Everyday Importance - 1 Corinthians 15:12-28

It was a blessing to be able to worship together on Easter Sunday during our Drive-In service at Boxwood Plantation! View the Worship Guide and a video of the service below.

Well, our Sunday morning routine has changed in some big ways, haven’t it? It’s an understatement to say that everyday has changed. We’re reading and thinking and talking everyday about what’s going on in the world, wondering each day what the future holds. We’re all finding new daily routines. I mentioned last night after dinner that I really enjoy one of my family’s new daily routines. My daughters have been doing a lot of baking and so now we have what I call “daily dessert.” Cookies, little cheesecakes. I’ve come to really look forward to my daily dessert. I’m sure you have your things you look forward to each day now.

Also, sadly, part of daily life right now is hearing the updated death toll in the U.S. The widespread fear, and the driving force behind the social distancing and the shutdown is the fear of dying or spreading death to others. It’s a daily concern in this new reality. As you approach each day and you look for strength, where do your thoughts go? What do you latch onto? No one would argue that faith and hope are not essential each day, especially right now. But as you look for faith and hope, have your thoughts gone each day to Jesus’ physical resurrection, and what it means? Here in 1 Corinthians 15, the apostle Paul says that Jesus’ physical resurrection

is essential to the faith and the hope of the church. In fact, he says that there is no Christian faith or hope if Jesus has not risen from the dead.

Now, I should clarify that when he says “faith,” he means what Christians declare to be true. And when he says “hope,” he means the Christian expectation of things to come in the future. What the church declares and expects falls apart without the physical resurrection of Jesus. But somehow, in the daily routine, we can lose sight of this. We turn to other, lesser things. Our troubles are magnified. Our worries are multiplied. Our dreams for this life take priority, and the glory of His resurrection fades from our minds. And yet God has established the declaration and expectation of the church on this fact: that the dead Jesus physically rose to immortality.

Those who would follow Jesus must return to this fact each day. It has tremendous bearing on our faith and hope in daily life. But how, exactly? You can find an outline on pages 3-4 of the Worship Guide. What does his resurrection mean for our daily faith and hope? Well, because Jesus physically rose from the dead, the church’s faith rests on historical reality and the church’s hope resides in absolute renewal. We need faith that is sure and a hope that will not disappoint. And we need them more than once a year. That’s why every Sunday - every Lord’s Day, as the Bible calls it - is a celebration of the Resurrected Jesus. For a follower of Christ, His resurrection is important every day. This pandemic proves it. So let’s look closer at this.

In the first part of 1 Corinthians 15, what comes right before our focal passage today, Paul reminds the church in the ancient city of Corinth of the basics of the gospel message. He says, “I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, [4] that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.” Then Paul gives evidence of the physical resurrection. He says that Jesus appeared to the apostle Peter, then to the rest of the chosen 12 disciples. Jesus then appeared to more than five hundred people at one time, most of whom were still alive as Paul wrote this. And Jesus appeared to many others. Paul was pointing out the eye-witness proof that Jesus is alive. Not just “alive” in a figurative sense, as if his memory just lives on in our hearts and minds, but that Jesus is literally alive. He was dead and came back to life, only not as those who Jesus had brought back from the dead but who later died again.

Jesus rose to immortality. He was raised up to never die again. Paul is writing these words to the church in Corinth because lies and misunderstanding have seeped in. A prevalent belief during that time was when a person died, their soul lived on but their body was gone for good. A result of that belief was that the human body and the physical world were devalued. Do you know the phrase, “They out here saying?” “They out here saying people don’t rise from the dead.” That was a common belief then, and I think it probably is now. Many people would say that spiritually we live on after death, but not nearly as many would say that your same body could be resurrected and made new.

Christianity challenged that common Greek belief. But look at what Paul says in verse [12], Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? People in the church were trying to reconcile the common belief with the gospel message. And it didn’t fit. Verse [13] But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. [14] And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. The apostles preached that Christ was alive. They declared it as a historical fact. 

And hundreds of people could testify that it was true. Many believed it. The people who composed the Corinthian church believed it. They trusted in Jesus’ finished work to save them from their sins. They believed that God had worked in them by the power of the Holy Spirit, and that he had changed them. They trusted that their old selves were gone, and a new self was born in its place. They believed that they had peace with God. They trusted that God was working in and through them. Paul says if the physical resurrection of Jesus is not historical fact, all those beliefs are “in vain;” in other words, empty, useless, worthless. If Jesus did not literally rise, then all you’ve managed to do today is get out of the house for a change of scenery and some fresh air. Which makes you kind of pitiful.

And those of us leading and speaking today are truly pathetic. In fact, if Jesus is not raised, Paul says we’re up here telling lies. Also, if Jesus’ resurrection is not historical reality, verse 17, “your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.” If Jesus did not rise, God’s judgment is still against you. And what about your friends and loved ones who died believing in Jesus? Verse 18, those who have “fallen asleep?” Well, they’re gone. You’ll never see them again. But what about the view that Christianity is good for society and for the world, that it gives people hope and purpose, even if it’s not true. Paul answers that question, verse [19] If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. Christians were persecuted in that day and age. Paul and the others went to jail for their faith.

What a pity, what a shame, what a miserable waste of life to go through all that for a big lie. It’s a logical argument. And they faced it in the first century, just as we face it in the 21st century. The apostle John, wrote this about the resurrected Jesus: “we have seen with our eyes...we looked upon and have touched with our hands.” They had the benefit of seeing and touching the risen Jesus. But they understood that most believers would not have that benefit. And so the apostle Peter wrote to the churches: [8] Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, [9] obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls. The faith of Jesus’ church rests on historical reality. 

He lives! He lives today! Is this the bedrock of your faith, everyday, come what may in this life? Have you trusted in the crucified Jesus as a sufficient payment for the guilt of your sin? Have you believed on the risen Jesus as the One raised to make you right with a holy God? The physical resurrection of Jesus is not a myth. It is real. Faith in the risen Christ is not just a crutch for mentally weak or uneducated people. Jesus lives, and faith in Him is sound and logical. Because he lives, faith in him is reasonable and worthwhile. And because he lives, the church has hope. We have hope of absolute renewal. What does that mean? Look at verse [20], Paul says, But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

This concept of “the first fruits” is rooted in the Old Testament of the Bible. When the Israelites gathered their crops, they brought the earliest harvest to God as an offering and a sign that it all belonged to God. It was a demonstration of trust in God’s faithfulness to provide the rest of the crops yet to come. How is the physically-risen Jesus like those first fruits? His resurrected life is a guarantee that all those who belong to him will one day rise also. All who die in Christ will rise again with him in glory on the Last Day. Jesus represents his people in resurrected life, just as Adam represented all mankind in death. Notice verse [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.

Adam’s headship of the human race is described in Genesis chapter 3 in the OT. Why does coronavirus exist? Well, ultimately, because sin entered the world, and with sin, death. In Adam, all die. Every single person who ever lived. Now when Paul says here that, “in Christ shall all be made alive,” does he mean every single person who who ever lived? Well, no, that would not fit with the message he and the others preached. All who trust in Jesus will be raised with him. All who by faith receive Jesus, all who turn from their sin and believe in him will be raised with him. Even at the fall of Adam, God promised life to come and that life is in Jesus Christ. But the Scriptures are clear, “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.”

And then Paul explains the glory of Jesus at his Second Coming. There is a sequence of things. Verse [23] But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. In 1 Thessalonians Paul describes the event this way: “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.

The risen Jesus reigns right now over his kingdom - in other words, His growing rule over the hearts and lives of people. His kingdom is growing. Even during a pandemic, it grows. His reign expands more and more until the Last Day, when he returns from heaven with glory. Look at verse [25] For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. This is an OT reference, Psalm 110. The Son must rule until every enemy is put down for good. The universal reign of Jesus began when he rose from the grave. During this time, all the demonic powers continue to have a measure of power. People still sin. People still die. Viruses still break out. But when Jesus returns, the dead in Christ will rise, and look back at verse [24] Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. 

Jesus will finish off his enemies for good: Satan, and the demons, and the sin of this world. And notice verse [26] The last enemy to be destroyed is death. The most-feared enemy in this pandemic will be defeated by Jesus when the end comes. How do we know he reigns now? Notice verse [27] For “God has put all things in subjection under his feet.” See the quotation marks there. This is a reference to Psalm 8. King David described how God had put all creation under the authority of Adam. Adam sinned, and the authority of mankind diminished to a degree. For instance, we can’t easily put this virus in its place. But mankind still has this unique role in the world.

The descendants of Adam still multiply and have a measure of dominion over the world. We live, create, build, fight viruses. But Adam’s descendants cannot defeat sin, and while we can delay death, we cannot defeat death. However, the Second Adam, Jesus Christ, has defeated sin and death. God the Father has put all things in subjection under Jesus. Jesus showed that subjection with his miracles and supernatural works, and ultimately, with his physical resurrection from the dead. God the Father gave this role to God the Son. They are equal in power and glory, both fully God, not two Gods, but two of the three persons composing the one true God.

When the Son defeats the last enemy - death - he will hand over the kingdom to the Father. The work of redemption will be complete and the Son will take his place alongside his Father. Verse [28] When all things are subjected to him (meaning God the Father), then the Son himself will also be subjected to him (God the Father) who put all things in subjection under him (Jesus the Son), that God (the Trinity) may be all in all. In other words, that by God’s power there will be, at that time, absolute renewal. This is the hope of the church. Not just the coronavirus destroyed, but all sickness gone for good. Not only will the trials of today be done away with, but all trials will be done.

Our hope resides in an absolute renewal, a total victory, the complete conquest of our God. But without the physical resurrection of Jesus, none of it would take place. Jesus had to rise so he could reign, carry out the divine plan, and return to make all things new.

Glory to Jesus, that though our faith and hope waver, he never did. Our faith and hope don’t rest on our ability to remain faithful and hopeful. Our faith and hope rests on a person - a living person - and his name is Jesus. Receive him, and rest in him everyday.

Let’s pray together.