All right, we're going to read together from God's Word from the New Testament.
From 1 Corinthians 15, and that's verses 35 all the way down to 58.
So we have Bibles upstairs and downstairs.
If you'd like to have a hard copy of God's Word today, feel free to grab one of those.
It's also, the text is printed in the bulletin as well.
And then you can also read along on the screens as I read for us.
So let's look at God's Word together.
Paul writes,
But someone will ask, how are the dead raised?
With what kind of body do they come?
You foolish person, what you sow does not come to life unless it dies.
And what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare seed, perhaps of wheat or some other grain.
But God gives it a body as He has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body.
For not all flesh is the same.
But there is one kind for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish.
There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is of one kind, and the glory of the earthly is another.
Then there is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars.
For stars differ from star in glory.
So it is with the resurrection of the dead.
What is sown is perishable, but what is raised is imperishable.
It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory.
It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power.
It is sown in natural body, it is raised, a spiritual body.
If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.
Thus it is written, the first man, Adam, became a living being.
The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.
But it is not the spiritual that is the first, but the natural, and then the spiritual.
The first man was from the earth, a man of dust.
The second man is from heaven.
As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust.
And as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven.
Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.
I tell you this, brothers.
Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God.
Nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.
Behold, I tell you a mystery.
We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed.
In 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.
For this perishable body must put on the imperishable.
And this mortal body must put on immortality.
When 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.
O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?
The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.
But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast and movable, always abounding in the work of the Lord,
knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.
This is God's holy word.
For three weeks, we've been working through this chapter, 1 Corinthians 15.
This is our final look at it here on Easter Sunday.
And if I was to put it all together, 1 Corinthians 15 as a chapter, it's an argument.
And Paul is saying to every single one of us that the resurrection of Jesus Christ
gives us today a hope and future glory that is so certain that it can change us in the present.
So he's saying to us that the resurrection of Jesus Christ is a hope, a future glory,
that's so certain that it has the power to change you in the present,
to have an immediate effect on your life.
Right here.
And so Paul's been making this argument, and he said that Jesus Christ really did die
for the forgiveness of all sins.
And he said he really was buried because he was actually dead.
And he really was raised from the dead, not just as a mere symbol,
but physically, bodily, he was raised from the dead on the third day.
And that means in his power, the Holy Spirit brings that to matter to us
right here, right now, in 2025.
The resurrection matters right here, right now, today.
How?
Two things, two ways.
Number one, death has been defeated.
Number two, you have hope today in a holistic glory.
So those two things, let's think about them.
The resurrection matters right now because death has already been defeated.
That's the first thing we learn here.
Now, this is a formal argument Paul's making in this chapter,
but he lands on the conclusion down in verses 54 and 55,
and it's where he says this poetic form here, quoting from the Old Testament,
the conclusion, death is swallowed up in victory.
Death, where is thy sting?
So he's been making this very formal argument.
It's been philosophical.
It's in this Greek philosophical style that would have matched the Corinthian philosophical environment.
But then he gets to the conclusion.
He just says, death, you've been swallowed up, Isaiah 25.
Where is thy sting?
No more.
And so he enters into this moment where he taunts death,
and then he just starts to worship.
That's his conclusion.
Now, there is lots of argumentation and detail and important words and clauses all throughout this chapter.
We've looked at some of them the past couple of weeks,
and it would be easy to get way down into all the little details that Paul's probably addressing in the context.
But I don't want to overcomplicate it, and I know that sometimes I do overcomplicate it.
So let's be simple.
Right?
Paul is saying, we're all going to die.
And he's saying, we don't want to die.
We want to live.
And with Dylan Thomas, we say, I rage against the dying of the light.
Right?
I will not go gently.
I don't want to die.
Death is our great enemy.
And here in verse 38, especially in 55, he's saying,
but God will raise the dead because Jesus is alive.
And he starts to worship.
And that's basically the whole of it.
And verse 38 is really the turning point.
A lot of commentators will point this out because in verse 38, he says,
but God gives the body.
So people in this day are saying, but Paul, how could somebody be raised from the dead?
And he says in verse 38, God can do it.
And then he just starts to worship at the end of this passage.
And that's really the whole of it.
We said last week, if there is no resurrection of the dead, God is not God.
Paul says you can go worship a different God altogether if Jesus is not alive.
If there is no resurrection, God is not God.
But the God who raised Jesus Christ from the dead can raise you.
He can raise you from the dead.
He has that power.
Now, let's get into the details a little bit.
Paul is dealing with skepticism in Corinth.
And that's why the text begins in verse 35 by him saying,
but somebody is going to ask a question.
So he's basically just saying there's going to be objections.
Somebody is going to object to what I'm saying.
What is the objection?
Somebody is going to ask, how are the dead raised?
And you can see that he's dealing with something that's frustrating him.
He says, oh, foolish person for asking a question like that.
Because basically what's happening is people are making fun of the concept of the resurrection.
And in this time in Greek philosophy, people are saying things like,
how can it be that when somebody's body goes down into the grave and they decay,
or let's say in our time they're cremated, we ask these same questions,
and their particles go into dust and they become dust.
He's saying, you and Corinth, some of you have been making fun of that and saying,
oh, Paul, you've been talking about resurrection, but how is it that,
are all the dust particles that have fed the grass going to come back together?
Is that what it's going to look, in other words, they're saying,
are we looking for a zombie apocalypse situation?
So is it going to be that when the resurrection happens,
people are going to have their particles come back together in a bandaged way?
They're going to stick their arms through the dirt?
In the same way we say, what exactly should we think about how the resurrection works?
How could a person have a resurrection body?
Anthony Thistleton, one commentator, he puts it a little more elegantly
than zombie apocalypse language.
He says, they're asking, can we conceive of such a thing,
such an impossible thing,
that somebody who has died and decayed could come back from the dead?
And he says, what are the mechanics of that?
How could that work?
That's the objection that's coming up in Corinth.
And now, we can think about that in a Greek perspective.
The Epicurean philosophers were saying,
once somebody disintegrates, they don't come back together.
And in the same way, we can think about objections
that come up to the resurrection in our time.
It's very similar for us today.
And in our time, I think the most common view,
counter to the idea of the Christian resurrection,
is that people will say that death is normal.
Even though they'll say, death is a friend.
Death is something that you can befriend,
that you can count as simply normal.
Dylan Thomas has that famous line I quoted earlier,
where we say, I rage, I rage against the dying of the light.
But we often don't read the next line right after that.
And this is what he says,
those,
though wise men at their end,
know dark is right.
So we rage,
we rage against the dying of the light.
He wrote that for his father on his deathbed.
But the very next line,
though wise men,
at their end,
know the dark is right.
What was he saying?
He was saying,
yes,
on the one hand,
we modern people,
we hate death.
And we say,
I will not go gently.
But at the same time,
he was saying,
but we know as modern people as well,
death is right.
It's good.
It has to be that way.
It's part of the natural process.
And so many,
many people in our culture today would say,
death is not an enemy.
Death is a friend.
Death is necessary.
Death is part of the natural order.
It has to be that way
if we're going to continue as a species,
if we're going to survive in this world.
And so the naturalist position,
that's what that's called.
There's a man named Todd May
who wrote a book called Death.
And he's an atheist philosopher.
And I really appreciated it
because he was very honest.
And he writes this,
I know that death is necessary,
but I hate to think about it.
And he says,
the silence that is death,
the idea of me
not being here any longer,
it's something else entirely.
It seems to resist fault altogether.
It's a wall that my mind runs up against
without being able to penetrate
or find its way around it.
It confronts me
as an incomprehensibility.
Sometimes I wonder,
what is the point
if death is to undermine
all the meaning
that I've created in my life?
Now, we ignore death
as much as we can
as modern people
because we don't see it
as much as people used to see it.
It's behind closed doors.
It's under sedation.
Right?
Or,
we call it normal.
And we might even call it a friend.
And remember what Mufasa said about it.
Remember?
He said,
Simba and Mufasa,
what do they do?
They eat the antelopes
and then they die
and they become grass
and the antelopes eat the grass
and it's the circle of life
and it's beautiful.
Right?
But,
I don't know if you've ever seen
a lion eat an antelope.
It's not that beautiful.
But far beyond that,
have you ever seen
a human being die?
See,
death,
Paul's saying something
very different.
Death is not a friend.
Death is ugly.
And in our modern advances
in medicine,
we're able to sedate
and we're able to
push back the ugliness
in a way,
but it always comes out.
Death is ugly.
It's not beautiful.
Death is an intruder.
Death is an enemy.
Death is punishment.
Death is a sin.
And the Greeks,
knowing that
there wasn't going to be
a physical afterlife,
that's what they thought,
they would say things like,
will anybody remember me
after I die?
You remember Achilles,
you know,
he said,
I will go into battle
and I die
as long as they raise
a statue for me.
And that was the greatest hope
is that you might be remembered.
But is anybody remembered?
Think about it.
Can any of you
say anything
about your great,
great grandparents?
Maybe,
maybe some of us,
the oldest in the room,
maybe could say their names.
Maybe.
But most of us,
not a single word.
We can't say anything about them.
There's a famous
tale by Percy Shelley
called Ozymandias.
He was the husband
of Mary Shelley
who wrote the book
Frankenstein.
Shout out to Edinburgh
for inspiring
Frankenstein,
the book.
And Percy wrote
a little tale,
a short little tale
about a man
who was out in the desert
and he writes this,
I met a traveler
from an antique land
who told me
about a desert monument
and on the pedestal
these words appear,
my name is Ozymandias,
king of kings.
Look upon my works,
ye mighty,
in despair.
But nothing beside
remains.
Round the decay
of that colossal wreck,
boundless and bare,
the lone and level sands
stretch far away.
Even the greatest people
in all of world history
that have done the most,
nobody really remembers them.
And nobody will.
Happy Easter.
Right?
You walk through
a graveyard,
have you had this experience
where
you walk through
a graveyard
and
you enjoy it,
you see the beauty
of a graveyard
right in a way
and you look at
the headstones
and you read about
all these people
and you think,
wow,
I wonder what their story
was like.
And you see,
when did they die,
when were they born,
when did they die,
how long did they live,
what caused their death,
you look for things like that
all in the graveyard.
But at the end of the day,
at the end of the day,
what you realize is what?
You don't know anybody
in the graveyard.
Not really.
And you realize
your name
is going to be there.
And one day,
what's left
is going to say,
here lies
Corey.
And somebody's
going to walk by
and they're going to say,
oh,
when was he born?
When did he die?
Is there a single line
about who he was?
And they'll know nothing.
Right?
And that's all of us.
We all are facing that.
We're all facing death.
And the naturalist
naturalist,
the naturalist,
the modern naturalist
comes and says,
you see,
that's a good thing
because death
brings meaning to life.
And if that wasn't
going to be the case,
I would never appreciate
life as it is today.
I wouldn't have any meaning
in my life right now.
Paul comes with
a very different idea.
And he says,
death does not bring
meaning to life.
The resurrection does.
Only the resurrection
brings meaning to life.
Death is an intruder,
an ancient foe.
And only the resurrection
gives real meaning,
real hope.
Death makes us,
look,
death makes us nameless.
Christ remembers our name.
How does he argue this?
Verse 37,
it feels like a complicated argument,
but it's quite simple.
He says,
people in Corinth were saying,
look, Paul,
explain it.
How does it happen?
You're saying people's
decayed body parts
will come back together somehow?
And he says,
you foolish,
that's a foolish question.
And then he says,
let me say this.
He doesn't give us much,
but he says,
let me say this.
You go down into the ground,
you're sown like a seed.
And in a way,
metaphorically,
that seed dies.
That seed goes down perishable,
but you come up imperishable.
You go down perishable,
able to die.
You come up imperishable,
not able to die.
He says,
you go down in weakness,
but you come up
like a beautiful flower.
That's the seed metaphor.
You come up like a great oak tree.
You come up,
you go down in weakness,
you come up in glory.
That's his word for it.
Doxa, glory.
You come up gloriously,
somehow,
you go down mortal,
but you come up immortal.
He says,
you go down bearing the marks of shame,
dishonor is the word he uses,
but you're raised in shamelessness,
glory.
That's his comparison.
All light,
all good.
How,
Paul,
the people were asking,
and he says,
verse 38,
God does it.
God,
it's all God,
top to bottom.
God shall be all in all in that day.
He shall be everything to everyone,
he said in the last section.
God does every bit of it.
And he's telling us here,
the resurrection body
is of a different kind of glory
altogether to one we can imagine.
So he says,
you know,
the stars have a certain type of glory
and animals have a certain type of glory
and the stars are glorious
and,
you know,
they've never sinned.
They've never done anything wrong.
They're glorious.
And he says,
but the resurrection body
is of a glory altogether different
that we have yet to see,
yet to imagine.
And he's saying,
look,
don't,
don't try to answer the question,
what exactly happens?
What exactly is it like?
He says,
God will do it.
If God raised Jesus Christ
from the dead
in the middle of history,
God can raise you from the dead
and it will be to a glory
that you can't imagine
that we have yet to see
in world history.
He's,
he's telling us that
you shall be raised
in Christ
to a glory
so great
that today
if you were allowed,
if you were able
to get to see a picture
of your future self,
you would be strongly tempted
to worship.
A glory beyond imagination.
That's his answer.
And to the question,
how does it all work?
You know,
Paul,
how does it all work?
He just says,
let God be God.
God will do it.
And the connection there he makes,
he says,
I will tell you this,
verse 49,
he says,
here's how it works.
Just as you were united
to Adam
from the very beginning,
everything that Adam deserved,
you get
because you deserve it too.
Adam merited death,
so you merited death.
Adam was guilty,
so you're guilty.
He says,
but in the second Adam,
everything that he deserved,
now you get.
Adam went,
Adam went down in death,
but the life,
the one who was raised to life,
he comes up
and you get what he deserves.
You get what he got.
He says,
that's how it works.
There's a question here
that a lot of people will ask
verse 44 and 45
because Paul says,
you're sown in a natural body
but raised in a spiritual body.
Is he saying,
you go down physical
but you come up spiritual?
You come up ethereal?
And here,
the important thing to see
is that natural
equals sinful.
Spiritual doesn't equal ethereal.
Spiritual equals
by the Holy Spirit,
cleansed,
pure.
You go down natural,
sinful,
you come up,
cleansed by the Spirit,
pure,
glorious,
spotless.
Jesus Christ becomes for you
the life-giving Spirit.
He's so connected
to the Holy Spirit
that when he's raised
from the dead,
he sends the Spirit
to give you everything
that he deserves.
That's the resurrection.
It's a glory beyond imagination.
Jesus Christ gives you
everything
that he has purchased.
Now,
let me be practical.
Secondly,
finally,
that means that we have today
a hope
of a holistic glory.
Death has been defeated.
We have the hope
of a holistic glory.
Very practical.
Think today
about your problems.
does anybody
today
have fear
in their life
right now?
Does anybody
in the room today
have unmet longings
in your life?
Hopes and dreams
that have never been fulfilled?
Does anybody
today
have guilt
and shame?
Does anybody
in the room today
have struggle
with things
that you know
are wrong
but you can't put away?
Does anybody
today come
with burdens
decisions
that are plaguing you?
Does anybody
in the room today
come
with an addiction?
An addiction
of any kind?
Does anybody
in the room
come today
with a relationship
in your life
breaking down
right now?
Or a relationship
that broke down
a long time ago
and it's never been repaired
and you don't feel
like it could be?
Does anybody
come today
with heartache?
Do you have heartache
today?
Are you coming
thinking about
and fearing
your own
physical death?
Do you have
that kind of
heartache
in your life
right now?
The gospel
Paul's argument
is this
Jesus Christ
made your problems
his problems
when he went
to the cross
all of your problems
became his problems
and he died
bearing their weight
under the weight
of their guilt
every bit
of problem
that you have
became his
at the cross
in the middle
of history
and
we could say
that's good news
let us pray
no
don't stop there
second question
does anybody
here today
have physical
problems?
Do you got
joint issues?
Is your
gut digestion
system
not working
quite like it
used to?
Right?
Anybody facing
a diagnosis
in the room
anybody struggling
with their body
in some way
beauty
is fading
and death
is coming
and Jesus
Christ
when he went
to the cross
he made
your problems
his problems
but he didn't
stop there
when he was
raised to glory
when he was
raised
your sins
were cleansed
and forgiven
forever
but at the same
time he promised
in that moment
that he will deal
with all your
physical problems
as well
do you think
today that
Jesus Christ
came to deal
with your guilt
and your anxiety
and your heartache
but he didn't
come to deal
with your bad gut
Jesus Christ
came to deal
with every bit
of it
he came to deal
with the heartache
and the sin
and the guilt
and the shame
the addiction
in your life
and he came
to deal
with your joints
the gospel
is holistic
the hope today
the change
that he brings
is holistic
in the gospel
and if you
don't know that
today
if you don't
think like that
you're thinking
like a Greek
philosopher
not like a Christian
the gospel
that comes
is holistic
in his death
and in his resurrection
he took every bit
of the curse
upon himself
and he was raised
to defeat
every bit
of death
even the curse
of the body
let me say it
practically
illustratively
I don't know
if you've seen
the film
The Betts Feast
it's one of the
great movies
of the 20th century
one of the great
Christian films
we might say
won an Oscar
but in The Betts Feast
there's this village
this Danish village
and in this Danish village
there's these
Christian
pietists
a sect of Christians
that have moved
away from the city
they live by themselves
out far away
from everybody else
and they're very committed
to not enjoying
any physical pleasures
any sensual pleasures
at all
so it's a very
bland lifestyle
they say
one must not
enjoy food
one must not
enjoy color
and so they wear
very bland clothing
they eat the same meal
every day
very bland meals
and one day
while they're in the
midst of that cycle
of working
and praying
never enjoying life
in any way
this French woman
named Babette
shows up
and she's from Paris
and she's run
because of the revolution
that's happening
in Paris
and she's come
to this
pietist community
and she asks them
for room and board
and they say
you know
we can't pay you
we can't afford this
but you can work for us
so she says
walk and cook
so she cooks
she makes their meals
and after all
they do for her
they give her
a place to live
they love her
so she says
I want to pay you back
I want to show my appreciation
I want to make
one great meal for you
and so she starts
to bring in
all this food
from Paris
because she has
connections
and the people
of the community
the congregation
they start to see it
and they say
boy
we're not going to be
allowed to eat this
this would cause us
sin
the sensual pleasure
that would come out
of this food
would cause us
to sin
against God
and so they gather
together
they have a
congregational meeting
and they decide
alright
we don't want to
shame Babette
so what we're going to do
is we're going to eat
the meal
but we're going to
be sure that we
never express
any enjoyment
and so they do that
they come to the meal
and
it's a wonderful meal
and you know
they say
we're committed
we're not going to
say that we even
liked it for a second
we're not going to
ever show that
because that would
be a sin
and you know
what happens
they take the first bite
right
and
I won't tell you
all the movie
but I will tell you this
because it came out
a long time ago
alright
so sorry
but Babette
just happens to be
a master chef
from the city of Paris
and
they take the first bite
and you start to see
you know
they're struggling
they're fighting
against the light
right
and
now you've got to
go watch it
okay
don't let your
Christianity be tied up
in Greek philosophy
like that
know that
God
loves the physical
he made it
and in the resurrection
he says
I came to deal
with every bit
of the problems
of your heart
and I came to deal
with every bit
of the problems
of your body
and I'm going to do it
and Jesus Christ
is the first fruits
of the great harvest
that is to come
and so let me finish
with this
the resurrection hope
is for today
it's for right now
we don't have to wait
the resurrection matters
for this very moment
let me tell you
three ways it does
and I'll just list them
and be done
okay
number one
in verse 58
at the very end
he says
at the very end
of the passage
therefore my beloved
brothers and sisters
be steadfast
be immovable
abounding always
in the work of the Lord
knowing that your labor
is not in vain
now he says here
that because of the resurrection
because there is a life
that is to come
you can die
in this life
but the most important way
to die
is to die
to yourself
so everything you do
when you die
to yourself
and you live
for Christ
in this life
Christian
your labor
is not in vain
it will matter
forever
so he says
be steadfast
be immovable
die to yourself
let the resurrection
matter for you
right now
by giving up
your hopes
and your dreams
that are selfish ambitions
and live unto Christ
holistically
live for him
every single day
he's saying
to us
that living
for self
is very very boring
but dying to self
and living for something
like resurrection life
is thrilling
it's a purpose
that's far far better
number two
as you face death
in this life
and all of us are
maybe you've
you've had an experience
recently
that's brought
the reality of death
a little closer
to home to your heart
that the tombstone
is coming
here lies
it's on the way
right
and so we've
got to prepare
for that
and so as you face
death today
the resurrection
matters right now
for you
verse 56
he says
the sting of death
is sin
a little bit
hard to understand
that verse
but the sting
the word for sting
here typically
references
a scorpion stinger
and so he's
saying here
the sting
of a scorpion
you think
the scorpion
gets on you
hopefully that'll
never happen to you
but the scorpion
gets on you
and it gets you
with the stinger
right
and he's saying
death is like
the end of that
stinger
that goes in
but the real sting
of death
is sin
what is he saying
he's saying
the real problem
is the poison
what's the poison
it's sin
he's saying
sin
drives the power
of the stinger
sin drives
the power of death
just like the poison
drives the power
of the stinger
and that means
what is he saying
he's saying
if it were to be
the case that sin has died, then it could also be the case that death will die. If the real power
of the scorpion is in the poison, not the sting itself, then if the poison were to go away,
then the sting would be far less. Right? So he says the sting of sin is death, but if sin has
died, then death is going to die. You see what he's saying? He's saying that means you Christian
today can right now say, death, where is thy sting? All that's left is just that little prick.
I have to pass through that. It hurts. Yes. But I can say there's no poison left there.
I will pass through this and I will come into resurrection life. I will come into hope.
Right? You can say, death, do thy worst. The lower you lay me, the higher he will raise me. The far,
the farther you take me down, the better I will get. Third, finally, I'll close with this. However,
finally, this is not automatic. Okay. So you can read chapter 15 and you can come and see all these
amazing Easter promises. And you could say, you know what? I'm a Christian, but that list of problems,
addictions, heartaches, anxiety, fear of facing death is still very alive for me.
And that's true. And it's because Paul, Paul is not telling you that when you become a Christian by
faith in Christ, it's like putting, uh, putting your money into a vending machine, you know, where you
press the number of thing you want and you press the button and then out comes the, the, the bar,
the drink, the water that you were looking for. It's not just that you become a Christian
and all of a sudden out comes the fearlessness. You become a Christian and you press the right
buttons. And all of a sudden out comes the ability to face death and say, death, where's thy sting?
Right? It's not automatic. And this whole chapter, you see, this whole chapter is an argument.
It's highly philosophical. And I, and I think one of the things he's trying to tell us in that is he's
saying, if you want the power of the resurrection to really get down into your soul,
you've got to think, you've got to do theology. You've got to rehearse the gospel and the truths
of the gospel over and over and over again, every single day. You've got to come back every single
day and look at it again and again and again. You've got to bring the gospel and think from your head
down into your heart all the time. If you really want to stand and be able to say in verse 56,
thanks at the end of your days, the sting of death is sin. The power of sin is the law, but thanks be to
God for I have victory in the Lord Jesus. Let us pray. Father, we thank you for victory in Jesus. And we
now come and ask that you would bring the words of the gospel from our head down into our hearts,
that we would be helped to think, think, think that we would have the Holy Spirit come now and drive
these truths so deep into our soul that we could say today, death, where is thy sting? Thanks be to
God. I have victory in Jesus. So Lord, as we, as human beings face death in this life, we long
that the Holy Spirit would grant us the beauty of resurrection hope. We pray that in Jesus name.
Amen.