WEBVTT 00:00:00.400 --> 00:00:04.599 You're listening to City Church Manchester. We 00:00:04.599 --> 00:00:07.679 are a church that invites everyone to enjoy Christ 00:00:07.679 --> 00:00:11.599 for the glory of God. If we can serve you in 00:00:11.599 --> 00:00:15.519 any way, then visit our website at citychurchmanchester 00:00:15.519 --> 00:00:19.559 .org to find out more. 1 Corinthians chapter 00:00:19.559 --> 00:00:26.559 15, starting at verse 35. But someone will ask, 00:00:26.899 --> 00:00:29.809 how are the dead raised? With what kind of body 00:00:29.809 --> 00:00:33.469 will they come? How foolish. What you sow does 00:00:33.469 --> 00:00:37.270 not come to life unless it dies. When you sow, 00:00:37.409 --> 00:00:40.049 you do not plant the body that will be, but just 00:00:40.049 --> 00:00:42.570 the seed, perhaps of wheat or of something else. 00:00:43.450 --> 00:00:45.850 But God gives it a body as he has determined, 00:00:46.369 --> 00:00:48.829 and to each kind of seed he gives its own body. 00:00:50.149 --> 00:00:53.490 Not all flesh is the same. People have one kind 00:00:53.490 --> 00:00:56.509 of flesh, animals have another, birds another, 00:00:56.630 --> 00:01:00.299 and fish another. There are also heavenly bodies, 00:01:00.700 --> 00:01:03.340 and there are earthly bodies. But the splendor 00:01:03.340 --> 00:01:06.379 of the heavenly bodies is one kind, and the splendor 00:01:06.379 --> 00:01:09.780 of the earthly bodies is another. The sun has 00:01:09.780 --> 00:01:12.120 one kind of splendor, the moon another, and the 00:01:12.120 --> 00:01:15.239 stars another, and stars differ from star in 00:01:15.239 --> 00:01:19.400 splendor. So will it be with the resurrection 00:01:19.400 --> 00:01:24.280 of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable. 00:01:25.099 --> 00:01:30.120 It is raised imperishable. It is sown in dishonor. 00:01:30.659 --> 00:01:34.560 It is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness. 00:01:35.620 --> 00:01:39.719 It is raised in power. It is sown a natural body. 00:01:40.500 --> 00:01:45.000 It is raised a spiritual body. If there is a 00:01:45.000 --> 00:01:47.500 natural body, there is also a spiritual body. 00:01:48.420 --> 00:01:51.680 So it is written, the first man Adam became a 00:01:51.680 --> 00:01:55.340 living being. The last Adam, a life -giving spirit. 00:01:56.339 --> 00:01:59.120 The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, 00:01:59.739 --> 00:02:03.379 and after that the spiritual. The first man was 00:02:03.379 --> 00:02:07.319 of the dust of the earth, the second man is of 00:02:07.319 --> 00:02:10.879 heaven. As was the earthly man, so are those 00:02:10.879 --> 00:02:13.539 who are of the earth. And as is the heavenly 00:02:13.539 --> 00:02:17.960 man, so also are those who are of heaven. And 00:02:17.960 --> 00:02:20.360 just as we have borne the image of the earthly 00:02:20.360 --> 00:02:24.139 man, so shall we bear the image of the heavenly 00:02:24.139 --> 00:02:28.020 man. I declare to you, brothers and sisters, 00:02:28.759 --> 00:02:31.199 that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom 00:02:31.199 --> 00:02:35.379 of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 00:02:36.599 --> 00:02:40.500 Listen, I tell you a mystery. We will not all 00:02:40.500 --> 00:02:44.319 sleep, but we will all be changed, in a flash, 00:02:44.539 --> 00:02:46.680 in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. 00:02:47.800 --> 00:02:50.240 For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be 00:02:50.240 --> 00:02:52.919 raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 00:02:53.610 --> 00:02:56.330 For the perishable must clothe itself with the 00:02:56.330 --> 00:03:00.009 imperishable and the mortal with immortality. 00:03:00.969 --> 00:03:03.490 When the perishable has been clothed with the 00:03:03.490 --> 00:03:07.689 imperishable and the mortal with immortality, 00:03:08.449 --> 00:03:10.849 then the saying that is written will come true. 00:03:11.770 --> 00:03:16.509 Death has been swallowed up in victory. Where, 00:03:16.509 --> 00:03:19.729 O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is 00:03:19.729 --> 00:03:23.259 your sting? The sting of death is sin. and the 00:03:23.259 --> 00:03:26.280 power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, 00:03:26.719 --> 00:03:29.460 he gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus 00:03:29.460 --> 00:03:33.919 Christ. Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, 00:03:34.740 --> 00:03:39.699 stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give 00:03:39.699 --> 00:03:42.780 yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because 00:03:42.780 --> 00:03:46.500 you know that your labor in the Lord is not in 00:03:46.500 --> 00:03:51.180 vain. Thanks very much, Boaz, and hi everyone. 00:03:51.620 --> 00:03:54.180 Great to be with you this afternoon. Do keep 00:03:54.180 --> 00:03:57.020 your Bibles open as we trek through the passage 00:03:57.020 --> 00:04:00.159 that's just been read, and why don't I pray? 00:04:01.340 --> 00:04:04.280 Heavenly Father, we thank you and praise you 00:04:04.280 --> 00:04:07.020 that we have your Word, and your Word shares 00:04:07.020 --> 00:04:11.159 with us things that we could not even dream of, 00:04:11.280 --> 00:04:15.000 and yet they reveal to us hope for the future. 00:04:15.530 --> 00:04:19.569 Many of us today are in need of hope. We feel 00:04:19.569 --> 00:04:25.410 the breath of fatigue, decay, disappointment, 00:04:25.850 --> 00:04:29.769 and even death on our necks. And this passage 00:04:29.769 --> 00:04:33.410 is our breath of life to our hearts. So I pray 00:04:33.410 --> 00:04:35.930 that over these next few minutes together we 00:04:35.930 --> 00:04:40.529 would enjoy hearing our Father speak to us great 00:04:40.529 --> 00:04:47.800 words of comfort. Amen. The famous Welsh preacher 00:04:47.800 --> 00:04:52.819 Martin Lloyd -Jones once said of this particular 00:04:52.819 --> 00:04:55.860 passage that we're reading this afternoon, that 00:04:55.860 --> 00:05:00.579 it is one of the great tests of Christian health, 00:05:02.100 --> 00:05:06.220 how you emotionally respond to these verses. 00:05:07.560 --> 00:05:11.750 No pressure. But the reason that he says that 00:05:11.750 --> 00:05:14.569 is because of the tendency for Christians who 00:05:14.569 --> 00:05:19.290 should be focused excited about anticipating 00:05:19.290 --> 00:05:24.889 The future to come life after death the new promised 00:05:24.889 --> 00:05:33.009 creation To find ourselves actually Focused on 00:05:33.009 --> 00:05:37.949 the same things as our non Christian neighbors 00:05:39.560 --> 00:05:43.180 Those of us who should be anticipating what is 00:05:43.180 --> 00:05:49.740 to come can find that our lives, our hopes, our 00:05:49.740 --> 00:05:52.980 dreams look no different to the society around 00:05:52.980 --> 00:05:56.540 us. And it's not that Christians shouldn't care 00:05:56.540 --> 00:06:02.060 about, I don't know, pensions or holidays or 00:06:02.060 --> 00:06:06.079 other things like that. It's the issue that Christians 00:06:06.079 --> 00:06:11.509 can often care too much about the things of this 00:06:11.509 --> 00:06:15.250 world and too little of the world that is to 00:06:15.250 --> 00:06:21.790 come. And that's gonna be the theme of our passage 00:06:21.790 --> 00:06:25.689 this afternoon. And I do think there's some truth 00:06:25.689 --> 00:06:29.709 in this idea that many of us as Christians have 00:06:29.709 --> 00:06:34.029 neglected thinking about the new creation and 00:06:34.029 --> 00:06:38.069 the implications of it. I find it fascinating 00:06:38.069 --> 00:06:43.670 how our non -Christian culture, despite rejecting 00:06:43.670 --> 00:06:49.910 so much of Christian theology, is chasing unknowingly 00:06:49.910 --> 00:06:53.389 after the very promises that this passage offers. 00:06:54.970 --> 00:06:58.230 Paul's climax in chapter 15, we've been trekking 00:06:58.230 --> 00:07:01.439 through chapter 15 over the last few weeks. is 00:07:01.439 --> 00:07:05.259 not merely, here is the evidence of Jesus' resurrection, 00:07:05.579 --> 00:07:09.740 isn't that amazing? Paul's climax to chapter 00:07:09.740 --> 00:07:14.019 15 is to assert, because Jesus rose from the 00:07:14.019 --> 00:07:18.100 dead, we can be confident that our bodies will 00:07:18.100 --> 00:07:23.699 be transformed after death into something glorious. 00:07:23.980 --> 00:07:27.240 That's really the climax. Look at me at verses 00:07:27.240 --> 00:07:34.589 42 to 44. It's the idea that our culture finds 00:07:34.589 --> 00:07:39.490 itself in a very strange place, where our culture 00:07:39.490 --> 00:07:43.009 denies the resurrection of Jesus, that is verses 00:07:43.009 --> 00:07:46.910 one to 11 of chapter 15, and yet our culture 00:07:46.910 --> 00:07:53.529 longs the verses 35 to 58 of chapter 15 is true. 00:07:54.829 --> 00:07:59.680 After all, what is it to go to the gym? It is 00:07:59.680 --> 00:08:04.579 to wish for a transformed body. What is it to 00:08:04.579 --> 00:08:07.779 go to the makeup section of boots or super drugs? 00:08:07.959 --> 00:08:10.959 It is to desire a transformed body. What is a 00:08:10.959 --> 00:08:12.759 diet? What is going to see the doctors? What 00:08:12.759 --> 00:08:17.060 is going to see the physio? What is the reason 00:08:17.060 --> 00:08:20.360 behind a snooze button on an alarm clock? But 00:08:20.360 --> 00:08:24.339 it is an implicit desire that there is a deficit 00:08:24.339 --> 00:08:30.850 with our bodies. a desire actually for some transformed 00:08:30.850 --> 00:08:35.870 bodies. So let us talk about the promise of new 00:08:35.870 --> 00:08:39.309 bodies for believers. For such transformation 00:08:39.309 --> 00:08:43.409 requires a realization of four things that we're 00:08:43.409 --> 00:08:45.649 gonna work briefly through this afternoon. Number 00:08:45.649 --> 00:08:49.990 one, the necessity of death. Death is necessary. 00:08:50.399 --> 00:08:52.919 Point two, we're gonna look at God's track record. 00:08:53.019 --> 00:08:55.159 Then we're gonna look at Jesus as the example 00:08:55.159 --> 00:08:57.879 in point three. And then finally, we're gonna 00:08:57.879 --> 00:09:00.039 look at transformation as something that we are 00:09:00.039 --> 00:09:03.600 to begin now. So come with me to our first point, 00:09:04.220 --> 00:09:08.940 necessary death. Look at me at verses 36 to 38 00:09:08.940 --> 00:09:15.379 in your Bibles. Paul argues that there is a necessity 00:09:15.379 --> 00:09:20.450 for death. to happen in order for transformation 00:09:20.450 --> 00:09:24.649 to follow. And he takes a familiar image for 00:09:24.649 --> 00:09:28.529 anyone in Greco -Roman culture of a seed being 00:09:28.529 --> 00:09:32.049 planted. Seeds being planted would be symbolic 00:09:32.049 --> 00:09:35.710 of death and burial, and then the idea that once 00:09:35.710 --> 00:09:39.470 the seed is buried, it springs into life, breaking 00:09:39.470 --> 00:09:43.879 through the topsoil. and is being transformed 00:09:43.879 --> 00:09:48.019 wondrously into a healthy grain or into a bush 00:09:48.019 --> 00:09:51.940 or into a tree. From death comes transformation. 00:09:52.860 --> 00:09:57.120 And in other words, Paul is claiming that transformation 00:09:57.120 --> 00:10:03.940 that first requires a death is actually built 00:10:03.940 --> 00:10:09.059 into the design code of the world. And therefore 00:10:09.059 --> 00:10:12.679 he's saying, as humans, we should not be surprised 00:10:12.679 --> 00:10:16.039 that if we humans are to follow that same trajectory 00:10:16.039 --> 00:10:20.059 of transformation, it must be through death. 00:10:21.440 --> 00:10:24.679 But Paul writes this passage precisely because 00:10:24.679 --> 00:10:31.700 all of this talk of death, dead, and then transformed 00:10:31.700 --> 00:10:36.809 bodies. would have been a surprise to many of 00:10:36.809 --> 00:10:40.929 his listeners. For in verse 35, look at verse 00:10:40.929 --> 00:10:43.590 35, there's two questions thrown up in verse 00:10:43.590 --> 00:10:47.309 35, and they're questions that I think were being 00:10:47.309 --> 00:10:50.269 thrown around in the Church of Corinth by the 00:10:50.269 --> 00:10:54.610 sneering, skeptical mockings of a group called 00:10:54.610 --> 00:10:58.120 the Gnostics. Now these were a popular group 00:10:58.120 --> 00:11:00.940 at the time and they were a group that corrupted 00:11:00.940 --> 00:11:05.580 Christian communities by teaching that the bodies 00:11:05.580 --> 00:11:10.519 Human bodies are the real problem in life human 00:11:10.519 --> 00:11:17.200 bodies are ugly smelly Sweaty unreliable meat 00:11:17.200 --> 00:11:19.720 puppet things that we should seek to get rid 00:11:19.720 --> 00:11:24.779 of as quickly as we possibly can For the Gnostics, 00:11:25.200 --> 00:11:29.259 they believed that the hope of life after death 00:11:29.259 --> 00:11:33.600 was that we would become not anchored in bodies, 00:11:34.100 --> 00:11:37.960 but formless, ethereal, that we would become 00:11:37.960 --> 00:11:43.000 this kind of floating effect entity. A little 00:11:43.000 --> 00:11:46.179 bit like modern sentiments that say the dead 00:11:46.179 --> 00:11:49.860 simply become stardust or some of the Eastern 00:11:49.860 --> 00:11:53.200 religious ideas that we become one with nature 00:11:53.200 --> 00:11:55.960 after we've died and our bodies are gone and 00:11:55.960 --> 00:11:59.360 our consciousness becomes part of the ebb and 00:11:59.360 --> 00:12:06.500 flow of the universe. And Paul's response to 00:12:06.500 --> 00:12:11.779 such ideas Well, he puts it very starkly in verse 00:12:11.779 --> 00:12:15.440 36 in classic poor language and it's difficult 00:12:15.440 --> 00:12:18.899 to communicate the strength with which he He 00:12:18.899 --> 00:12:21.600 says this feeling here particularly in polite 00:12:21.600 --> 00:12:25.360 company. You are polite people. I'm sure So in 00:12:25.360 --> 00:12:28.360 the words of I don't know. I was reflecting on 00:12:28.360 --> 00:12:31.179 my son Ruben today in in the words of buddy the 00:12:31.179 --> 00:12:34.919 elf Let's go there. He effectively called them 00:12:34.919 --> 00:12:39.320 Paul in 1 Corinthians 15 cotton -headed ninny 00:12:39.320 --> 00:12:42.980 -muggins. Yes, strong language, and huge apologies 00:12:42.980 --> 00:12:44.779 to any of you watching online who are offended 00:12:44.779 --> 00:12:48.320 by such strong words in a church setting. But 00:12:48.320 --> 00:12:50.919 I'm trying to communicate to you how strongly 00:12:50.919 --> 00:12:55.460 Paul is against this idea that life after death 00:12:55.460 --> 00:13:00.720 has no bodily form. No, no, no, Paul's point 00:13:00.720 --> 00:13:06.120 is in the new creation, we have real bodies. 00:13:07.110 --> 00:13:09.269 That's what we can look forward to as Christians 00:13:09.269 --> 00:13:12.169 after death. We'll come with me to our second 00:13:12.169 --> 00:13:17.389 point, God's track record. God's track record. 00:13:17.789 --> 00:13:21.470 Look at me at verses 38 to 39. This is where 00:13:21.470 --> 00:13:25.149 Paul outlines God's track record for this great 00:13:25.149 --> 00:13:29.610 claim of transformation. And here, Paul uses 00:13:29.610 --> 00:13:32.909 another set of examples of where he sees this 00:13:32.909 --> 00:13:38.019 being coded into the world. And he's basically 00:13:38.019 --> 00:13:39.960 saying, look, if you look at the world around 00:13:39.960 --> 00:13:43.139 you, you shouldn't be surprised at this great 00:13:43.139 --> 00:13:46.340 claim that there will be real physical bodies 00:13:46.340 --> 00:13:50.840 after death. And he echoes in verses 38 to 39, 00:13:51.059 --> 00:13:54.340 Genesis chapter one. And in Genesis chapter one, 00:13:54.779 --> 00:13:58.320 the scripture lists God's good creation in terms 00:13:58.320 --> 00:14:00.559 of the different creatures, the different animals, 00:14:00.740 --> 00:14:05.059 all of its kind, all of its categories. different 00:14:05.059 --> 00:14:08.720 species in different ways. And the point that 00:14:08.720 --> 00:14:11.539 Paul's making here by referencing Genesis 1 is 00:14:11.539 --> 00:14:17.139 God has a track record of making a variety of 00:14:17.139 --> 00:14:21.700 different things with different bodies. Now in 00:14:21.700 --> 00:14:26.220 verses 40 to 41, look with me here. Paul moves 00:14:26.220 --> 00:14:28.639 the conversation forwards. He's like, okay, so 00:14:28.639 --> 00:14:30.899 you've got a God who specializes in making different 00:14:30.899 --> 00:14:34.539 bodies, but this God also has a track record 00:14:34.539 --> 00:14:41.120 in making objects of different levels of splendor. 00:14:42.740 --> 00:14:46.860 In that he says God is the same God who makes 00:14:46.860 --> 00:14:51.570 goldfish. and sparrows and is also the God who 00:14:51.570 --> 00:14:55.649 is the trademark creator of the sun that burns 00:14:55.649 --> 00:15:01.970 at 15 million degrees Celsius and whose splendor 00:15:01.970 --> 00:15:06.470 keeps the universe fresh and filled with light 00:15:06.470 --> 00:15:12.210 and life. God does both. We're reminded aren't 00:15:12.210 --> 00:15:19.740 we that how incredible. our world is by the astronauts 00:15:19.740 --> 00:15:24.159 of Artemis II recently. When they looked at the 00:15:24.159 --> 00:15:28.200 body of the earth as viewed from the other side 00:15:28.200 --> 00:15:32.259 of the moon, they were quoted as saying, amaze, 00:15:32.759 --> 00:15:37.940 amaze, amaze. And Paul's point is yes, of course. 00:15:38.559 --> 00:15:43.019 If God can create, bodies of this weight and 00:15:43.019 --> 00:15:45.960 glory, such as the celestial bodies of our solar 00:15:45.960 --> 00:15:52.440 system, how much more can he fulfill the promise 00:15:52.440 --> 00:15:57.960 to give you a remarkable, wondrous physical body 00:15:57.960 --> 00:16:02.500 after death when you're raised? Let me put it 00:16:02.500 --> 00:16:07.659 like this. If you are someone here today or watching 00:16:07.659 --> 00:16:11.879 online who studies any of the sciences or your 00:16:11.879 --> 00:16:14.980 field of work or research allows you to gaze 00:16:14.980 --> 00:16:19.100 deeply in detail at the marvels of the world 00:16:19.100 --> 00:16:22.659 and the universe and yet it doesn't lead you 00:16:23.340 --> 00:16:27.840 to have a sense of wondrous anticipation and 00:16:27.840 --> 00:16:31.279 excitement at the type of new body that God will 00:16:31.279 --> 00:16:33.779 give you when he raises you from the dead, then 00:16:33.779 --> 00:16:36.100 you are literally missing one of the best parts 00:16:36.100 --> 00:16:40.299 of your job. It's a little bit like being invited 00:16:40.299 --> 00:16:43.220 to eat at a Michelin star restaurant, but because 00:16:43.220 --> 00:16:45.659 you're focusing too much on studying the menu, 00:16:46.039 --> 00:16:51.419 you forget to eat. And that's why Paul with relish 00:16:51.419 --> 00:16:56.620 in verse 42 says, so will it be with the resurrection 00:16:56.620 --> 00:17:01.340 of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable. 00:17:01.740 --> 00:17:06.579 It is raised imperishable. Now it's hard to get 00:17:06.579 --> 00:17:09.339 our heads around that, isn't it? It's very difficult 00:17:09.339 --> 00:17:12.339 to actually. Get our minds. What does it mean 00:17:12.339 --> 00:17:16.200 for that future? Hope of Imperishable bodies 00:17:16.200 --> 00:17:18.180 will allow me to try and make this a little bit 00:17:18.180 --> 00:17:21.500 more concrete for us this afternoon Let me ask 00:17:21.500 --> 00:17:24.299 you this personal question Don't put your hands 00:17:24.299 --> 00:17:28.500 up. It'd be awkward How many of you struggle 00:17:28.500 --> 00:17:32.119 to look at a mirror How many of you struggle 00:17:32.119 --> 00:17:35.859 to look at your reflection in the mirror? How 00:17:35.859 --> 00:17:40.269 many of you have to kind of gird yourself to 00:17:40.269 --> 00:17:45.049 kind of look into a mirror each morning before 00:17:45.049 --> 00:17:48.849 you gaze at your reflection in horror and dismay. 00:17:49.950 --> 00:17:52.650 I mean, the older I get, the more I find full 00:17:52.650 --> 00:17:55.289 -length mirrors become kind of greater objects 00:17:55.289 --> 00:18:00.130 of torture. Do you find the same thing? Paul 00:18:00.130 --> 00:18:05.069 seems to be suggesting, get this, Paul seems 00:18:05.069 --> 00:18:09.210 to be suggesting that in the new creation, you 00:18:09.210 --> 00:18:12.769 will catch a glimpse of yourself in a mirror 00:18:12.769 --> 00:18:18.230 and without any sense of delusion or inflated 00:18:18.230 --> 00:18:23.250 ego, you will feel a sense of marvel and wonder 00:18:23.250 --> 00:18:27.150 that will roll over you like a wave. Much like 00:18:27.150 --> 00:18:30.289 looking at your reflection in a mirror and having 00:18:30.289 --> 00:18:33.509 that same sense when you are looking over a mountain 00:18:33.509 --> 00:18:39.579 view or looking over an ocean sunset. Can you 00:18:39.579 --> 00:18:42.599 imagine a situation where you could look at your 00:18:42.599 --> 00:18:46.140 own reflection in the mirror, and that be your 00:18:46.140 --> 00:18:52.420 experience? Such splendor? No. No, I don't suppose 00:18:52.420 --> 00:18:56.160 you can, can you? But I bet you long for it, 00:18:56.160 --> 00:19:01.519 don't you? I bet you would long for that. Now, 00:19:01.519 --> 00:19:05.519 don't hear me wrong. The splendor of our new 00:19:05.519 --> 00:19:08.519 physical bodies won't be that we look actually 00:19:08.519 --> 00:19:12.299 like suns or stars in a celestial sense. Rather, 00:19:12.440 --> 00:19:15.799 the splendour of our new bodies will be physical 00:19:15.799 --> 00:19:19.039 minds and physical bodies that actually reach 00:19:19.039 --> 00:19:25.200 their full potential. Just as an oak tree is 00:19:25.200 --> 00:19:29.839 of fuller splendour than the tiny acorn from 00:19:29.839 --> 00:19:37.250 which it first came. So shall we be. You see, 00:19:37.410 --> 00:19:41.670 whereas in this world, the hindrances of illness 00:19:41.670 --> 00:19:49.589 and decay and aging and death itself, in the 00:19:49.589 --> 00:19:52.509 new world to come, those things will be cast 00:19:52.509 --> 00:19:56.049 off like shackles in every sense and for the 00:19:56.049 --> 00:19:59.130 very first time, physically, intellectually, 00:19:59.990 --> 00:20:05.920 creatively and emotionally, we will thrive. We 00:20:05.920 --> 00:20:13.839 will be of full potential. We will run. Joanie 00:20:13.839 --> 00:20:18.359 Erickson -Tarder is a Christian who became quadriplegic 00:20:18.359 --> 00:20:22.599 due to a diving accident in her childhood. She 00:20:22.599 --> 00:20:27.299 puts it well when she says this. I still can 00:20:27.299 --> 00:20:32.119 hardly believe it. I with shriveled bent fingers. 00:20:33.099 --> 00:20:36.819 Atrophied muscles, gnarled knees, and no feeling 00:20:36.819 --> 00:20:40.019 from the shoulders down will one day have a new 00:20:40.019 --> 00:20:44.079 body, light, bright, and clothed in righteousness, 00:20:44.539 --> 00:20:49.380 powerful and dazzling. Can you imagine the hope 00:20:49.380 --> 00:20:53.420 this gives to someone with spinal cord injuries 00:20:53.420 --> 00:20:57.519 like me? Or of someone who is cerebral palsied, 00:20:57.920 --> 00:21:01.400 brain injured, or who has multiple sclerosis? 00:21:01.799 --> 00:21:04.920 Imagine the hope this gives to someone who is 00:21:04.920 --> 00:21:10.039 manic depressive. No other religion, no other 00:21:10.039 --> 00:21:13.980 philosophy promises new bodies, hearts and minds. 00:21:15.519 --> 00:21:21.819 Only the gospel of Christ do hurting people find 00:21:21.819 --> 00:21:28.720 such incredible hope. But perhaps my favorite 00:21:28.720 --> 00:21:33.200 attempt. to capture this splendor of our new 00:21:33.200 --> 00:21:36.039 resurrected bodies is the great writer C .S. 00:21:36.160 --> 00:21:41.680 Lewis. He says this. It is a serious thing to 00:21:41.680 --> 00:21:46.279 live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, 00:21:46.279 --> 00:21:51.200 to remember that the dullest, most uninteresting 00:21:51.200 --> 00:21:56.119 person you can talk to may one day be a creature 00:21:56.119 --> 00:22:00.259 which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly 00:22:00.259 --> 00:22:05.000 tempted to worship. Isn't that good news for 00:22:05.000 --> 00:22:08.440 those of us who find ourselves dull? How many 00:22:08.440 --> 00:22:10.819 of you right now are really struggling not to 00:22:10.819 --> 00:22:15.640 look at the person next to you? But this is wonderful, 00:22:15.680 --> 00:22:19.880 isn't it? This is wonderful promises from 1 Corinthians 00:22:19.880 --> 00:22:24.920 chapter 15. Well, come with me to our third point. 00:22:25.079 --> 00:22:29.549 Jesus is the example. Look at me at verses 45 00:22:29.549 --> 00:22:34.910 to 49 and Paul's point here is Jesus is the example 00:22:34.910 --> 00:22:38.809 of transformation and that's really significant 00:22:38.809 --> 00:22:41.430 because the idea of transformation could just 00:22:41.430 --> 00:22:45.269 fire our brains in all sorts of very crazy directions, 00:22:45.289 --> 00:22:50.630 but if Jesus is actually the model of what our 00:22:50.630 --> 00:22:54.890 future resurrected bodies will be like then actually 00:22:54.890 --> 00:23:00.059 that makes all of this Very concrete. So let 00:23:00.059 --> 00:23:04.660 me give a quick correction to old men like me 00:23:04.660 --> 00:23:07.039 who are quietly hoping our resurrected bodies 00:23:07.039 --> 00:23:09.859 look like George Clooney or something like that. 00:23:10.980 --> 00:23:14.700 We're wrong. We're wrong. Let me explain why. 00:23:15.859 --> 00:23:19.380 In this passage, Paul re -echoes. from verses 00:23:19.380 --> 00:23:23.240 20 to 22 that Ralph covered previously. The idea 00:23:23.240 --> 00:23:26.680 that we were once in Adam and that leads to decay 00:23:26.680 --> 00:23:29.619 and death and now as believers in the Lord Jesus 00:23:29.619 --> 00:23:33.119 Christ, it means that as we are in Christ, just 00:23:33.119 --> 00:23:37.460 as Christ is transformed and given a body that 00:23:37.460 --> 00:23:41.119 will never perish, we too, who are following 00:23:41.119 --> 00:23:45.119 now in Christ, will be given a new body, a body 00:23:45.119 --> 00:23:49.180 that will be transformed from death. to a body 00:23:49.180 --> 00:23:52.880 that will always only experience eternal life. 00:23:54.119 --> 00:23:57.279 And in verse 49, this is Paul's point, he says 00:23:57.279 --> 00:24:01.779 this, and just as we have borne the image of 00:24:01.779 --> 00:24:06.960 the earthly man, so shall we bear the image of 00:24:06.960 --> 00:24:12.400 the heavenly man. And what we see from Christ 00:24:12.400 --> 00:24:16.140 as our example of resurrected bodies is that 00:24:16.140 --> 00:24:21.269 the Lord Jesus and this is crucial, was recognized. 00:24:22.190 --> 00:24:24.670 If you read the gospels after the resurrection, 00:24:25.009 --> 00:24:30.269 he was recognized as having the same face as 00:24:30.269 --> 00:24:36.829 before his death. His new body looked like his 00:24:36.829 --> 00:24:39.890 former body. It could do remarkable, remarkable 00:24:39.890 --> 00:24:42.630 things. It could pass through locked doors. It 00:24:42.630 --> 00:24:46.309 was a very different body, but there was no sense. 00:24:46.559 --> 00:24:49.799 that when Jesus returned to life, he returned 00:24:49.799 --> 00:24:52.619 with a body that could have made the front page 00:24:52.619 --> 00:24:56.180 of Men's Health magazine. And wasn't the sense 00:24:56.180 --> 00:24:59.960 of it, was it? In fact, some people have been 00:24:59.960 --> 00:25:03.839 very troubled by passages like John chapter 20, 00:25:04.220 --> 00:25:08.180 where the risen Jesus shows Thomas. his nail 00:25:08.180 --> 00:25:11.839 wounds in his hand, and the wound in his side 00:25:11.839 --> 00:25:15.220 where it was pierced with a spear. And some people 00:25:15.220 --> 00:25:17.700 will freak out at that, go, aren't I supposed 00:25:17.700 --> 00:25:20.420 to be resurrected with a body that's absolutely 00:25:20.420 --> 00:25:30.579 perfect? But let me ask you this. Is it that 00:25:30.579 --> 00:25:36.140 we find the body of the risen Jesus, even with 00:25:36.140 --> 00:25:42.640 the marks? of nails in his hands and a spear 00:25:42.640 --> 00:25:48.920 in his side. Do we find the risen body of Jesus 00:25:48.920 --> 00:25:55.400 repulsive? Do we find it morbidly grotesque because 00:25:55.400 --> 00:26:00.059 of those things? Is the body of Jesus ruined 00:26:00.059 --> 00:26:03.000 by these markers of Good Friday for the Christian? 00:26:05.039 --> 00:26:09.109 No. Actually for us as believers who understand 00:26:09.109 --> 00:26:12.890 their significance, they represent those markers 00:26:12.890 --> 00:26:16.289 of his former body. Well, they're now cast with 00:26:16.289 --> 00:26:20.329 an absolute new beauty, aren't they? Now listen, 00:26:20.650 --> 00:26:25.750 even if we allow Jesus's wounds to be exceptional 00:26:25.750 --> 00:26:29.890 for the purpose of proving to Thomas that he 00:26:29.890 --> 00:26:33.329 really is Jesus and he's really alive again, 00:26:34.329 --> 00:26:37.869 it's not a jump. to say that there is something 00:26:37.869 --> 00:26:45.869 about our new bodies that casts a new beauty, 00:26:47.529 --> 00:26:52.269 a new beauty on perhaps things about ourselves 00:26:52.269 --> 00:26:59.130 that we currently hate. I don't know, but perhaps 00:26:59.130 --> 00:27:04.170 in the light of our resurrection, Let's say your 00:27:04.170 --> 00:27:06.630 hair, that perhaps you hate your hair. It's not 00:27:06.630 --> 00:27:08.809 like other people's, it's an absolute nightmare. 00:27:10.990 --> 00:27:16.470 Perhaps in your new body, your hair will be seen 00:27:16.470 --> 00:27:20.569 as it was intended by God to be seen. Have you 00:27:20.569 --> 00:27:23.690 thought about that? Or let me take your nose. 00:27:23.930 --> 00:27:27.009 Perhaps you hate your nose and you would be tempted, 00:27:27.170 --> 00:27:31.309 had you the money to get it adjusted. Perhaps. 00:27:31.529 --> 00:27:35.210 I don't know, but perhaps in the light of our 00:27:35.210 --> 00:27:41.089 new bodies, it enables us to say with every surprised 00:27:41.089 --> 00:27:46.789 sincerity, ah, that's what God had planned when 00:27:46.789 --> 00:27:53.630 he gave me that nose. It's wonderful. Those of 00:27:53.630 --> 00:27:56.589 us who are here this afternoon who wish we were 00:27:56.589 --> 00:28:02.259 taller or Perhaps our arms less gangly or our 00:28:02.259 --> 00:28:06.180 legs less leggy or our complexion was better 00:28:06.180 --> 00:28:12.420 or our eyes were bluer. When you look in a mirror 00:28:12.420 --> 00:28:18.160 and you despise and hate and criticize your looks, 00:28:18.480 --> 00:28:23.519 your body, your image, Christian, be very careful. 00:28:26.539 --> 00:28:31.099 Because one day you will meet the artist face 00:28:31.099 --> 00:28:34.900 to face and you will stand in the perfect true 00:28:34.900 --> 00:28:38.319 light that he always intended you to be seen 00:28:38.319 --> 00:28:43.700 in. And in that moment, wouldn't it be awkward 00:28:43.700 --> 00:28:50.039 if you had a nose job? No. You get the point. 00:28:51.880 --> 00:28:56.720 We'll come with me to our final point. Begin 00:28:56.720 --> 00:29:00.859 now. Look at me at verses 50 to 58. Begin your 00:29:00.859 --> 00:29:03.859 transformation now is basically what Paul's saying. 00:29:04.259 --> 00:29:08.980 And in verses 51 to 52, he spotlights the moment 00:29:08.980 --> 00:29:12.059 of Christ's return and that great future moment 00:29:12.059 --> 00:29:14.960 when all believers will receive their new bodies. 00:29:15.390 --> 00:29:18.950 And then that draws Paul to the great climax 00:29:18.950 --> 00:29:22.750 of chapter 15, a quote from Hosea chapter 13 00:29:22.750 --> 00:29:25.670 verse 14, a phrase that draws together the whole 00:29:25.670 --> 00:29:30.549 chapter, oh death, where is your sting? And his 00:29:30.549 --> 00:29:34.430 point being, if there is no sting of death, it 00:29:34.430 --> 00:29:38.269 now means that the kingdom of God has arrived. 00:29:40.389 --> 00:29:43.930 But I want us to land on verse 58 because Paul 00:29:43.930 --> 00:29:46.609 finishes with some very specific applications. 00:29:48.789 --> 00:29:52.210 Always give yourselves fully to the work of the 00:29:52.210 --> 00:29:54.369 Lord because you know that your labor in the 00:29:54.369 --> 00:29:58.230 Lord is not in vain. Let me summarize a little 00:29:58.230 --> 00:29:59.990 bit where we're up to before we dive into this 00:29:59.990 --> 00:30:04.069 bit. We've looked at the hope that Christians 00:30:04.069 --> 00:30:07.170 have for the grieving and that is life after 00:30:07.170 --> 00:30:10.009 death. And we've looked at the hope for the sick 00:30:10.009 --> 00:30:13.890 and the broken. That is, we get new imperishable 00:30:13.890 --> 00:30:19.470 bodies. And the hope for the millions whose homes 00:30:19.470 --> 00:30:24.970 are burnt as rubble. Well, the promise is a new 00:30:24.970 --> 00:30:28.329 creation where there's no more sin or death. 00:30:29.250 --> 00:30:31.289 These are wonderful promises. They should fill 00:30:31.289 --> 00:30:33.809 our hearts with joy. But as you think about that 00:30:33.809 --> 00:30:37.819 great future, It sounds like it would take an 00:30:37.819 --> 00:30:40.880 enormous amount of effort to qualify for such 00:30:40.880 --> 00:30:43.759 a future as that, doesn't it? What type of effort 00:30:43.759 --> 00:30:47.519 would you need to get to qualify, to get a ticket 00:30:47.519 --> 00:30:50.359 for that type of future? If we were Muslims, 00:30:52.539 --> 00:30:55.640 to qualify for the equivalent future hope? would 00:30:55.640 --> 00:30:59.140 require a near perfect performance of the pillars 00:30:59.140 --> 00:31:02.400 of Islam. If we were Buddhists, our expectations 00:31:02.400 --> 00:31:05.680 could be lifetimes worth of refinement through 00:31:05.680 --> 00:31:08.059 reincarnation to get anywhere close to this. 00:31:08.319 --> 00:31:11.000 If we were Catholics, how many centuries would 00:31:11.000 --> 00:31:14.299 we have to go through the very fires of purgatory 00:31:14.299 --> 00:31:17.839 in order to qualify for this? And even those 00:31:17.839 --> 00:31:21.640 religions' futures are nothing compared with 00:31:21.640 --> 00:31:24.420 the Christian hope of the new creation that is 00:31:24.420 --> 00:31:29.779 to come. So as we draw to the end of this letter, 00:31:30.880 --> 00:31:35.220 what would it take for the dysfunctional church 00:31:35.220 --> 00:31:37.940 in Corinth to qualify for this great future? 00:31:38.019 --> 00:31:40.640 Because surely, as we've seen from chapters one 00:31:40.640 --> 00:31:43.880 to 15, the Corinthian church, they feel like 00:31:43.880 --> 00:31:45.819 the type of people who should be back of the 00:31:45.819 --> 00:31:47.539 queue, shouldn't they, when it comes to tickets 00:31:47.539 --> 00:31:51.779 to a creation like this? Well, the twist of the 00:31:51.779 --> 00:32:00.380 passage is right there. Verses 56, 57. It's all 00:32:00.380 --> 00:32:05.400 a gift. It's given to us by God. The victory 00:32:05.400 --> 00:32:09.359 is given. It is a gift, it is grace, that it 00:32:09.359 --> 00:32:12.539 is an undeserved gift for undeserving people. 00:32:14.579 --> 00:32:20.980 How do you qualify for it? You repent of your 00:32:20.980 --> 00:32:25.990 sin. You accept the risen Lord Jesus as your 00:32:25.990 --> 00:32:30.869 King. That's the qualification, that is grace. 00:32:31.650 --> 00:32:34.589 And all of these promises of chapter 15 are now 00:32:34.589 --> 00:32:38.730 yours. This is outrageous, this is scandalous 00:32:38.730 --> 00:32:41.829 generosity that is at the very heart of the gospel. 00:32:42.480 --> 00:32:46.759 You see whilst the atheist Despairs of their 00:32:46.759 --> 00:32:49.819 short life and the religious devote themselves 00:32:49.819 --> 00:32:53.359 to every effort trying to qualify to get a ticket 00:32:53.359 --> 00:32:59.920 for the next life The Christian is told Go pack 00:32:59.920 --> 00:33:05.319 your bags because your future is secure Or actually 00:33:05.319 --> 00:33:09.660 we better to say now Christian go plant. What 00:33:09.660 --> 00:33:13.380 do I mean? Well the work of the Lord as it's 00:33:13.380 --> 00:33:16.119 phrased here or labor in the Lord as it's phrased 00:33:16.119 --> 00:33:21.460 in our passage Given the continuity between this 00:33:21.460 --> 00:33:26.059 world and the world that is to come Like a gardener 00:33:26.059 --> 00:33:30.700 in the winter who anticipates the coming summer 00:33:30.700 --> 00:33:36.599 Christian You are to plant in your life and in 00:33:36.599 --> 00:33:41.339 your community good things now that will grow 00:33:41.339 --> 00:33:45.099 to their full potential in the new creation to 00:33:45.099 --> 00:33:50.440 come. In other words, let me ask you this. What 00:33:50.440 --> 00:33:55.000 is it that you do right now that is a fruit of 00:33:55.000 --> 00:33:58.740 your trust in Jesus, but you can very, very easily 00:33:58.740 --> 00:34:03.099 feel discouraged about? What is it that you do 00:34:03.099 --> 00:34:08.940 right now as a response to Jesus? that sometimes 00:34:08.940 --> 00:34:11.940 you just find yourself kind of going, oh, what's 00:34:11.940 --> 00:34:16.840 the point? What's the point? Well, Paul's application 00:34:16.840 --> 00:34:20.460 is because there is a continuity between this 00:34:20.460 --> 00:34:25.039 world and the world to come. And that which is 00:34:25.039 --> 00:34:29.300 an acorn in this world will become a tree in 00:34:29.300 --> 00:34:33.300 the next. Paul's application in this final verse 00:34:33.300 --> 00:34:39.530 of chapter 15 is simply keep. Going. Those of 00:34:39.530 --> 00:34:42.429 you who keep exercising the gift of hospitality 00:34:42.429 --> 00:34:45.409 to others, wonderful, but no one ever invites 00:34:45.409 --> 00:34:50.809 you around. Keep going. Those of you who are 00:34:50.809 --> 00:34:52.909 at City Church for any length of time and you're 00:34:52.909 --> 00:34:55.230 welcoming hundreds if not thousands of people 00:34:55.230 --> 00:34:58.909 into the church, wonderful, but no one ever seems 00:34:58.909 --> 00:35:07.610 to see you. Keep going. Those of you who are 00:35:07.610 --> 00:35:10.969 parents and you are tearing your hair out and 00:35:10.969 --> 00:35:14.150 it is all you can do to raise your children Do 00:35:14.150 --> 00:35:16.429 you know something of the Lord Jesus and not 00:35:16.429 --> 00:35:21.110 to lose your absolute wick with them? keep going 00:35:21.110 --> 00:35:24.909 For those of you who constantly take the risk 00:35:24.909 --> 00:35:27.829 of inviting your friends to alpha, but they never 00:35:27.829 --> 00:35:34.949 say yes keep going For those of you who are determined 00:35:34.949 --> 00:35:40.570 to plant in your life sexual purity, gratefulness, 00:35:40.989 --> 00:35:44.570 resilience, healthy prayer life, healthy devotional 00:35:44.570 --> 00:35:47.690 life, faithfulness in marriage, good healthy 00:35:47.690 --> 00:35:55.070 boundaries at work, but it's so hard. Keep going. 00:35:56.150 --> 00:36:03.159 I can't pretend I know what those. Trees of these 00:36:03.159 --> 00:36:06.039 seeds will look like in the new creation to come 00:36:06.039 --> 00:36:09.860 but the one who rose from the dead and Gifts 00:36:09.860 --> 00:36:13.619 you a better future than you could have ever 00:36:13.619 --> 00:36:17.960 imagined or longed for in this world He looks 00:36:17.960 --> 00:36:25.719 at you today And he says keep going because what 00:36:25.719 --> 00:36:35.300 is coming is worth it for your labor now is not 00:36:35.300 --> 00:36:43.880 in vain. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we come 00:36:43.880 --> 00:36:47.940 before you and ask that you would cast our vision. 00:36:49.579 --> 00:36:52.500 to that great future that is to come, that new 00:36:52.500 --> 00:36:55.860 creation where we will meet you with real bodies 00:36:55.860 --> 00:36:59.239 face to face and you will wipe every tear from 00:36:59.239 --> 00:37:04.099 our eyes. Father, for those of us who are struggling 00:37:04.099 --> 00:37:07.000 and feeling on the edge of despair and giving 00:37:07.000 --> 00:37:10.440 up, I pray that as we look at this promised and 00:37:10.440 --> 00:37:14.519 guaranteed future hope, we would hear Paul's 00:37:14.519 --> 00:37:19.550 exhortation to keep going. and that we would. 00:37:21.130 --> 00:37:24.389 Father, I pray that as we look through the lens 00:37:24.389 --> 00:37:28.510 of a world that drags us down and seems to be 00:37:28.510 --> 00:37:31.630 broken in every level and makes us despair and 00:37:31.630 --> 00:37:36.309 say, what is the point? I pray that you would 00:37:36.309 --> 00:37:40.090 take our glance to the hope of heaven, the new 00:37:40.090 --> 00:37:44.159 creation that is to come. and that we would know 00:37:44.159 --> 00:37:48.699 in the depth of our heart and deepest affections 00:37:48.699 --> 00:37:53.380 to follow Christ no matter what is absolutely 00:37:53.380 --> 00:37:55.039 worth it. Amen.