WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WE DIE
1 CORINTHIANS 15:12-58
A QUESTION THAT HAS PLAGUED HUMANITY SINCE THE BEGINNING OF TIME, IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WE DIE. AS CHRISTIANS WE HAVE A CERTAIN HOPE THAT WE WILL SPEND ETERNITY WITH CHRIST, BUT WHAT IS THAT HOPE BASED ON. WHAT DO WE PUT OUR FAITH IN?
DEATH IS NOT SOMETHING THAT WE LIKE TO TALK ABOUT. IT HAS ALWAYS HAD A NEGATIVE MEANING IN THE WORLD. WE SPEAK OF VISITS FROM “THE GRIM REAPER” REPRESENTED BY ALL KINDS OF HORRIBLE PICTURES. DEATH HAS COME TO BE SOMETHING THAT WE HAVE GROWN TO FEAR, AND TO AVOID HAVING TO DEAL WITH. THAT’S WHY WHEN IT INVADES OUR FAMILY OR OUR CHURCH, IT IS SO HARD TO DEAL WITH.
THERE ARE MANY VIEWS ON DEATH AND HERE ARE THREE PROMINENT ONES:
1. ATHIESTIC: THE ATHIEST RESPONDS TO THE ISSUE OF DEATH “ THE GRAVE IS THE END OF ALL MEN. WE ARE JUST ANOTHER ANIMAL THAT IS BORN, LIVES, AND THEN DIES AND THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING AFTERWARDS.
2. REINCARNATIONIST: MANY OF THE EASTERN RELIGIONS TEACH THIS VIEW. THIS PARTICULAR VIEW STATES THAT WHEN ONE DIES THAT THEY WILL REINCARNATE OR COME BACK TO LIFE AS SOMEONE OR SOMETHING ELSE. IT IS BASED ON EVENTUALLY REACHING “NIRVANA”, AND TAKING AS MANY TRYES AS IT TAKES TO GET THERE.
3. CHRISTIAN: THE CHRISTIAN VIEW TEACHED THAT ALL PEOPLE, SAVE FOR THOSE TAKEN AT THE TIME OF THE RAPTURE, WILL DIE AND WILL BE RESURRECTED FROM THE DEAD, AND THAT ALL WILL BE CHANGED FROM OUR PRESENT CORRUPTIBLE STATE, TO AN INCORRUPTIBLE STATE, WHERE YOU WILL BE ABLE TO LIVE FOR ETERNITY IN EITHER HEAVEN OR HELL.
I WANT TO CONTINUE LOOKING AT SOME OF THE KEY DOCTRINES OF OUR FAITH TODAY BY EXAMINING WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS ABOUT DEATH. WE ARE GOING TO CONSIDER PAUL’S TEACHING TO THE CORINTHIAN CHURCH CONCERNING DEATH AND SEE HOW IT APPLIES TO OUR LIVES TODAY.
BIBLICAL BACKGROUND:
WHEN PAUL ESTABLISHED THE CHURCH AT CORINTH, HE HAD TO DEAL WITH A VARIETY OF DIFFERENT ISSUES THAT PEOPLE BROUGHT INTO THE CHURCH WITH THEM. DEATH AND THE RESURRECTION WAS ONE OF THESE AREAS.
CORINTH WAS THE CENTER OF WHAT WAS CALLED THE EPICUREAN PHILOSOPHY. THIS PHILOSOPHY TAUGHT THAT THERE WAS NO ETERNITY, SO MAN SHOULD EAT DRINK AND BE AS MERRY AS HE CAN WHILE HE IS ALIVE FOR WHEN HE DIES, THAT’S IT. THAT’S ALL SHE WROTE.
PART OF THIS PHILOSOPHY FILTERED INTO THE CHURCH AT CORINTH. THERE WERE THOSE IN THE CHURCH WHO TAUGHT THAT THERE WAS NO RESURRECTION FROM THE DEAD. THEY WOULD SAY, “BELIEVE IN JESUS CHRIST. BELIEVE THAT HE DIED ON THE CROSS AS A SACRIFICE FOR OUR SINS. DON’T BELIEVE THAT HE REALLY ROSE AGAIN, OR THAT AS CHRISTIANS WE WILL BE RESURRECTED.”
IF WE FOLLOW THIS TRAIN OF THOUGHT THROUGH, IT HAS TO LEAD TO THE CONCLUSION THAT THERE IS NO HEAVEN OR HELL, AND HOW CAN YOU BELIEVE IN JESUS FOR IN FACT HE IS A LIAR FOR TEACHING ABOUT HEAVEN AND HELL. THIS BELIEF WAS A CANCER THAT HAD TO BE DEALT WITH, AND PAUL DID THIS HERE IN CHAPTER 15.
THE CHAPTER ITSELF CAN BE DIVIDED INTO TWO SECTIONS:
1. VV.1-34: DEALS WITH PAUL’S DEFENCE OF HIS BELIEF IN THE RESURRECTION, USING CHRIST AS AN EXAMPLE.
2. VV.35-58: PAUL TEACHES ON WHAT OUR RESURRECTION BODIES WILL BE LIKE.
TODAY I WOULD LIKE TO DEAL WITH THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS:
1. WHY IS DEATH INEVITABLE?
2. WHAT DOES THIS PASSAGE TEACH US ABOUT DEATH?
3. WHAT DOES PAUL TEACH ABOUT THE RESURRECTION BODY?
POINT ONE: WHY IS DEATH INEVITABLE?
THE SHORT ANSWER TO THIS QUESTION IS THAT DEATH IS A DIRECT CONSEQUENCE OF THE FALL. WHNE ADAM AND EVE SINNED IN THE GARDEN PART OF THEIR DISCIPLINE WAS THIS:
GENESIS 3:19: “By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return."”
IT WAS AFTER THIS POINT THAT HUMANITY WOULD EXPERIENCE DEATH. OUR BODIES WOULD KNOW AGING, AND THE EFFECTS OF AGING. WE WOULD KNOW SICKNESS THAT WOULD LEAD TO DEATH. AS WELL WE WOULD LEARN OF UNNATURAL DEATH, WHEN CAIN MURDERED ABEL.
PAUL IS VERY EXPLICIT ON HIS TEACHING:
1 CORINTHIANS 15:50: “I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.”
THE BIBLE TEACHES US THAT WE ALL HAVE A DESTINY WITH DEATH.
1. IT IS BY APPOINTMENT. WE HAVE A DEFINITE TIME THAT GOD HAS APPOINTED, WHEN WE WILL DIE. FOR SOME IT WILL BE EARLY IN LIFE, FOR OTHERS LATER. IT WILL COME IN VARIOUS WAYS, BUT WE ALL HAVE AN APPOINTMENT WITH IT.
JOB 14:5: “Man’s days are determined; you have decreed the number of his months and have set limits he cannot exceed.”
HEBREWS 9:27: “Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment,”
2. DEATH IS MAN’S JUST REWARD AS A CONSEQUENCE OF THE FALL.
ROMANS 5:12: “Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned—”
GOD COULD HAVE ALLOWED ADAM AND EVE TO STAY IN THE GARDEN OF EDEN AND EAT OF THE TREE OF LIFE. IF THEY HAD, THEY WOULD STAY IN THEIR SINFUL CONDITION AND APART FROM CHRIST FOREVER.
3. THE BIBLE TEACHES THAT DEATH IS NOT FINAL, BUT TEMPORARY:
JOB 14:10-15:
“10 But man dies and is laid low; he breathes his last and is no more. 11 As water disappears from the sea or a riverbed becomes parched and dry, 12 so man lies down and does not rise; till the heavens are no more, men will not awake or be roused from their sleep. 13 "If only you would hide me in the grave and conceal me till your anger has passed! If only you would set me a time and then remember me! 14 If a man dies, will he live again? All the days of my hard service I will wait for my renewal to come. 15 You will call and I will answer you; you will long for the creature your hands have made.”
THERE WILL COME A TIME OF RESURRECTION. THE GRAVE WILL GIVE UP IT’S DEAD. ALL WHO WERE CREMATED, OR BURIED AT SEA, THE REFORMING OF THEIR BODIES WILL NOT BE STOPPED. THEY WILL BE RAISED INCORRUPTIBLE AND SO BE ABLE TO LIVE FOREVER. THE QUESTION IS WHERE, HEAVEN OR HELL.
4. DEATH IS MAN’S OPPORTUNITY TO BE TRANSFORMED: GOD WANTED THE RELATIONSHIP RESTORED WITH HUMANITY AND SO HE DID NOT ALLOW THEM TO STAY IN THE GARDEN. THE DISCIPLINE OF DEATH WAS GOD’S WAY OF PROVIDING A WAY FOR OUR PERISHABLE FALLEN BODIES TO BE TRANSFORMED INTO GLORIFIED BODIES SO THAT WE CAN LIVE IN GOD’S PRESENCE, BEFORE HIS HOLINESS AND BEAUTY. THE ANSWER TO DEATH IS THE RESURRECTION.
2 CORINTHIANS 5:1-2: “1 ¶ Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. 2 Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling,”
THUS THE BIBLE TEACHES US FOUR THINGS ABOUT DEATH:
1. DEATH IS AN APPOINTMENT WE ALL HAVE TO KEEP
2. DEATH IS MAN’S JUST REWARD AS A CONSEQUENCE OF THE FALL
3. DEATH IS NOT FINAL BUT TEMPORARY
4. DEATH IS MAN’S OPPORTUNITY TO BE TRANSFORMED.
POINT TWO: WHAT DOES THIS PASSAGE TEACH US ABOUT DEATH?
PAUL, IN THIS PASSAGE IS TRYING TO DEAL WITH TWO ISSUES. HE SUGGESTS IN THE FIRST PART OF THE CHAPTER THAT, CHRIST’S DEATH AND RESURRECTION IS THE CENTRAL THEME OF OUR FAITH. HE POINTS OUT AT THE BEGINNING OF THE CHAPTER THAT HE WANTS TO “REMIND THEM OF THE GOSPEL THAT HE PREACHED TO THEM AND ON WHAT THEY ARE TAKING THEIR STAND. THAT GOSPEL HE WOULD REVEAL IN VERSES 3&4 WAS THE DEATH, BURIAL AND RESURRECTION OF JESUS CHRIST, FOR THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS.
PAUL BEGINNING AT VERSE 12 MOVES INTO A DETAILED DEFENCE OF HIS BELIEF IN THE RESURRECTION, NOT ONLY OF JESUS, BUT BECAUSE OF THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS, THE FACT THAT ALL PEOPLE WILL BE RESURRECTED.
1 CORINTHIANS 15:21-23:
“21 For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. 22 For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. 23 But each in his own turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him.”
PAUL’S DEFENCE OF THE RESURRECTION GIVES US A STRONG BASIS FOR HOPE IN THE MIDST OF DEATH. HE REFERS TO DEATH AS “THE FINAL ENEMY” AND I BELIEVE THAT HE DOES SO BECAUSE OF THE FEAR THAT WAS EMBEDDED INTO PEOPLE BY SATAN.
THAT FEAR IS WITH US TODAY. SOME OF YOU NO DOUBT ARE VERY UNCOMFORTABLE WITH THE ISSUE WE ARE DEALING WITH TODAY. THERE ARE SEVERAL REASONS FOR THIS. WE THINK ABOUT OUR OWN MORTALITY. WE THINK OF LOVED ONES WHO HAVE DIED AND WHERE THEY WILL SPEND ETERNITY. SOMETIMES IT IS NOT SO MUCH DEATH THAT WE THINK ABOUT AS IT IS HOW WE WILL DIE.
SATAN USES ALL OF THESE THOUGHTS IN ONE FINAL GREAT ATTEMPT TO RULE OVER OUR LIVES, USING THE WEAPON OF FEAR. PAUL POINTS OUT SO WELL THAT CHRIST HAS DESTROYED THIS LAST WEAPON OF SATAN, BY GOING TO THE CROSS AND DYING, THEN THREE DAYS LATER BEING RESURRECTED FROM THE DEAD.
WITH THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST SATAN HAS LOST HIS STRONGHOLD OVER DEATH. NOW HE STILL CAN USE IT AND CAUSE GREAT HEARTACHE IN OUR LIVES AS LOVED ONES GO INTO ETERNITY, BUT AS CHRISTIANS WE CAN TAKE HEART AS THE BIBLES STATES:
2 CORINTHIANS 5:8: “We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.”
2 TIMOTHY 1:12: “That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day.”
AS CHRISTIANS WE WILL STILL MOURN AND GRIEVE, BUT WE WILL NOT MOURN AND GRIEVE AS THOSE DO WITH NO HOPE, IF THE LOVED ONE THAT HAS DIED IS A CHRISTIAN.
AS A MINISTER I HAVE BEEN TO VISIT AT FUNERAL HOMES WHERE THE DECEASED WAS KNOWN TO BE A BORN-AGAIN CHRISTIAN. THEY LIVED THEIR LIVES FOR THE LORD, EVERYONE KNEW OF THEIR FAITH, AND THERE WAS NO DOUBT THAT THEY WERE IN GOD’S PRESENCE. THE COMFORT AND PEACE THAT WAS THERE WAS BEAUTIFUL. YES THERE WERE TEARS OF SADNESS, BUT THERE WAS ALSO CALMNESS, AND PEACE.
I REMEMBER AT THE FUNERAL FOR MY MOTHER, SITTING IN THE CHURCH, BIG TEARS STREAMING DOWN MY CHEEKS. BUT I TELL YOU TODAY THAT THEY WERE MORE FROM PRIDE IN MY MOTHER, THAN ABOUT HER DEATH. I KNOW I WILL SEE HER AGAIN, AND IN MY HEART I KEPT THINKING OF PAUL’S WORDS TO TIMOTHY.
2 TIMOTHY 4:7-8:
“7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8 Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day— and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.”
FOLKS LET ME TELL YOU NOW, THE GREATEST GIFT YOU CAN GIVE TO YOUR FAMILY, IS THE KNOWLEDGE THAT WHEN YOU FACE DEATH, THAT YOU FACE IT HAVING ACCEPTED CHRIST AS YOUR SAVIOR AND LORD. YOU CAN TELL THEM THAT THERE IS NO DOUBT IN YOUR HEART TODAY THAT YOU ARE GOING TO BE WITH JESUS, AND THAT THERE CAN BE A GRAND REUNION IF THEY PUT THEIR FAITH AND TRUST IN HIM AS WELL.
POINT THREE: WHAT DOES PAUL TEACH ABOUT THE RESURRECTION BODY?
PAUL DEALS WITH THIS QUESTION FROM VERSE 35 TO THE END OF THE CHAPTER.
FIRST NOTE PAULS ANSWER TO THE QUESTION POSED IN VERSE 35.
HE EQUATES OUR PHYSICAL BODY AS A SEED, THAT WHEN IT DIES, BRINGS FORTH THE BODY THAT IT WAS MEANT TO BE.
HE POINTS OUT THAT EVERYTHING HAS A BODY OF SOME SORT, AND ARE RECOGNIZED BY THAT BODY. WE RECOGNIZE THE STARS AS BODIES, BUT NOT THE SAME AS OUR BODIES.
PAUL WANTS US TO REALIZE THAT OUR ETERNAL BODY IS DIFFERENT THAN OUR PRESENT PHYSICAL BODY. THE PRESENT BODY IS CORRUPTED BY SIN. IT AGES AND WEAKENS, EVENTUALLY IT WILL GO BACK INTO DUST. OUR ETERNAL BODY WILL NOT KNOW THE CURSE OF SIN AND THEREFORE NOT KNOW ANY OF THESE THINGS.
CONSIDER THE COMPARISON PAUL MAKES IN VERSES 41-44:
1 CORINTHIANS 15:42-44:
“42 So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; 43 it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; 44 it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.”
THE BODY THAT WE HAVE NOW IS PERISHABLE, SOWN IN DISHONOUR AND WEAKNESS. PAUL IS TEACHING HERE THAT THE ETERNAL BODY, OUR SPIRITUAL BODY, WHAT WE WILL POSSESS THROUGHOUT ETERNITY WILL HAVE NONE OF THESE IMPERFECTIONS.
TIME PREVENTS ME FROM GETTING INTO A DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF WHAT THAT RESURRECTION BODY WILL BE LIKE. I CAN TELL YOU THIS. I BELIEVE THAT BODY WILL BE PHYSICAL IN NATURE, AND THAT WE WILL BE RECOGNIZED. JESUS HAD A PHYSICAL BODY AT THE TIME OF HIS RESURRECTION, AND AT THE ASCENION WE ARE TOLD BY THEANGELS THAT HE WOULD COME BACK IN THAT SAME MANNER.
WE WILL BE ABLE TO COMMUNICATE WITH EACH OTHER. THE BOOK OF REVELAITON SPEAKS ABOUT THE SAINTS OFFERING PRAISE TO GOD, AND ASKING QUESTIONS. THIS MEANS THAT WE WILL ALSO BE ABLE TO LEARN.
WE WILL EAT IN HEAVEN. THAT SHOULD BE A BLESSING TO US BAPTISTS. WE ARE GOING TO BE ALLOWED TO EAT FROM THE TREE OF LIFE. IT WILL BE LIKE LIVING IN THE GARDEN OF EDEN AGAIN.
THUS AS HE POINTS TO JESUS AS A DEFENCE FOR THE RESURRECTION PAUL ALSO POINTS TO JESUS AS THE REFERENCE FOR OUR RESURRECTION.
1 CORINTHIANS 15:49: “And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we bear the likeness of the man from heaven.”
CONCLUSION:
WHAT ARE WE TO TAKE FROM PAUL’S WORDS TO THE CORINTHIAN CHURCH?
1. WE ARE TO TAKE FROM IT THE NECESSITY OF DEATH. ONE WRITER SAID IT WELL, “THERE CAN’T BE A RESURRECTION WITHOUT A DEATH.”
1 CORINTHIANS 15:50: “I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.”
2. IT IS BECAUSE OF THE FALL THAT DEATH ENTERED OUR WORLD. DEATH WAS NOT A PART OF CREATION. THERE IS NO MENTION OF IT UNTIL THE FALL. WE ALSO KNOW FROM THE BOOK OF REVELATION THAT IN HEAVEN WE WILL NOT FACE DEATH ANYMORE. THE GARDEN OF EDEN WAS ALSO A SINLESS TIME AND IT WOULD BE FAIR TO ASSUME THAT THERE WOULD BE NO DEATH THERE AS WELL. THERE WOULD BE NO NEED FOR A TRANSFORMATION FROM CORRUPTIBLE TO INCORRUPTIBLE IF THERE WAS NO CORRUPTION.
3. IT IS THROUGH DEATH THAT WE GAIN OUR ETERNAL BODIES. WE WILL PUT ON THE IMPERISHABLE, WHETHER IN HEAVEN OR HELL WE WILL LIVE FOREVER.
4. THAT CHRIST HAS INDEED BEEN RESURRECTED FROM THE DEAD, AND WITH HIS RESURRECTION COMES THE HOPE OF OUR RESURRECTION AS WELL.
5. JESUS TAUGHT THAT WHEN WE DIE OUR SPIRITS (IF WE ARE CHRISTIANS) IMMEDIATELY GO TO BE WITH HIM. HE MADE THE PROMISE TO THE THIEF ON THE CROSS, “TODAY, YOU SHALL BE WITH ME IN PARADISE.”
THIS THEN IS THE HOPE OF THE CHRISTIAN. THAT WHICH SATAN USES AS HIS FIANL WEAPON, BECOMES THE DOORWAY THAT GOD USES TO BEGIN ETERNITY WITH HIM. WE CAN SAY WITH PAUL “WHERE OF DEATH IS THY VICTORY, WHERE O DEATH IS YOUR STING.”
YOU CAN HAVE VICTORY OVER THIS LAST ENEMY TODAY, THROUGH ACCEPTING JESUS AS YOUR LORD AND SAVIOR. A PROPER KNOWLEDGE ABOUT DEATH ALLOWS US TO STAND FIRM, AND GIVE OURSELVES TO THE WORK OF THE LORD. SOMEONE MAY GAIN AN ETERNAL RELATIONSHIP WITH CHRIST THROUGH YOUR EFFORTS.
