in Jerusalem was already so dangerously tense that John 11:54 tells us that Jesus could no longer walk openly. And even the twelve wondered if he would bother showing up.

In the midst of all of this deadly tension Jesus does not stop his ministry. And when they couldn’t get the best of Jesus, they wanted, they needed, to get rid of Lazarus too.

Why? Because when you are trying to discredit and kill someone, it helps if there is not another person out there walking around talking about how they were raised from the dead, by the person you are trying to kill.

Tensions continue to rise until we get to the point John writes in chapter 12

John 12:12–19 ESV

12 The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. 13 So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!” 14 And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written, 15 “Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey’s colt!” 16 His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him and had been done to him. 17 The crowd that had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to bear witness. 18 The reason why the crowd went to meet him was that they heard he had done this sign. 19 So the Pharisees said to one another, “You see that you are gaining nothing. Look, the world has gone after him.”

The triumphal entry is what this event has become known as. The triumphal entry is the story of Jesus coming into Jerusalem on what we know as Palm Sunday, the Sunday before the crucifixion (John 12:1, 12). The story of the triumphal entry is one of the few incidents in the life of Jesus which appears in all four Gospel accounts (Matthew 21:1-17; Mark 11:1-11; Luke 19:29-40; John 12:12-19). Putting the four accounts together, it becomes clear that the triumphal entry was a significant event, not only to the people of Jesus’ day, but to Christians throughout history. We celebrate Palm Sunday to remember that momentous occasion.

I have heard it said by many that this was the coronation of the Messiah King. They do not say this of course on a whim. When reading the Gospel’s it is clear that this marked a significant time in history.

But a king rides in on a mighty white steed, not on the back of a common donkey colt. Jesus rode in on the back of a donkey colt that had never been ridden before.

Now I could pick things apart with conjecture, but that is not what I like to do. Instead, I want to let you know while this was announcement of the rise of the messiah King, it was not a coronation to that end.

But, there was another kind of coronation taking place that day. One that we not being Jews living in Israel, 2,000 years ago would miss. There is a gate called the shepherds gate. This is the gate that the lambs to be sacrificed for the sins of the people would be paraded in for the people to observe the sacrifices. The sheep would be placed at the temple for everyone to see the lambs that would cover their sins.

Every day, that last week before his death Jesus was there in the temple teaching and had to be right in the middle of the sheep, on display as the final sacrifice that took away the sins of the world.

Luke 19:47 ESV

47 And he was teaching daily in the temple. The chief priests and the scribes and the principal men of the people were seeking to destroy him,

Luke 21:37 ESV

37 And every day he was teaching in the temple, but at night he went out and lodged on the mount called Olivet.

Jesus had to be making a bad situation worse with his entry on a donkey. Fulfilling the words of the prophet Nehemiah. And him being on display amongst the sacrificial lambs teaching everyday there.

My Jesus on display in the temple as the Lamb of God.

When I think of Jesus riding in as the sacrificial lamb of God, and standing there in the temple on display everyday as were the sacrificial sheep; I think of the words John the Baptist in John 1:29

John 1:29 ESV

29 The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!

From the moment Adam and Eve fell in the garden, everything had been leading up to this moment. Everything preordained, and arranged with tender loving care, to arrive there at that moment in the Temple sharing the gospel of the Holy Scriptures, our spotless lamb.

Where there seemed to be no other hope

1 Peter 1:19 ESV

19 but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.

as 1 Peter 1:19 says.

So, at last hope for not only the Jewish people, but for me and you as well.

This news that Jesus is the long awaited Lamb of God, that by his death according to the scriptures, and his resurrection according to the scriptures, will take away the sins of the world!

Regardless of what anyone has done, there is redemption and God’s forgiveness. To that I say there is No better message, No better news can ever be told.

I am here to tell you today this is your message, the word of God says this is your message; Jesus died, and rose in accordance with the scriptures.

Start and finish every evangelistic conversation you have with those two facts, and let the Holy Spirit of God do what he does.

God is working in some of you this morning, and I know this because because I can see it in you. You are allowing him to continue his good work in you. There is a stirring, and I know this because I see it, not just in you, but God is moving in the community as well.

Remember, when God places those people in your life to share the gospel with, you do not have to be Billy Graham. You just have to be able to share the most basic principles of the gospel, and you can grow out from there.

With every head bowed and every eye closed,

I want you to find in your mind one person that needs Jesus. The very first person that comes to mind hold them in your thoughts and prayers this week. There maybe others that come to mind, and you should pray for them too, but for right now keep that person in your heart and pray for them this morning. What I want us all to do is to engage those people in different ways in the days and weeks to come, but I want you to start here today praying for them. They have yet to acknowledge a need for Jesus, so you will intercede in prayer praying that God have His way in their lives.

So, as the ladies sing softly pray for those people for just a few minutes, and ask God for wisdom concerning your role in His big plan.

if maybe you do not know who Jesus Christ is, I would love to speak with you this morning. Maybe you have never made a commitment to be His and want to today, then we would love to have you come forward this morning and pray with us.

Ladies...

Silent prayer

Prayer

Chorus

Ray

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