Why Jesus Matters

Why Jesus Matters

• If we accept the fact that Jesus is indeed the Son of God and that He was raised on the third day according to the scriptures, we have a decision to make.

• You cannot just give lip service to the resurrected Jesus, you need to give Him your life and in return, He will bless you beyond your wildest imagination.

• Things have happened throughout history that has made Jesus an important part of our lives.

• Today we are going to look at Why we NEED Jesus!

• Let us examine the one of the reasons we NEED Jesus. Look at verses 20-21

• 1 Corinthians 15:20-21(ESV) 20But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead.

I. JESUS DEFEATED DEATH! (20-21)

A. First Fruits

• In verse 20 we see that Paul tells us that Jesus has been raised from the dead. He says that Jesus is the “first fruits” of those who are asleep.

• Paul has told us that he is a witness to the fact that Jesus was raised, and that His resurrection was a physical one.

• What does Paul mean when he says that Jesus is the “first fruits” of those who are asleep?

• In the Old Testament in the book of Leviticus in chapter 23, the Israelites were told they had to dedicate the first part of the harvest to God by giving it to the priest so he could offer it up to God.

• This had to be done BEFORE they could harvest their crops. This was called the “first fruits”.

• They could not grow a special patch of crops for this the first fruits had to be taken from the field they were going to harvest from.

• In return for dedicating their “first fruits” to God, God would promise them there was more to come or a good harvest.

• When Jesus is called the “first fruits” Paul is saying that Jesus is the first of many to be resurrected. The harvest to eternal life could not happen until Jesus, “the first fruits” was offered up to God the Father.

• Jesus was raised from the dead and so will everyone else who has ever lived!

B. Death

• In verse 21 we are told that through a man came death, and by a man also came the resurrection of the dead.

• There is some dispute over what kind of death is being spoken of here, physical or spiritual. At least with verse 21, the context tells us it is physical death. Adam brought physical death to the world. Genesis 3:19 confirms this.

• Genesis 3:19(ESV) 19By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”

• God told Adam that if he ate the fruit from the tree, he would die. (Genesis 2:16-17) Adam was lived for 930 years and he died. (Genesis 5:5)

• Physical death entered the word because of Adam; we cause our own spiritual death by our own sin.

• Verse 21 tells us that through Jesus, there would be resurrection from the dead. The verse says that ALL will die and ALL will be raised.

• Man was created not to die, but because of the sin of Adam we all will die.

• Romans 5:12(ESV) 12Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—

• The resurrection of Jesus authenticates who He is and what He preached and taught. The resurrection proves that Jesus is the Son of God.

• Everyone will be raised thanks to Jesus, later we will see that the resurrection will not be a good thing for some.

• Jesus defeated death and if we want to defeat death, we need Jesus also!

• Let’s turn to verses 22-24

• 1 Corinthians 15:22-24(ESV) 22For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. 23But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. 24Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power.

• Another reason we need Jesus is because…

II. ONE MAN CHANGED EVERYTHING (22-24)

• When we were created we were created to be with God for eternity, but something changed that.

A. Adam drastically changed things.

• Verse 22 tells us that in Adam ALL die. We already talked about this a minute ago. Death is something that we will not be able to cheat, it is a debt that we all owe and will pay unless Jesus returns during our lifetime.

• The word “die” is a present tense verb which literally means that all are in the process of dying. Adam passed on this to us. The word “all” is inclusive.

• Because of Adam we will all face physical death unless Jesus returns before we die.

• Remember Romans 5:12 reminds us of this fact.

• We can thank Adam for physical death, God did not INTEND for us to die, but when Adam introduced sin into the world, death followed.

• If we ended with this thought, it would be a sad day, but because of God’s love for us, He did something for us!

B. Jesus radically changed things!

• Now in the second part of verse 22 says that also in Christ ALL will be made alive.

• What does this mean? It means that ALL of us will be resurrected one day.

• The term “made alive” does not speak of eternal life or of a spiritual resurrection. The context dictates this meaning. Also since the “all” in the first part of the verse means ALL INCLUSIVE, the “all” at the end of the verse means the same thing.

• If Paul were speaking of eternal life in this verse, he would be saying that EVERYONE would be saved. He is saying that ALL, the saved and the lost will be raised. The statement “made alive” is in the future tense meaning this “making alive” will take place at some later time.

• In Paul’s defense before Felix we find the following in Acts 24:14-15

• Acts 24:14-15(ESV) 14But this I confess to you, that according to the Way, which they call a sect, I worship the God of our fathers, believing everything laid down by the Law and written in the Prophets, 15having a hope in God, which these men themselves accept, that there will be a resurrection of both the just and the unjust.

• All of us will be raised one day even if we do not accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior.

Some to Life some to Judgement

B. Change begins and ends with Jesus.

• In verse 24 we are given a general order of the resurrection.

• We are given this to show the resurrection has not passed the people by.

• We are told that Christ, who is the first fruits will be raised first, and then those who belong to Him will be raised. There is no specific mention in this passage of those who do not belong to Jesus. This is not a problem since Paul is trying to let the believer’s know of the benefits for them because of the resurrection.

• We need the gospel because we all are going to be resurrected. John tells us we will either go to the resurrection of life or the resurrection of judgment.

• Next in verses 25-26 we find.

• 1 Corinthians 15:25-26(ESV) 25For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26The last enemy to be destroyed is death.

III. THERE WILL BE A DAY OF RECKONING (25-26)

• When Jesus returns, there will be a day that all accounts will be settled, a day of reckoning.

• We need Jesus because..

A. ALL foes will be defeated!

• Paul tells us that Jesus will reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet.

• This phrase was a picture of what happened to the king of a losing battle. The wining king would put the losing king under his feet to signify his dominance over the losing side.

• If we stand against God, we will be defeated, we are defeated without Jesus!

B. Death will receive the final nail in the coffin!

• The last enemy is death. Death will not be fully defeated until we are all resurrected. All of God’s other foes will be subdued before this last foe is finally defeated in full.

• After all this is done, Jesus will deliver over the kingdom to God the Father.

• According to the Great Commission, the Father gave ALL AUTHORITY to Jesus.

• Once the final foe is defeated, Jesus ministry of reconciliation or His ministry of mediator between God and man will be completed.

• Jesus will hand the kingdom over to the Father and He will return to His place of glory that He had. In JOHN 17:5 Jesus "Now, Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.

• The Father, Son and Holy Spirit will reign forever!

• The issue for us is this; we want to be a part of the kingdom that Jesus hands over to the Father.

• We will all bow down to Him one day, one way or another according to Philippians 2:9-11

• Let’s look at verses 50-57 to draw to a conclusion

• 1 Corinthians 15:50-57(ESV) 50I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52in 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. 53For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. 54When 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.” 55“O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” 56The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

IV. Jesus is victorious.

• Look at what the passage says!

• We will be changed in a twinkling of an eye! We will be eternal.

• We can have eternal life through Jesus, with Jesus!

• The thing that Adam brought to us, the thing that stops us in our tracks, the thing that is no respecter of persons, DEATH IS DEFEATED!

• Romans 5:18(ESV) 18Therefore, as one trespass£ led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness£ leads to justification and life for all men.

• Jesus fixed what Adam broke!

CONCLUSION

• D. James Kennedy, in a message entitled, "Message from an Empty Tomb,” says:

• For many centuries the men and women in Europe looked out upon the western sea, what we call the Atlantic Ocean, and they saw the sun coruscating (SHINING) upon the glittering surface of the waters and they wondered. They wondered if there was anything beyond. Scholars said that you could sail off the edge of the world--there was nothing out there at all. In fact, inscribed on the coat of arms of the nation of Spain was its national motto, "There is nothing beyond."

• One day Columbus went westering on the shiny waters. He sailed off into the sunset as people waited expectantly, and finally after a long time the sails reappeared and the crowds were exultant. They shouted with joy, and Columbus announced that there was a land beyond the sea that was rich beyond their dreams. It was a glorious paradise. The king of Spain changed the motto of that land until it reads as it does today, "There is more beyond."

• For many centuries innumerable people stood beside the dark hole that we call a grave and watched the remains of their loved ones lowered into the earth, and they wondered: Beyond the dark waters of death, is there anything beyond?

• Then one day, a young explorer went westering into the setting sun and descended into the blackness of the pit. He sailed off the edge of the world and crashed into hell. People waited expectantly. Finally on this Resurrection morning, as the sun arose in the east, the Son of God stepped forth from a grave and declared, "There is something beyond. There is a paradise beyond your greatest expectations. And there awaits a heavenly Father, waiting with outstretched arms to wipe away every tear from your cheek."

• Do you want to experience that wonderful place that awaits those who belong to Jesus! Do you want to have the peace of God in your life? Do you want to experience joy beyond your belief? Come to Jesus today.

• One day we will all stand before Jesus, do you want to face Him as a vanquished foe or as a son or daughter.

• The choice belongs to you.