Death Conquering, World Subduing Resurrection Hope (1 Corinthians 15:19-28)
Easter oftentimes come to us like it has this year. In fact, I have often heard people say that there is one last snap of cold winter weather before the spring comes in. And, much like this year, that often happens just before Easter.
And, to me, that seems very fitting.
Winter comes and its cold air chokes the life out of most everything we see around us. The green beauty of the grass and the trees gives way to a sort of death. The dying leaves on the trees and last color of those beautiful summer flowers tell us that the cold death has returned. We burn fuel to keep ourselves warm and safe during winter’s reign. And all the while we know that spring is coming, and with it warm days, green grass, and sunshine.
But winter doesn’t go away quietly. It can’t. It will not give up ground quietly. As the warm air of spring comes to usher away the cold death of winter, there is a fury of activity. The atmosphere is filled with the fury and so we find thunderstorms and tornadoes to be all too common an occurrence. But every year, we witness the demise of winter as the warm air conquers the cold.
Year after year we get to witness this drama unfold. And year after year we hope for spring, endure the warfare, and enjoy the beauty that finally comes at the end of the drama.
If you listen and look hard enough, you understand that nature is only an echo of a greater drama.
We live through turmoil in this land of death. The world was created good and glorious. The beauty was all around our first parents until sin entered the world. They succumbed to the Evil One’s temptation and ate the fruit, an act of rebellion against God. And at that time death came. Illness, death, wickedness, and all manner of evil ran rampant in the world. But God entered into our world and has won the victory over evil. We live in a time of turmoil and we are sometimes tempted to despair, but we know that the sunshine of the Lord’s Victory is just over the horizon. And so we live as people filled with hope.
This is not a foolish or false hope. This is a sure hope. As sure as the warmth of spring and summer will follow the cold death of winter, life will one day overcome death. And it happens through the finished work of Christ.
Christ has died, Christ has risen, we will rise and He will come again. And so we have a death conquering, world subduing, resurrection hope.
Because of the Resurrection We Have An Eternal And Sure Hope (1 Corinthians 15: 19-20)
If our faith is for this life only, then we should be pitied. And the reason for that is simple. The Christian has staked their entire life on the Resurrection of Christ. We choose how we will behave because of the Resurrection. It has changed what we do and what we say. We devote a day of the week to the Church because of the Resurrection. I could make money or spend more time with my family on that day, but because of the Resurrection of Christ I spend Sundays at church. We choose how we will raise our children based upon the Resurrection.
Therefore, if Jesus has not been raised, we should be pitied. If Christ has not been raised from the dead then we should eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we die. If that is the case, then we should spend our lives upon the banalities of life pursuing whatever will give us the most happiness in the moment. This is not me coming up with this. Paul himself said it.
“What do I gain if, humanly speaking, I fought with beasts at Ephesus? If the dead are not raised, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.”” (1Corinthians 15:32 ESV)
But that is not how things have worked out. Christ has been raised from the dead and that means the Christians are not the ones who have wasted their lives (1 Corinthians 15:20). Christians build their lives upon the fact of the Resurrection of Christ. And that is the very foundation upon which they should be built.
We’ve decided to order our lives according to God’s Word for our eternal good. We’ve turned from all manner of worldliness to follow Christ. And the resurrection means that we have not wasted our lives by doing so.
Because of the Resurrection, it is no waste of time to teach your children God’s Word and God’s ways.
Because of the Resurrection it is no waste of time to prioritize the Church.
Because of the Resurrection it is no waste of time to read God’s Word and pray.
Because of the Resurrection we can know that we will not have wasted our lives if we live them for Jesus.
We’re not rolling the dice and landing on Christianity. The resurrection means that this is not a gamble, but this is a sure and eternal hope. We have staked our lives on Christ and His Resurrection and that is a foundation that will hold. Our hope is sure.
Because of the Resurrection We Have A Death Conquering Hope (1 Corinthians 15:21-23, 26)
We see in this text the progress of all of human history. Adam was created upright and good. But He rebelled against God. And through Adam came death. Death spread to all mankind, even to you. But God made a way for us to be saved. God brought life and He brought it in Jesus Christ.
God the Son took on human flesh, He made Himself killable and paid the price of our redemption on the cross. He bore the wrath of God in our place. And then He rose from the grave. And all those who are in Christ will rise.
We are all born in Adam. Adam sinned and His rebellion and our own bring to us death. We are born sinners in rebellion against God. We have earned for ourselves God’s wrath and justice. But in Christ there is forgiveness of sins. In Christ there is life everlasting.
The response to this message of what Christ has done is to repent and believe. We are born rebel sinners against God. And we are to turn from our rebellion, to turn from ruling our own lives and entrust ourselves to Christ. Jesus died on the cross and rose from the grave that we might live. Though we die, we live and rise from the grave to be with the Lord for all eternity.
When Paul says here that “the last enemy to be destroyed is death, it should cause joy to arise in your soul. There is coming a day when death itself will be destroyed. Death itself will be no more in that day.
Not only is it the case that we need not fear death because we will be ushered into the presence of the Lord. We are actually looking forward to a day when death will be no more, a day when death itself will be defeated.
Adam brought death. And we were all brought forth into that death. We have all earned for ourselves God’s wrath and justice. We all deserve the just and righteous punishment of God. But because of Christ’s sacrifice our sins are forgiven.
And because of His resurrection, we will rise.
And because of the finished work of Christ, we will rise from the grave and be with the Lord for eternity in that land where there is no more death.
This leads Paul to say
“Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall 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 shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:
“Death is swallowed up in victory.” “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”
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.
Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.” (1Corinthians 15:51-58 ESV)
We have a death conquering hope. And this death conquering hope is also a hope that makes all of our labor for God’s Kingdom meaningful, or “not in vain”. We have a world subduing hope because of the Resurrection that makes everything we do for God’s Kingdom meaningful.
Because of the Resurrection We Have a World Subduing Hope (1 Corinthians 15:23-28)
Because Christ lived a perfect life, died on the cross as the punishment for sin, and rose from the grave, the whole world will be brought into subjection to Christ.
The language used in this passage is very time centered language. It is depicting an order of events that will take place, or have already taken place. Notice the order of events.
Christ rose from the grave. Christ will return. Christ’s people will rise. Then comes the end when the Kingdom will be delivered to the Father.
The Kingdom is delivered to the Father when the task of subduing the nations is complete. Notice what is taking place in the text. Every rule and authority has been subjected to Christ.
I heard of a pastor recently who said that all Jesus was doing in this moment was interceding for His people. That’s a huge thing. But that is incomplete. Christ is currently ruling and reigning, subjecting enemies under His feet (1 Corinthians 15:25).
This is a picture from the ancient world. When a ruler placed his feet upon the conquered, it was a symbol of the subjection of the conquered and the dominance of the conqueror. When we say that enemies are being put under Christ’s feet, we are saying that he is subjecting the world to His rule and reign. And the last of those enemies to be subjected is death itself.
But I want to ask now, how is this subjection taking place? How is it that the world is being brought into subjection to Christ?
It is through the declaration of His finished work to the nations. It is through the work of the Holy Spirit in that declaration to convert lost people to faith in Christ. And when the entire world has been conquered by the blood of the Lamb, the work of the Spirit, and the disciple making of the Saints then Christ will hand over the Kingdom to the Father.
Don’t get thrown off by this idea. It simply means that Jesus’s mediatorial way of working will be over and we will be with Him in the New Heavens and Earth. The Triune God will reign over the New Heavens and Earth forever.
Because of the Resurrection of Christ we have hope for the mission. Because of what Jesus did, the whole world will be brought into subjection to Christ.
Jesus rose from the grave, so I can be assured that His Kingdom will grow and expand. I can be assured that the gospel will go forth. And I can be assured that my efforts for God’s Kingdom are not meaningless, but are full of meaning.
Teaching my children God’s Word is filled with meaning because of the Resurrection.
Speaking to my neighbor about Christ is filled with meaning because of the Resurrection.
Working church events to share the gospel with people who show up here is filled with meaning because of the Resurrection.
However small those efforts we make for the Lord may be, they are filled with meaning. And you never know what your small action may be used for in God’s Kingdom. This means that our efforts are never meaningless or small.
We are called to be faithful. And we are assured of the victory. We can be faithful where the Lord has called us and be assured of the victory that Christ will bring. We have a world subduing hope.
It may seem like we are surrounded by wickedness on all sides, but our side is assured the victory. Marine Lieutenant General Lewis “Chesty” Puller is quoted as saying,
“We’ve been looking for the enemy for some time now. We finally found him. We are surrounded. That simplifies things.”
And yes, sometimes being surrounded by the enemy and darkness simplifies things even as it makes them vastly more difficult.
We have not been sent forth with a mission that will not be accomplished. God will work in us. God will bring to Himself people from every tribe nation and tongue. And we can be assured that God will work in us as we go forth. We have a world subduing hope because of what Christ has accomplished.
Conclusion
We saw thunderstorms pass through this past week. They messed with our plans a lot. Winter doesn’t go away quietly. And neither does the wickedness of this world. But we do not have a hope that can be squashed by this world. This hope we have is defiant. Christ has died, Christ has risen, we will rise and He will come again. And so we have a death conquering, world subduing, resurrection hope.
R. Dwain Minor