So we're at 1 Corinthians 15, 35-58. We've been going through this series for some time now.
We're wrapping up the book next week.
And last week we established that Christ's resurrection guarantees our future resurrection.
But what exactly will this resurrection look like?
When we die, our bodies will be buried to decay or be burned to ashes.
Then how will we be resurrected?
This seemingly sensible question is the one that's on the mind of the Corinthians believers as well.
And so in fact the main reason why some of the Corinthians have rejected the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead.
It was because they could not conceive of the resurrection of the body.
Because they could not understand how it would happen, they rejected that it would happen.
So they rejected the doctrine on that ground.
And so Paul is answering those questions here.
So in chapter 15 so far, first Paul talked about the resurrection of Christ.
Second, he talked about the resurrection of the dead.
And now today, in this passage, he talks about the resurrection of the body.
And this for Paul is not just an abstract theoretical exercise.
He understands that this doctrine affects how we live and that's why he teaches it.
And the main point really that he brings into climactic focus on the doctrine of the resurrection is this.
That the hope of the resurrection enables us to abound in the work of the Lord.
That's the main point of this passage.
Hope of the resurrection enables us to abound in the work of the Lord.
I'll cover that in three points.
The first is the resurrection like the Lord's.
Second is the victory through the Lord.
And third is our labor in the Lord.
So Paul anticipates the Corinthians question first in verse 35.
Look with me at your Bibles in verse 35.
But someone will ask, how are the dead raised?
With what kind of body do they come?
And Paul doesn't pull any punches.
He says in verses 36 to 37,
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 kernel, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain.
The Corinthians' argument against the resurrection of the body was that it was so contrary to nature and common sense.
But Paul demonstrates with an example from nature that what they deny as unnatural and impossible is in fact quiet in keeping with the way things operate in nature.
So the two questions that he anticipated in verse 35, he takes time to answer.
The first question was, how are the dead raised?
How will it happen?
There's thousands of years of empirical data that show us that dead don't rise from the dead.
So how will this in fact happen?
Paul's answer is this.
What you sow does not come to life unless it dies.
From the ordinary experience of farming, we recognize that life comes from death.
Unless a seed is buried in the ground in death, unless its integrity is broken, life does not sprout forth from the seed.
In the same way, so the death necessarily precedes life in that picture.
So Paul sees in the example of nature a pattern of death and resurrection that points to the saving death and resurrection of Christ.
He's not the only one to have made that observation.
Following in Paul's footsteps, C.S. Lewis, in his book, Miracles, writes and observes the same pattern.
In the Christian story, God descends to re-ascend.
He comes down, down from the heights of absolute being into time and space, down into humanity, down to the very roots and seabed of the nature he has created.
But he goes down to come up again and bring the ruined world up with him.
In this descent and re-ascend, everyone will recognize a familiar pattern, a thing written all over the world.
It is a pattern of all vegetable life.
It must belittle itself into something hard, small, and death-like.
It must fall into the ground.
Thence the new life re-ascends.
The pattern is there in nature because it was first there in God.
For certainly, no seed ever fell from so fair a tree into so dark and cold a soil as would furnish more than a faint analogy to this huge descent and re-ascension in which God dredged the salt and oozy bottom of creation.
Then Paul answers that second question that they ask in verse 35.
With what kind of body do they come?
With what kind of body can people possibly be resurrected after they are thoroughly decomposed?
Another facet of the analogy provides the answer to that question.
And what you sow, he says, is not the body that is to be, but a bare kernel, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain.
When we plant a seed on the ground, we don't expect the ground to bubble forth with some more of the same seed that we planted.
We expect the plant to come forth.
When we plant wheat grain on the ground, we don't expect more grains to come forth from the ground.
We expect the wheat plant.
When you plant a corn kernel on the ground, we don't expect more kernels to come out of the ground.
We expect the corn stalk.
In the same way, Paul says what you plant and what you get from the produce that it yields are not the same.
In the same way, when our bodies are dead, it's sown on the ground,
it does not produce the same kind of body at the resurrection.
It is transformed like a full-fledged plant.
Our bodies will be transformed into different bodies.
And then in verses 38 to 41, Paul turns to other examples from creation to demonstrate the diversity of the kinds of bodies that God chooses to create.
And that it is God who sovereignly chooses what kind of bodies he will give to different parts of creation.
So read with me verse 38.
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 of another.
There is one glory of the sun and another glory of the moon and another glory of the stars.
For stars differ.
For star differs from star in glory.
In verse 39, so he structures it in this kind of enclosing, chiastic format.
So in verse 39, Paul mentions the various kinds of earthly bodies.
So humans, animals, birds, and fish.
And then in verse 40, Paul tells us that these earthly bodies differ in glory from the heavenly bodies.
And then by heavenly, Paul is not speaking of spiritual bodies that he talks about elsewhere in this passage.
It's two different words that he uses for that.
By heavenly here, he means the celestial bodies, right?
The bodies that exist above the earth's atmosphere.
That's what he's speaking of.
And then in verse 41, he says that he lists what these heavenly bodies are and says that even they are diverse in the kinds of bodies that they have.
So not only are the earthly bodies and heavenly bodies different in their glories, within each of those groups, they have a diversity of bodies.
And all of that is according to God who gives them bodies as he has chosen.
So, of course, Paul's interest here is not to prove that there's diversity of bodies in creation.
I mean, that's not the point.
But his point is that the diversity that we see is evidence that God is the one who gives particular bodies as he sees fit.
As he did in his creation.
And as he does in the new creation with the resurrection of the dead, that's what he will do.
So Paul circles back now to the analogy of the seed that he used in verses 42 to 44.
He says,
So is it with the resurrection of the dead.
What is sown is perishable.
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 a natural body.
It is raised a spiritual body.
The body is presently, our bodies are all perishable.
They're subject to decay or dysfunction.
But the resurrected body will be imperishable.
And it will not be subject to decay or dysfunction.
Our present bodies are lowly.
It's base.
It's humble in its state.
But our resurrected body, it will be raised in glory and honor.
The present body is sown in weakness.
It's characterized by the frailty of the human body.
Infirmity.
But the resurrected body will be characterized by power and strength.
And the present body finally is a natural one.
It's limited by the conventions of nature.
But our future resurrection body will be spiritual.
It will be a supernatural one.
And that's the contrast that he is drawing.
Now, make sure that when you hear spiritual body, that you're not thinking of an immaterial body.
Right?
This kind of spirit.
Because that's our tendency to think.
And that tendency to think in that way actually shows us that, shows us how prone we are to think in exactly the same way the Corinthians thought.
Right?
Because that's exactly the objection that they're making to Paul.
They despise the perishability of the body.
They despise the dishonorable and weak natural body.
And that's why they were so eager to say and to believe that when they died, they would discard the bodies altogether and be these disembodied souls in heaven.
That's what they believed.
And so, it's shocking to them that Paul would here juxtapose these two words.
Spiritual body.
Right?
That would have been shocking to them.
Right?
Because their favorite word is spiritual.
They're all about being spiritual.
These gifts.
Spiritual gifts.
All throughout Corinthians.
The first letter.
We see how they were too enamored with their own spirituality.
That's their favorite word.
And then he puts that word to describe their least favorite word.
The body.
The body that they despise.
And he says, the spiritual body.
To prove to them that the body is not evil in and of itself.
That it is not beyond redemption.
But that our bodies will be transformed into this glorious body.
And Paul demonstrates that further in verses 44 and 45.
He says, if there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.
The first man, Adam, became a living being.
The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.
He's quoting here from Genesis 2-7, which I'm putting up on the screen for you.
Then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life.
And the man became a living creature.
Paul is returning once again to the typological connection he made between Adam and Christ.
Adam is the first Adam.
Christ is the last Adam.
And Paul proves his point that the existence of the natural body necessitates the experience, the existence of the spiritual body.
And Christ is called the last Adam.
If you were with us last week, you'll know this.
But it's that Christ is called the last Adam because Adam was the head of humanity.
He was the source of humanity.
He represented all of humanity.
And in his sin, he led all of humanity into sin and death.
And so he was the first Adam.
But Christ, the second Adam, he's the son of man and the son of God.
And he comes to represent all of his people and all those who align themselves to him so that in his righteousness we find our righteousness and salvation.
So on the one hand, the first man, Adam, became a living being.
He was alive.
But the word being here is a verbal cognate of the word natural that he used earlier.
So he's making that same comparison.
Adam is the head of the natural body.
On the other hand, the last Adam, he says, became a life-giving spirit.
And the word spirit, of course, is related to the word spiritual that he's mentioned earlier.
So while Adam merely received the breath of the Lord and became alive, a living being, Christ is a life-giving spirit.
So where is Paul getting that idea, right?
Because Genesis 2-7 doesn't mention anything about Christ or him becoming a life-giving spirit.
But it does mention that the Lord God formed the man of the dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life.
In the same way that the Lord God breathed life into humanity in creation,
Paul now makes the connection that it is the Lord Jesus who now breathes life into the new creation.
His people, the church of God.
This recalls Jesus' post-resurrection appearance in John 20-22.
It says,
Jesus breathed on his disciples and said to them,
Receive the Holy Spirit.
A similar way in Romans 8, Paul writes,
Paul's talking about the future resurrection of the body.
He said,
Not the spiritual that is first, but the natural.
And then the spiritual.
That's why he said in verse 45 that the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.
Paul's not speaking here of the pre-incarnate Christ, the Word of God.
He's speaking here of the resurrected Christ.
And so while it is true that the Corinthians as believers do have the spirit of God,
their experience in the spirit still has not been completed.
It's not been consummated.
So for that reason, they must have the first, the natural body of Adam before they can have the raised spiritual body of Christ.
And Paul continues that contrast in verses 47 to 48.
The first man was from the earth, a man of dust.
The second man is from heaven, and 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.
This is a little bit, it could be confusing and misunderstood.
This verse is sometimes taken to mean that Adam came from, right, came from the earth,
and that Christ, his origin is from heaven.
It's possible to understand it in that way.
But the preceding text, the context makes it clear that what is in view is not the incarnation of Christ,
but the resurrection of Christ.
So it's not speaking of Christ's origin, but it's speaking of their composition.
What are they made of?
What stuff are they of?
That's why verse 47 specifies that the first man was from the earth, a man of dust.
It's referring to his composition as a man made up of dust.
His body is made up of dust.
The name Adam comes from the Hebrew word Adama, which means ground.
He's literally made up of ground, made up of the earth.
That's why in verse 48 it says,
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.
Christ being of heaven is contrasted with Adam being of the dust.
So he's saying that not just that Christ came from heaven, which he did,
but he's saying that Christ is of the stuff of heaven, the resurrected Christ.
He has a spiritual body.
And so in verse 40 he's contrasting the two things.
Adam has an earthly body, Christ has a spiritual heavenly body,
and that's the body that we will get in the resurrection.
And for that reason, he says in verse 49,
Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust,
we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.
Earlier I mentioned that Paul listed various parts of creation and their diverse bodies.
He was referring to the things that God created in days 3, 4, 5, and 6 of creation in reverse order.
And then he was talking about how they were all created according to their kind.
That's the language that Genesis uses.
All these different things are created according to their kind.
But when it comes to the creation of man and woman in Genesis 1, 26,
instead of creating them like everything else in creation according to their kind,
God says,
Let us make man in our image.
Everything else in creation is created according to its own kind.
But humanity was created not according to its own kind, but in God's image.
And so he says,
We shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.
The word image, it doesn't mean that we look like God, God's a spiritual being, right?
It refers to the idea of representation.
In the ancient Near East, in the context in which Genesis was written,
the kings were seen as images of God.
And when people believed that when they placed images or idols of their gods in a temple,
they believed that those images and idols were actually indwelled by their gods.
So that's what an image does.
That's the function of an image.
It's to represent something.
Represent God.
And that's the idea behind the creation of men and women in God's image.
But instead of just royalties being created in God's image,
of course in Genesis all men and women are endowed with the capacity and the call to rule in God's stead
and to represent Him over the earth.
But this image of God, of course, was marred by sin.
And because Adam rebelled against God and sought to rule for himself
and not for God as his image bearer and representative.
But in Christ Jesus and at the resurrection of the body,
the image of God among God's people will be fully restored to its proper glory.
That's what he's talking about.
We shall bear the image of the man of heaven.
But Paul's point here is not merely about the future,
but actually even more about the present.
If you have an ESV Bible, an IV Bible, or some similar Bible that has references,
and look carefully at the verse again,
you might find a little footnote there.
Now follow the footnote to the bottom of the page,
and it will probably say something about,
some manuscripts say,
let us bear.
Right?
The ESV translates this in the future,
but most of the Greek manuscripts,
and the best and the oldest manuscripts,
all have let us bear the image.
So people translate it as we shall
because they think that makes more sense.
But the actual text says,
let us bear the image of the man of heaven.
So Paul is here pivoting
from an ontological discussion about being and body
to a moral, ethical exhortation.
So he's just as,
he might use an analogy,
just as a royal prince
who is an heir to the throne
should behave in a dignified way
as it befits his station and his future.
Right?
Just as someone who is a job applicant
who is going into an interview
should dress the part
and act the part
as someone who is qualified for the job
that that person intends to fill.
Right?
In the same way as Christians
who are destined
for the glorious resurrection of the body
where the image of Christ is fully restored,
let us bear that image now.
That's what Paul is saying.
And so, like in 2 Corinthians 3.18,
we all with unveiled faces
beholding the glory of the Lord
are being transformed
into the same image
from one degree of glory to another.
Isn't that glorious?
At the resurrection of the body,
we shall bear the image of Christ perfectly
and even now,
as we wait eagerly for that day,
let's strive
and be transformed
daily into that image more and more.
That's Paul's exhortation.
Let us bear the image
of the man of heaven.
So that's Paul's first point
and that's the longest point,
so stick with me.
The resurrection like the Lord's.
That leads us to the second point,
the victory through the Lord.
In verses 50 to 57,
Paul teaches that the resurrection
like the Lord's is guaranteed for us
because of our victory through the Lord.
He says in verse 50,
I tell you this, brothers,
flesh and blood cannot inherit
the kingdom of God,
nor does the perishable
inherit the imperishable.
So those are parallel statements.
Flesh and blood correspond to the perishable
and the kingdom of God
corresponds to the imperishable.
So we cannot inherit
the imperishable kingdom of God
in our perishable bodies.
So our bodies too
must be made imperishable
is what Paul is talking about.
Now this is not directly
related to this passage,
but you guys,
some of you asked this question,
so I'm going to address it.
Some of you are probably wondering
at this point,
well, then what happens when we die?
Don't we go to heaven?
Don't our souls enter
into the presence of God?
So that is true.
That's what's called
the intermediate state.
When our souls leave
our deceased bodies
to be with the Lord
until the resurrection of the body.
It's the intermediate state.
And Paul makes that abundantly clear
in places like 2 Corinthians 5, 6 to 8.
We know that while we are
at home in the body,
we are away from the Lord.
For we walk by faith,
not by sight.
Yes, we are of good courage
and we would rather be
away from the body
and at home with the Lord.
That's pretty clear, right?
He's talking about
the intermediate state.
In Revelation 6, 9 to 10,
he sees a vision of heaven.
He says,
I saw under the altar
the souls of those
who had been slain
for the word of God
and for the witness
they had borne.
They cried out
with a loud voice,
O sovereign Lord,
holy and true,
how long before you will judge
and avenge our blood
on those who dwell on the earth?
So clearly,
these souls are with God
and they are not on earth
and they have consciousness
and they are not in a sleep-like,
comatose state
and their bodies have not yet
been resurrected.
So this is a description
of the intermediate state.
But it's important to note
that this is just an intermediate state.
It's not the final state.
Heaven up there is just a layover
for us believers.
The ultimate destination
is a new heaven
and a new earth
here
when God dwells with us
and that's when we will be united
and dwell with God
in our resurrected bodies.
But if our souls can enjoy
our union with God
after death
when it departs from our body,
then why is it important
for our bodies to be resurrected?
Isn't it enough
that we're with God
in our souls?
Well, the reason is this.
Our triumph is not total
and our restoration
is not complete
until death.
Our last enemy
is vanquished.
And the havoc
that it has wreaked
in all of God's people
is finally
and irrevocably reversed.
God created the whole world
and saw that it was very good
until the toll of death
that's taken
in all of creation
until the material universe
that God created
too is redeemed.
God's redemption
is not fully consummated.
And He has not yet
made all things new
as Revelation 21.5 says
He will do.
So our resurrected King,
He will not stop
His victorious march
until the very last vestige
of the enemy
is wiped out.
all our suffering
due to the frailties
of the flesh,
the disabilities
and pains
of our bodies
under which we groaned
in our life
will be healed
and we will have
glorious
immortal bodies.
The Son of God
is the head
of the body of Christ
which is the church
and since the Son of God
was incarnated,
He took on flesh,
human flesh,
died and rose again
and therefore
He has a glorious body
for all eternity.
His body,
the church too
must have a body.
We must have,
we must be resurrected
in our bodies.
That's when
the church's union
with Christ
in a sense
will be fully consummated.
That's why
the resurrection
of the body
is necessary.
Flesh and blood
cannot inherit
the kingdom of God
nor does the perishable
inherit the imperishable.
Our bodies
must be made
imperishable.
Then in verses 51 to 52
Paul explains
how this will happen.
Behold,
I tell you a mystery.
Paul uses the word
mystery frequently
in his letter,
six times in this letter
and in all of those
occurrences
it doesn't refer to
something that remains
secret or hidden.
It refers to something
that was formerly hidden
that has been revealed
by God
through Jesus Christ.
And that's why
he describes
the apostles
or the ministers of Christ
in chapter 4 verse 1
as stewards
of the mysteries of God.
And the mystery
that has been revealed
through Christ
is this.
Read with me.
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.
Well,
the fact that the flesh
and blood
cannot inherit
the kingdom of God
raises the obvious question.
Well,
what about those believers
who will still be alive
when Christ returns?
They haven't exactly died
so they can't really
be raised from the dead
so what's going to happen
to them?
That's a very logical question.
So Paul anticipates
that question
and he says,
no,
they too will be changed.
We shall not all sleep
but we shall all be changed.
Now,
this doesn't necessarily mean
that Paul expected
some people
in his lifetime
to be alive
when Christ returns,
at Christ's second coming.
It's possible
that Paul believed that
but that's not
the necessary implication
of this verse
because he uses
the plural pronoun,
personal first person
plural pronoun
we all throughout
this passage
even when he's referring
to all the saints
across all generations
not just to the immediate
people that are there,
Paul and the Corinthian believers.
So when he writes here
that we shall not all sleep
he means not all believers
will be dead
at the time Christ returns
but nevertheless
they will all be changed.
And so those who are still
living at the time
of Christ's return
will have changed bodies
and that will happen
at the blink of an eye
he says.
And when the last trumpet
sounds to announce
the return of the king
and summon God's people
to himself
the dead will be raised
imperishable
on the one hand
and the believers
who are still living
will all be changed.
So that's what he's saying.
All will be changed.
All will have glorious bodies.
For this perishable body
he continues
in verse 53
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.
Oh death
where is your victory?
Oh death
where is your sting?
That's so defiant.
when the effects
of Christ's resurrection
are fully realized
and when we
his people
are raised
with imperishable
immortal bodies
the unbroken
chain of death
inaugurated by
the first Adam
will be broken
once
and for all
by the last Adam.
It is then
that the prophecies
that he's quoting
from Isaiah 25a
and Hosea 13 14
will be fulfilled.
Death is swallowed up
in victory.
Oh death
where is your victory?
Oh death
where is your sting?
He's just saying
if I have to put that
more colloquially
he's saying
take that death
right
your tyranny
is over
it is time
for death
to die
and there is
nothing death
can do
to survive
the mortal blow
inflicted upon it
by Jesus Christ
this is why
we are
assured
of victory
through the Lord.
He says in verses
56 to 57
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.
The sting of death
is sin
right
that means
because the wages
of sin is death
the just penalty
for sin
is death
so the sting
of death
is sin
and the power
of sin
is the law
because
as Paul says
in Romans 5 13
sin is not
counted
where
there is
no law
right
no wrong
can be counted
where there is
no standard
of right
there can be
no crooked line
unless there is
a standard
of a straight line
so even though
the law
is good
sin derives
its power
from the law
that's what
Paul is talking
about
but through
the death
and resurrection
of Christ
the law
of God
is fulfilled
so that sin
would be
impotent
and sin
is atoned
for
so that death
would be
without its sting
I don't know
if you've ever
been stung
by a bee
but a honey bee
right
when it
stings a person
because the sting
is barbed
he's unable
to pull
the sting
back out
of the flesh
right
so after
it's stung
a human being
and it tries
to leave
when he's
pulling himself
out
it actually
causes this
huge
abdominal rupture
in his body
so he actually
he dies
honey bees
don't survive
after
they sting
a host
in the same way
when death
stung Jesus Christ
on the cross
Jesus
inflicted
a mortal blow
to death
itself
so it lost
its sting
and is unable
to recover
from it
and its
death
is inevitable
and that's
the progression
we are on
when the
resurrection
of the body
is complete
the devil
and his minions
rage against us
if you're not a believer
yet
if you're not yet
a follower
of Jesus Christ
and I urge you to
put your faith in him
because all of us
we have all sinned
and we have all
been waging
this battle
against the devil
the devil
and his minions
rage against us
they tempt us
to sin
they drive us
into despair
and we are
all of us
together
powerless
to resist his advances
in this battle
for our eternal fate
and when we
were facing
utter despair
eternal destruction
it is Christ
who rose
from our very own
ranks
as the son of man
to be our champion
and as our representative
he fought
the epic battle
against
sin
death
and Satan
and he triumphed
over them
by dying
on the cross
and rising
again
that's
the good news
the gospel
of Jesus Christ
in order for you
to be saved
you must
align yourself
with Christ
and entrust
yourself
completely
to him
as your champion
and commander
later in the service
we all have
we will have
the privilege
of witnessing
a baptism
where a person
makes a public
profession
of faith
and makes
a commitment
to Christ
baptism
in water
signifies
our union
with Christ
in his death
and death
to sin
and serves
as a visible
pledge
that we will
be united
with Christ
in a resurrection
like his
in the future
and baptism
is not this
extraneous activity
that sometimes
Christians make it
out to be
in Mark 16
16
it says
Jesus says
whoever believes
and is baptized
will be saved
but whoever does
not believe
will be condemned
he associates
baptism with
belief
similarly in Acts
2 38
Peter preaches
repent and be
baptized
every one of you
in the name
of Jesus Christ
for the forgiveness
of your sins
and you will receive
the gift
of the Holy Spirit
Christians sometimes
talk individualistically
about salvation
as if personal
private repentance
and faith
were sufficient
but our Bible
associates
private repentance
and faith
with the public
profession of faith
in baptism
it associates
our personal
repentance and faith
with a corporate
baptism into the
family of God
the body of Christ
the church
that's because
the reason for that
is because
the Christian faith
is not a matter
of personal opinion
but a matter
of truth
that's because
Christ calls us
not into a private
faith that you
keep to yourself
but to a public
faith
for that reason
it's in the context
of this personal
and corporate
profession of faith
that the promise
of the Holy Spirit
is given
don't hear what
I'm not saying
that it is baptism
in and of itself
that saves people
it is God
who saves us
by sanctifying us
and indwelling us
with his spirit
but baptism
is God's chosen
means
his appointed
means
his command
for us
to enter
into this
relationship
with him
so if you are
not yet a follower
of Jesus Christ
I urge you to
look
watch carefully
and consider
what it would be
like for you
to commit your
life to the Lord
if you're already
a Christian
Paul concludes
this passage
with the final
exhortation
in verse 58
therefore
my beloved
brothers
be steadfast
immovable
always abounding
in the work
of the Lord
knowing that
in the Lord
your labor
is not in vain
this is my
third and final
point
our labor
in the Lord
the brothers
I just want to say
he refers to
brothers and sisters
Greek in the plural
form refers to
all siblings
brothers
he's speaking to all
and he
even though
the Corinthians
are his
biggest problem
church
causing him
all kinds of
grief
and questioning
his apostleship
even
he still calls
them beloved
brothers
and everything
he has set up
to this point
leads to this
climactic exhortation
because the
resurrection of the
body is not
merely an
intellectual exercise
to tickle our
brains
or to prove
Paul's own
theological
correctness
rather Paul
has a pastoral
concern
because he
understands that
by denying
the resurrection
of the body
the Corinthian
believers were
jeopardizing
their faith
and perseverance
they were
indulging in
all kinds of
sexual immorality
idolatry
and selfishness
because they
denied the
resurrection
of the body
and believed
their sins
to be
inconsequential
for their
future well-being
so Paul
now exhorts
that my
beloved
brothers
be steadfast
immovable
always abounding
in the work
of the Lord
knowing that
in the Lord
your labor
is not
in vain
be steadfast
be immovable
in your faith
cling to Christ
and his gospel
don't be swayed
by worldly wisdom
or led astray
by worldly pleasures
always abound
in the work
of the Lord
not only when
you feel like
it
not only
when you're
on a spiritual
high
always
abound
in the work
of the Lord
and don't
think for a
moment
that your
labor
is in vain
J.R.R.
Tolkien
understood
what it's like
to work hard
on something
that might
never be
appreciated
by anyone
to work
in vain
looking for
a way
to vent
his frustration
while he was
working on
something
that he
thought
was fruitless
and in vain
he predictably
wrote a story
to vent
his frustrations
he wrote a story
entitled
Leaf by
Niggle
it's a great
story
I commend
it to you
the protagonist
of the story
is an artist
named Niggle
who has been
commissioned
to paint
a mural
on the wall
of a city
hall
he devotes
his entire
life
attempting
to recreate
this mural
about which
he dreamed
in his dream
he saw
this large
strong
and vibrant
and fruitful
tree
that he knew
would inspire
everyone
who looked
at it
and he
devoted
his entire
life
to drawing
this
on that
mural
on the wall
but in the end
he dies
having completed
just a single
lonely leaf
on the mural
on his train
right to heaven
Niggle notices
in the distance
a vague
but very
familiar
picture
and he tells
the conductor
please stop
the train
and he
gets off
the train
approaches
the object
and lo
and behold
it's a real
tree
it's
the tree
it's
his tree
the one
he dreamed
about
devoted
his entire
life to
and there
in the middle
of the tree
is the single
leaf that he
drew
the leaf
by Niggle
for the whole
world to see
and it is at
that point
in time
Niggle
comes to realize
that his
leaf
that he is
commissioned
to draw
was a small
part of
something
far
grander
a part
of a greater
creative
activity
and work
by a greater
artist
who for the
joy and delight
of the world
was creating
this great
eternal
heavenly
city
and the story
goes that
Tolkien wrote
leaf by Niggle
as he was
toiling away
writing something
that he felt
would never be
appreciated by
anyone
and the name
of that
seemingly
insignificant
work
was
the Lord
of the Rings
every
sacrifice
you make
for the
Lord's
sake
every
meal
shared
for the
Lord's
glory
every
hour
of sleep
lost
for the
service
of Christ
every
earthly
pleasure
luxury
forsaken
for the
sake
of Christ
every
dollar
you give
to the
cause
of Christ
every
instance
of
humiliation
and death
to self
that you
undergo
for the
sake
of
Christ
so that
he might
be
honored
so that
he might
look precious
to the
world
so that
Christ
and his
saving
message
might go
forward
to the
rest of
the world
it is
not
in
vain
so
cling
to
Christ
hope
in the
resurrection
and
let's
abound
in the
work
of
the
Lord
together