Resurrecting Your Hope
1 Corinthians 15:50-58
Introduction
In one of his lighter moments, Benjamin Franklin penned his own epitaph. He didn’t profess to be a born-again Christian, but it seems he must have been influenced by Paul’s teaching of the resurrection of the body. Here’s what he wrote: The Body of B. Franklin, Printer Like the Cover of an old Book Its contents torn out, And stript of its Lettering and Guilding, Lies here, Food for Worms, But the Work shall not be wholly lost: For it will, as he believ’d, Appear once more In a new & more perfect Edition, Corrected and amended by the Author.
Source Unknown.
The belief that Jesus Christ will return to earth someday is held by 62 percent of all Americans.
George Gallup, "Religion in America," Leadership, Fall, 1987.
Read Text: 1 Corinthians 15:50-58
I. The Hope of Your Transformation
50 I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 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. 53 For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality.
A. The nature of this transformation
1. Our current body is flesh and blood
a.) Our human body is physical in nature and is material like the world around us
b.) Our human body is meant to exist only in this world
2. Our current body is corruptible
a.) Our human body will not last forever. Our human body fails us both in ability and capacity
b.) Our human body is in the process of decay
Our hair turns gray or falls out
Our bodies slow down and our energy decreases over time
Our ability to perform certain activities diminishes
3. Our current body requires a change
a.) Our human body cannot last through eternity because it is material, physical and fallible
b.) There must be a change of our bodies to take them from being perishable to being imperishable
B. The mystery of the transformation
1. Not all Christians will fall asleep
a.) The fact is that there will be those who will still be alive when the resurrection takes place.
b.) The resurrection of believers will be for those who have died in Christ and it will be a raising to new and everlasting life. Those who die without Christ will not be raised at this time
2. All Christians will be changed
a.) Every one of those who have place their faith in Christ will experience the reality of the resurrection
b.) There will not be one Christian forgotten. All of those who have been before us and all of those who will follow after us will be changed
3. The change will be instantaneous and complete
a.) Notice verse 52, Paul gives a vivid description of this reality: In a flash, in the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet
b.) In a flash – The understanding is one of being indivisible. The change will happen so quickly that there would not be more than one moment and would occur faster than blinking our eyes
4. The change will be from one kind of body to another
a.) The dead will be raised to an imperishable life. Those who believe in Christ will never again taste death. Our bodies will be changed from being mortal to being immortal
b.) Paul shows the absolute necessity of this change by using the word must. If we are to experience the full power of the resurrection of Jesus, we must be changed forever
II. The Hope of Your Triumph
54 When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: "Death has been swallowed up in victory." 55 "Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?" 56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.
A. The promise of coming victory
1. God promised to give us victory over death
a.) Paul shows that once this transformation takes place that the promise of God will be made complete. We will gain victory through the power of Jesus
b.) At this point, God will bring new life and a new hope into existence
c.) Isaiah 25:8 -
2. God’s promise brings us hope
a.) We have the hope that God will bring us an unending future. We have the hope that we will live after we die. We have the hope that will witness the final and full display of the resurrection power of Jesus.
b.) No matter how difficult your days may become. No mater what people do to you. No matter happens in life. There is no situation, no person and no problem that can ever take the victory that you have in Christ away from you
B. The power of death
1. The nature of death
a.) Death has incredible power
1.) Death has an amazing success rate – 1 out of 1. 100% of us will be effected by the reality of death on a personal basis
2.) Death will one day snare each of us in its grasp and we will pass from this life
b.) The transforming power of Christ
1.) Once the transformation through Christ is complete, we will move from being mortal to being immortal
2.) Death will no longer have power over us. Death will no longer be able to touch us
c.) The power of death flows out of sin
1.) Death receives its power from sin. It was sin that gave death the ability to enter the world because humanity was never meant to die. We were created to be in a relationship with the Father but sin destroyed that relationship and death entered the world
2.) When Christ forgives a person of their sins the power of death is removed from their life. Christ’s power over sin also gives Him the power over death
2. The defeat of death
a.) The resurrection power
1.) On that first Easter, death was defeated and was stripped of its power over Jesus.
2.) The same power that Jesus revealed on Easter will be revealed in those who believe on the day of the resurrection. The absolute power of Jesus over death will be displayed for all to see
b.) Death will be stripped of victory
1.) Death still exists but it will not be victorious because Jesus took the sting of death for us. All of death’s seeming victories over those who believe will be undone.
2.) Death will finally be destroyed. The plan of God will be completed and our relationship with the Father will be fully realized
III. The Hope of Your Testimony
57 But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 58 Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.
A. Christ fulfilled the Law
1. The power of sin comes from the Law
a.) The Law was revealing sin
1.) It was impossible for anyone to live in complete obedience to the Law. Our human nature is powerless against the power of sin
2.) The law became a point of stumbling for God’s people because no one could live out completely
b.) The Law was the way to relate to God but it was an imperfect relationship
2. Christ completely fulfilled the Law
a.) Christ never sinned
Jesus lived without sin and brought fulfillment to the Law because he did what no one else could ever do
b.) Christ bore the punishment of sin
Jesus took the punishment that every person rightfully deserved for their sin and died willingly, without guilt, with the punishment on the cross
B. The living testimony of believers
1. We are to stand firm
a.) Our hope is reason enough to remain determined to live every moment to the fullest for Christ. We are to stand firm in our service for Christ’s Kingdom
b.) Our hope is reason for us to be unshaken in our resolve to serve Jesus. We are to be unmoved in our faith and our service to Christ
2. We are to work hard
a.) The word work means to labor to the point of total and complete exhaustion. It is to give every effort you can to serve Jesus
b.) The fact Paul reminds us if is that we are to serve Christ always. This means to never stop, never slack off and never quit.
3. We will be rewarded
a.) The work that we do for Christ can seem unfruitful or unsuccessful at times. However, Paul tells us that nothing we do for Christ is in vain. The fact is that we may never see the fruit that comes from our labor but Christ does. Nothing you do for Christ will ever be in vain!
b.) Our labor will bear the fruit of our faith found in that day when Christ shows His victory in us
