Trinity Baptist Church

The Glory of the Resurrection

The Mystery of the Resurrection

1 Corinthians 15:50-58

 

Today Christians celebrate the resurrection of Jesus.  But we often don’t consciously make the connection between His resurrection and our resurrection.  That was a problem 2,000 years ago for the church as well. 

 

It was understandable that early Christians didn’t think of their own resurrection.  After all, that possibility didn’t exist before the resurrection of Christ.  He was the first and only to ever pull it off.  And His promise was that because He lives, we can live also. 

 

Now some in the church at Corinth were having trouble processing and believing that could be true.  So Paul writes to them in an attempt to help them digest this brand new doctrine of personal resurrection.  For four weeks now, we’ve been studying what he said to them.  It is recorded in 1 Corinthians 15. 

 

He has talked with them about the resurrection gospel.  Their very salvation testified that they believed in a resurrection. 

 

Then he talked about the importance of resurrection by looking at what happens if there is no resurrection. Christ didn’t rise, we don’t rise, the gospel is useless, preaching is empty, and so forth.

 

 

Then he talked about the sequence of resurrection. Who comes first? Christ and then the rest follow. And he talked about the practical value of resurrection. It not only affects eternity, it will help you right now as you live for the Lord. 

 

Then last time we looked at Paul’s description of a resurrected body.  He gave us some analogies and contrasts and described the body of a resurrected believer.

 

Now having gone through all of that, he comes to his conclusion beginning in verse 50, and it is really just a praise chorus concerning the reality of the resurrection.

 

In fact, I think verses 50 to 57 must have almost carried the Apostle Paul away. It is just pure praise, and I think it certainly a most appropriate way to celebrate Easter.  Listen to what it says:

 

verses 50 to 58

 

This is the language of praise, but at the same time, it is highly instructive. Let me show you what I mean as we look at Paul’s praise.  He follows four themes in these verses. 

 

Let’s begin with

 

1. The Great Transformation

 

Here we find a very important transitional statement. Paul has been discussing the fact that God will design special bodies for eternal living. They won’t be earthly. They won’t be like the body we have inherited from a fallen Adam and Eve.

They will be like Christ’s resurrection body.  And in verse 49 he just summarizes that thought to tell us about this great transformation that is coming.  We need special equipment for eternal life. This body will not do.

 

“Flesh and blood” is the phrase he uses to describe this physical body.  Remember, we said last week physical bodies are designed for physical life; life on this planet. And no doubt, our bodies are wonderfully, fearfully made, as the Psalmist said.  They are specifically suited for this life.

 

But we cannot enter the heavenly realm in the bodies that we currently have. We must be changed. Our eternal life is a spiritual life and for that we need a spiritual body.  One of these days we’ll go from being earthy to being spiritual heavenly. We must be transformed.

 

Now, the early believers knew that the Lord was coming. In fact, I think they anticipated that much more than we do today.  The death of Christ was just a few years passed.  He had promised to return.  They looked for that to happen.  But time began to pass and days turned into months and months turned into years, and before long, some of these believers began to die.

 

And that raised a brand new set of questions.  It’s one thing to be alive when the Lord returns and be changed and all that.  But what if you died before the Lord came back?  What happened then?  Will those people miss the transformation?

 

Notice verse 51

 

 “Behold, I tell you a mystery,” which is another way of saying, “I have new information”.

 

Mystery doesn’t mean what we think when we say mystery. It’s not that something is unknowable or unsolvable, but rather refers to something that has been previously hidden, and is now revealed.   This is something that no one knew before because it wasn’t made known.  It was hidden, but it is now revealed. 

 

By the way, keep in mind that God doesn’t tell us everything all the time. Let me give you a little way to think about that.

 

There are some things God doesn’t tell anybody, ever. Deuteronomy 29:29, “The secret things belong to the Lord.” There are some things He hasn’t told anybody. And maybe we’ll find it out when we get to heaven and maybe we won’t.  I hear people say, Well when I get to heaven, I’m going to ask this or that and find out. . .”  Well maybe you’ll find out and maybe you’ll just have to trust God.  Some things He doesn’t tell anybody.

 

Then there are some things He reveals to everybody. For instance, the plan of salvation is open information.  Whosoever will may come.  It’s not for a restricted, privileged few.  He built an awareness of Himself into every living soul. 

 

So there are some things that God has revealed to everybody, and one of them is the knowledge that He exists and that He is God and that He is powerful.

 

 

So there are some things only God knows; there are some things everyone knows.  Then, number three,

 

There are some things that God reveals only to His people.

 

Psalm 25:14 says, “The secret of the Lord is with those who fear Him.”  Proverbs 3:32, “The secret of the Lord is with the righteous.”

 

There are things that we who are believers know that no one else can understand.  There are some things a person without the Spirit of God cannot know or understand, and if you tell them, they’ll think your crazy.  That’s why I would much rather trust a child with a Sunday School education to make the right decision much more than a Harvard grad who doesn’t know the Lord. 

 

So there are things that He doesn’t reveal to anybody. There are things that He reveals to everyone. There are certain things that He reveals only to His own people.

 

And then, fourthly, there are secrets that He has hidden from everyone for a period of time, including His own people, and finally revealed in the New Testament. And those things are referred to, Scripturally speaking, as mysteries. 

 

And one of those mysteries is here revealed, and it has to do with the question that is on the mind of the reader, what about the people who don’t die? What happens to them if they don’t get sown in the ground, decompose and come forth in a new form? What happens to them?

 

So in verse 51, Paul says, “Let me give you a mystery. Nobody’s ever heard this until now.  Will not all die, but we will all be changed.” And there’s the answer to the question.

 

We have to be changed. And by the way, it is not a process, because of what we see in verse 52.

 

Verse 52

 

The language he uses to describe this period of time is the Greek term from which we get our word for atom.  And it carries the idea of being undivided.  You can’t get anything smaller than that which cannot be divided. So it is indicating the shortest possible time.

 

It’s not an hour and it’s not a minute and it’s not a second, and it’s not a nanosecond.  It’s the smallest possible undividable unit of time. It’s going to happen that fast.

 

And the analogy is in the twinkling of an eye. That’s not a blink.  A blink is different from a twinkling. I tactually speaks of the time it takes for a flash of light to enter the iris and reach the retina.  One estimate is a sixth of a nanosecond.

 

A micro-second is one millionth of a second. A nanosecond is one thousandth of a micro-second and the twinkling is one sixth of a nanosecond.

 

And all that language there is intended for you to understand this is not some kind of transformational process that takes time. But just that quickly.

 

 

And notice that it happens at the last trumpet.  In the Old Testament and certainly throughout Jewish history, even in times of the New Testament, trumpets are associated with battles and festivities and triumphs. 

 

Back in the nineteenth chapter of Exodus God appeared accompanied by thunder, lightning flashes, thick clouds on Mount Sinai and a very loud trumpet sound so that all the people who were in the camp trembled. And Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God.  This will be like that; a call to come and meet God.

 

When that happens in the moment at the last trump, the trump will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable and we will be changed. We’ll be changed. That’s the transformation.

 

And in verse 53 he explains why it has to happen. 

 

Verse 53

 

That is a glorious thing to think about. It has to be. Why? Verse 53, “For this perishable must put on the imperishable. And this mortal must put on immortality.”

 

And the idea is that of getting dressed.  You get up and get dressed.  And when the resurrection takes place, we rise and put on a new body that is designed to house a spiritual being. In the life to come, you’ve got to shed this one and put on a new one.

 

What a great transformation awaits us!

 

Then notice  

 

2. The Great Triumph

 

 Verse 54

 

This is the great triumph. This is the day we wait for. Right now death is our enemy. One writer said, “There is a preacher of the old school, but he speaks as boldly as ever. He’s not popular, though the world is his parish and he travels every part of the globe and speaks in every language. This preacher visits the poor, calls on the rich, preaches to people of every religion and no religion. And the subject of this preacher’s sermons 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. Everybody fears him. This preacher’s name is death. Every tombstone is his pulpit, every newspaper prints his text, and every day more people are part of his message.”

 

We must deal with the inevitability of death. It’s an enemy. We fear it. We hide from it. We evade it. We try to avoid it. We mask it. It devastates us. It breaks long loving unions. It leaves unfinished symphonies. It removes people who are greatly needed. It wrecks our tranquility. It is our enemy and there’s no getting around it.

 

But, when this perishable will put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then, death is swallowed up in victory.

Notice those two words, “when” and “then”.  He is looking forward to the time of this great resurrection event. And it is “When the change has been made. When the transformation has taken place. When the resurrection has occurred.

 

“Then” death will be completely conquered. “Then” we won’t have to fear death anymore.  “Then” death will be swallowed up. “Then” the complete destruction of death will be accomplished for the church.

 

And I love the way Paul phrases the event:  Death is swallowed up.  Swallowing is very strong verb. It speaks of drastic and complete destruction. It is not merely harmed, it is not simply destroyed, it is not rendered inoperable, but it is consumed in an absolute and total victory.

 

And Paul is so sure that will take place, he actually begins to taunt death in verse 55

 

Verse 55

 

Death is addressed in the figure of an animal or an insect armed with a poisonous sting which kills. The word sting refers primarily to bees and snakes. And now death’s sting is gone. The blow against death was struck by Christ at Calvary and there will come a time when that is actualized.

 

This is the fulfillment of the prophecy of God against Satan in the Garden of Eden when Christ crushes the head of Satan. 

 

And because of that we can taunt death.

Where’s your victory? Where’s your sting?

Then in verse 56, he interprets verse 55.

 

It is not death itself that harms. Death has no power. What makes death powerful is sin. Sin is death’s stinger. It’s not death itself. Death has no power unless there is unforgiven sin.

 

Then death is really deadly cause if there’s unforgiven sin in your life, because you haven’t come to Christ and had all your sins forgiven, then death is eternally deadly.

 

But death has no sting for the Christian. We can taunt death because deaths only weapon against us is sin and there’s no sin in the life of a Christian.   It’s all been paid for, covered, forgiven and removed. Therefore, there’s no sting in death for the Christian. That’s why the Old Testament says, “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His holy ones.” It’s a precious event when a believer dies.

 

The sting of death is sin. And the power of sin is the law. This takes us back to Romans 5 and 7. The law of God is the standard that reveals we are sinners. Sin is defined by the law. The law sets the mark that sin misses. The smallest unforgiven sin has the power to send your soul to hell. 

 

And unless your sins are forgiven in Christ, death when it hits you, will sting you with its eternal kill power. If you know Christ, sin is not an issue, death has no sting. In fact, death is like a welcomed friend.

 

This leads from the great transformation and the great triumph to

 

 

3. The Great Thanksgiving

 

 Verse 57

 

How? Christ satisfied every breech of the law. Christ paid the penalty for every law ever broken. He paid the price the law demanded. “The wages of sin is death,” He died to pay the wages. All sin having been dealt with, death has no more sting.

 

No wonder Paul could say, “Far better to depart and be with Christ.” He had no fear of death. And here he relishes the moment when this perishable will put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality. So for the believer, because sin is paid for and covered, death is disarmed, defanged and declawed.  The stinger has been removed.  And we can taunt it. Where’s your victory? Where’s your sting? And we, above all peoples in the world, have a reason to be thankful. 

 

How dare we who have been forgiven by the precious blood of Jesus Christ, who have no reason to fear death because of it, who will live and reign forever with Him, how dare we mope around and gripe and complain about how terrible life is and how bad we’ve got it and how unfair is God.  When with the precious blood of his sinless, perfect Son He has redeemed us unto Himself. 

 

We ought to spend our days and all of eternity in thanks and praise to the God who was willing to do that for us.

 

Now, that seems life a perfect place to end the chapter, and had I been writing it I think I would have laid down my quill and rested.

But not Paul.  He included, under the instruction of the Holy Spirit, one more verse, and it is a practical verse.  It is designed to hit us where we live and it contains what I’m going to call

 

4. The Great Therefore

 

Verse 58

 

Paul says, “Therefore”. “Because we are going to resurrect, because we will be changed, because of this great triumph that is ours in Christ, because death has been defeated, because sin will not destroy us, because God holds no sins against us,  accept my challenge.  

 

Life may be difficult. Being a Christian may be challenging. Preaching the gospel may come with its persecution. You may have some tough days.  You will have some lonely nights.  The physical death of loved ones will separate you for a while. 

 

But hang in there. Be steadfast. That means, stand true.  Be immovable. Don’t deviate from the gospel.  Don’t waver from what you know to be true.

 

The idea in those two words is to be fixed firmly, solidly, settled. It’s a reference to our conviction, to the content of our doctrine, what we believe, firm up your conviction about the future resurrection.

 

The Corinthians were vacillating on this idea of a resurrection.  They didn’t know what to believe.  Paul says, “Get it settled and set down and don’t get up”.  Do you know why some many people are wandering around today? 

They don’t know what they believe.  They don’t know what they believe about marriage, soo they move form one to another.  They don’t know what they believe about a work ethic, so they up and quit and go somewhere else.  They don’t understand being committed to a church so they wander from one to another never of any use to God anywhere they are. 

 

They don’t know what they believe about the Word of God so they can never be sure about a moral position it or conviction.  Everything is relative.  No it isn’t. In fact, very little is relative in this world.  It is established by the unchanging word of God and settled forever in heaven. 

 

Pau says, “Don’t move, don’t be in motion, don’t deviate. Be firm and fixed in your doctrine. It reminds me of Ephesians 4:14, “Be no more children tossed to and fro and carried about by every wind of doctrine.” Solid, personal conviction about the resurrection and everything associated with it. Stand firm.

 

And then, once you get settled what you believe, then work hard, always abounding in the work of the Lord because you know you’re toil is not in vain in the Lord.

 

He goes a step further to say, abounding.  The idea is overdoing it.  This is a good word for all of us who work and pray and give and witness and live and sometimes suffer. Just keep doing it.  In fact, over do it.  Unless you don’t believe in the resurrection.

 

Because, after all, if there is no resurrection, then it really doesn’t matter does it?

Unfortunately, that’s how many Christians live their live.  As if there is no resurrection.  It shows in 9our church attendance; it show in our giving records; in shows in the quietness of our witness; it shows in our disregard for the Bible. 

 

But if you really believe there is a resurrection, don’t let anybody take away your conviction about that and work hard because when that great day comes, you will receive a reward. Your labor is not in vain. 

 

I want to tell you something, dear Christian friend.  One of these days you’re going to wish you had come to church more than once or twice a year.  One of these days you’re going to regret not selling out to God and serving Him unashamedly because in good old-fashioned Southern Oklahoma lingo:  It pays to serve Jesus.  And one of these days, God Himslef will guarantee that your labor was not in vain.  

 

In Revelation 22:12 the Bible says, “Behold, I am coming quickly and My reward is with Me to render to every man according to what he has done.”

 

Hold your ground, your conviction on the resurrection, work hard, there’s a day of reward coming.

 

Let’s pray.