Okay, well, good morning, everyone. Lovely to see you today. This is just the best day ever.
! Here's the deal. Really simply, either Christianity, sorry, either the tomb is empty or Christianity is empty.
It really is as simple as that. So let me welcome you to the day of all days as it centers on the man above all men.
Now, if you've got a Bible, you might want to turn to 1 Corinthians 15. If you didn't bring a Bible, you can grab one on the pews roundabout or on your phone.
We're going to read it in about five minutes time and the words will be on the screen.
But my aim over the next 20 minutes or so is to help us see that this is the day when everything changed.
Particularly as it concerns the future. And particularly as it concerns the future of our bodies.
Friends, there are contours to what Jesus achieved as he walked out of that tomb.
There are contours, there are dimensions, there are glories, there are colours, there are splendours that we will never stop seeing.
And it's been true in my life. The more that I've been a Christian, every single time Easter Sunday rolls around, it really is the best day of the year.
But also there's just things that I see that I've never seen before. So come and see these.
Now, let me try and get us into this. One of my favourite actors is a man called Eddie Redmayne.
Now you might disagree with me here, but for me his finest acting performance was when he played Stephen Hawking in the film A Theory of Everything.
And that's why Eddie Redmayne wrote the foreword to Stephen Hawking's last published book before he died.
And it's called Brief Answers to the Big Questions, which is a bold title, I think you'll agree.
The title piqued my interest in being a sucker for the buy now with one click feature on Amazon.
I bought it. And here's what Eddie Redmayne writes at the end of his foreword.
And I put it on the screen so that you can see it. And I'm pretty delighted with how this picture's turned out.
Here's what he writes.
I hope you enjoy his, talking to Stephen Hawking, I hope you enjoy his writings.
And to quote Barack Obama, I hope Stephen is having fun up there among the stars.
Love, Eddie.
Now you've heard that line before, I'm pretty confident.
The sentiment is lovely. The sentiment is lovely coming from a man like Eddie Redmayne about a man like Stephen Hawking.
That is until you realise the irony of what he's written there.
Because Stephen Hawking actually believed this about what happens to our bodies after we die.
He says this, there is no heaven or afterlife for broken down computers.
That is a fairy story for people afraid of the dark.
Now do you see the disconnect between those two things?
Here's the point.
When it comes to beliefs about what happens to our bodies after we die,
opinions abound.
And that's not just a modern day thing.
Human beings have always wondered what happens to us after we die.
It has happened down the generations.
It has happened across the civilisations.
And this passage that we're going to briefly look at from the Bible, and we're going to hear it read in a minute,
is written to a people who are living in an age and living in a city that is absolutely no different to that.
This letter written by a man called Paul some 2,000 years ago to a group of Christians living their lives in the city of Corinth,
which is just a little west of Athens.
Now if you're up in your Greek mythology, you'll know that many Greeks of this day believed in Hades.
Now if you're struggling to picture that, think Disney's Hercules.
That's where my mind always goes.
Hades, the god of the underworld.
And as for the Romans, well many believed that humans were transformed into special empowered beings after death,
and they kind of floated over family members, they watched over them.
Again friends, many, many opinions about what happens to us after we die.
But the Christian idea, the one that was birthed, given substance to in the first century friends,
is so radically different.
It is so radically different today.
It is so radically different then.
There is nothing like this, if I could put it like this, there is nothing like this out there on the market.
So different in fact that when Paul initially told the Christians in Corinth about it,
I reckon some of them were a little confused.
Did we hear them right?
Maybe they were a little embarrassed.
And so Paul writes these verses to give both them and us clarity in a world of ambiguity.
This is what happens to us after death.
This is what Christians believe.
Down to generations all across the world.
What happens to us after we die.
This is all about where the story of our lives is going.
In fact it is way bigger than that.
It is where the story of the whole cosmos is going.
And the foundation of it all
is Jesus' empty tomb.
Now Jamie and Hazel are going to come and read this for us.
And I just want to listen, want us to listen out for the three ideas that Paul uses here
to help them and us understand it.
Now just to help us as we track through this, here's the three of them.
Paul is going to draw three similes.
He's going to use three ideas to help them think about what it is like.
The first one is like a seed.
The second one is like an image.
And the third one is a bit more subtle, but it's in there if you look hard enough.
It's like a sheet.
And if you get lost at any point, here's the big idea.
That what happened to Jesus is going to one day happen to us
and is going to one day happen to all of creation.
So Jamie and Hazel, why don't you guys come up and we'll read this together.
And let's get into it, see what God has to say to us on this Easter Sunday.
Hi there, I'm Hazel.
I'm Jamie.
And we're going to do our reading this morning.
And Graeme's already said it's from 1 Corinthians 15.
So if you've not got it, if you could find it now.
And if anyone needs to get the church Bibles, you'll find it on page 1157.
Okay, I'm reading the first part.
But someone will ask, how are the dead raised?
With what kind of body will they come?
How foolish!
What you sow does not come to life unless it dies.
When you sow, you do not plant the body that will be but just a seed,
perhaps of wheat or of something else.
But God gives it a body as he is determined,
and to each kind of seed he gives its own body.
Not all flesh is the same.
People have one kind of flesh.
Animals have another.
Birds another.
And fish another.
There are also heavenly bodies.
And there are earthly bodies.
But the splendor of the heavenly bodies is one kind.
And the splendor of the earthly bodies is another.
The sun has one kind of splendor.
The moon another.
And the star is another.
And star differs from star in splendor.
So will it be with the resurrection of the dead.
The body that is sown is perishable.
It is raised imperishable.
It is sown in dishonor.
It is raised in glory.
It is sown in weakness.
It is raised in power.
It is sown a natural body.
It is raised a spiritual body.
If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.
So it is written,
The first man Adam became a living being.
The last Adam, a living, giving spirit.
A life-giving spirit.
The spiritual did not come first, but the natural.
And after that, the spiritual.
The first man was of the dust of the earth.
The second man is of heaven.
As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth.
And as is the heavenly man, so also are those who are of heaven.
And just as we have borne the image of the earthly man,
so shall we bear the image of the heavenly man.
I declare to you, brothers and sisters,
that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God,
nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.
Listen, I tell you a mystery.
We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed.
In a flash, in the twinkling of an eye,
at the last trumpet.
For the trumpet will sound,
the dead will be risen,
imperishable,
and we will be changed.
For the perishable must clothe itself
with the imperishable,
and the mortal with immortality.
When the perishable has been clothed
with the imperishable,
and the mortal with immortality,
then the saying that is written
will come true.
Death has been swallowed up in victory.
Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?
The sting of death is sin,
and the power of sin is the law.
But thanks be to God,
he gives us the victory
through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters,
stand firm.
Let nothing move you.
Always give yourself fully
to the work of the Lord,
because you know
that your labor in the Lord
is not in vain.
Amen.
So Paul envisages
that some of these Corinthians
are struggling
to get their head around this.
The resurrection?
And so Paul anticipates
a question that they're going
to be asking.
It's verse 35,
if you've got it there.
How are the dead raised?
In other words,
how is this going to work?
And see how he logically
leads them through
all of this.
What will it be like, Paul?
Well, says Paul,
here's your first idea.
Did you see it?
It's like a seed.
And here's the logic
at verse 37.
When you sow a seed
into the ground,
you're not planting
what will be
the final product.
Do you see it?
In other words,
you don't plant
a tiny acorn
and in time
it grows to be
a giant acorn.
Right?
Like something out of
James and the Giant Peach.
Nor do you plant
an acorn
and it produces
lots of little acorns
just like it.
No, the logic
that God has woven
into nature
is that one day
you plant an acorn
but in time,
oak tree.
In one sense,
it's the same.
The DNA is all there
in the seed
but in another
truer sense,
it's been transformed
into something
radically
and gloriously
different.
Now,
Kate just told my thunder
a little bit
at the start.
She was bang on.
God has woven
clues about the future
into nature
that are whispers
of the resurrection,
dear friends,
all around us.
every seed
is telling us
a story.
Every tree
is proclaiming
to us
a truth.
The resurrection
is all
around us.
The transformation
concept
is all
around us.
Just like that,
Paul says,
there are earthly bodies
and there are
spiritual bodies.
Our earthly bodies
are the seed
and our spiritual
bodies
are the tree.
It's why
so many churches
have you ever thought
about this,
have graveyards.
It's what
people in the past
in churches
believed that they
were doing.
They were planting
the bodies
of believers
in anticipation
that one day
they will rise
to this
future.
Now,
what day is that?
Well,
see Paul say
verse 32.
He says,
which is his way
of saying,
here's the point,
this is what
it will be like
at the resurrection
of the dead.
Now,
that phrase
indicates
that we're not
talking
about
heaven
here.
Okay?
Heaven being
the place
that Christians
believe
that we go
if we die
before Jesus
comes back.
Heaven is
the place
where we are
with Jesus
spiritually.
But that's
not,
friends,
our forever
home.
In the words
of Tom Wright,
I love this,
no,
Christians believe
in life after
life after
death.
This is talking
about what
will happen
when Jesus
comes back
and when he
raises the
dead,
every human
being who's
ever lived
and to those
who have
rejected him,
who have
spurned the
opportunity to
receive him,
Jesus will
say,
away from
me.
As he judges
evil,
he will
consign them
to a place
of eternal
punishment.
But to all
those who
have trusted
him,
who have
thrown
themselves
upon his
grace,
he will
say,
come,
as he
ushers in
this new
creation
where he
rules
and where
he reigns
visibly
as king.
And there
and then,
friends,
we will have
transformed
bodies.
Verse 42,
bodies that
are
imperishable.
Now,
that word
should remind
us of the
fridge.
And those
foods in
our fridge
that have
a best
before date,
right?
Things that
decay.
And that's
what our
bodies do,
right?
It's why
footballers
don't get
long contracts
beyond the
age of 30.
It's why
Ronaldo is a
freak of
nature,
still playing
and banging
in the
goals
at 40.
It's why
we plan on
retiring at
65,
because we
realise that
our bodies
wither and
fade.
But then,
when Christ
returns,
when he
ushers this
new creation
in,
in our new
resurrection
bodies,
that will not
be a thing,
because they
will have
been raised
our bodies
in glory
and power.
Friends,
what happened
to Jesus
will one
day happen
to us
and will
one day
happen to
all of
creation.
And you
can imagine
the Corinthians
thinking,
well,
we can just
about get
our heads
around that
whole acorn
to oak
tree thing.
We kind
of get
that.
But what
will we
look like?
Well,
says Paul,
and here's
the second
idea,
it's like
an image.
What will
the spiritual
body look
like?
Well,
the minute
our bodies
are patterned
after,
see him spell
this out,
verse 47,
the man
of the dust
of the earth.
It's always
good to be
reminded,
isn't it,
now and again,
that our
bodies are
our dust.
I heard a
comedian talk
about the
fact that
we are
just really
walking
bottles of
water.
Right now,
all of us,
in terms of
our bodies,
we look
like,
we look
like Adam,
the first
human being
that God
made.
God breathed
life into
him as
after he
formed him
from the
dust of
the earth.
We bear
his
resemblance,
every single
one of us.
But then,
we will
look like
the heavenly
man.
Now,
who is this
heavenly man?
Well,
it's Jesus.
But if I
can put it
like this,
which Jesus?
It's not
the Jesus
who walked
the earth,
was crucified
and put in
the tomb,
Jesus.
We won't
look like
him.
Friends,
we will
look like
the walked
out of
the tomb
in his
resurrection
body,
never to
die again,
Jesus.
When he
walked out
of that
tomb,
he was
the same
and yet
he was
wonderfully
different.
And you
get that
impression
as you
read the
gospels.
His
disciples,
they don't
recognize
him.
As he's
talking with
two of his
disciples on
the road to
Emmaus at
the end of
Luke's
gospel,
what do
they say
to him
as he's
walking and
talking?
They don't
recognize
him.
Are you
the only
one who
doesn't
know
what's
happened
in the
last few
days?
They don't
instantly
recognize
him.
But
John 21,
when the
disciples are
eating on
the beach,
they do
recognize
him.
It's the
Lord.
Jesus
comes to
Thomas and
says,
would you
touch the
marks in
my hands?
So Paul
writes,
verse 49,
just as we
now bear the
image of the
earthly man,
so then,
we will
bear the
image of
the heavenly
man.
our bodies
then,
will be
transformed
to look
like his.
When will
it happen?
It will
happen instantly,
in a flash.
See that
verse 52,
when Jesus
returns,
when he
raises the
dead,
his people,
those who
have trusted
in him,
will be
changed.
And it's
like we're
given a
new wardrobe.
See the
clothing language
at verse 53,
we will take
off.
the old
clothes on
which the
label read
perishable
and mortal.
And we
will put
on the
clothes which
read
imperishable
and
immortal.
That's what
we will look
like.
We will
look like
him.
Friends,
what happened
to Jesus
on that
day
will one
day happen
to us
and will
one day
happen to
all of
creation.
okay,
you hear
them say,
we've
kind of
got a
better idea
now of
what it
might look
like,
but what
will it
feel like?
And this
is where
Paul gives
them the
third idea.
He's saying
it's like
a sheet.
It will
feel like a
sheet that
was once
hanging over
us has
now
completely
been
lifted.
Verse 54,
when we're
clothed with
our new
bodies,
then the
saying will
come true,
death has
been swallowed
up in
victory.
That will
be the
chant on
the terraces
of heaven.
As I've
heard somebody
once put
it,
you're not
stinging
anymore.
And he's
quoting there
from Isaiah
25,
God there
is talking
about how
one day
he will
destroy
the sheet
that
currently
hangs over
all of
humanity,
the sheet
of death
and all
its
children,
grief,
pain,
suffering,
loss.
Friends,
we are
currently
living under
the sheet.
We are
like
hedgehogs.
We've got
so used to
living underground
it.
We've got
no categories
really to
describe what
life is like
up there in
the light
because we're
so used to
the dark.
We cannot
fathom a
world without
sin.
We cannot
imagine a
world that
is free of
crime and
of sickness
and of
pain and
of death.
Friends,
some of us,
I know we are
right there
right now.
We are
feeling the
sting of
death and
let this
come as
a wonderful
balm for
your soul.
There is
going to be
a place
where there
are no
more police
stations
and where
doctors
everywhere will
have been
made redundant.
Our God
is telling
us that
one day
he will
fully and
finally act
to take
away the
sheet that
covers us
at the
minute.
And like
some kind
of giant
Pac-Man,
he's going
to swallow
it up
forever.
And with
it gone,
he will
wipe away
tears.
You ever
thought about
the fact
that there's
coming a
day when
you will
have cried
your last
tear?
And he
will remove
our disgrace
and our
shame.
Fully
and finally,
friends,
we will be
rid of the
sin that
plagues us
so often.
And it's
not just our
bodies that
will go through
this transformation.
The entire
cosmos will
go through
it as
well.
And then
God will
sing over
us,
where,
oh,
death is
your
victory?
Where,
oh,
death is
your
sting?
And we've
got to
understand
that Christ
Jesus,
on that
day,
if our
faith is
in him,
that was
our
resurrection
day too
in a
sense.
All that
he achieved
there,
because our
faith is
in him,
friends,
that victory
is now
our victory.
on that
day will
be our
victory.
Friends,
right now,
know today
that you
are free
from the
penalty of
sin,
because Jesus
died on the
cross in
our place
for our
sin.
And that
can be yours
this morning
if you put
your trust
in him.
We are free
from the
penalty of
it.
When he
walked out
that tomb,
he showed
the price
has been
paid.
And we
are free
now from
the power
of sin.
Because his
spirit lives
in us,
helping us
to say
no to
sin and
yes to
sin,
the things
that used
to dominate
and direct
us.
We are
free from
the power
of sin.
And one
day we
will be
free from
the presence
of sin
and death
because we
will be in
the very
presence of
the God
who redeemed
us and
saved us
and brought
him to
himself.
Do you
see that
what happened
to Jesus
on that
day will
one day
when he
returns
gloriously
happen to
us and
it will
happen to
all of
creation.
Friends,
there are
contours,
there are
dimensions,
there are
colours,
there are
glories,
there are
splendours
to this
day that
we should
never stop
breathing in
and living
in.
This is
your future.
If your
trust is in
him today,
no matter
how you're
feeling,
no matter
how weak
you think
your faith
is,
no matter
how painful
it might
feel right
now,
this is
your future.
And so
as we begin
to draw
this to a
close,
can I just
leave you
with one
question?
And it
is brought
to you by
a band
called
Keen.
And they
had a
song,
I remember
when I
was at
uni this
came out,
it was
called
Somewhere
Only We
Know and
it kind
of made
a comeback
last summer
and that's
why it's
on my
Spotify
playlist
now.
But this
is the
song,
oh simple
thing,
where have
you gone?
I'm getting
old and I
need something
to rely on.
And so here's
the question
friends,
what are you
relying on?
You know,
there's a
man in the
States,
his name
is Don
Carson.
He's one
of the
greatest
Christian
thinkers I
think of
the last
couple of
decades.
He's now
aged 78.
He's from
Canada and
he's been
suffering in
the last
few years of
his life
from Parkinson's
disease.
We know
how horrendous
a thing that
is.
And he
wrote an
open letter
recently to
his friends
about his
decision to
retire from
public ministry.
He just feels
like he hasn't
got the energy
to do it.
And in the
letter he
talked about
how the
limitations of
that disease
are beginning
to take
its toll
on his
body.
Physically
it's slowing
him down.
But by
far the
hardest part
of it is
the impact
that it's
having on
his mind.
He recalls
in this
letter trying
to convince
his neurologist
that they
were in
fact living
in 2008.
And he
was unable
to remember
the name
of the
first
president
of the
United
States.
And you
can hear
in this
letter his
heartbreak
that cognitively
he's beginning
to lose it a
little bit.
But here's
what he said
despite the
heartbreak of
that update
here's how he
ended that
letter.
He said this.
He said
I am not
suffering from
anything that
a good
resurrection
can't fix.
Do you
hear the
faith in
those words?
As horrible
as that is
that is not
where his
story ends.
Friends
there is a
new great
day in our
diaries.
Jesus'
resurrection
is the
beginning of
the remaking
of all
things.
His
glorious
new life
his total
defeat of
death he
will powerfully
share with
all those
who come
to him
today.
This
world is
not all
that there
is.
This
life is
not how
it will
remain.
God has
stepped into
the world
to redeem
it.
And if you
know him
know that
this is your
future.
Verse 58
this is why
he can write
this.
Stand
firm.
You see it
in the text
verse 58
stand firm.
Let nothing
move you.
Give
yourselves
fully to
the work
of the
Lord
knowing that
your labor
your work
for him.
Do you ever
think this to
yourself?
Does it
making any
difference?
What's the
point?
Here's what
Paul says.
Know that
your labor
for him
your trust
in him
is not
in vain.
And so
that's why
Isaiah 25
God's people
declare in
that day
this is our
God.
We waited
for him
and he
came if I
can paraphrase
that he
came and
he triumphed
for us.
Friends our
labor for him
and our trust
in him
is not in
vain.
Let me pray
and maybe
let's just
take a moment
just before we
sing and close
our time
together.
Friends why
don't we
take a moment
just to be
silent.
For some
of us this
will be maybe
the first time
we've heard
this stuff.
Maybe we've
never thought
about Jesus
before.
For all of
us as
others of
us.
Friends I
know that
we're going
through some
serious stuff
and maybe
I pray that
God's spirit
will be
bringing a
fresh
knowledge
of what
he has
achieved
through his
son for us
on the cross
to our
hearts right
now.
And so
glorious God
on this
wonderful
Easter Sunday
we celebrate
the resurrection
of your
son.
And in the
same way
that the
sun rises
may the
light of
his victory
over death
shine into
our hearts.
Would you
fill us
this morning
with joy
and gratitude
gratitude
and may
we leave
here today
buoyed
by the
hope
and the
new life
that is
found in
him
who walked
out of
that tomb
having
declared
on the
cross
that it
is
finished.
Father we
thank you
for your
love for
us this
day.
We thank
you that
we have a
saviour
who is not
dead
but is
alive.
Lord would
you lift
the eyes
of our
hearts
to him
today
and this
is our
prayer
in his
wonderful
and in
his strong
name we
pray.
Amen.