Resurrection Victory
Grace to you, and peace from God our Father and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
We are quickly approaching the most significant event in human history! In just ten short days the world will once again be reminded of the Lordship of Jesus Christ as Christians celebrate the resurrection victory He won for us in that first Easter morning.
Paul is reminding us in our text that the victory Jesus won is a victory He shared with all who belong to Him through faith. We hear today the continuing thoughts as Paul expounds on the supremacy of the resurrected body. Hear what he says concerning who we will be when that day comes for us.
So it is with the resurrection of the dead: Sown in corruption, raised in incorruption; sown in dishonor, raised in glory; sown in weakness, raised in power; sown a natural body, raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. So it is written, The first man Adam became a living being; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, then the spiritual. 1 Corinthians 15:42-46
Paul states clearly that what dies will be changed into something much greater than we have ever known. What is it which dies! The body which is sinful and has suffered the consequences of life in this broken world will cease to live and what will be the result? Listen again to the words he uses to describe who we are, corruption, dishonor, weakness, and natural. These are all words which speak of life in this world and not the life which will be for us one day in Christ.
With each one of these descriptive adjectives Paul pairs the truth of what will be for us when the day comes and we experience the resurrection victory of Jesus. For this he uses the words, incorruption, glory, power, and spiritual. These are all descriptions of what will be our reality when sin is taken away and we are restored to the life God originally intended for us.
Look again at who we are. We are of this natural world which is broken in every way and because of the sin which has corrupted everything and everyone, we are weak both physically and spiritually. There is no honor in weakness! There is no glory in sickness, disease, and death. All of this reeks of being overcome and defeated.
God wanted more for us than to experience life temporarily in this world and then to spend eternity suffering the consequences of all we had become. Paul speaks of Adam being the first human being in this world, The first man Adam became a living being. This first human being was the source of life for every living person in the history of the world. A rib was taken from Adam to create Eve. From this first man and woman have come all of humanity! At the same time, because these first two humans turned from God and sinned, the misery we see in the world today has become part of all of us. While Adam was the source of physical life for all of us, he is also the source of death for all of us as well.
Paul then adds the other side of the coin. In the same way he has used contrasting adjectives to describe our existence in this world prior to the resurrection and then after, he now contrasts Adam from whom came physical life with the second Adam who is the source of spiritual life. He says, the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.
Jesus has become the source of true life and restoration for all who have faith in Him. He is the One who has opened the way for a new life to be granted, and it is a life which is filled with all that is opposite of life in this world. Where there was corruption, dishonor, and weakness there is now incorruption, glory, and power. This is the victory which overcomes the world, and this is the life which is granted to us in Christ.
I would like for you to think for a moment of what this means for you as a Christian and also think of the opposite reality. For you who believe in Jesus, unless the Lord returns you will face and end to your physical life in this world. People die every day. Some by accidents, others due to disease, and for the fortunate few, old age. The body is laid to rest and ultimately returns to dust as God told Adam in the Garden. When that moment comes and your life in this world ceases, it is only your physical body which ceases to live! Your spirit is immediately taken to heaven to dwell in the presence of God. When Jesus returns your body will be raise and reunited with your spirit and you will live body and spirit in heaven forever. The body which is resurrected will be perfect and holy just as Adam was in the garden prior to the fall into sin. Imagine what it will be like when we live with absolutely no sin and none of its consequences.
Now what will become of those who die but who have no faith in Jesus? Do they simply pass out of existence? Do they remain dead forever? What happens to them? The truth is that they will also experience a resurrection, but it will not be like the resurrection of the Christian. While the Christian is raised to glory, the one who has died as an unbeliever is raised to life but will not have the victory of Jesus or the restoration that the Christian resurrection brings.
The greatest irony in the Bible is that death is thrown into the lake of fire. Ultimately death dies! Death ceases to exist when all the graves are emptied, and life is restored to everyone. For the Christian this is a glorious thing, but for the unbeliever it is a terrifying reality. To be raised still corrupted by sin still weakened by the consequences of life in this world, and to spend eternity separated from God, body and spirit restored, but under judgment is no life at all. That is why it is called eternal death and not eternal life. Everyone is resurrected but not everyone experiences the victory of the resurrection. Everyone lives forever but there is an existence which is so opposite of life that it is called death. For the unbeliever the resurrection will come but it will be a day of overwhelming grief and a miserable sorrow that will never end.
As we approach the celebration of Easter may we be the ones who share the truth of Jesus and His victory so the world may know God's love. And may we rescue from the flames those who because of sin are destined for an eternity separated from God. And may our motivation be that this is who we once were, but God's grace has made the difference.
In Christ,
Pastor Russ
We are quickly approaching the most significant event in human history! In just ten short days the world will once again be reminded of the Lordship of Jesus Christ as Christians celebrate the resurrection victory He won for us in that first Easter morning.
Paul is reminding us in our text that the victory Jesus won is a victory He shared with all who belong to Him through faith. We hear today the continuing thoughts as Paul expounds on the supremacy of the resurrected body. Hear what he says concerning who we will be when that day comes for us.
So it is with the resurrection of the dead: Sown in corruption, raised in incorruption; sown in dishonor, raised in glory; sown in weakness, raised in power; sown a natural body, raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. So it is written, The first man Adam became a living being; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, then the spiritual. 1 Corinthians 15:42-46
Paul states clearly that what dies will be changed into something much greater than we have ever known. What is it which dies! The body which is sinful and has suffered the consequences of life in this broken world will cease to live and what will be the result? Listen again to the words he uses to describe who we are, corruption, dishonor, weakness, and natural. These are all words which speak of life in this world and not the life which will be for us one day in Christ.
With each one of these descriptive adjectives Paul pairs the truth of what will be for us when the day comes and we experience the resurrection victory of Jesus. For this he uses the words, incorruption, glory, power, and spiritual. These are all descriptions of what will be our reality when sin is taken away and we are restored to the life God originally intended for us.
Look again at who we are. We are of this natural world which is broken in every way and because of the sin which has corrupted everything and everyone, we are weak both physically and spiritually. There is no honor in weakness! There is no glory in sickness, disease, and death. All of this reeks of being overcome and defeated.
God wanted more for us than to experience life temporarily in this world and then to spend eternity suffering the consequences of all we had become. Paul speaks of Adam being the first human being in this world, The first man Adam became a living being. This first human being was the source of life for every living person in the history of the world. A rib was taken from Adam to create Eve. From this first man and woman have come all of humanity! At the same time, because these first two humans turned from God and sinned, the misery we see in the world today has become part of all of us. While Adam was the source of physical life for all of us, he is also the source of death for all of us as well.
Paul then adds the other side of the coin. In the same way he has used contrasting adjectives to describe our existence in this world prior to the resurrection and then after, he now contrasts Adam from whom came physical life with the second Adam who is the source of spiritual life. He says, the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.
Jesus has become the source of true life and restoration for all who have faith in Him. He is the One who has opened the way for a new life to be granted, and it is a life which is filled with all that is opposite of life in this world. Where there was corruption, dishonor, and weakness there is now incorruption, glory, and power. This is the victory which overcomes the world, and this is the life which is granted to us in Christ.
I would like for you to think for a moment of what this means for you as a Christian and also think of the opposite reality. For you who believe in Jesus, unless the Lord returns you will face and end to your physical life in this world. People die every day. Some by accidents, others due to disease, and for the fortunate few, old age. The body is laid to rest and ultimately returns to dust as God told Adam in the Garden. When that moment comes and your life in this world ceases, it is only your physical body which ceases to live! Your spirit is immediately taken to heaven to dwell in the presence of God. When Jesus returns your body will be raise and reunited with your spirit and you will live body and spirit in heaven forever. The body which is resurrected will be perfect and holy just as Adam was in the garden prior to the fall into sin. Imagine what it will be like when we live with absolutely no sin and none of its consequences.
Now what will become of those who die but who have no faith in Jesus? Do they simply pass out of existence? Do they remain dead forever? What happens to them? The truth is that they will also experience a resurrection, but it will not be like the resurrection of the Christian. While the Christian is raised to glory, the one who has died as an unbeliever is raised to life but will not have the victory of Jesus or the restoration that the Christian resurrection brings.
The greatest irony in the Bible is that death is thrown into the lake of fire. Ultimately death dies! Death ceases to exist when all the graves are emptied, and life is restored to everyone. For the Christian this is a glorious thing, but for the unbeliever it is a terrifying reality. To be raised still corrupted by sin still weakened by the consequences of life in this world, and to spend eternity separated from God, body and spirit restored, but under judgment is no life at all. That is why it is called eternal death and not eternal life. Everyone is resurrected but not everyone experiences the victory of the resurrection. Everyone lives forever but there is an existence which is so opposite of life that it is called death. For the unbeliever the resurrection will come but it will be a day of overwhelming grief and a miserable sorrow that will never end.
As we approach the celebration of Easter may we be the ones who share the truth of Jesus and His victory so the world may know God's love. And may we rescue from the flames those who because of sin are destined for an eternity separated from God. And may our motivation be that this is who we once were, but God's grace has made the difference.
In Christ,
Pastor Russ
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