WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:07.520 And if you were, so if you were here last week, you remember Corey spoke on the first 00:00:07.520 --> 00:00:12.080 few verses and Corey had a lot fewer verses than I have to talk about tonight. 00:00:12.080 --> 00:00:15.640 But the important thing is just to remember that there is, I'm going to offer one key 00:00:15.640 --> 00:00:17.280 theme in our passage tonight. 00:00:17.280 --> 00:00:22.280 But what Corey talked about last week was really helpful and it sets up this week because 00:00:22.280 --> 00:00:31.400 Torrey talked about how, and Paul talks about how, when Paul talks about the gospel, what's 00:00:31.400 --> 00:00:37.079 clear is that for Paul the gospel is not primarily a philosophy and it's not primarily a set 00:00:37.079 --> 00:00:40.799 of rules that we need to follow even though those things are related to the gospel. 00:00:40.799 --> 00:00:44.719 But the gospel by definition is good news. 00:00:44.719 --> 00:00:46.520 It's news. 00:00:46.520 --> 00:00:50.439 And Paul summarizes that news in the passages that we looked at last week in verse three 00:00:50.439 --> 00:00:54.599 where he says, Christ died for our sins in accordance with scripture. 00:00:54.599 --> 00:01:01.719 So Christ died, then he was buried, and on the third day he rose in accordance with scripture. 00:01:01.719 --> 00:01:05.560 Paul says that's the gospel that Jesus lived and he was buried. 00:01:05.560 --> 00:01:08.479 He died and then he rose again. 00:01:08.479 --> 00:01:14.180 And Paul would say, if you have a message about Christianity that doesn't include those 00:01:14.180 --> 00:01:18.680 three things, you may have a story, but what you don't have is the gospel. 00:01:18.680 --> 00:01:24.440 And what you don't have is the truth of what actually happened 2000 years ago. 00:01:24.440 --> 00:01:28.880 And that becomes relevant for what Paul talks about in this passage tonight because what 00:01:28.880 --> 00:01:34.000 Paul says here is there were people in the Corinthian church and you see this in verse 00:01:34.000 --> 00:01:39.360 12 who, as far as we can tell, and we can only read through the lines of what Paul says, 00:01:39.360 --> 00:01:42.840 there were people who believed in Jesus somehow. 00:01:42.840 --> 00:01:47.320 And yet they also believed that there was no such thing as a bodily resurrection. 00:01:47.319 --> 00:01:54.719 So in verse 12, Paul says, if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you 00:01:54.719 --> 00:01:58.439 say that there is no resurrection from the dead? 00:01:58.439 --> 00:02:00.519 And this may sound bizarre to you. 00:02:00.519 --> 00:02:05.039 And to be honest, it sounds bizarre to me because it's totally understandable that an atheist, 00:02:05.039 --> 00:02:08.319 for instance, would say Jesus did not rise from the dead. 00:02:08.319 --> 00:02:11.039 That's consistent with their worldview. 00:02:11.039 --> 00:02:15.000 But it's confusing to imagine a situation where a believer in Jesus Christ would at 00:02:15.000 --> 00:02:19.560 the same time say, yes, I believe in him, but there is no bodily resurrection. 00:02:19.560 --> 00:02:25.599 And Paul is in this whole passage, the point of Paul is saying, do you understand what 00:02:25.599 --> 00:02:29.280 that would mean to believe in Jesus? 00:02:29.280 --> 00:02:34.080 And yet at the same time to not believe that one day all of us who believe in Christ will 00:02:34.080 --> 00:02:37.960 be raised in body from the dead. 00:02:37.960 --> 00:02:43.439 And so the theme of tonight, what Paul says is that the gospel itself and our hope in 00:02:43.439 --> 00:02:49.680 the gospel depends on the fact of the resurrection of the body. 00:02:49.680 --> 00:02:54.479 And so all I want to do tonight is look through this passage and answer three questions. 00:02:54.479 --> 00:02:57.039 What do we lose without the resurrection? 00:02:57.039 --> 00:02:59.719 What does it mean that the resurrection is true? 00:02:59.719 --> 00:03:05.079 And then finally, how does the resurrection shape this life for us? 00:03:05.079 --> 00:03:11.439 And you may be saying to yourself, as a Christian, I've never really struggled with whether 00:03:11.439 --> 00:03:16.079 the resurrection is true or not, it seems to go with the definition of Christianity. 00:03:16.079 --> 00:03:17.560 And that's where I am too. 00:03:17.560 --> 00:03:21.560 I don't understand how you could believe in Jesus and not believe in the resurrection. 00:03:21.560 --> 00:03:25.879 But the way that this passage speaks to me and the way that I want to suggest that it 00:03:25.879 --> 00:03:32.639 might speak to all of us tonight, if you are Christians, is do we see, even if we believe 00:03:32.639 --> 00:03:37.879 in the resurrection, do we see the resurrection with the same level of importance that Paul 00:03:37.879 --> 00:03:38.879 does? 00:03:38.879 --> 00:03:44.759 The way that Paul talks about the resurrection, he sounds like a man who, if the resurrection 00:03:44.759 --> 00:03:48.159 weren't true, his life would fall apart. 00:03:48.159 --> 00:03:50.120 And do we feel that same way? 00:03:50.120 --> 00:03:52.680 And if not, why? 00:03:52.680 --> 00:03:57.680 So first in this passage, what do we lose without the resurrection? 00:03:57.680 --> 00:04:03.800 And you see this in verses 12 to 18, and these people have pushed a button with Paul. 00:04:03.800 --> 00:04:09.520 And you could say he goes on a tirade here, but it's also very logical. 00:04:09.520 --> 00:04:14.680 And he gives a bunch of if-then statements just to say, listen, if you are a Christian 00:04:14.680 --> 00:04:18.480 and you don't believe that the dead are raised, do you know what that means? 00:04:18.480 --> 00:04:21.800 Do you know what the consequences of that belief would be? 00:04:21.800 --> 00:04:27.480 And so it's both logical, but it's also very personal because he's saying, don't you realize 00:04:27.480 --> 00:04:32.720 what these facts that you're suggesting would do, not just to the fact of the gospel, but 00:04:32.720 --> 00:04:36.240 to people like us who would put our hope in that. 00:04:36.240 --> 00:04:37.640 And so he runs through a series of ifs. 00:04:37.640 --> 00:04:45.240 And the first one in verse 13, he says, if there is no resurrection from the dead, then 00:04:45.240 --> 00:04:48.360 not even Christ himself has been raised. 00:04:48.360 --> 00:04:52.280 So when these people say they don't believe in the resurrection of the body, they mean 00:04:52.280 --> 00:04:53.640 that as a general statement. 00:04:53.640 --> 00:04:55.280 It's not about Jesus Christ himself. 00:04:55.280 --> 00:04:59.960 They're just saying, when any one of us die, we're not resurrected in the body. 00:04:59.959 --> 00:05:06.839 And Paul is saying, like, if that's what you might call your metaphysics, then not even 00:05:06.839 --> 00:05:10.159 by that standard could Jesus Christ have been raised from the dead? 00:05:10.159 --> 00:05:15.000 And he said, if Jesus Christ has not been raised from the dead, then verse 14, then our preaching 00:05:15.000 --> 00:05:17.919 is in vain and your faith is in vain. 00:05:17.919 --> 00:05:22.120 And then he goes on and he says, in verse, it gets even worse, verse 15, if Christ has 00:05:22.120 --> 00:05:24.839 not been raised from the dead, then what does that mean for our message? 00:05:24.839 --> 00:05:28.839 It means we've been misrepresenting God. 00:05:28.839 --> 00:05:33.000 And then you think he's done with the tirade, that he's had it all out. 00:05:33.000 --> 00:05:34.879 And then he starts it up again in verse 16. 00:05:34.879 --> 00:05:36.719 He says, he repeats himself. 00:05:36.719 --> 00:05:39.879 He says, if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. 00:05:39.879 --> 00:05:43.479 So he wants to make this point very clear that if you don't believe in a resurrection 00:05:43.479 --> 00:05:50.039 of the body, then the historical fact of Jesus Christ resurrection cannot be true. 00:05:50.039 --> 00:05:56.879 And then he says again, if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is futile and 00:05:56.879 --> 00:06:02.159 you're still in your sins because what good does a man whose bones are rotting in the 00:06:02.159 --> 00:06:08.480 grave do for us who would place our hope in that man who's dead? 00:06:08.480 --> 00:06:11.120 And then it gets even more personal. 00:06:11.120 --> 00:06:16.319 And he says in verse 18, if there's no resurrection from the dead, then even those who have fallen 00:06:16.319 --> 00:06:23.719 asleep before us, the people that we know and we love and who we know loved Jesus, they 00:06:23.720 --> 00:06:27.080 have perished and they're never coming back. 00:06:27.080 --> 00:06:33.080 And then last but not least in verse 19, he says, if in Christ we have hope in this life 00:06:33.080 --> 00:06:39.960 only, that is, if all Christianity does for us is what it does while our hearts are beating 00:06:39.960 --> 00:06:48.480 in this life, he says, then we of all people in this world are most to be pitied. 00:06:48.480 --> 00:06:53.560 So when you were, if you step back and you say, what is it stake for Paul and whether 00:06:53.560 --> 00:06:55.280 the resurrection is true or not? 00:06:55.280 --> 00:07:00.480 And for Paul, it's everything, everything that he's based his life on and every hope 00:07:00.480 --> 00:07:08.600 that he has depends on the question of whether or not the dead can be raised from the dead. 00:07:08.600 --> 00:07:13.399 And but if I could summarize those concerns in a different way that Paul has, there's 00:07:13.399 --> 00:07:17.519 something that Paul is getting at about a question that all of us have to face, which 00:07:17.519 --> 00:07:22.639 is this, if there's no resurrection from the dead, well, this is a statement, if there's 00:07:22.639 --> 00:07:30.039 no resurrection from the dead, then our gospel, the gospel of Jesus Christ has no answer to 00:07:30.039 --> 00:07:32.240 the problem of death. 00:07:32.240 --> 00:07:35.599 And not only does it not have an answer to the problem of death, it lies about the answer 00:07:35.599 --> 00:07:41.319 that it does have without the resurrection Christianity. 00:07:41.319 --> 00:07:42.319 It's not just not true. 00:07:42.319 --> 00:07:44.879 It just doesn't make sense anymore. 00:07:44.879 --> 00:07:49.839 There was a one theologian who wrote about this passage in first Corinthians. 00:07:49.839 --> 00:07:54.000 And you know, when you read this passage, obviously what it's talking about is resurrection, 00:07:54.000 --> 00:07:59.519 but the steelogen suggested that what what first Corinthians 15 is really about is not 00:07:59.519 --> 00:08:04.439 in the first place resurrection, but it's death. 00:08:04.439 --> 00:08:08.919 And part of his argument for that is just the sheer number of times that Paul says the words 00:08:08.919 --> 00:08:11.839 the dead in this passage. 00:08:11.839 --> 00:08:16.399 It's 11 times in this chapter and nine times right here. 00:08:16.399 --> 00:08:24.399 And the point that the man was making is Christianity claims to have a response to death. 00:08:24.399 --> 00:08:28.479 And if it's response to death is not a resurrection from the dead, then it has no response to 00:08:28.479 --> 00:08:29.799 death. 00:08:29.799 --> 00:08:33.399 And you know, if we can step back and think about all the world's religions and all the 00:08:33.399 --> 00:08:39.120 philosophies in the world, every religion and every philosophy that's worth its salt 00:08:39.120 --> 00:08:41.319 has something to say about death. 00:08:41.319 --> 00:08:43.879 They don't all say that we'll be resurrected. 00:08:43.879 --> 00:08:46.480 And some of them may on the face of it seem very hopeless. 00:08:46.480 --> 00:08:50.720 They may respond to death by saying we need to accept death. 00:08:50.720 --> 00:08:57.159 You know, that's during this time period, one of the most popular philosophies was Epicureanism. 00:08:57.159 --> 00:09:02.439 And at the end of this chapter, well, at the end of our passage, Paul says, if Christianity 00:09:02.439 --> 00:09:10.840 is not true, then what what is he says, then let us eat drink for tomorrow we die. 00:09:10.840 --> 00:09:14.960 Just a quote from Isaiah, but most people think that he's really pointing to Epicureanism, 00:09:14.960 --> 00:09:19.600 who were these people who said there is nothing after death. 00:09:19.600 --> 00:09:25.680 And therefore, the best thing that you can do with your life is is to make the most of 00:09:25.680 --> 00:09:26.680 it. 00:09:26.680 --> 00:09:30.000 And you know, some people took that in direction of find all the pleasure that you can and 00:09:30.000 --> 00:09:32.480 some people had a more mature view of that. 00:09:32.480 --> 00:09:38.320 But basically the Epicurean said the meaning of life is whatever you can find here and 00:09:38.320 --> 00:09:39.320 there's nothing afterwards. 00:09:39.320 --> 00:09:43.360 And Paul says, if there's no resurrection from the dead, that must be our motto too. 00:09:43.360 --> 00:09:48.200 And he's being somewhat sarcastic, but you can see what he's saying. 00:09:48.200 --> 00:09:53.960 And at least the Epicureans were honest enough to say what they believed and to face the 00:09:53.960 --> 00:09:59.520 fact of death. 00:09:59.520 --> 00:10:02.600 But Paul has seen the resurrected Christ. 00:10:02.600 --> 00:10:04.120 So it's not just logic here. 00:10:04.120 --> 00:10:07.160 Paul has seen the resurrected Christ. 00:10:07.159 --> 00:10:10.240 This came to him in body. 00:10:10.240 --> 00:10:18.639 And verse 26 of this passage, Paul says that the greatest enemy that we have is death. 00:10:18.639 --> 00:10:25.079 And in Jesus Christ, he saw with his own eyes an actual response to death, which is that 00:10:25.079 --> 00:10:29.799 it can be conquered and that there is one who has come who has conquered it. 00:10:29.799 --> 00:10:36.439 And Paul is saying, I have put all my hope on the belief that Jesus Christ really did 00:10:36.440 --> 00:10:39.840 rise from the dead because I saw it with my own eyes. 00:10:39.840 --> 00:10:45.440 And because he's the only philosophy and the only religion that I have ever found that 00:10:45.440 --> 00:10:49.760 has looked death in the face and conquered it. 00:10:49.760 --> 00:10:53.480 And so Christians are people. 00:10:53.480 --> 00:10:57.320 Paul saying, I have put all my cards on this fact of the resurrection. 00:10:57.320 --> 00:11:03.040 That's what Christians are people who say all of our hope is on this fact that we believe 00:11:03.039 --> 00:11:07.199 that Jesus Christ has risen from the dead and that there is a resurrection of the dead. 00:11:07.199 --> 00:11:12.559 You know, C.S. Lewis had this quote that you may have heard before where he says, Christianity 00:11:12.559 --> 00:11:15.240 if false is of no importance. 00:11:15.240 --> 00:11:19.000 And if it's true, it's of infinite importance. 00:11:19.000 --> 00:11:24.719 And the only he says, and then he says, the only thing it cannot be as moderately important. 00:11:24.719 --> 00:11:29.919 And Paul is someone who would say, because Christianity is true, it's infinitely important. 00:11:29.919 --> 00:11:34.199 And if there were no resurrection from the dead, not only would it not be important, 00:11:34.199 --> 00:11:35.360 it would be pitiful. 00:11:35.360 --> 00:11:39.439 It would be worth pitying people who believed in it. 00:11:39.439 --> 00:11:44.360 So that's as much bad news as we'll take for a few moments. 00:11:44.360 --> 00:11:47.839 That's what Paul says happens if the resurrection is not true. 00:11:47.839 --> 00:11:52.919 And then he moves on and he talks about what does it mean that the resurrection is true? 00:11:52.919 --> 00:11:55.000 And you see this in verse 20. 00:11:55.000 --> 00:11:59.439 Paul says, so he presents this dystopian idea of how bad it would be if the resurrection 00:11:59.440 --> 00:12:00.440 weren't true. 00:12:00.440 --> 00:12:05.880 And then he says in verse 20, but in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead. 00:12:05.880 --> 00:12:10.160 And then he talks about all the things that flow from the fact that Christ has been raised 00:12:10.160 --> 00:12:11.320 from the dead. 00:12:11.320 --> 00:12:14.320 And what's beautiful and interesting is, you know, of course, this would have made Paul 00:12:14.320 --> 00:12:15.800 very happy. 00:12:15.800 --> 00:12:23.160 But the news of the gospel isn't just to create a happy mood. 00:12:23.160 --> 00:12:25.960 It actually changes history itself. 00:12:25.960 --> 00:12:30.639 And Paul presents the resurrection in the light of the whole narrative arc of human 00:12:30.639 --> 00:12:32.600 history and of scripture. 00:12:32.600 --> 00:12:37.400 And in verse 21, he says that when Adam first sinned, death entered into the world so that 00:12:37.400 --> 00:12:40.120 all of us carry around the weight of sin and death. 00:12:40.120 --> 00:12:45.280 And the way that he presents Jesus is a response to what has happened to all of us, which is 00:12:45.280 --> 00:12:50.600 that we've inherited Adam's sin and death and that all of us, well, all of us are going 00:12:50.600 --> 00:12:52.840 to die one day. 00:12:52.840 --> 00:13:00.759 And Paul says here in verse 22, as in Adam all die, so all in Christ shall be made alive, 00:13:00.759 --> 00:13:03.440 shall be resurrected. 00:13:03.440 --> 00:13:10.639 And that's a theological statement, but it's a theological statement that changes history. 00:13:10.639 --> 00:13:18.080 And what Paul is doing is he's saying, if you believe in Jesus Christ, and if you believe 00:13:18.080 --> 00:13:21.600 in Jesus Christ, then you are united to Jesus Christ. 00:13:21.600 --> 00:13:26.720 And what that means is when you look in history and you consider the historical resurrection 00:13:26.720 --> 00:13:34.519 of Jesus, you can look and in some sense, you can see yourself in that resurrection. 00:13:34.519 --> 00:13:41.159 Because just as 2000 years ago, Jesus lived and he died and he rose again. 00:13:41.159 --> 00:13:48.120 If you are united to Christ, then you, well, if you're now you are alive, one day you will 00:13:48.120 --> 00:13:51.040 die if Christ doesn't return before then. 00:13:51.039 --> 00:13:57.679 But one day, because you're united to Christ, just like him, you will rise from the dead 00:13:57.679 --> 00:14:02.399 or to put it more theologically accurately, you will be raised from the dead. 00:14:02.399 --> 00:14:05.199 God will raise you up. 00:14:05.199 --> 00:14:06.199 And this is beautiful. 00:14:06.199 --> 00:14:11.000 I mean, Paul is really saying, look at Jesus and see your future because what happened to 00:14:11.000 --> 00:14:12.639 Jesus will happen to you. 00:14:12.639 --> 00:14:16.480 And it could be you may die tomorrow. 00:14:16.480 --> 00:14:23.560 And it may be 10,000 years before God comes, before Jesus Christ returns. 00:14:23.560 --> 00:14:28.159 And Paul is saying, even if that were true, the distance between your death and your resurrection 00:14:28.159 --> 00:14:30.200 is 10,000 years. 00:14:30.200 --> 00:14:33.360 Still, God would not forget you. 00:14:33.360 --> 00:14:38.600 And he will raise you up one day with as much joy and as much love as he raised his own 00:14:38.600 --> 00:14:45.320 son up with because you were united to him. 00:14:45.320 --> 00:14:48.200 And there's a word that Paul uses to describe Jesus here. 00:14:48.200 --> 00:14:49.720 And he calls him the first fruits. 00:14:49.720 --> 00:14:51.680 He says that in verse 20. 00:14:51.680 --> 00:14:56.040 He says, Christ has been raised from the dead. 00:14:56.040 --> 00:14:59.600 Therefore he's the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. 00:14:59.600 --> 00:15:03.200 And you can probably infer, even if you've never been to a church before, what the term 00:15:03.200 --> 00:15:05.760 first fruits means. 00:15:05.760 --> 00:15:10.520 It has some sacrificial meaning, but it also just means it's the first part of a crop. 00:15:10.519 --> 00:15:18.079 So when Paul calls Jesus the first fruits from the dead, what he's saying is, when you 00:15:18.079 --> 00:15:23.000 look at Jesus, you know that there's a much bigger harvest than what you're looking at. 00:15:23.000 --> 00:15:25.600 And he's only the first part of it. 00:15:25.600 --> 00:15:29.639 And that means that Jesus' resurrection is not just a symbol of the fact that one day 00:15:29.639 --> 00:15:31.039 will be resurrected. 00:15:31.039 --> 00:15:32.960 It's actually evidence of it. 00:15:32.960 --> 00:15:37.720 So that you can actually contemplate Jesus' resurrection and say, that is the evidence 00:15:37.720 --> 00:15:45.000 that I have that one day, if I'm in Christ, I'll be resurrected. 00:15:45.000 --> 00:15:47.000 Old Testament story, Noah. 00:15:47.000 --> 00:15:54.080 You remember when Noah was in the boat, the whole earth had been flooded. 00:15:54.080 --> 00:15:56.279 There was chaos all around. 00:15:56.279 --> 00:16:01.000 And Noah has been in this boat for days and days and days. 00:16:01.000 --> 00:16:04.080 And there's no side of land. 00:16:04.080 --> 00:16:10.720 And towards the end of the rain, Noah begins sending out birds to look for some sign that 00:16:10.720 --> 00:16:12.440 land is ahead. 00:16:12.440 --> 00:16:14.560 And he keeps sending out birds and he never finds. 00:16:14.560 --> 00:16:17.440 The birds keep coming back with nothing. 00:16:17.440 --> 00:16:23.080 And then one day he sends out a dove and the dove comes back with what? 00:16:23.080 --> 00:16:29.240 A single, freshly picked olive leaf. 00:16:29.240 --> 00:16:34.279 And it's the smallest thing from a little bird that who knows how far away it's flown. 00:16:34.279 --> 00:16:42.960 But to Noah, that was everything because in that moment, Noah held in his hands the proof 00:16:42.960 --> 00:16:50.480 that safety was ahead and that his life was secure because there was land out there. 00:16:50.480 --> 00:16:58.519 In that sense, that fig served as the first fruits of a hope that he knew that was ahead. 00:16:58.519 --> 00:17:02.319 And I thought of that story this week because it reminded me that we can think the same 00:17:02.319 --> 00:17:05.599 way about Jesus' resurrection. 00:17:05.599 --> 00:17:10.639 When we see the resurrection, when we see that it happened historically, that's a sign 00:17:10.639 --> 00:17:16.240 to us that there is safety ahead for us, that there is life ahead for us. 00:17:16.240 --> 00:17:24.319 It's like, it's a sign from the future saying, this is what you have to expect in your future. 00:17:24.319 --> 00:17:30.799 One of the reasons that some people say that some of the Corinthians denied the resurrection 00:17:30.799 --> 00:17:34.839 is because they believe that it already happened, which is interesting because if you read your 00:17:34.839 --> 00:17:41.559 Bible sometimes, Paul talks about the Christian life as if we've already been resurrected. 00:17:41.559 --> 00:17:44.039 So you can almost understand why they might think that. 00:17:44.039 --> 00:17:50.159 There's a passage in Corinthians, Colossians 3-1, where Paul looks at the believers and 00:17:50.159 --> 00:17:52.559 he says, you have been raised with Christ. 00:17:52.559 --> 00:17:56.960 So you can see why they might say, well, haven't we already been resurrected? 00:17:56.960 --> 00:18:02.200 And the truth is, it's both and that God has already transformed us and he's raised us 00:18:02.200 --> 00:18:04.399 from the dead and he's given us a new heart. 00:18:04.399 --> 00:18:06.159 But that's not the end of the story. 00:18:06.159 --> 00:18:08.079 And you could think about it like this. 00:18:08.079 --> 00:18:15.279 I heard this illustration that when you believe, when you put your faith in your hope in Christ, 00:18:15.279 --> 00:18:19.599 it's like you've been rescued from the water and you've been put on the boat. 00:18:19.599 --> 00:18:23.719 And then one day you look forward to the chance when you'll finally make it to land. 00:18:23.719 --> 00:18:33.799 And that's when God reunites you to your body and you live forever with him. 00:18:33.799 --> 00:18:38.759 Paul is so sure of the resurrection that he won't even call it death, that Christians 00:18:38.759 --> 00:18:39.759 experience. 00:18:39.759 --> 00:18:40.759 What does he call it? 00:18:40.759 --> 00:18:43.399 He says in verse 20, he calls it sleep. 00:18:43.399 --> 00:18:48.119 And when I was back in Mississippi over Christmas break, I went and visited the graveyard of 00:18:48.119 --> 00:18:50.079 my ancestors. 00:18:50.079 --> 00:18:55.159 And one of the most beautiful things was that in the graveyard, a lot of the headstones 00:18:55.159 --> 00:19:00.539 just put the name of the person, the dates that they lived, and then under it in place 00:19:00.539 --> 00:19:03.279 of where you might have something like rest in peace. 00:19:03.279 --> 00:19:09.119 The quote on a lot of the gravestones was only sleeping. 00:19:09.119 --> 00:19:13.759 And we don't use that language a lot when we describe people who have passed away before 00:19:13.759 --> 00:19:17.719 us that they've, sometimes we'll say they've fallen asleep. 00:19:17.720 --> 00:19:22.079 But it may sound too euphemistic. 00:19:22.079 --> 00:19:27.400 But Paul is saying the confidence that we have in the resurrection is so sure that even 00:19:27.400 --> 00:19:32.640 though we can call death the last enemy, and even though we can hate death and we can shout 00:19:32.640 --> 00:19:39.319 at it and we can say that we cannot wait for Jesus to destroy it, we can also say that 00:19:39.319 --> 00:19:41.559 death is just sleep. 00:19:41.559 --> 00:19:46.519 Because one day we will wake up and we will rise and we will be in the presence of our 00:19:46.519 --> 00:19:49.799 Creator and have joy. 00:19:49.799 --> 00:19:58.039 So that's what Paul says about the fact that the resurrection is true. 00:19:58.039 --> 00:20:00.879 And then I want to close with this. 00:20:00.879 --> 00:20:04.720 How can the resurrection shape this life? 00:20:04.720 --> 00:20:09.039 And Paul gets to this at least implied in the last five verses. 00:20:09.039 --> 00:20:16.480 And I need to take just one brief intermission because there's a passage in this, well there's 00:20:16.480 --> 00:20:19.879 a verse in this passage that's so strange that if I don't address it, I don't know, 00:20:19.879 --> 00:20:23.319 somebody here, surely one person's thought about it when I said it. 00:20:23.319 --> 00:20:26.440 In verse 29, Paul says the weirdest thing. 00:20:26.440 --> 00:20:33.720 He says, otherwise, what do people mean by being baptized on behalf of the dead? 00:20:33.720 --> 00:20:38.799 If the dead are not raised at all, why are people being baptized on their behalf? 00:20:38.799 --> 00:20:40.200 And that's a strange verse. 00:20:40.200 --> 00:20:42.960 It's one of the strangest verses in all the New Testament. 00:20:42.960 --> 00:20:50.159 And I just want to suggest to you one idea of what Paul might mean here, even though 00:20:50.159 --> 00:20:55.039 by one scholar's estimate there's 40 different interpretations of what this passage means. 00:20:55.039 --> 00:20:57.839 Let me just give you one idea so that you can at least make sense of what's going on 00:20:57.839 --> 00:20:58.839 here. 00:20:58.839 --> 00:21:06.200 Some people have suggested that when the Corinthians were baptizing on behalf of the dead, what 00:21:06.200 --> 00:21:11.600 was happening was there were Christians who had died before they had had the chance to 00:21:11.600 --> 00:21:13.640 be baptized. 00:21:13.640 --> 00:21:19.840 And so the Corinthians thought it would be wise to baptize on their behalf. 00:21:19.840 --> 00:21:23.519 And so the obvious question is, well, aren't we baptizing on behalf of the dead? 00:21:23.519 --> 00:21:28.279 And just notice that Paul does not approve of that practice. 00:21:28.279 --> 00:21:30.640 He doesn't approve or disapprove in the passage. 00:21:30.640 --> 00:21:34.240 We have no evidence of this happening in early Christianity. 00:21:34.240 --> 00:21:39.000 And the reason that Paul mentions it here is just to say, you people are doing this 00:21:39.000 --> 00:21:40.599 thing. 00:21:40.599 --> 00:21:43.759 Why would you say the resurrection of the dead is not true if you're doing it? 00:21:43.759 --> 00:21:50.599 So if you want more information, I can email you some resources, but I just wanted to mention 00:21:50.599 --> 00:21:51.599 that. 00:21:51.599 --> 00:21:54.240 Okay, so how does this change? 00:21:54.240 --> 00:21:59.720 How does the resurrection of the dead change this life? 00:21:59.720 --> 00:22:06.960 Well, it's personal here in the last few verses and in verse 30, he says, why if the resurrection 00:22:06.960 --> 00:22:11.920 of the dead is not true, why are we in danger every hour? 00:22:11.920 --> 00:22:15.039 And then he says, I die every day. 00:22:15.039 --> 00:22:18.519 What do I gain if I fought with the beasted Ephesus? 00:22:18.519 --> 00:22:22.200 If the debt or not raised, let us eat and drink for tomorrow we die. 00:22:22.200 --> 00:22:27.799 And if you know anything about Paul, you know that Paul's life was not easy. 00:22:27.799 --> 00:22:33.879 In the next letter that we have of Paul to the Corinthians, Paul gives this incredible 00:22:33.879 --> 00:22:37.200 list of all the things that he has gone through for the sake of the gospel. 00:22:37.200 --> 00:22:41.879 He says things like he received 40 lashes five times. 00:22:41.879 --> 00:22:43.960 He was beaten with rods three times. 00:22:43.960 --> 00:22:47.680 He was stoned once, shipwrecked three times. 00:22:47.680 --> 00:22:50.359 Danger from rivers, robbers, his own people. 00:22:50.359 --> 00:22:51.359 Danger from Gentiles. 00:22:51.359 --> 00:22:53.279 He lists all this out. 00:22:53.279 --> 00:22:58.599 In toil and hardship, sleepless nights, hunger and thirst, often without food and cold and 00:22:58.599 --> 00:23:01.799 exposure. 00:23:01.799 --> 00:23:06.359 Paul is saying if there is no resurrection from the dead, the life that I have lived 00:23:06.359 --> 00:23:08.599 these past years makes no sense. 00:23:08.599 --> 00:23:10.119 Not only does it make no sense, it was worthless. 00:23:10.119 --> 00:23:12.440 It was pitiful. 00:23:12.440 --> 00:23:16.960 And he says if there's no resurrection from the dead, the mildly response must be to eat 00:23:16.960 --> 00:23:23.079 and drink for tomorrow I die. 00:23:23.079 --> 00:23:30.240 But that idea of hopelessness at the idea that the resurrection is not true has an alternative 00:23:30.240 --> 00:23:38.279 in the life of Paul, which is this, that Paul can say if the resurrection of the dead is 00:23:38.279 --> 00:23:44.079 true, then all of these things I have been through, all of the pain and the suffering 00:23:44.079 --> 00:23:48.519 and the sorrow was worth it. 00:23:48.519 --> 00:23:49.639 That's the assumption here, right? 00:23:49.640 --> 00:23:54.080 Is that Paul is saying because the resurrection of the dead is true, I can face all these 00:23:54.080 --> 00:23:57.400 trials in my life. 00:23:57.400 --> 00:24:04.520 And that's how the resurrection of the dead can change our present. 00:24:04.520 --> 00:24:08.120 Is that it changes the way that we view every day of our lives. 00:24:08.120 --> 00:24:12.200 And it gives us hope that no matter what we face in this life, there's another one. 00:24:12.200 --> 00:24:15.800 There was an old man who preached at our church this morning, who was 58 years old. 00:24:15.800 --> 00:24:17.280 His name was Derek Lamont. 00:24:17.279 --> 00:24:23.399 And Derek said, if I was 58, if I didn't believe in Christianity, I'd be falling apart. 00:24:23.399 --> 00:24:26.440 I'm paraphrasing what you said. 00:24:26.440 --> 00:24:33.000 But his point was you come to the end of your life and the ability to make use of it. 00:24:33.000 --> 00:24:36.480 And its meaning grows dimmer and dimmer and dimmer. 00:24:36.480 --> 00:24:39.720 And yet if you believe in Jesus Christ and you believe that you'll be raised from the 00:24:39.720 --> 00:24:42.240 dead, there's a hope. 00:24:42.240 --> 00:24:46.799 Even in the last day of your life, there's a hope that your life has not even begun. 00:24:46.799 --> 00:24:49.119 But there's more than that. 00:24:49.119 --> 00:24:52.359 Because if you believe in the resurrection of the dead, it doesn't just mean that you 00:24:52.359 --> 00:24:55.759 can be happy, that you'll live forever. 00:24:55.759 --> 00:25:00.639 It also means that in this life, you can give yourself away. 00:25:00.639 --> 00:25:02.399 And you can take risks. 00:25:02.399 --> 00:25:07.839 Because you know that whatever you lose in this life will not be lost for good. 00:25:07.839 --> 00:25:13.399 And whatever you give away will be given back to you in eternity, or you'll receive more 00:25:13.399 --> 00:25:16.000 than you ever could have received here. 00:25:16.000 --> 00:25:21.599 And Paul, the way that Paul described his own sacrifice, he says, I die every day. 00:25:21.599 --> 00:25:30.039 And you know, there are some people who are hard on their bodies and are hard on their 00:25:30.039 --> 00:25:32.759 discipline because they want to get better and better and better. 00:25:32.759 --> 00:25:38.960 But Paul was hard on himself in such a way that he was giving himself away. 00:25:38.960 --> 00:25:40.559 His lifeblood was flowing out of him. 00:25:40.559 --> 00:25:45.559 And he knew that death was coming and it could come because of the gospel that he was spreading 00:25:45.559 --> 00:25:51.919 and he was saying, it would be okay to give up my life for the gospel. 00:25:51.919 --> 00:25:56.960 I don't have to hold that tightly because I know of the future hope that I have. 00:25:56.960 --> 00:26:02.279 There was an eerie scene in a TV show that I watched a long time ago called Band of Brothers, 00:26:02.279 --> 00:26:05.879 which is a World War II series that you may have seen. 00:26:05.879 --> 00:26:11.399 And there was a young soldier who was, he was deathly afraid of battle. 00:26:11.400 --> 00:26:16.880 And he could not bring himself in one battle to get out of a ditch and go fight. 00:26:16.880 --> 00:26:22.240 And a mentor comes to him in the dark of night once and tries to talk him through his fears 00:26:22.240 --> 00:26:24.800 and explain his fears to him. 00:26:24.800 --> 00:26:28.480 And this other soldier is the epitome of bravery. 00:26:28.480 --> 00:26:33.600 And he looks at the young man and he says, you hid in that ditch. 00:26:33.600 --> 00:26:34.840 He was talking about him when he hid in the ditch. 00:26:34.840 --> 00:26:40.480 He said, you hid in that ditch because you think there's still hope. 00:26:40.480 --> 00:26:43.720 And the soldier, Blythe was his name. 00:26:43.720 --> 00:26:49.240 He says, the only hope you have is to accept the fact that you're already dead. 00:26:49.240 --> 00:26:54.120 And the sooner you accept that, the sooner you'll be able to function as a soldier is 00:26:54.120 --> 00:26:56.039 supposed to function. 00:26:56.039 --> 00:26:57.680 All war depends on it. 00:26:57.680 --> 00:27:03.519 That was a very Epicurean explanation, but he was saying, his explanation for how to 00:27:03.519 --> 00:27:07.880 find bravery is accept the fact that your situation is hopeless. 00:27:07.880 --> 00:27:14.000 And the sooner you can do that, the sooner you can make the most of what you have. 00:27:14.000 --> 00:27:17.200 The gospel comes to us and it says the exact opposite. 00:27:17.200 --> 00:27:23.080 It says, because you have hope, you can take risks and you can get out of the ditch and 00:27:23.080 --> 00:27:28.000 you can face your fears because you know that your future is secure. 00:27:28.000 --> 00:27:34.160 And in the same way that he told this soldier, you must accept your death. 00:27:34.160 --> 00:27:40.600 Paul comes to us in this passage and he says, you must accept the resurrection. 00:27:40.600 --> 00:27:46.880 And until we accept the resurrection, we will cling tightly to the things of this world 00:27:46.880 --> 00:27:51.519 and we will live in fear and we'll be afraid to give away our money and we'll be afraid 00:27:51.519 --> 00:27:56.800 to give away our time and we'll be afraid to give away our love. 00:27:56.800 --> 00:28:00.400 But if we can believe in the resurrection and if we can place it at the center of our 00:28:00.400 --> 00:28:06.320 hearts like Paul does, then it doesn't just secure our future. 00:28:06.320 --> 00:28:11.519 It changes who we are today so that we can become more like Christ and we can live in 00:28:11.519 --> 00:28:14.560 the kind of hope that Paul has found. 00:28:14.560 --> 00:28:21.400 So one application tonight is tomorrow morning, think about the resurrection and just say 00:28:21.400 --> 00:28:28.920 to yourself, if this is true, how does this change the way that I live today? 00:28:28.920 --> 00:28:32.840 Let's pray. 00:28:32.840 --> 00:28:40.200 Heavenly Father, we love your gospel and we could speak about it week after week and 00:28:40.200 --> 00:28:44.160 we will speak about it week after week and we'll never go tired of it because you've 00:28:44.160 --> 00:28:49.880 saved us, you've redeemed us, you've forgiven us for our sins and we pray that we would 00:28:49.880 --> 00:28:55.080 rejoice in our resurrection and that it would not be something that we forget about in our 00:28:55.079 --> 00:29:00.679 day to day lives but that it would motivate us and it would give us a security that only 00:29:00.679 --> 00:29:01.799 you can offer us. 00:29:01.799 --> 00:29:04.359 We ask all this in your Son's name tonight. 00:29:04.359 --> 00:29:25.199 Amen.