“Behold, I Show You A Mystery.”
(1 Cor 15:51-52)
Introduction;
News of __________ illness and the journey of treatment has been on our hearts and in our prayers these last two years.
Our family wishes to convey our love and prayers to the entire family circle.
as Solomon wrote, “a woman who fears (worships) the Lord is to be praised”... and I would add, admired... and, ... is to be emulated.
_______ was someone who deeply loved the Lord... she was not a Sunday Christian – for her Jesus was the true center of her life.
And now we turn to the scriptures – the only place that can properly address the deep issues of life.
Read text: 1 Cor 15:51-52
51 Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— 52 in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.
Context: Corinthian Christians (1st gen - new believers) are beginning to die – and so questions arise about what’s next...
It's a question that every visit to a funeral home brings to the surface – and one we often brush aside because it's too mysterious... so many unanswered questions.
Life – and death - is so filled with mystery, a sense of wonder and transcendence.
In this passage Paul speaks into the mystery...
“Behold I show you a mystery...” says Paul. ( I am intentionally using that good old King James word, “behold” – instead of the more pedestrian word, “listen or look”
1. Behold, I tell you a mystery – though death Is all around us – it is a defeated foe.
Corinth was experiencing death of saints...
Paul centers on Jesus’ defeat of death.
• 2 weeks ago - 2 young Fishermen were lost at sea in central NL...
• Death is a mystery... so random at times... so unpredictable... so unfair.
• Life is so fragile – James calls it a mist or a fog that is here for a little while and then vanishes. (James 4:14)
And Death brings with it loss – and loss brings grief... there’s a profound absence – someone is missing from the dinner table...
Memories, vacations, rites of passage, and pictures become more cherished.
Life is a mystery...Death is a mystery...
... A grave and a tombstone mark the date and set out the resting place.
It's a place to visit... to place flowers... to look back and to look forward.
In Israel there’s a graveyard beside the Mt. of Olives –it's 500 years old.
...the Mt of Olives being the place where the Messiah will appear – where Jesus will stand upon his return to earth – and, upon his coming - the graves will be opened !
– the thinking is... that’s the closest seat in the house – and those graves will be the first to open and release their occupants upon the messiah’s arrival on that mount.
And...
** In many Christian churches Easter morning – resurrection morning - begins in a cemetery with a service that celebrates the resurrection of Jesus
– it's intended to signal the defeat of death and the victory of eternal life because Jesus tomb is empty.
Behold, I show you a mystery --
though death is all around us it is a defeated foe.
2. Behold, I tell you a mystery - One Day, “history” will conclude & “The Trumpet Will Sound”: v. 52
That trumpet blast will signal a new era...
Not “a” trumpet – but “the trumpet” – capital “T”
It's the Announcement of a new era – “eternal” life has transitioned from hope to reality... a new day will dawn!
The trumpet sound is familiar to us on Remembrance Day - and is heard at military ceremonies – “Taps” is trumpeted – its a way to remember those we have lost...
But for the believer there’s another triumphant trumpet blast coming ?
“For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 1 Thess 4:16
3. Behold, I tell you a mystery... We Will Be all be Changed: v. 52
From Mortal to immortal... think about it... we can’t really imagine it... we cannot grasp immortality.
it's a mystery to us...
from perishable to imperishable says Paul (v. 53)
Paul tries to answer a question from the believers in Corinth...paul they ask, “what kind of body will we receive?”
Paul tries to help...
“when you sow seed says Paul, you do not plant the body that will be – but just a seed.
Likewise for believers... it is sown a natural body – but it is raised a spiritual body.” (v. 44)
Behold I show you a mystery.
Science can’t explain this... this is theology... the Queen of the sciences...this is the gospel... it's beyond the finite minds or mere mortals.
... 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.45 So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being”[f]; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. 46 The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. 47 The first man was of the dust of the earth; the second man is of heaven. 48 As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the heavenly man, so also are those who are of heaven.49 And just as we have borne the image of the earthly man, so shall we bear the image of the heavenly man. (!)
Friends this is the good news of the gospel
This is fantastic news!
_________ knew Jesus – she believed the gospel and she lived it. She was a woman of faith and prayer.
This gospel was preached -__________ received it , took her stand on it.
By this gospel she is saved.
I want to invite each of you to place your hope and faith in Jesus – his resurrection can activate your resurrection ... eternal life can be yours too !
Jesus when at the graveside of his friend Lazarus said? “ I am the resurrection and the life whoever believes in me will live – even they die.
“behold I show you a mystery” – we will all be changed.
From this side of the grave we take the mystery on faith... but on the other side of the grave – it's not faith – it's reality.
4. Behold, I show you a mystery... eternal life hinges on an event some 2000 years ago – the Resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth.
All of this talk of eternal matters... talk of heaven... it's not pie in the sky ... it's not myth or fiction... it's not religious speculation.
This is where Paul goes in his letter...
And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. (17)
It's Jesus resurrection that gives us eternal life.
If Jesus didn’t rise... 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. 19 If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.
But Paul is emphatic... 20 But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
You may remember that Paul wasn't always a believer in Jesus – he thought Jesus to be a fraud – and when he was crucified it was over.
And Paul was vindicated.
But when Jesus appeared to Paul and proved to him that indeed he was very much alive – that proof turned Paul from intense unbelief to passionate preacher, church planter and writer of much of the NT.
I like this word “Firstfruits”... Jesus resurrection guarantees that ours will follow.
Permit me a few lines from George Herbert (The Dawning)
Arise, sad heart; if thou dost not withstand,
Christ's resurrection thine may be;
Do not by hanging down
break from the hand
Which, as it riseth, raiseth thee:
Arise, Arise.
“Behold, I show you a mystery...”
Paul...
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 turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him.
Do you belong to him?
Is your faith in him?
Malcolm Muggeridge writes: Are caterpillars told of their impending resurrection? How in dying they will be transformed from poor earth-crawlers into creatures of the air?
do they believe it? …
I hear again those words of Jesus : I am the resurrection, and the life - and feel myself carried along on a great tide of joy and peace.
5. “Behold, I show you a mystery” - Death will be destroyed –
not just defeated... will be “Swallowed Up” – victory is ours!
Can you imagine life without hospitals...and cancer centers.. nursing homes... funeral homes... graveyards... wills and estate planning...
no more doctors... no nurses... no paramedics... no pharmacists... no pills...
That’s a little of what eternal life means...
The Garden of Eden restored – creation restored – like it was before the curse of sin was placed upon it.
Behold I show you a mystery...
Revelation 21: 4 ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” 5 “I am making everything new!” says Jesus our Lord. (Rev 21)
And Romans 8:18...creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God
Conclusion: Behold I show you a mystery
*** you see friends, the mystery of eternal life... resurrection... defeat of death... a restored creation
...takes faith...
but not blind faith ...
not a leap of reckless faith...
a step of informed faith in Jesus our Lord – based on the inspired, reliable, and trustworthy scriptures.
God has spoken
God is still speaking
He is a God who makes himself known
You are created in his image – for relationship with him
He’s calling you.
He invites you to receive the gift of eternal life
That’s the beautiful story that begins with Christmas – Jesus in a manger and moves to the cross – and then the empty tomb – and then one day the blast of that trumpet.
I tell you a mystery:
.... For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.
_________ had this faith!
Victory over death is now hers – she is indeed, “with Christ.” – Thanks be to God.
