Good morning. This is Jerry Robbins. Usually I record my sermons in the church, but I made
a mistake this morning. I forgot to hit the button. So I'm going to have a little bit
more of an impersonal message for you, personal message for you this morning as I'm just recording
it in my office, more of a conversational format, which is probably a good break. But
this morning we're going to read together 1 Corinthians 15 from verse 19 through 26.
This is Easter. And I don't know about you, but death is all around us. It seems lately
we hear more and more as we grow older about people who have cancer and they're going
through chemotherapy. Every time you go to the doctor, it seems that there's something
I've got to look out for. I've got to watch because my body is decaying no matter, I mean,
good shape. I exercise. I try to eat right, but it's still there. Death is an enemy. So
let's see what God's word says to us this morning about Christ's victory over death.
In scripture, it says the following, if only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are
of all people most to be pity. But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the
first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection
of the dead comes also through a man. For as an Adam all die, so in Christ all will be
made alive. But each in turn Christ the first fruits, then when he comes, those who belong
to him. And then the end will come when he hands over the kingdom to God, the Father,
after he's destroyed all dominion, authority and power. For he must reign until he puts
all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. Let's pray. Our
heavenly Father, we ask that your Holy Spirit will encourage our hearts this morning on
Easter because we are frail, children of dust. We have our fears about what the future will
behold. So minister to us through your word today. Amen.
We have all faced enemies at one time or another. I can think of my own life when I live for
a short while in Oak Park, Illinois. There were gangs and you wanted to spend as much
time as you can away from the gangs and avoid them because they could be mean. And part of
the reason that I learned to run was avoiding the gangs. And in high school we had students
who were just mean and they were constantly getting into fights and you were scared they
were going to look at you and try to beat you up. So what did you do? You tried to stay
away. They were really your enemies. And do you realize if you read the Psalms, for instance,
David, even though he was the king of Israel, in Israel he had his enemies. And then there
are nation states that create war and havoc in this world. We can think back to World
War II with Japan and Germany. But today there's a war going on with Russia, Ukraine, and there
are terrorists who will take your life simply because you walked down the wrong street. All
of us have enemies in one form or another. And it's been there throughout history. But
one enemy we all face that you cannot escape in which there is no neutrality, no peace
treaty, no appeasement. The enemy called death. And whether you are rich or poor, you will
have to face it. You will go to your funerals and you'll see the flowers. You will see the
pictures of when the person who died was young. And we look into the casket and we say such
things as, oh, they look so alive. But they're not. They're dead. They have lost to the great
enemy of death. And we will all face our waterloo until the Lord Jesus comes again. But despite
the truth that death is in this world, there is also something greater, Jesus Christ. And
in 1 Corinthians 15, we are reminded that the enemy that we all have has been defeated,
death. Christ has conquered death. That's the good news of Easter. And in verse 26,
what does it say? That the last enemy to be destroyed is death. Or you could paraphrase
it this way. The last attacker to be destroyed is our mortality. The last assassin to be destroyed
is our oblivion. Christ came into this world to do the Father's will. And in the final
moments of his existence in this world, he overcame death. So let's look and see what
Paul is going to say to us about some of the details of this. Now, there are some out there
who are really the enemies of Christ. And they believe that Christians are a pitiful
lot. You see that in verse 19. Now, Paul is putting up a hypothetical argument here.
But I could also see that there are a lot of unfriendly people towards Christianity who
would mock us with such words. They would say, well, you only have hope in this life.
Christians, you don't really believe you're going to overcome death? Now, Jesus, he may
have been a good man, but he was just like so many other good men. Before Jesus, there
were Jewish martyrs who died. John the Baptist died. Buddha died. Muhammad died. These all
died, but there was no resurrection. Perhaps you think he really was just a good man, but
good men die. Leo D'Rosier, the manager of the Chicago Cubs, used to say, nice guys
finish last, but also nice guys also die. And if that is the case, then as verse 32
says, we should just go on and eat and drink for tomorrow we die. Why? Because death is
the enemy, the final enemy. It haunts us. The real terrorist is death because of what
it means for you and I. It means that our life is one of frustration. The fear of all
of our hopes will vanish. And it is also a problem because we're still in our sin if
Christ did not rise from the grave. We're pitiful. And that's what verse 17 says. It
tells us, and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile. You're still in your
sins. Religion is nothing more than a little Tylenol or a bandaid that you put on the pain
of your soul. One of the questions that counselors sometimes ask a person is to write an obituary
for yourself. What do you want people to say about you? And people will say such things.
I want them to think that I'm a loving person. I'm a giving person. They want to think about
what they've done that has been good and positive. But according to the Bible, goodness doesn't
get you eternal life. Goodness doesn't merit salvation. If you think your goodness is going
to get you eternal life, you're really swimming in a sea with a weighted vest. It won't do
it because all of us have sinned. We had to have one person who was righteous and who
fought death and won. And so many people like criticize us today for our belief in the resurrection
of the dead. But let me tell you, the critics have a problem too. Those who say such things
have no hope either. What do they think is going to happen when you die? You could have
the view of a Lion King where you join the circle of life, but I'm not really sure what
the circle of life is. I don't know what hope that gives me. Is it a mere biological process
where we simply become part of the ground? We become worms, food? That doesn't help me
at all. It doesn't help me to have hope. In fact, it is a tragedy then because all that
I strive for is nothing. It's vain. But here's where the good news of the Gospel comes in.
Christ rose from the grave. If you go through the book of Acts in the preaching of the Apostles,
you will see that there was a great emphasis on the death of Jesus Christ, but there was
also an equally great emphasis on his resurrection. And if you look in 1 Corinthians 15 in verses
3 through 9, look at what it says. Look at how it testifies to the historical witness.
It wasn't just a personal experience of Paul. I don't know. There were a number of people
who experienced this. The Bible says, For what I received, I passed on to you as of
first importance, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scripture, that he was
buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared
to Cephas and then to the twelve. And after that, he appeared to more than 500 of our
brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living. Do you see what
Paul is pointing to? There were a number of people that saw the resurrected Lord Jesus.
He points to the fact of it that Christ defeated death. Years ago, there was a news article
in the magazine Newsweek, and they were looking at the resurrection. I think it was the Easter
edition. And here's what the scholarly community concluded. Something happened back then. Something
happened which caused these early Christians to go out and literally change the world.
I can tell you what it is. It was the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. The power of
God was at work over our enemy. And look and see what else the Bible says here about Jesus
which helps us to understand what we face. It says Jesus is the first fruit. You see
that in verse 20 and verse 23. The idea is an agricultural idea, and it goes back to
the Old Testament. The first fruit was the first part of the crop, and it usually had
the highest value. It also points out the blessing of a future harvest that is to come.
It's like the first edition of the book. You've got the first edition, but there are other
editions that are going to come. In the same way, Jesus Christ is the first fruit, and
there's going to be more resurrections to come. Now, some may have an objection at this
point. Well, if people rose from the dead, why can't I see it now? I go to funerals all
the time. I don't see anybody who's resurrected from the dead. They all just lie in the grave.
They're in the corpse. They're corpses that lie in a coffin. But I want you to see what
verse 23 says here. It gives us a time frame. But each, in turn, Christ the first fruits,
and when he comes, those who belong to him, then the end will come. What it is telling
us here, there's a timetable. And the timetable is that first you're going to have Jesus Christ
who will rise from the grave. But in between his first and second coming, there's not going
to be any more resurrections. But when Jesus comes back, the rest will rise from the grave.
And you see the same thing in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, verses 14 through 15, for we believe
that Jesus died and rose again. And so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those
who have fallen asleep in him. According to the Lord's word, we tell you that we who are
alive who are left until the coming of the Lord will certainly not precede those who
have fallen asleep. What it's telling us is that you're going to have the second coming
and soul and body will be reunited. But it will be on God's plan and God's timetable.
That's why you don't see it. It doesn't mean death is not defeated. Death is defeated.
But we're going to see the fruition of that when he comes again. And let's remember here,
the passage is clear. Jesus brings life and defeats death. In verses 21 and 22, Adam brought
death. Jesus brings life. And here's why this is so important. The enemy that we all fear,
terrorist we all fear, is death. But death has been swallowed up by the death of Jesus.
The grace of Jesus is going to cause us to be reunited, body and soul. It's not just
a spiritual resurrection, body and soul. We're going to become more fully human than we ever
have been. And later on it tells us that our body is going to be glorified like Jesus's
body. And that will be wonderful because there will be no more chemo, no more cancer, no
more dementia. All of that will be done away with once and for all. And I don't know exactly
what these bodies of ours will be like. Probably whatever we are like in our prime, but even
better than that because they're going to be glorious bodies just like Jesus. And we'll
recognize one another just as the disciples knew Jesus, who rose from the grave. And the
good news of the gospel for Easter is Jesus Christ has risen. And that's good news for
you because death for us is nothing more than a shadow. And we will one day rise from the
grave. We may die as the last vestiges of the curse, but we're going to be with Jesus
in heaven. And then one day our bodies will rise from grave and we'll be with him. We
will rise again. We have eternal life. What is that Bible verse that we all memorized
in Sunday school for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever
believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. Death has been defeated. Death
no longer reigns. For as an atom all dies, so in Christ all will be made alive. Oh, think
of what that will be when we arise. No more bodies that ache from age. Joints that no
longer hurt. No more chemo. No more cavities. No more cancer. Doctors out of business. Hospitals
no longer needed their clothes. No more funerals to go to. Funeral homes closed forever. Now
funerals we go and say, oh, they look so alive, but in the new heavens and the new earth will
be living, living in a way that's hard for us to imagine today where colors will be more
vivid and smells will be more delightful and bodies that really do run and not get tired.
What does Paul say, which we need to repeat to ourselves over and over again as we face
this age with all of its problems? Oh, death. Where is the sting? Oh, grave. Where is the
victory? Oh, death. Where is the sting? Oh, grave. Where is the victory? Oh, death. Where
is the sting? Oh, grave. Where is the victory? Christian, you don't need a bucket list. You
don't need to dive out of airplanes when you're 89 years old. If you can't go to the
Hawaii or some part of the world before you die, it doesn't matter because in the new
heavens and the new earth it will be greater, more beautiful, more glorious than anything.
And as Christians, what we've got to do is focus more on the good that is to come because
the best is yet to come. That's what we have to look forward to, because death, our final
enemy, has truly been defeated. John Dunn was an English poet. And let me read you what
he wrote. One short sleep past we wake eternal, and death shall be no more. Death thou shalt
die. And I would add on praise the Lord. We live. Our Heavenly Father, it's Resurrection
Sunday. Help us, Holy Spirit, to focus on the Word which says Jesus rose. And one day we
will rise and have glorified bodies with no more pain, no more sorrow, no more tears.
And as we go through this year and we will go to more funerals, more hospital visits,
trips to hospice centers, help us to see the truth. These are but shadows. The gloriousness
of Christ and of his followers is yet to come. Amen.