You may be seated. Have you ever watched a trailer
for a movie and thought, wow, that looks like
a really good movie. The reason you did is because
there were car chases and explosions and shots
fired and not dialogue. That dialogue is for
bad movies. Explosion and car chases, that's
what's made for good movies. But have you ever
watched a movie like a trailer for a movie and
you're like, this is gonna be an epic movie,
I'm gonna go see this movie. So you go see the
movie, you rent the movie, you put it in and
you watch the movie and you realize all of the
good parts were in the trailer. Has that ever
happened to you? Or all of the funny lines in
this movie were in the trailer, right? And there's,
have you ever been disappointed by that? Yeah.
over -promise, under -deliver, yeah. Have you
ever had someone that like told you about a new
singer or songwriter, maybe a new band, and they
just hyped it up big time? Or maybe like somebody
told you about a good book or a great store to
go to or a great restaurant to go to and you
went and it was just kinda meh. It was just kinda
like just not a whole lot. Or maybe. Maybe who's
ever gone to a big box like member store like
Sam's Club and like Costco and it's, this is
the chubby kid's favorite day, it's sample day.
Who's like, if I get enough samples, I won't
have to pay for lunch, right? Like that's kind
of how that goes. And you stand there and they
put it out and you take it. You're like, can
I have another one? That's really awkward. Anyway.
Not that I've ever done that, but maybe like
you were really hungry and you had the sample,
so you got the sample, you ate it, it was like
epic because you were so hungry, and then you
bought the box of it or the jar of it or whatever
and you took it home and you're like, I remember
this being a lot better, right? It over -promised
and it under -delivered. You ever had that? Or
maybe you have a friend who said he would be
there and then you needed him and he didn't show
up. Over promise, under delivery, yeah. The whole
taste thing, the whole like movie thing, some
people call this the law of diminishing returns.
It's what happens when something is really good
up front, but over time it gets less and less
impressive. In some ways our whole life can be
like this, right? Like. There's things that early
on when you were a kid, you remember like loving
certain things when you were a kid. And then
as you, what excited you when you were a kid
doesn't excite you like it did. And that's why
kind of why we like to live through our kids,
right? We get excited teaching them how to ride
a bike or how to, some people like this is, they're
bad parenting. They're living their life through
their kids. Like, I wasn't very good at basketball,
but you'll be, you know, like that's how that
goes. And that's probably a bad plan. But the
idea is like, that whole idea is like, It was
really cool when I was younger, but it just takes
more and more to thrill us. It's kind of what
caused the stir at the wedding at Cana. Who remembers
the story about Jesus going to the wedding at
Cana? And it's the first place he does a miracle.
They were running out of wine at the feast and
Jesus turned the water into wine and the head
of that. the head of that party came and in essence,
this isn't a quote, but this is what he said.
He's like, usually they give the best stuff at
the beginning and it gets worse as the wedding
goes, but now you're putting the best stuff at
the end, right? How did this happen, right? For
some people, this is a part of how they experience
life. They hear about the promise and then it
kind of goes into even Christianity. They hear
about the promise of Christianity but they're
skeptical because who's noticed that we get promised
a lot of things in life that don't actually come
to fruition. I heard, I saw a clip today of Dion
Sanders. Who remembers Dion Sanders? Dion Sanders
was saying like, I had all the height of, and
I don't know exactly, apparently he claims to
be a Christian now and I'm hoping that's true.
I think it's a good thing. But he was saying,
and what he said, I had, I had all the money,
but the money didn't matter. He said, I had all
the cards, but I wasn't going anywhere. You know,
I had all of it. Like it doesn't satisfy, right?
And I was like, amen Dion, at least in this clip,
amen, right? Like that's how people feel. Like
they think that these certain things are gonna
satisfy. And the world, that's like the world,
what the world does, it over promises and it
under delivers. I'm really excited today to tell
you that there's a way of looking at the world
that will blow your mind about what will happen
next. And that's what Paul talks about here.
There's a way of looking at our bodies, there's
a way of looking at creation and realizing this
is a clue to how good it's going to be. And I
don't want to over promise and under deliver.
And some people think that God does that, that
he over promises and that maybe one day like
everything else, he's gonna under deliver. The
last three or four weeks around here, we've been
dealing a lot with death. Tuesday, we'll have
a funeral for Ms. Darlene Suman. She's the fourth
person in three weeks that I've done a funeral
for. And we miss her. Every week there's this
thing that could happen where people that were
here one Sunday won't be here the next Sunday.
And death is a reality. Of course, this week,
if you've been on social media or watched the
news at all, you've heard about Charlie Kirk's
death. He was murdered because he spoke out for
Jesus Christ. You say, well, I thought he might
be murdered because of his stand on these political
issues. What I know about him and what I've watched
about him is that he believed in Jesus. He believed
in scripture. He believed in our country. And
because he believed in Christ, he had these political
opinions. And so it doesn't really matter exactly
which opinion infuriated the guy the most. He
was bold to speak up for his faith and to end
up being what? got him killed. That's not a good
thing, is it? It's not good. But I'm thankful
for his testimony that he did that. And it goes
to show you that like the testimony that we wanna
have, he preached the same gospel I preach. And
the truth of the matter is there are people in
our culture, we don't wrestle against flesh and
blood. but against principalities and powers
and spiritual wickedness in high places. But
Satan's not gonna win. Jesus, yours is the victory.
That's what we just sang, right? And so when
we get to 1 Corinthians 15, this whole thing,
this whole chapter's about victory. It's about
victory that comes through resurrection, first
Jesus' resurrection, and then, not gonna over
promise and under deliver, there's gonna be a
resurrection. And this section we're gonna read
today is all about lesser to greater, okay? A
lot of times we go from lesser to greater, we
think, oh, because the sample was good, it's
all gonna continue to be good, and what we find
in life is there's a law of diminishing returns.
That's not how God is. That's not how heaven's
gonna be, right? There's a lesser that we're
experiencing now and it's a clue to the greater
that's gonna be. That's what this section is
about. And God makes promises and God always,
always, always, always, always, always, always,
always, always, always, always, always, always
keeps his promises. He does. He does, and so
if we live according to his promises, that's
good. If we don't live according to his promises,
that's a very bad thing for us. So Paul's been
making the case for resurrection. You guys have
your Bibles? I'm in Isaiah. Why am I in Isaiah?
First Corinthians, here we go, 15. He says in
verse three, for I delivered unto you, all, this
isn't on the screen. This, you have to look at
your Bible. 1 Corinthians 15, three, for I delivered
unto you first of all that which I also received,
how that Christ died for our sins according to
the scriptures and that he was buried and that
he rose again the third day according to the
scriptures and that he was seen of Cephas, then
of the 12. After that, he was seen above 500
brethren at once. And then he goes down to verse
12. So he makes this declaration that the gospel
is based on the death bill and resurrection of
Jesus. And then he says in verse, 12, now if
Christ be preached that he rose from the dead,
how say some among you that there's no resurrection
from the dead? Why are you saying there's no
resurrection? And then he goes on to make this
claim that there's no resurrection from the dead,
that Christ isn't raised. If Christ isn't raised,
we're yet in our sins. If we're yet in our sins,
then that's not good for us. We're living for
Christ, but yet we're among men most miserable.
He goes on and continues to make arguments. He
says, if... Christ didn't raise it. There's no
resurrection. Why are we being persecuted every
day? Why is this all happening? But we are resurrected
from the dead. We will be resurrected. There
is resurrection from the dead. And that's what
he says in verse 20. I love this. But now as
Christ risen from the dead and become the first
fruits of them that sleep, lesser to greater,
he becomes the, not that Christ is lesser, but
he's the first. There's only one, he's one resurrection
that leads to a harvest of a whole bunch of resurrections,
right? Are you excited about that? That's awesome,
right? That's what happens. And then, just amazing.
And so he says, don't be deceived evil communications.
All these people that are saying there's no resurrection
from the dead in your church, if you don't stop
them and correct them and change them, they're
gonna have a corrupting influence. on your church
because what you believe determines what you
behave, and that's not a good thing. He gets
to today's text, and in doing that, in this section,
we get an incredible insight into the reality
of what resurrection will be like, especially
in regard to our bodies. Paul does this through
comparing what is now to what will be and he
does this by using three lesser to greater comparisons.
We get some insight into the future reality and
nature of how the resurrection will function
by setting three categories of lesser to greater
comparisons. I am so pumped up for today's message
because of the hope that it brings. I was crying
in the car on the way here and my daughter thinks
I'm weird and it's okay, okay. because there's
so much hope in this, and I just wanna convey,
I wish I could just pour that hope out onto you,
and that's what I'm gonna try to do in preaching
here. So we see the first comparison, lesser
to greater comparison, number one, a comparison
of a seed, sowing and reaping, and we're gonna
see that in verse 35. Now, one of the things
Paul does when he teaches, he does this in Romans,
he does this here in 1 Corinthians, he does it
several different places. He gives the argument,
that he thinks the reader or the hearer might
actually give, and he speaks for them, and then
he responds to what they're doing. We do this
in preaching all the time. When I say, now you
might be thinking this, but the scripture says
this. How many of you guys ever heard me or some
other preacher do that? That's what he's doing
here, okay? And he gives this question in verse
35, but some man will say, How are the dead raised
up and with what body do they come? Now, we're
gonna see from the response that he gives here
in just a second that he doesn't view this question
and he's not offering this question or saying
that this question is coming because of some
sincere question, right? Have you ever had a
moment where someone was, not just giving you
a question, but they are questioning you. You
understand the difference between having a question
and questioning. I think the second thing is
what's happening here. Paul's saying, there may
be people saying, oh yeah, there's a resurrection.
Well, how's it gonna happen? Oh, there's a resurrection.
What kind of body are we gonna have, Paul? And
this is me inferring. This happens in... in our
world too, oh, you're a Christian, that means
you believe that someone rose from the dead?
That's never happened, to which I would say,
yeah, one notable exception for sure. Jesus rose
from the dead, right? But there's a whole lot
of people that they wanna appeal to the natural
to deny the supernatural, right? What, are we
gonna be a bunch of zombies, Paul? Are we gonna
come out with like, you know, don't you know
that when you bury somebody, they, They go to
dust, ashes to ashes, and dust to dust. Even
your own Bible says that, Paul. What do you mean?
I love Paul already. Verse 36. What's Paul's
position? Thou fool? That is a stupid argument.
That's what Paul's saying. How do you do resurrection,
Paul? CPR on a corpse? Stand back, clear. If
the dead do come back, are they walking dead?
Are they zombies? Right? We know scientifically
that resurrection is not possible. Well, that's
exactly why resurrection was the sign, right?
If everybody does it, then you wouldn't know
that it was God approving what Jesus did on the
cross. How did the dead raised up and what body
do they come? Verse 36, thou fool, that which
thou sowest is not quickened, except it, what?
Die. When Paul calls them foolish, he then gives
them an illustration that happens all the time.
Oh, you don't think there's resurrection? Did
you have toast this morning? Did you eat anything
off of a plant? Because Death, burial, and resurrection
happens all the time. It's how you had breakfast.
Right? Is there anything in creation that's alive,
then dies, then comes forth as something new
and similar, but not exactly like the former
self, only better? It's not a riddle, it's a
seed. It's a seed. That which thou sowest, what
do we sow? Seeds. What do we know about seeds?
They're buried, they die. It doesn't germinate
until it gets planted. They have to be planted.
Hey, if you want a plant to come and you've got
a seed, you don't lay it on the table and hope
for the best, right? What do you do? You bury
it and then it comes back as a new body. Verse
37, and now which thou sowest, thou sowest not
that body that shall be. The bare grain, it may
chance of wheat or some other grain. You don't
take the whole piece, the whole stalk of corn
and bury the whole stalk of corn. What do you
bury? A kernel of corn. You don't bury the oak
tree. You bury the acorn. And when you bury the
acorn, what comes back? A tree. I try to teach
leaders in our church all the time. Look at the
seed. What do you see in the seed? You can see
the seed, but if you look at an acorn, you should,
leaders have vision, right? Leaders want a vision
from God, they look at that and they go, they
don't just see what is, they see the potential
of what could be. If I put this, with this acorn,
I could make a guitar. You know it takes wood
to make acoustic guitars, and all the guitars
said amen, right? You see the acorn, you see
what could be. And he says, Paul says, you don't
plant what is gonna be, you plant. Now, what
is he talking about? He literally goes on, he
says, but bare grain. The word for bare there
means literally naked. You literally just take
the seed and you bury the seed or weeds or some
other grain. Verse 38, what happens? But God
giveth it a body as it hath pleased him and to
every seed his own body. God has ordained or
designed that one body, the seed, becomes a new
body. It's again, it's how you eat. It's how
somebody brought a friend of mine salad and he
put a salad in front of him at a restaurant.
He goes, that's not food, that's what food eats.
He was a little bit of a carnivore, right? Right?
So the seed is connected to the plant, which
is connected to the animal, which is how we all
eat, right? It's not that there's, and seeds
are connected to that new body. It's not that
there's nothing in common, but there is certainly
a new reality, a new body that's born out of
that seed. And so what Paul says is our bodies,
are like a seed. We will die. We will be planted.
We will be resurrected one day to a new body.
Do you get the picture? Our bodies are incredibly
designed. Some bodies are doing better than others,
but our bodies are flawed. Some are more flawed
than others. But imagine then what our resurrected
bodies will be like. Review in your mind the
difference between an apple seed and an apple
tree. Bear grain to wheat in the field, pumpkin
seeds to pumpkin, to pumpkins, to pumpkin pie,
like huge differences. It's incredible. And this
is what the scripture does here in this second
comparison. He goes seed to body, comparison
number two, body. The first was seen, now the
body, corruption and incorruption. Look at verse
39. He says this, all flesh is not the same flesh.
There's one kind of flesh of men and another
flesh of beasts, another flesh of fishes, another
flesh of birds. There are also celestial bodies
and bodies terrestrial, but the glory of the
celestial is one and the glory of the terrestrial
is another. There is one glory of the sun, another
glory of the moon, another glory of the stars,
for one star differs from another star in glory.
Do you see what he's saying? Our bodies are like
seeds that are planted, and when you plant something,
something much greater than what's planted comes
out of it. Are you with me? That's what happens.
And he says, oh, and by the way, there are bodies
that are other than plants. There's different
kinds of bodies. On our planet, we have, I almost
brought, I really considered, Megan wouldn't
let me, I consider bringing Bingo my dog today.
To show you flesh of beasts, right? God's good
at making all kinds of bodies, isn't he? He is.
There's flesh of beasts and flesh of birds. It's
kind of weird. Like you go look at a lot of animals
and we've got five digits and they've got five
digits. We've got noses and they've got noses.
We've got eyes and they have eyes. We have ears
and they have ears. But we're not the same body.
Same designer, not the same body. Although some
of you look like your dogs. That happens. Right?
Have you ever noticed that? It's kind of funny,
but. Essentially, what he's saying here is that
God's incredible at making different kinds of
bodies. Men, beasts, fishes, birds. He also gives
categories. There's bodies in the sky and there's
bodies on earth. God is really creative. God
is really creative. There are diverse varieties
of every kind of animal. There's diverse varieties
of every kind of star. We know that there's not
just angels. There's a lot of different kinds
of... Angels, go back and read your Bible. God's
creative. There's a lot of different kinds of
people. Think about the varieties of people out
there. There's tall and short and fat and thin
and different colors. There's diversity, but
God is just incredible. And so after describing
all these variety of bodies, he says, verse 42,
so also is the resurrection of the dead. He's
giving you a clue to what it's gonna be like,
what our bodies are gonna be like. God's resume
at creating bodies is amazing. He's incredible
and intelligent and so creative. And now imagine
then what a new body, a new resurrected body
will be like. It's sewn, bare grain, and it comes
up a totally incredible, more substantial body.
who agrees that the degree of difference between
seed and what it becomes is gigantic. And what
he's saying about us is that this body is like
the seed. As good as it is, it won't be worthy
to be compared to the body we're gonna get. That's
awesome. One guy got it. That's awesome. Let's
all get it. How cool is that? I had a mama in
a wheelchair for nine years. You've had loved
ones who at the end of their life were not in
their right mind. You've had people with cancer
and all these other things. The body that gets
planted is not like the body that's gonna be.
It's infinitely better. Amazing. It seems that
there's some mystery to exactly what our resurrected
bodies will be like. In meditation on these metaphors
and examples, we can imagine some things to be
true. For instance, we know that they will be
bodies. Our eternal state will not be some disembodied
experience. The risen Christ, He ate, He touched,
He felt, He spoke, He walked and talked. There's
no reason to believe that He did not sleep. Yet
He also appeared to the disciples without going
through doors. He ascended into heaven. I'm not
saying we're gonna have exactly those same abilities.
What I am saying is that there seems to be a
lesser to greater comparison between our bodies
now and what will be. Seed to plant was the first
letter to greater, lesser to greater comparison.
In our humanity in this life, we're made in the
image of God, and I don't believe that we will,
and I don't believe that will change. But look
what it says in verse 42B. It's sown. This body,
this seed is sown in corruption. It is raised
in, in corruption. In death, we are sown or buried
or planted. We don't bury alive people. Hopefully
you don't do that. If the dead come out of the
casket, the funeral's over, right? We bury what?
Dead people, right? When we do, the body suffers
even more corruption, ashes to ashes. Dush to
dush. So he says, we are sown in corruption.
We're dying. Who experiences corruption this
week? Does your back feel like it did when it
was 20? No. Right? Last week I was walking down
these steps and I thought there was one more
step and there was two. And luckily the lights
went out before I fell. and slid into third base
right in front of this whole row right here.
And it was, of course, like eight young people
20 years younger than me, and I felt really old.
That's what I felt, right? We experience corruption.
You know, there's a dignity in aging. There's
an honor to the graying of the hair. We respect
our elders, and we should, but if... If you suddenly
had the chance to feel like you did in your teen
years, I don't know anybody over 30 who wouldn't
make that choice. He says, it's sown in dishonor.
It's raised in glory. It's sown in weakness.
It's raised in power. There's dishonor in death.
There's weakness. That's literally the culmination
of death. We're no longer able to survive. It's
natural. It comes to everybody. So he says, we're
sown in corruption, we're sown in dishonor, we're
sown in weakness. But then he says about the
resurrection, what happens? It's raised in incorruption.
It's raised in glory. It's raised in power. It's
not corruption, incorruption. We are raised never
to die again. Who thinks about a body that's
incapable of death? Unbelievable, right? It's
not dishonor, it's glory. We have victory, not
loss. We have honor, not dishonor. It's not in
weakness, it's in power. What was once ending
in weakness now begins to never end with power.
What was once limited to this earth is now able
to exist in eternity. Wow. Verse 44, it's sown
a natural body. It's raised a spiritual body.
There's a natural body and there's a spiritual
body. You know what that means? That this new
resurrected body is not bound to the earth, but
it's fit for eternity. Wow. Our new bodies will
differ from our bodies now in these four ways.
No more sickness or dying. No more shame because
of sin. No more frailty and temptation. No more
limits to the time and space sphere here. Who's
voting for that? No more sickness or sin or temptation.
And I get to go be in heaven. Wow. Am I looking
forward to my resurrection body? What an incredible
description we're given here. So much of our
attention in this life is given to corruption,
to dishonor, to weakness, to our own limitations.
Think about prayer request time. Anybody ever
have prayer request time? I went to a Christian
school and we had prayer request time before
every subject. Like, okay, we gotta learn math,
let's pray. Anybody have any prayer requests?
Like that's how that went. And so many of the
prayer requests, if they weren't gossip, were,
God heal us, God heal my friend, God forgive
us. God help my friend who's far from you. God
help me to fight temptation. God forgive me.
God save our souls. God help us in our struggle.
God help me with my lack. I have a need, I need
you to fill it, right? Think about our attention
to corruption. medicine, vitamins, nutrition,
hospitals, doctors, nurses, funeral homes, morgues,
hearses, ambulances, plastic surgery, gyms, workouts.
We don't need that anymore. We don't need it
anymore. That's awesome, right? We won't need
that stuff anymore. Think about our attention
to sin and shame. We don't always call it sin.
Psychiatrists, psychologists, counseling, regret,
shame. Think about our attention to temptation.
Anybody here tired of being tempted to do what
you don't want to do, but you kind of want to
do and it's like, ah. Paul said, who shall deliver
me from the body of this death? Right? I have
flesh. and I have spirit and they're always at
war with each other. Who's for that being done?
Yeah. In the resurrection, all of that is dealt
with. It's all dealt with. One last lesser to
greater comparison. This idea of source, Adam
and Christ. He says, back to verse 44, it's sown
a natural body, it's raised a spiritual body.
There's a natural body and there's a spiritual
body. Says it twice. Now that's weird, because
that which is born of flesh is flesh, Jesus said,
and that which is born of spirit is spirit. Marvel
not that I say to you, you must be born again.
So what's this spiritual body? It kind of seems
like an oxymoron, right? Like it's like a jumbo
shrimp, right? Winning year in the Detroit Lions,
like that kind of thing, right? Where's Chris?
Spiritual body. Well, the answer comes in two
descriptions of two different atoms. Look at
verse 45. And so it is written, the first atom
was made a living soul. The last atom was made
a quickening spirit. The first atom is Adam.
Then there's a last Adam, that's Christ. We read
about the first Adam. At creation, that's what's
quoted here. Genesis 2 .7 says this, and the
Lord God formed a man out of the dust of the
ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath
of life and man became a living soul. That's
what he's quoting, right? The first Adam was
made a living soul. Made by who? God, right?
In creation through procreation, we're a natural
man. We come from earth stuff. Our bodies made
of earth stuff, right? Our bodies are subject
to the natural world. We age, we grow sick, we
die, we sin. We received our natural bodies through
the first Adam from which earth is the source.
We... We will receive our resurrected bodies
from the last Adam, Jesus Christ, who has a resurrected
body. His body is heavenly, fit for heaven, is
not subject to the curse. That's what he's saying.
Philippians 3 .20, for our conversation is in
heaven. From whence also we look for the Savior,
the Lord Jesus Christ. I love this. Who shall
change our... vile body that it may be fashioned
like unto his glorious body, according to the
working whereby he is able even to subdue all
things unto himself." You know what he says?
You know what he's saying? Christ got the victory
at the cross. He got the victory at the resurrection
because he lives, we can live in it also. He's
the first fruits of them that slept. And not
only did he get victory at the cross, one day
he's gonna get victory on this earth. and he's
gonna rule and reign and then there'll be a new
heaven and a new earth and we'll be like him
because we'll see him as he is. It's all about
victory. We have already learned in this chapter
that sin and death came through the first Adam
and that life and resurrection came from Jesus
Christ. We all have this struggle between our
body and our spirit. Have you ever felt old or
tired? Have you ever felt old or tired while
at the same time feeling healthy spiritually?
Yeah. I felt this to be true every time I go
see, there are times where I've gone and I've
seen senior saints. I remember going and seeing
a lady, I think her name was Edith, a couple
of times, one of the shut -ins from Canton Baptist
Temple. She taught Sunday school at Canton Baptist
Temple for like 60 years. That's awesome. But
when I got to her room, she was like. 80 pounds,
as thin as could be, laying in a bed. She could
speak and see, but she couldn't hear. So the
whole conversation's writing on a board, right?
But she's writing on this board, you know, one
that can erase how much she loves Jesus and how
much she misses ministering to those children.
And I'm like, this lady looks like in body, like,
as feeble as you can get, but spiritually her
walk with the Lord and her love for, it's like
she's Arnold Schwarzenegger laying in the bed
spiritually. The contrast, do you get what I'm
saying? My great -granny, my dad's grandma, had
a stroke when she was like, I think she was in
her 30s, that put her in a nursing home, okay?
And a church brought her, to church every week
and at one point they even honored her for like
perfect attendance for 40 years or something
like that. It was crazy. But I remember going
with my dad to visit her in the nursing home
and I remember riding home and my dad explained
to me what he had just experienced because I
was little, I didn't understand it. My great
grandma was pointing at a picture and then pointing
up. pointing at our picture and pointing up.
And my dad said, he told me what she was saying
was that she prays for us. And even though she
couldn't speak in a way that we could understand
because her situation was so bad, there's one
person that could understand her. That makes
sense? The disconnection between our vile body.
and what happens to us spiritually as God grows
us. Listen to this, 2 Corinthians 4 .13. We having
the same spirit of faith according as it is written,
I believed, and therefore I have spoken, we also
believe. And therefore we speak, knowing that
he which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise
up us also by Jesus and shall present us with
you. For all things are for your sakes, that
the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving
of many rebound to the glory of God, for which
cause we faint not, but though our outward man
perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by
day. On this earth and these natural bodies,
we feel the weight of this outward natural man
perishing. We see it in the loss of our loved
ones. We see it in ourselves. We see hope. And
so because of this, we see hope in the resurrection.
And that's what's clearly described in verse
46. He says this, how be it that was not first,
which is spiritual, but that which is natural.
and afterward that which is spiritual. The first
man is of the earth, earthy. What a great way
of saying it. The second man, who's the second
man? Jesus. The second man is the Lord from heaven.
Here it gets really clear. The natural body is
comprised of matter found on earth. It's bound
by time and space. It's bound by the senses.
Touch, smell, hear, see, taste. as is the earthy,
so are they also that are earthy. If you're not
in Christ, you've not been regenerated, you are
of the earth only. The only nature that you have
is the nature of the first Adam who's of the
earth only. And you know what's gonna happen
to this earth? It's gonna go away. But if you're
in Christ, you're of them heavenly man that are
also heavenly As is the earth Adam such are they
that are earthy us as Adam was touched by the
sin in the curse So are we who are affected by
the curse toil in our work? Sweat is on our brow
Weeds are in our gardens. Who's got some weed
in your garden some weeds now weed. That's not
good That's a whole nother thing right like Weeds
in our garden. Move on. Death has passed upon
all men. Why? Why has death passed upon all men?
For all have sinned. But! And as is the heavenly,
such are they also that are heavenly. Christ
in his resurrection body is the heavenly. We
are in him, they also that are heavenly. We are
body, soul, and spirit. When we believe in Christ,
the Holy Spirit regenerates us. We're made alive.
This is why Jesus said to Martha in John 11,
Jesus said in her, I am the resurrection and
the life. He that believeth in me, though he
were dead, yet shall he live. And he goes on
to say, those who live and believe in me shall
never die. When someone has been regenerated
or saved, and when they die, their natural body
dies. And to be absent from the bodies, to be
present with the Lord. And in the resurrection,
we will receive a spiritual body. And when we
do, it says, as is the heavenly, such are they
also that are heavenly. And as we have born the
image of the earthy, Hey, anybody here feeling
a little bit corrupt this morning in your body?
Some aches and pains? Some weight that you wish
you didn't have? Right? Some diseases that you
wish you could get rid of? Just like you bear
that earthy experience. If you're in Christ,
you can guarantee you're gonna see a heavenly
body. a heavenly experience. Verse 49, and as
we have born the image of the earthy, we shall
also bear the image of the heavenly, as is a
great word here. In the same way that we look
at Adam now, in the same way that we look like
Adam now, we will look like Christ then. Wow.
Wow. First John three, one. Behold. what manner
of love the Father has bestowed upon us that
we should be called the sons of God. Therefore
the world knoweth us not because it knew him
not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God. Here's
the cool part, ready? And it does not yet appear
what we shall be. Does that make, the way we
look now is not how we're gonna look later. But
we know that when we, He shall appear. Who's
He? Jesus. We shall be like Him. Wow. We'll see
Him as He is. And every man that has this hope,
what hope? What hope? That I'm not gonna look
like this forever. That I'm not gonna experience
disease and death and hurt and pain and sin.
I'm not gonna be like that forever. One day I'm
gonna be like Him. And so since that's the destination
I'm headed, I'm gonna try to be like that now.
And every man that hath this hope in him, what
do you mean in him? The Holy Spirit lives inside
those who believe. Talk about lesser to greater.
That's the down payment on the inheritance that
we're gonna receive. If the Holy Spirit's the
down payment, imagine the inheritance. If this
body is the seed, imagine our future body. Do
you get it? We have been given so much and yet
we've been promised even more. Think about the
lesser to greater idea and the hope that it brings.
It's throughout the New Testament. The Holy Spirit
is the earnest of the inheritance. Jesus Christ
is the first fruit of them that slapped. Creation
is beautiful. Who's with me on that? Creation's
beautiful, a lot of it. My yard's not that great
right now. Right? Creation is gorgeous. The heavens
declare the glory of God, and the firmament showeth
his handiwork. But also, this world is messed
up. The lion does not lay down with the lamb.
Right? It's cursed. If this cursed earth is so
beautiful, what will the new heaven and the new
earth be like? Wow. My body now is fearfully
and wonderfully made. That's what David said.
We agree with that, we affirm that, right? Our
body is fearfully and wonderfully made. That
my soul, David said, it's right well, yet it's
also cursed and flawed. and diseased. And so
what's cool is you can look around at this planet
and you can always do that lesser to greater
comparison. You can look at somebody that's older.
I'm not gonna name names. And you can hear about
their difficulty. You can hear about their health
declining. You can see their gray hair. and you
can know that this is just a bare seed that's
gonna go in the ground, but it's gonna come up
something way better. You can look around at
this planet and when you see a beautiful sunrise,
when you see an amazing, we go to Idaho or my
wife's family is at and we go from Boise up to
a place called McCall and that road up those
mountain pass, past every like, around every
corner is like another postcard. Picture, have
you been in places like that? I come outside
in Findlay, Ohio, we got a bunch of flat places,
right? And we've got, and you know what that
affords us? It affords us some beautiful sunrises
and sunsets. You guys know what I'm talking about?
Driving into Findlay at dusk from out of town.
And there's like oranges and pinks and blues.
And it's like, God, you are amazing. It's better
than what any artist could ever draw. And you're
doing it just for a minute. And that's not even
worthy to be compared to what the new heaven
and new earth is gonna be like. If this cursed
earth looks like that, what's heaven gonna be
like? As great as all these are, they are the
lesser pointing to the greater. So here's four
implications. We have future hope. In Christ,
we have future hope. The wonders of our current
bodies should give us indescribable hope for
our future bodies. Future hope, future reality.
The wonder of our current creation should give
us incredible hope for the new creation. Future
intensity. What do I mean? The pain and suffering
and corruption of this life are short term. Did
you hear that? The pain and suffering and corruption
of this life are short time. If you know Christ
as savior, they're short term. And they're less
intense than the glory of heaven. You know what
Paul said? Paul said that I reckon, reckon is
like an accounting term. He says this in Romans.
I reckon, this is how I get through persecution.
This is how I get through difficulty in life.
This is what Paul says. I reckon that the trials
and suffering of this present time are not worthy
to be compared to the glory that shall be revealed
in us. Do you get that? He's saying that whatever
suffering you've felt, whatever loss you've felt
is like the quarter on the sidewalk next to the
empire state building of the glory and the good
things that God has for those of us who love
him. That is amazing. But also, the truth is
that the pain and agony and suffering of this
present time is also not worthy to be compared
to the justice of God for lost people who do
not recognize God in hell. You had me, Pastor
Ben, all the way up to there. This was all good
news. And now you're telling me there's bad news?
Yeah. If I'm not in Christ, I'm of earth, earthy.
I'm in my sin. The Bible says by one man, sin
entered the world and death by sin. And so death
has passed upon all men because all have sinned.
The hope of the resurrection is only hope because
Jesus came and he kept the law that you and I
could not keep. And then he died the death that
you and I deserve to die. And he didn't stay
dead, he rose from the dead. So he took care
of our sin and he gives us eternal life. And
so the message today is not for everybody in
the room to just say like, oh, hey, we're gonna
get new bodies. It's gonna be so great. And you
can live however you want and reject Jesus, but
yet it's gonna be good for you in the end. That's
not the case. Jesus said, I am the way, the truth,
and the life. No man comes to the Father but
by me. That's the kind of truth that can get
you shot. But it's the only shot you got. He's
the way, the truth, and the life. No man can
come to the Father but through Him. Future intensity,
the pain, suffering, and corruption of this life
are short term and less intense than the glory
of heaven and the agony of hell. One last implication
is future investment. What is seen is temporary
and finite. What is seen is temporary and finite.
What is unseen is eternal. You know what that
means? invest wisely, invest wisely. Jesus said
it this way, don't store up treasures on this
earth where moth and rust corrupts and where
thieves break through and steal. Store up treasure
in heaven where moth and rust don't corrupt and
where thieves do not break through and do not
steal. We're all basically at any given point
in the day investing in what's going away or
investing in what won't go away. I just gave
you an excuse not to exercise. I'm joking. We
got to steward our bodies well too. You get my
point. We have to have a stewardship of what
we have, but we need to invest in the future.
How incredible will heaven be? How amazing will
our resurrection bodies be? First Corinthians
2 .9 says this. Man, if you don't get anything
else out of this message, get this. But as it
is written, I have not seen, neither ear heard,
neither have entered into the heart of man the
things which God hath prepared for them that
love him. Jesus said, I go to prepare a place
for you, and if I go, I will come again to receive
you to myself that where I am, there ye may be
also. But here's the thing, heaven's a prepared
place for a prepared people. How do you prepare
to go to heaven? The work's already been done,
you just gotta acknowledge it. Jesus made a way.
You just have to recognize that your only way
there is through him. In a minute, we're gonna
have an invitation. We're gonna invite you to
come. If you don't know Christ as your savior,
you can put your faith and trust in Christ, what
he did on the cross, so you can go to heaven.
Would you stand?