I Corinthians 15:35-49
Notes
Transcript
I Corinthians 15:35-49
Basic Teaching - The Christ follower’s body will be raised again in glory.
Read I Corinthians 15:35-49
Pray
Opener,
Questions -
-Do you ever tire of being tired?
-Do you ever have muscle aches after working out or just because you’ve gotten old?
-Do you find it frustrating when an old injury comes back to haunt you?
-Do you ever have concentration issues because it’s been a long day and you just don’t have it mentally anymore?
Of course we all do.
There will come a day when the limits of this earthly body will be replaced by a body that is perfect.
There will come a day when the brokenness of your body will hold you back no longer.
When will this be?
When Christ returns to judge the world.
Then, Christ Followers will be given a glorified body.
In our text today there is a problem. There were some Corinthians who didn’t believe that anyone was ever raised from the dead. This included Jesus.
Today we look at the 3rd section of Paul’s address to the Corinthians about the resurrection from the dead.
Today we will see:
The Pattern of the Resurrection
The Perfection of the Resurrection
The Person of the Resurrection, and
The Principle of the Resurrection
vs. 35, We begin with 2 questions.
Read, vs 35
These are most likely asked by those who deny the resurrection of the dead.
Paul responds to these questions with exasperation in verse 36 with the expression,
“You foolish person!” In todays vernacular...
“You mental midgets.” “I’m surrounded by idiots.”
Paul had in earlier teachings been explicitly clear on this very important doctrine of the resurrection. How could the Corinthians have slipped so much on one of the most important Christian teachings.
Paul is so frustrated. He beside himself.
Application - unless a seed falls to the ground and dies.
I. THE PATTERN OF THE RESURRECTION (a particular resurrection)(15:35-41)
Read verses 35-41
Paul gives 3 different illustrations.
A. The difference between a planted seed and a harvested (15:35-38):
When you were a child you planted beans in school.
-You placed a few beans in a cup of dirt.
-That bean - that seed - was dry and dead. Left on its own it wasn’t worth a penny.
-When that seed was placed in the ground and exposed to moisture, warmth, nutrients - something miraculous happened.
-it came to life.
-A harvested seed is just a bare kernel. Planted it turns into a glorious plant.
-There is a radical difference between a 50 # sack of dried kernels of corn a beautiful field of mature corn that has been planted.
-Difference between a single brown acorn and an immense mature oak tree.
The glory between the seed and the mature plant is vast.
Verse 36, “… What you sow does not come to life unless it dies.”
-When the acorn goes to the grave The Tree rises from the dead.
The pattern of the resurrection is that something must dies and be buried before it can be risen.
What is glory? My definition - Special outward uniqueness.
It is what you see, taste, touch, ...
The bloom of a rose is it’s glory.
The smell of tea olive is it’s glory.
The athleticism of a deer is it’s glory.
The sound of a sports car’s finely tuned exhaust system is it’s glory.
The innocence & carefree spirit of a child is his glory.
The good character of your wife is her glory.
2nd illustration...
B. The difference between animal flesh and human flesh (15:39)
This illustration contrasts the glory between human earthly bodies and animal bodies.
A horse is beautiful.
A puppy is adorable.
Your wife on her wedding day is irresistable.
There is a difference in glory.
No animal on earth holds a candle to the beauty and worth of a new born baby.
-The glory of animals and the glory of humans is different.
-So is the glory of an earthly human body and risen transformed physical/supernatural body.
-This kind of buried, risen, and transformed eternal body is particular only to Christ Followers.
Transition - We have the 3rd illustration
C. The difference between the sun, moon and stars (15:40-41):
-Their glory is different in beauty, brightness, and purpose.
The glory of the earth (with living plants and animals on it) is different than the glory of the Sun, Moon, and Stars. The earth purpose is to be an environment where life thrives.
The moon has several purposes - One of its purposes is to move the tides of the ocean.
The Sun purposes to hold the planets in place and to bring warmth to the universe.
The Sun and Stars do not burn like a camp fire - they are balls of gas constantly undergoing Nuclear Fusion Reactions whereby intense energy is continuously being released.
The Extreme Glow of the Sun with its heat is part of it’s glory.
The gravity that holds the earth and you close to the warmth and light of the sun is part of It’s glory.
God has great power. Like the sun, God gives you spiritual light to see.
God also has a spiritual gravity that pulls you in and holds you close to His warm love.
This power of God to open your spiritually blind eyes and hold you close to Him is part of His glory.
Would you say in your heart - God thank you for your glory that draws me in to you.
The point of this section of scripture is this.
There are many different types of glory.
The glory of the earthly physical body and the resurrected body are completely different.
The resurrection to a glorified body is specific to the Christ follower.
The pattern of the resurrection is to die, be placed in the ground, and be raised to life.
The glory of the dead body and the glory of a resurrection body ...
Gospel
I Peter 1:23, since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God;
-The truth of God’s Word in you brings forth transformation, faith to believe in salvation.
-The faith to trust in Jesus Christ is not something you created, you brought to life within yourself.
-This faith you have came to life because God’s Word (As A SEED) was planted in you.
Transtion - We have seen the Pattern of resurrection and now the scripture gives us the perfection of the resurrection.
II. THE PERFECTION OF THE RESURRECTION (15:42-44): Paul describes the new body as superior to the old.
Read 42-44
The illustration of the seed follows us all the way through this passage.
Through a seed dying, being placed in the ground, it rises and brings new life.
1. We have a perishable body. vs 42.
-It breaks down, gets old, once in the ground it rots.
2. God raises up for the Christ Follower an Imperishable body
- A physical body that completely defies the second law of thermodynamics.
-A supernatural body that will never get old, never become week, never becomes sick, never breaks down ...
-This body rises into eternal strength, never to die again.
Illustration - We’ve seen in movies this idea of the dead rising.
The original Frankenstein
From the Lord of the Rings - Gandolf returning from the grey to the white
Pirates of the Caribbean - Captain Barbossa rises and returns.
Star Wars, Anakin Skywalker rises as Darth Vader.
-There are many more.
Have you ever thought that the reason you like a story where the dead returns to life is because God created your soul with the anticipation that resurrection (death to life) would be part of your story.
You identify with resurrection because you were created with an anticipation for the resurrection in you.
Death to life is part of our salvation story.
Spiritual Death to Spiritual Life .
Physical death to eternal life as part of the final resurrection.
vs, 42 shows that the body goes from Perishable to Imperishable.
and in verse 43 ...
2. The body is sown (or buried) in dishonor (15:43a).
At death we do all we to honor the life of the one who passed away, we embalm the body, use make up on their face, and fix their hair. We place the deceased in the best clothes.
-We do everything we can to make the dead look alive.
-Why do we have to work to make the dead look alive?
-The life has left the earthly shell.
-The bible calls this lifeless body a body of dishonor.
The lifeless body of the Christ Follower will not remain in the grave?
It will be raised in glory. (vs 43b)
-It will not be raised and look like a Zombie
It will be far and away better than any Zombie.
It will be raised in glory.
3. It is sown in weakness
vs. 43B, Sown in Weakness raised in Power
By the hands of men a hole is dug and after your funeral is over your body is lowered into the grave and the hole is filled.
-That is the mortal end of you.
***-The seed of your body is sown into the earth.
Like a cucumber seed is planted in the ground to grow a vegetable, your body is planted into the ground.
and raised in power vs. 43b
In the weakness of men’s hands you were placed in the ground.
In the power of God, who raises the dead you will be brought out.
Lazerus was in the grave 3 days, “Jesus said, “Lazerus, come out!”
When God calls your name, you will be resurrected from the dead with the same great power that raised both Lazarus and Jesus from the dead.
-As Christ followers we are not left hopeless at death.
-As Jesus was raised from the dead, you will also be raised from death to life.
Where does this new glory come from?
Just as the moon reflects the glory of the sun, so the resurrected body reflects the Glory of God.
The glory and power ultimately comes from God.
Use the moon illustration - Glory from the Son/Sun
vs.44. It is sown a natural body & raised a spiritual body.
Jonathan you have been telling us that it is a physical supernatural body. So which is it?
Is the resurrected body a physical body or a spiritual body?
The answer is “Yes”. It’s both.
Problem, That is not logical. A body can’t be both 100% physical and 100% spiritual. It’s an impossibility for a body to be a combination of the 2.
-Here is the principle, There are times that as a Bible believing Christians you must choose to either be biblical or be logical. (x2)
Example 1
The Trinity is true, but is not logical to the human mind.
Q -Who is God? Is He the Father, Son, or Spirit?
The answer is, “Yes”.
Q- So there are 3 Gods?
A - “No”. There are 3 distinct persons making up the Godhead.
Q - So, 3 is 1?
A - “yes” - but 3 =1 is not logical.
Sometimes the correct answer is not logical, but it is biblical.
Conclusion of the example - 99% of the Bible is very logical. There are a few occasions where we trust God’s perfect word, even when we cannot wrap our limited brains around it.
POINT - The New resurrection Body Is Both Physical and Spirit
-Your resurrection body can eat, walk, touch, hug and also appear and disappear.
Conclusion - AND it will be made perfect by God.
Transition -
So far we have seen the ...
The Pattern of the Resurrection
The Perfection of the Resurrection
III. THE PERSON OF THE RESURRECTION (vs. 45-49)
Read 45-49
The first Adam was the Adam of Genesis.
From Adam we received our physical life and DNA.
There was another 1st. He was the first one raised from the dead. He is also called Adam, because he was the first to have the resurrection body.
I Cor 15 says it this way...
21 For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.
Through Jesus payment on the cross, burial, and resurrection from the dead,
He has made a way for you to be saved.
Have you fully trusted in what Jesus has done fore you?
Do you believe that Jesus has lead the way for you by being first to rise from the dead with an eternal heavenly body?
Have you given Jesus Christ full control of your life?
It is through faith in Jesus now that one day you will receive an eternal heavenly resurrected body.
Jesus is the First Person of the Resurrection.
Transition - Finally and briefly we see the ...
THE PRINCIPLE OF THE RESURRECTION (John 12:24-25)
So you say, this idea of the resurrection is nice for the future, but does it apply to me know at all?
I’m glad you asked that.
Turn in your Bibles to John 12:24-25
24 Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. 25 Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.
God calls you and I everyday to die. To make a spiritual sacrifice.
To die to yourself for the sake of following Christ.
Here is the promise (end of verse 24), “You will bear much fruit.”
Illustration - Marines
1 dried up lima bean in the ground makes hundreds more.
1 dried of corn kernel planted in the ground makes thousands more.
1 Christ follower who dies to themself will be used by Christ to produce fruit that will last until eternity.
I want to close by reading you 3 short scriptures.
7 Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.
29 Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, 30 who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life.
6 The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.
Pray