Making Sense of 1st Corinthians CH15c
No one is interested in hearing all about a solution to a problem they don’t have. I could tell you in elaborate detail how to fix something on your car but you wouldn’t care unless you were stranded on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere and you had to fix it yourself. Church can be kind of like that—sometimes it’s hard to pay attention because it doesn’t seem relevant. The Gospel is kind of like that. The Gospel is good news but it’s the kind of good news you can’t appreciate unless you know the bad news first. I could tell you, “the governor is my friend and he’s going to give you a full pardon.” You’d be like, “okay, I know Frank’s under a lot of pressure but I think He’s finally lost his mind.” It’d be completely different though if I was visiting you in prison and you were on death row—those words would probably have a bit more impact.
The Gospel is like that. “Jesus died to forgive your sins” is only interesting to someone who knows they’re terminally diagnosed with sin. That they were born with the terminal illness of sin. That everything they’ve ever done to try and make it better only made it worse. That there’s nothing they can do about it—they know they’re going to die because of their sin. People who understand this hear the Gospel with a bit more interest. “Jesus died to forgive your sins” sounds pretty good. “Jesus rose from the dead and you will too” sounds even better. No one is interested in hearing about a solution to a problem they don’t think they have.
We’ve been walking through 1st Corinthians line by line and now we’re in chapter 15. It’s a long chapter, filled with a lot of really interesting things—this will be our third week in this chapter alone, fourth if you count Easter. We won’t finish it today, I just can’t bring myself to rush it.
Apparently, there were members of the church in Corinth that didn’t believe in an actual resurrection—they wanted to just spiritualize it. Paul has been beating their stupid unbelief and spiritualizing to a bloody pulp. He’s going to continue doing the same thing in today’s text. But we’ll start by repeating the verse of glorious good news we ended with last week, verse 20:
But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead, the first-fruits of those who have fallen asleep.
Jesus rose from the dead and proved everything He said was true. This is really good news. But it’s the kind of good news that needs to know the bad news first. Verse 21:
For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.
In the TV show “The Walking Dead,” the big reveal at the end of the first season (yes, this is a major spoiler, but come on! The show is eleven years old!). The idea of the show is somehow there’s a worldwide zombie virus, if they bite you or scratch you, you become infected and die—then you come back to life as a zombie. There are so many layers that apply to the Gospel. I did a whole series at my old church exploring them—it was pretty awesome. Anyway… The big reveal at the end of the first season is you didn’t have to get bitten or scratched by a zombie to become infected. Everyone was already infected. When you die, you become a walking dead flesh-eating monster no matter what. I think that’s a pretty good picture of the sin nature we inherited from Adam—what people call “original sin.”
It doesn’t matter whether we think we sin or not. We were all born infected. We can add to our sin—and we all certainly do—but we can’t subtract from it. We have no immune system to fight it. Do you need proof? Genesis says God created us in His image, He breathed His Spirit into us, He made us living creatures—eternal living creatures. Eternal living creatures do not die. Even science says energy can’t be created or destroyed. God created us and we are designed to live forever. God placed eternity in our hearts. We all know we are not supposed to die. That’s why death is such a horror to us. We know it’s not the way it’s supposed to be. But there wouldn’t be death in a world without sin. If someone dies, then we know it was because of sin. The wages of sin is death.
Little tangent: Then why did Jesus die? If He was without sin. Not only did He not sin, but He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary—He was born without the inherited sin nature of Adam, and He never committed a sin. So why did Jesus die? He didn’t die for His sins, remember? “Christ died for our sins.” All the sin of the world, from Adam to the most recent baby born while we’ve been in church this morning, all their sin and sin nature was transferred to Jesus on the cross. He became sin, who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.
So, because of Adam, everyone dies, and because of Jesus, everyone will be resurrected. Yes, everyone. The Walking Dead helps me with this strange concept, too. There’s a guy named Hershel in the show, he’s a Christian and he’s really conflicted about the whole zombie apocalypse thing. He tries to save the zombies—keeps them in his barn—I mean they all used to be people he knew and loved—his wife is in there, his stepson and a bunch of his neighbors. At one point he says, “I can't profess to understand God's plan, but Christ promised the resurrection of the dead. I just thought he had something a little different in mind.”
Everyone will be raised in the resurrection when Jesus comes back at the end of time. Everyone. Some will be raised to glory and joy to live forever in the light of God’s love. Some will be raised more like the zombies on the Walking Dead—forever roaming around in darkness—they do look pretty miserable. What makes the difference between the two groups? They were all sinners, they were all born infected with sin—what’s the difference? Why are some in one group and some in the other?
One group will stand behind Jesus, stand with Jesus—in their life, they trusted in Him. The other group will try to stand on their own or behind something else—anything else. In their life, they ignored Him, ignored the Gospel. See, this is what I was talking about at the beginning, no one is interested in hearing solutions to problems they don’t think they have. You have a problem, you’re going to be resurrected from the dead and you’re going to stand before God—That’s a problem. Here’s the solution: trust in Jesus, that He took your sins, and resurrection day is going to be a really good day. Because the resurrection is going to happen whether we’re ready or not—we need to stand behind Jesus.
Verse 23:
But each in his own order: Christ the first-fruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power.
Jesus was resurrected first. That was Easter. That was the first-fruits of the resurrection harvest. Then when Christ returns, everyone who belongs to Him will be resurrected. First, those who have already died and then anyone who is still alive. What a lot of people call “the rapture” is actually the resurrection of the living—verse 52 of this same chapter says,
”in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we who are still living on the earth shall be changed.”
So you and me and everyone who believes the Gospel will be resurrected and transformed into supernatural new sin-free bodies. Then everyone else is also resurrected but that’s going to be more like Hershel’s barn—they’re raised for the second death.
Okay, I’m going to get a little “fire and brimstone” here...
Revelation 20:14 says,
“Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
Which is a New Testament reference to Daniel 12:1-2 where it says,
“At that time your people shall be delivered, everyone whose name shall be found written in the book. And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.”
We have to know the bad news if we’re going to be able to hear the good news. I’m not trying to scare you, I want you to hear the Gospel.
Life and death are completely dependent on God’s mercy and grace which are offered to everyone through Jesus. God isn’t being mean or arbitrary—He’s being just, and holy, and perfect, and good. He’s also offering salvation to everyone who will pay attention to Him and hear what He has to say. Now is the time to hear the Gospel and believe. Today.
When’s all this going to happen? No one knows but verse 25 says this:
Verse 25:
For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death.
Jesus said all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Him. Then He gave His authority on earth to the church—take the Gospel to every nation, tribe, and tongue. Baptize everyone in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. This is the work of the church—you and me. Teach everyone what Jesus taught us. How are you doing with that? I know, it’s hard. There’s nothing easy about this assignment. We were commissioned as soldiers. It’s a battle. A war. Not against flesh and blood. Not against people—stop fighting with people! It’s a battle against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. It’s a battle against our enemy who wants to divide us and make us feel alone. Isolated. Defeated. Of course, this also includes all the nations and governments that are controlled by the demonic realms—but the goal is to save people and redeem the world. Our goal, as the people of God, is to show love and grace to people so they will believe. A lot of lost people out there.
You all know John 3:16
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
Sometimes people get hung up on why would God save some and not others. Like He’s creating people, some to love and some to send to hell. Some to save and some to condemn. You have to keep reading, here’s John 3:17...
“For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.”
Jesus didn’t come to condemn anyone. He didn’t have to. They were already condemned. We were already condemned. It’s that original sin problem again. Jesus came to offer a way out—the only way out. People are like, “why do you think Christianity is the only way to heaven? What about all the other religions?”
Every other religion says you have to save yourself. Be a better person. Do better. Climb up to God. But we can’t. Jesus is the only one who came down to us and gave us a way out of our problem. We were all born condemned and we will stay that way unless we believe in the name of God’s one and only divine Son—the one who died for our sins and was raised on the third day, the one who promises that we will also rise. There is no other name by which we must be saved.
Verse 25 also said, The last enemy to be destroyed is death. Last enemy. So many things to understand about this verse. Death is an enemy. It’s not our friend. It’s not part of the circle of life. It’s not a natural part of creation. It’s an enemy. An intruder. A necessary evil because of the sin of Adam and because of our sin. We wouldn’t want to live forever in this sin-diseased world of pain and sorrow and misery and sickness. That’s why Adam and Eve were kicked out of the garden before they could eat from the Tree of Life and live forever in their fallen state. That would have been a horror. The eternal Walking Dead. We will all eat from the tree of life after the resurrection and we will live forever.
Death is the enemy also means that Darwinian Evolution is a lie. If we evolved over billions of years by the survival of the fittest—that would make death our friend, the means of transformation and progress. Nope. Death is our enemy.
It means suicide is never the answer. God says that everyone who doesn’t love Him loves death.
It means funerals are supposed to be sad. Jesus wept because His friend Lazarus had died—even though He knew He was going to raise him from the dead. He was still sad that his friend died. We grieve when our loved ones die but we don’t grieve as those who have no hope—that’s the difference.
In Revelation, it says that in the end, death and hell will be thrown into the lake of fire.
Death is the great mystery. The final enemy to be destroyed will be death. Paul says this will happen in God’s timing. We have to be patient. Love is patient, remember? I can’t wait though.
Verse 27:
For “God has put all things in subjection under his feet.” But when it says, “all things are put in subjection,” it is plain that he is excepted who put all things in subjection under him. When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all.
1st Corinthians 15:20–28
Taking the idea that all of Christ’s enemies will be defeated, Paul quotes Psalm 8:6 where it talks about God putting everything under the Messiah’s feet. Christ, the Son of Man, reigns over all things in the new creation. The resurrection of Jesus proves that God has put everything, even death, under Him, subject to Him. In Philippians 3:21, Paul says when Jesus comes again He will change our lowly body to be like His glorious body, by the power which enables Him to subject all things to Himself.
But there is one exception, of course, to the subordination of everything to Christ. Jesus always submits to the Father. God the Son always submits to God the Father. This doesn’t make Him any less God, it just describes how their relationship is.
Once the Son of God’s victory is completely implemented, Jesus will hand over the kingdom to His God and Father and once again, as He always has done, submit Himself to the Father’s authority. He came into the world to do the Father’s will, now that the mission is fully accomplished He will submit to the one who sent Him. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit will be all in all.
There are mysteries here. How can Jesus be equal with the Father and inferior at the same time? The Athanasian Creed, which tackles the complexity of the Holy Trinity head-on, puts it like this: “equal to the Father according to his Godhead and inferior to the Father according to His manhood.” At the same time, that creed also affirms that “the Godhead of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit is all one: the glory equal, the majesty coeternal.” Don’t break your head trying to solve the mysteries of the Trinity or the dual natures of Christ. This is all good news for us if we believe in Jesus. God the Son will rule and reign, along with the Father and the Holy Spirit forever. Of His kingdom there will be no end, in this age or in the age to come.
God will be all in all. Everything we try to satisfy in so many other ways in this life will be satisfied in God Himself.
So, we come to the end of this sermon. No one is interested in hearing someone talk about a solution to a problem they don’t think they have.
Here’s your problem: You were born infected with the curse of sin—it’s terminal. Everything you do to try to make yourself better will only make it worse. You can only make your sin infection worse. Eventually, you’re going to die.
Here’s another problem: You’re going to be resurrected. God’s going to come back down here and you’re going to stand before His raw glorious majestic light. While you stand there, the devil is going to accuse you of all your sin—everything you ever said or did, even your thoughts.
These are pretty big problems. You interested in the solution yet?
Here’s the solution—We said it earlier: “That Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve…” I pray that by faith He has made Himself known to you, too. Believe it. Hold fast. Thank God for His mercy. Stand behind Jesus. AMEN