Transcript

The Death of Death

1 Corinthians 15:50-58
Sunday, May 21, 2006
Pastor Randy Smith

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There is a preacher of the old school but he speaks as boldly as ever. He is not popular, though the world is his parish and he travels every part of the globe and speaks in every language. He visits the poor, calls upon the rich, preaches to people of every religion and no religion, and the subject of his sermon is always the same. He is an eloquent preacher, often stirring feelings which no other preacher could, and bringing tears to eyes that never weep. His arguments none are able to refute, nor is there any heart that has remained unmoved by the force of his appeals. He shatters life with his message. Most people hate him; everyone fears him. (The preacher's) name? Death. Every tombstone is his pulpit, every newspaper prints his text, and someday every one of you will be his sermon (Author: Unknown. Source: MacArthur, 1 Corinthians, p. 441-442).

Regardless of who you are, there is one certainty that each of us will encounter. We may face it soon or it may be postponed a few decades. But the day will come when each of us in this room will experience the reality of death. Death is impartial to our money, our flattery, our appearance and our intelligence. Death denies our medical advances. And death especially laughs at those who seek to ignore its existence.

It was Sigmund Freud, lauded to be the founder of psychology, who said, "And finally there is the painful riddle of death, for which no remedy at all has yet been found, nor probably ever will be."

In once sense, Freud was correct. There is nothing we can do to avoid the inevitability of death. Yet in another sense he was dead wrong. A remedy has been provided that will enable us to life forever after death in a better existence than the one we currently enjoy.

So rather than sweep death under the carpet or numb our minds to its chilling reality, we must accept death and fix our minds completely on the message of hope we find in the Scriptures. For God has decreed a way where death has lost its sting, and the remedy that Freud never discovered comes through the Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ.

This morning we will conclude the fifteenth chapter of Paul's letter to the Corinthians. We will examine one of the Bible's greatest declarations of the victory we have in Christ over death. There is hardly a more encouraging message that I can preach from this pulpit.

1. THE GREAT TRANSFORMATION (15:50-53)

Let's begin with the first point: The Great Transformation.

As we have learned in past weeks, the Corinthians accepted the soul going to heaven, but they could not fathom the future resurrection of the body. They believed that all matter was evil, a common Gnostic thought. Therefore a future body was not only undesirable but also incapable of dwelling eternally with a holy God.

For a moment Paul concedes their argument. He says in verse 50, "Now I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable."

"You're right, (says Paul) 'flesh and blood' or bodily existence as we know it cannot enter heaven. I already told you (says Paul) in verses 42 through 44 that our earthly bodies are "perishable" and "dishonored" and "weak" and "natural." I already told you (says Paul) in verses 40 through 41 that there are bodies fit for heaven and bodies fit for earth. Yes (says Paul), these "perishable (earthly bodies cannot) inherit the imperishable" (verse 50). Yes, our current bodies cannot inherit the Kingdom of God. In order for eternal heavenly bodily existence, verse 53, "This perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality. Yes, we cannot enter heaven as we currently are, but that doesn't mean God can't change our current bodies! As a matter of fact, the point I've been making throughout this chapter is that God one day will transform these present earthy bodies to be fit for their heavenly existence.

When will this transformation take place?

The Resurrection of Jesus Christ is the cornerstone of history. At the time of the Resurrection, not only was Jesus declared Lord, not only did God accept the atonement He made for our sins, but the resurrection of Jesus Christ also became the prototype of others to follow in like manner.

Remember, Jesus was the "first fruits" (1 Cor. 15:20, 23), the beginning of a great harvest yet to come. And that great harvest is the bodily resurrection of the sons and daughters of God. The church as we know it, the beginning and end of the redemptive mission of Christ, exists between these two great periods of history, these two great resurrections.

Erich Sauer, a theologian, once said, "The present age is Easter time. It begins with the resurrection of the Redeemer and ends with the resurrection of the redeemed. Between lies the spiritual resurrection of those called into life through Christ. So we live between two Easters, and in the power of the first Easter we go to meet the last Easter."

So we have already witnessed the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ 2,000 years ago, but when will we witness the bodily resurrection of the church? The answer to that question was addressed in verse 23 of this chapter. "(The resurrection will occur) each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ's at His coming." When Christians die they immediately go home to be with the Lord as disembodied spirits. When our Lord returns, they/we will receive their resurrected bodies, a continuiation from the old body, but yet one that is transformed, glorious, fit for its heavenly existence.

So Paul, after explaining our wonderful future, anticipates the next question from the Corinthian church. "O.K., that covers the dead, but what happens to those who are alive when Jesus returns? Will they experience death? How will their present bodies be changed to their heavenly bodies?" The answer is found in verses 51 and 52. "Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed."

Let's examine this wonderful verse in further detail.

By using the word "mystery" Paul cues us in that he is about to unfold a previously hidden truth inconceivable to the human mind, but one that is now revealed to us by God - something into which angels long to look.

Obviously some Christians will be alive when our Lord returns. This is affirmed in verse 51 by saying "we will not all sleep." Sleep was a common euphemism for death. Those believers fortunate enough to be around when our Lord returns will never experience physical death, for they will receive their resurrected bodies immediately. As the verse says, "we will all be changed."

How fast will this transformation take place? The text says, "In a moment." The Greek word for moment is atomos. It is where we get our English word, "atom," once thought to be the smallest indivisible particle. The verse adds, "In the twinkling of an eye." Probably faster than a blink. Probably something that immediately catches our attention. In a flash, a split second our bodies will be transformed for their eternal existence. The metamorphosis of caterpillar to a butterfly is gradual. Our supernatural metamorphosis, says the passage, is instantaneous.

This will occur "at the last trumpet." When that trumpet sounds, according to verse 52, "The dead will be raised imperishable and we will be changed."

Paul's original audience would have understood the connotation of "the last trumpet" because it was an expression that was used in Paul's day by the common Roman army. When the Roman army was about to break their camp and move on the trumpet sounded, and it usually sounded three times. The first trumpet that was blown was to signify they were to strike the tents, pull out the tent pegs and prepare to depart - they were to get ready. When the second trumpet sounded it meant that they were to fall into line, into their segregations, into their troops and their regiments to prepare for their departure. Then came the third trumpet, commonly called "the last trumpet." When it sounded that was the sign to leave.

The same will be true for Christians. When that trumpet sounds, the dead in Christ will get their new bodies and those presently alive at that time will be changed.

You see, the church in Corinth wanted to know how those alive at our Lord's return would get their resurrected bodies. However, the church in Thessalonica wanted to know how those who had died would receive their resurrected bodies.

Remember Paul's words to them? "For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep (died). For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God (!), and the dead in Christ (their bodies) will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds (after being instantaneously changed) to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord" (1 Thes. 4:15-17).

Are you beginning to see how these wonderful events will unfold? Our Lord returns, He sounds the last trumpet, those who have died in Christ will get their resurrected bodies first, and then those who remain will be instantly changed in the twinkling of an eye. Or as Paul differentiates these two groups at the end of verse 52, "The dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed."

One day an assistant of the famous chemist Michael Faraday accidentally knocked a little silver cup into a beaker of very strong acid. In almost no time the silver object disappeared. The great chemist was summoned. He quickly put a certain chemical into the jar, and in a moment every particle of silver came together at the bottom. Removing the shapeless mass, he sent it to a silversmith, who recreated a cup that shone as bright as ever (Our Daily Bread, Sunday, September 19).

Likewise, God will one day restore the bodies of those who have died in Christ, bodies that have decomposed and are presently scattered throughout a large radius. He will bring those bodies together in a more glorious form and make them shine as brightly as ever when our Savior returns.

This is the hope we as Christians share. That forever we will be worshipping our God in glorious heavenly bodies, like Jesus Christ - bodies that surpass the body of Adam and Eve. Bodies perfectly redeemed to eternally demonstrate God's victory over the curse.

From Job, arguably the oldest book in the Bible we read, "As for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last He will take His stand on the earth. Even after my skin is destroyed, yet from my flesh I shall see God" (Job 19:25-26). There truly are better things ahead than anything we leave behind!

As a young man in 1728, Ben Franklin had composed his own mock epitaph. His words reveal the truth we are learning this morning. "The Body of B. Franklin, printer; Like the Cover of an old Book, its Contents torn out, and stript of its Lettering and Gilding, 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: ushistroy.org).

2. THE GREAT TRIUMPH (15:54-55)

From "The Great Transformation," let's go to "The Great Triumph," our second point. In verse 54 we read, "But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, 'Death is swallowed up in victory.'"

When our Lord returns and all God's children have received their resurrected bodies, the perishable get the imperishable and the mortal get the immortality, then and only then, will death be fully defeated. Then, as the text says, quoting Isaiah 25:8, "Death is swallowed up in victory."

What started because of the Fall in the Garden still has a grip on Christians. Yes, our death is the blessed ticket that ushers us into the eternal presence of the Lord, but death even for the Christian, still bears its curse. We too still suffer during the process of dying. We too still experience physical death. We too still mourn when we lose loved ones. We too await our new bodies in heaven.

But the time will come at our Lord's return when He will deal death its final deathblow. He will demonstrate and consummate His complete victory over the Fall. History is His-story and His story's theme is redemption. What was marred because of sin has been reversed because of the cross.

When Jesus died He put sin to death and when He rose He put death to death. The day will come when death will die and to the praise of our Lord be swallowed up in victory.

Victory, nikos, a word borrowed by the athletic outfit "Nike." A word used in the language of the day to denote a military or legal victory. Here, a spiritual victory achieved by our Savior and graciously shared with those who love Him.

The Apostle John records our glorious victory thanks to the work of Christ in Revelation 21. "And He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away" (Rev. 21:4).

Because of this victory we share in Christ, Paul can add another quotation from the Old Testament, this time from Hosea 13:14 in verse 55. "O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?"

The great enemy we all face has lost its potency. As one pastor said, "In Christ's victory over death, death's sting has been removed; it is declawed, defanged, disarmed, destroyed" (MacArthur, 1 Corinthians, 446). Because of the work of Jesus, we can taunt death, defy its powerless threats and bask in the power far greater than now controls us. Because of Jesus, death has lost its sting.

In the Daily Bread, I recently read this account spoken by a father of two boys: "While walking in the field one day with my two young sons, a bee from one of my hives made a beeline for the elder boy and stung him just above the eye. He quickly brushed it away and threw himself in the grass, kicking and screaming for help. The bee went straight for the younger son and began buzzing around his head. The next thing I knew he too was lying in the grass, yelling at the top of his lungs. But I picked him up and told him to stop crying. 'That bee is harmless,' I assured him. 'It can't hurt you. It has lost its sting.' I took the frightened lad over to his elder brother, showed him the little black stinger in his brow, and said, 'The bee can still scare you, but it is powerless to hurt you. Your brother took the sting away by being stung'" (M. R. DeHaan, Our Daily Bread, Monday August 6).

Beloved is our Lord's work any different? Jesus Christ, our elder brother (Heb. 2:11-12) took the sting of death for us. He fulfilled the law in perfection. He died in our place. He drank the cup of suffering we deserve. He paid the wages for our sins. He accepted the venom. Death's stinger has been removed and was left in Jesus. And because of our union with Christ, death may threaten us, but it no longer holds any power over us (cf. Heb. 2:14-15).

3. THE GREAT THANKSGIVING (15:56-57)

The response to this wonderful reality? "The Great Thanksgiving," our third point, in verses 56-57. "The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."

The law spoken of in verse 56 cannot make us righteous. The law reveals our sin. Moreover, the law spurs us to sin even more. And the wages of such sin is death. But through Christ we have this present victory. Therefore Paul says, "Thanks be to God." In light of this truth, our response should be one of thanksgiving!

It is easy to go through life aware of the things we want and can't obtain. It is easy to focus on our heartaches and pains, rather than the many blessing we receive on a daily basis. It is easy for the smallest inconvenience to ruin our day and even steal our joy. But as bad as things get, never forget, Christian, that God has granted you victory over death - a victory that you didn't earn and a victory you didn't deserve. But a victory, nonetheless, that was paid for you through the shedding of His Son's precious blood. When we receive this gift we are guaranteed a happy ending in the near future. Nothing should bring us greater joy on a daily basis and nothing should incite greater thanksgiving in our hearts to God than the victory we have in Christ.

The saints of yesteryear are recorded as keeping this glorious truth always on the forefronts of their minds. Possibly the pain they experienced through hardships and persecution made them long for the world to come.

Possibly we have been so accustomed to comfort we've lost that desire to "depart and be with Christ" (Phil. 1:23). Possibly our improper satisfaction with life on this planet has caused us to lose the desire for our citizenship in heaven and the arrival of our Savior (Phil. 3:20). No longer hungering for our future home. No longer thanking God for our victory in Jesus.

We must cut through the pace of this age, the deadness of our churches and recapture the heart of the Gospel that Paul identified in this chapter "as of first importance" (1 Cor. 15:3). We must keep before us daily the reality that we are born sinners, deserving eternal separation from God with no way of ever correcting our own problem. Then we must remember the good news - that God in His infinite love and mercy sent His Son to be our Savior. And through His death and resurrection we can have forgiveness. And this gift of grace is received solely on the basis of faith and repentance.

No wonder Paul could say after this lengthy discourse in chapter 15 considering our grand redemption, "Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Cor. 15:57). Are these words that come from your mouth out of the meditation of your heart (Psm. 19:14)?

4. THE GREAT THEREFORE (15:58)

Though this would be a fitting conclusion for our sermon, Paul is not finished. He still has one more verse in the chapter. I am calling this point, "The Great Therefore." Verse 58, "Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord."

What Paul is saying in this final verse is that truth should affect our actions. If we really believe these glorious realities of the victory we have in Jesus, they are not to be stored away as warm, fuzzy feelings. Rather, they are to impact our lives and revolutionize and motivate us to conduct ourselves accordingly. Because of what has just been said, "therefore," our lives should be different.

Specifically, we are to be "steadfast" and "immovable." These two terms are somewhat synonymous and in the context, they refer to the need to stand firm and hold fast to proper doctrine. Though the context here pertains to the Corinthians who believed error regarding the resurrection, generally speaking we are to know proper doctrine as Christians and avoid wavering from it. What a contrast this is from our postmodern age that calls us to tolerate, and moreover accept all opinions. To the Ephesians Paul put it this way: "We are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming" (Eph. 4:14).

Also, in light of the reality of the resurrection, verse 58 says we are to be "always abounding in the work of the Lord." When it comes to serving the Lord, we should not seek to simply do as little as possible, but rather aim to overflow and exceed the necessary requirements. This verse is calling us to err on the side of doing too much if that were theologically possible. Are we using all that the Lord has entrusted to our care: Our energy, our money, our time, our talents, and our gifts to their full potential? Are we "always abounding in the work of the Lord?"

After all we've covered, do you still need more motivation to "step it up?" Well if you do, Paul leaves us with a final encouragement. "(Know) that your toil is not in vain in the Lord." Your service in the Lord will never be a waste. You will be rewarded exponentially both in this life and in the life to come. It was the great American missionary, Jim Elliot who said, "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep, to gain what he cannot lose." Is that your heart?

I believe we have these two final exhortations backwards in the American church. I believe many do everything they can to be "steadfast" and "immovable" when it comes to serving the Lord, and "abounding in the work" when it comes to be unstable and compromising with their doctrine. Should we be surprised that so little is being accomplished for our Savior?

Though we began this sermon talking about death, we end talking about life. Because we are victorious over death in Christ, we now have the ability to live for the glory of God. Our greatest obstacle has been defeated. Our life and future are secure in is His hands. With our minds off death, we can focus on life, the abundant life God has promised us (Jn. 10:10) when we find ourselves in the center of His will.

It was the Prince of Preachers, Charles Spurgeon who once said, "Never fear dying, beloved. Dying is the last, but the least matter that a Christian has to be anxious about. Fear living-that is a hard battle to fight, a stern discipline to endure, a rough voyage to undergo" (62.188, 189).

The death of death we share through our Lord's victory gives us great hope and should motivate us to ceaseless gratitude and abounding service!