“I Believe” –a sermon series on the Apostles’ Creed
“Life Everlasting” -Responsive Reading #644, “Christ & Immortality” (I Cor 15) -Pastor Bob Leroe, Cliftondale Congregational Church, Saugus, Massachusetts
An elderly couple died in an accident and found themselves standing before the Pearly Gates of Heaven. St Peter was there to welcome them and took them inside. First Peter showed them their new, heavenly mansion. The man, awed by the sheer luxury of it all asked, "How much does this place cost per night?" St Peter replied, "Sir, this is Heaven, it doesn’t cost anything." Then Peter took them to the dining room where table upon table was piled high with the most superb, delicious foods you could imagine. Again overwhelmed by the lavishness of it all the man asked, "How much for the meals?" St Peter said, "You forget, this is Heaven; it’s free." St Peter then took them out back where they saw the very finest professional golf course. As the man stood there open-mouthed St Peter said, "Now before you ask, there are no greens fees; this is Heaven; everything is free." The man turned to his wife and said, "If it hadn’t been for your bran muffins, we could’ve gotten here ten years ago!”
Is death “THE END”, or is it “TO BE CONTINUED”? Is there life after death? Some people view death as the very worst consequence possible, while others see it as the “final stage of growth” (Kübler-Ross). The Apostles Creed concluded by proclaiming, “We believe in the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting.”
One day we will die and our bodies will return to dust; they were not made to live forever. But through Christ we have hope for a life that goes beyond death. We will be with Christ. This first resurrection is spiritual; our souls--the immaterial part of who we are--will travel beyond death’s door. This assurance was a great comfort to Job, who suffered greatly. God never explains to Job why he suffered, yet he declared, “I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end He will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; I myself will see Him with my own eyes…how my heart yearns within me!” (19:25-27). Paul explains in II Corinthians 5 that to be absent from our bodies means to be at home with the Lord.
Scripture also speaks of a 2nd, physical, bodily resurrection. Jesus will one day appear and by miraculous means raise, reshape and transform our mortal bodies back to life. The One who brought about the miracle of birth will from dust and decay reconstruct and reanimate that which is dead. Ezekiel was given a glimpse of this in his vision in the Valley of the Dry Bones. God asked the prophet, “Can these bones live?” He then directed Ezekiel to prophesy to the bones, which he did. Some ministers feel like they’re preaching to dry bones! God put flesh and skin on these bones and put the breath of in them (chapter 37).
The most detailed description of this miraculous process is in our text, I Corinthians 15, the “resurrection chapter” of the Bible. Chapter 13’s the “love chapter” of the Bible; Ch 15’s the “Resurrection Chapter”. Paul says that our resurrection bodies will be perfect, and specially suited for eternal life—an existence with no more death, pain, sickness, fatigue, hunger, or thirst. Gone and forever absent in Heaven will be the stresses and human weaknesses that are the result of sin and the Fall of humankind. Our bodies will be like the body of our risen Savior--immortal, imperishable, incorruptible. Paul states in Philippians that Jesus “will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like His glorious body” (3:21). Nothing is yet in its true form. (C.S. Lewis). In death life is changed, not ended.
Will I be the “same me” in Heaven? Will I be able to recognize family and friends, and will they recognize me? People didn’t immediately recognize Jesus in His resurrection body; somehow He was different. I’m not sure exactly how we will know one another; maybe we’ll wear nametags! I also fully expect that in a glorified body I’ll have a full head of hair! When I get to heaven, I don’t want a harp--I want to be handed a comb! But I speak of heavenly things, of which we’re given only a glimpse, a mere fragment of information. What the Bible says about eternal life is brief and couched in symbols; yet one day we will experience the full reality of life everlasting.
This miraculous resurrection will happen to both believers and unbelievers. Believers will enjoy eternal life in God’s holy presence…and for those who by their own choice have rejected God’s mercy, they will suffer eternal separation from God. They’d rather be miserable away from God than in His blessed presence. C.S. Lewis observed, “There are a good many things which would not be worth bothering about if I were going to live only seventy years, but which I had better bother about very seriously if I am going to live for ever.” Everyone will live forever; the question is, where will they live?
For believers, death is no longer an issue; we have instead a living, secure, glorious hope! I heard a story about a man who made a very special friend while just a boy. When quite young, Paul’s father had one of the first telephones in their St Louis neighborhood. Paul was too little to reach the phone, but he would listen with fascination when his parents talked into it.
Then Paul discovered that somewhere inside this wonderful device there lived an amazing person; her name was "Information, Please" and there was nothing she did not know. "Information, Please" could supply anybody’s number and the correct time. Paul’s first encounter with this genie-in-a-bottle came one day while his mother was visiting a neighbor. Playing at his father’s tool bench in the basement, Paul banged his finger with a hammer. The pain was awful, but there was no use in crying because there was no one home to give sympathy. He walked around the house sucking his throbbing finger, when he thought of the telephone! Paul ran for the footstool in the parlor and dragged it to the landing. Climbing up, he lifted the receiver and held it to his ear. "Information, Please," he said into the mouthpiece. Then a small clear voice spoke into Paul’s ear: “Information."
"I hurt my finger," Paul wailed into the phone. "Isn’t your mother home?" the operator asked. "Nobody’s home but me" Paul blubbered. "Are you bleeding?" the voice asked. "No," he replied. "I hit my finger with the hammer and it hurts." "Can you open your icebox?" she asked. He said he could. "Then take a little piece of ice and hold it to your finger," said the voice.
After that, Paul called "Information, Please" for everything! He asked her for help with his geography and math homework. Then came the time when Paul’s parakeet died. Paul called and told her the sad story. She listened, and said the usual things grown-ups say to soothe a child, but Paul was inconsolable. He asked her, "Why is it that birds should sing so beautifully and bring joy to families, only to end up as a heap of feathers on the bottom of a cage?" She sensed his grief, and said quietly, "Paul, always remember that there are other worlds to sing in." Somehow he felt better.
When Paul was nine years old, his family moved from St Louis to Boston. Paul missed his telephone friend very much. "Information, Please" belonged in that old wooden box back home, and he somehow never thought of trying the shiny new phone that sat on the table in the hall. As he grew into his teens, he appreciated the memory of how patient, understanding, and kind the information lady was to have spent her time on a little boy.
A few years later, on his way west to college, Paul’s plane landed in St Louis. He had about an hour between flights. He spent 15 minutes on the phone with his sister, who lived there now. Then without thinking about what he was doing, Paul dialed his hometown operator and said, "Information, Please." Amazingly, he heard the small, clear voice he knew so well: "Information." He hadn’t planned this, but he heard himself asking, “Could you please tell me how to spell predicament?" There was a pause, then came the soft spoken answer, "I guess your finger must have healed by now." Paul laughed. "So it’s really still you," he said. "I wonder if you have any idea how much you meant to me during my childhood." "I wonder," she said, "if you know how much your calls meant to me. I never had any children, and I used to look forward to your calls." Paul told her how often he had thought of her over the years and asked if he could call her again when he came back to visit his sister. "Please do," she said. "Just ask for Sally."
Three months later Paul was back in St Louis, on his way home for Christmas Break. A different voice answered, "Information." He asked for Sally. "Are you a friend?" She asked. "Yes, a very old friend," Paul answered. "I’m sorry to have to tell you this," she said. "Sally has been working part-time the past few years because she was ill. She died five weeks ago." Before he could hang up she said, "Wait a minute. Is this Paul?" "Yes," Paul replied. "Well, Sally left a message for you. She wrote it down in case you called. Let me read it to you." The note said: "Tell Paul I still say there are other worlds to sing in. He’ll know what I mean."
Physical Bodies and Resurrection Bodies:
Perishable----------Imperishable
Sown in dishonor----Raised in glory
Sown in weakness----Raised in power
Natural-------------Spiritual
From the dust-------From Heaven
What We Know About Heaven:
Reference Description
John 14:2-3.....A place prepared for us
John 20:19,26...Unlimited by physical properties
I John 3:2......We will be like Jesus
I Cor...........We will have new bodies
I Cor. 2:9......Our experience will be wonderful
Rev 21:1........A new environment
Rev 21:3........A new experience of God’s presence
Rev 21:4........New emotions
Rev 21:4........There will be no death
“No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him” (I Cor 2:9).
