Transcript

Good morning. We're in the third week of our glory series where we're just taking some time to look at how big and good and holy Jesus is. And today we're going to be talking about the resurrection, that Jesus Christ rose from the grave. And the way the Bible treats this is that it is central. It is the thing that everything else hangs on. It's the truth that makes all the other truths true.

And so as we begin this morning, I kind of want to tell a few stories to kind of help you picture this and how this kind of concept has played out in my life a little bit. I grew up playing football, so I want to start with fifth grade, Chet. It's a Saturday in the fall. And the Colts have made it to the Rotary Bowl. This is a big deal. This is the Super Bowl for fifth graders.

We had played three games that day, and we had made it to the Rotary Bowl. And I was a running back at this point. I would not be for the rest of my career, but I was at this point. And we were down. We're losing the Rotary Bowl. My stomach's running empty on the pancakes my dad had fed me that morning, which was always his go-to.

You're going to have to play football all day. Let's eat pancakes. I have not yet addressed this with him, but I'm not going to do that to my kids. But anyway, we have about three yards to go to score a touchdown, to win the game, and this is it. It's our last chance, last play. I don't know what the time was on the clock, but this was our last.

It was fourth down, so we're going to score here or it's going to be over with. And we ran a wishbone, and I was on this side, and Kyle McClain was right here. I'm 11, he's 10, something like that. And the play is the ball's going to be handed to Kyle. I'm going to lead block, and we've got to get three yards. Ball snapped, good snap, which in Little League, that's a feat in and of itself.

The center handed it to the quarterback. We're already off to a great start. So I take off. He hands the ball to Kyle McClain. We've got to get three yards. Let's fast forward.

Junior year of high school, second round of the playoffs. We had a pretty good team this year. It was the best team we'd had in years at our high school. We were doing pretty well, and we played Carolina Forest, second round of the playoffs. And we were used to really just beating people, and Carolina Forest is beating us. And they were a good team.

They had a tight end on that team. It was a big white boy. He's the reason why I decided, why I went into the next season 20 pounds heavier. Because I tried to tackle him, and it was like tackling a tree. And I was like, I'm going to have more momentum next year. Made that decision after a couple of plays.

It was in the first quarter. I was like, no, I'm gaining weight. This isn't happening anymore. I did that quite successfully for many years. And then I got slower in the momentum thing. It's a math problem.

It starts not working out as well. Anyway, we're down. We had a good offense this year. The defense had fought and fought and fought, and it was 24 to 21, and we had to score. We had one drive. We had about a minute and a half.

And we've got to get down the field. We had not great field position. We're starting on like the 20. And we've got to get all the way down the field, score a touchdown, stay in the playoffs, keep going. So our quarterback, Coco Hillary, drops back and streaming down the sideline is Justin Broadwater.

And this cat was fast. All he did was run fast, catch footballs, score touchdowns, and not talk. That was all he did. Like he did not say a word. Everybody on our team called him mute. Now that may be offensive.

That's just what we called him. He, because he didn't talk. He could. He just chose not to. I hadn't known him since first grade. He did not talk.

And this is what he would do when he would score a touchdown. And he scored a lot of them. He would run into the end zone. I mean, streaming. As soon as he passed the goal line, he'd do like this. He'd turn around.

He'd find the ref, toss him the ball, and walk off the field. Like nothing had happened. Everybody else loses their mind. He was just like, all right, I did. I scored a touchdown. Let me go back over here.

Streaming down the sideline. He's got a cornerback right here on his hip pocket. Coco drops back, throws the ball. I mean, beautiful spiral. Justin's got about a step on this guy. And if he catches it, he's gone.

Quentin Curry's on the other side running down this side. I'm glad Coco threw it to Justin because Quentin Curry could catch the ball in traffic all the time. But as soon as he caught it, he would just fall down. It's like it took all the energy he had to make his hands do what he wanted it to. And his legs just stopped. So he would catch the ball and fall.

So even if he caught it, there's nothing we could do. Justin Broadwater, we got a shot. Ball streaming. I can remember watching it. It's just beautiful. Lights Friday night shining on it.

It's coming down. A few years later, first year of college is our first home game. We're playing Charleston Southern. It is 13 to 14. End of the game. We're driving in.

We've got to get a field goal, which I went to Presbyterian College. We didn't have the best field goal kickers. So really, we needed a touchdown. We needed a touchdown. 13-14. We need a point.

We've got to score a touchdown. We'll win the game. Quarterback drops back. S.J. Worrell is coming across the middle. Matt and I argued about this earlier.

He said it was Chetuan Reeder. I say it was S.J. Worrell. I get to tell the story, so it's S.J. Could have been Chetuan. But anyway, coming across the middle.

Drops back. Throws the ball. Football in the air. S.J. One defender. We've got to shout at this.

It's a good pass, too. It's going to hit him right in the Numbers. Everything in all three of those plays, in those moments, everything in that game hung on that moment. Everything. Win, lose. It's hanging on that moment.

And Paul is going to tell us in 1 Corinthians chapter 15. Go ahead and grab your Bibles and go there. Paul is going to tell us 1 Corinthians chapter 15 that the gospel, the truth of what Jesus has accomplished in the cross, that everything we hope in and believe in in Jesus hangs on the resurrection. That if Jesus Christ is laid in a tomb and stays there, game over. That's what Paul is going to tell us. So we're going to read a good bit to kind of get to where Paul is making this claim.

So if you're in 1 Corinthians, we're going to spend a good bit of time in 1 Corinthians today. We're actually going to walk all the way to the end of the chapter. It's a long chapter. We are going to jump ahead a little bit. If that stresses you out, I'm apologizing in advance. Take one of these Bibles with you.

It's our gift to you. Read the whole chapter when you get home. I'd love for you to. But today we're going to have to jump a little bit. But we are going to go from the very beginning of the chapter to the end of the chapter as we walk through looking at the resurrection and its implications for us as Christians.

I'm going to pray and then we're going to start reading in verse 1. God, I pray that you would help us to see the seriousness of the resurrection and the beauty that's hidden in it. How it is the truth that makes all the other truths true for us. I pray that today would be worshipful and joyous as we see that you conquered the grave. In Jesus' name. Amen.

1 Corinthians 15. 1 Paul's writing to a church in Corinth. He says, Now I would remind you, brothers, which that word is brothers or brothers and sisters. It's how that word works. I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. So he's saying, I want to remind you of the good news.

That's what gospel means. I want to remind you of the good news, the news I proclaimed to you, and that you believed, and that you focused your life on, and you stand in it. Verse 3. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures. That he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures. And that he appeared to Cephas, that's Peter's name before Jesus gave him the name Peter.

Then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than 500 brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. That's a nice way of saying have died. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. For I'm the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.

But by the grace of God, I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them. But it was not I, but the grace of God that is in me. Whether then it was I or they, so we preach, and so you believed. So Paul starts off by saying, I want to remind you of the gospel, that Jesus Christ died for our sins.

The Bible said he was going to do this. Then he rose from the grave. The Bible said he was going to do this. And then he started showing up and talking to people. It wasn't just that his body disappeared and people said, oh, he rose. His body disappeared, and then it walked over and talked to people.

And a bunch of people saw him. Some of those people are dead. Most of them are alive. That's what Paul says. And then he says, pick up in verse 12. Now, if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?

So some people apparently were teaching. People don't come back from the dead. There is no resurrection. He says, but if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching, this message we're telling you, our preaching is in vain. And your faith is in vain.

What you've believed is a waste of time. 15. We're even found to be misrepresenting God because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise. If it is true that the dead are not raised, for if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.

If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. As Paul says, if Jesus Christ did not rise from the grave, what you believe is a waste of time. It's futile. You're still in your sins. What he's saying is that our faith, that our sin has been paid for, that we can stand before God and be made okay is based solely on the resurrection. Jesus Christ had to die for us and he had to pay the penalty.

But if he didn't rise, then he was just the guy who died. Everything hangs on the resurrection being true. Otherwise, we're still in our sin. And what we preach is in vain. It's a waste of time and people should feel sorry for us. It's a Saturday.

I'm in fifth grade wearing my green Colts jersey. I believe I was number 28 at the time. And I was in fifth grade, but I look pretty good. I'll just be real with y'all. I'm lead blocking. Kyle McClain's behind me.

They hand the ball to him. I run into the hole. Somebody comes through here, hits Kyle. He's tackled. And as much guilt and shame and pain as a fifth grader can feel, we felt. It descended on us.

We had lost the Rotary Bowl. Game over. Tears cried. Go home. It's my junior. Ball's in the air.

Cornerback reaches up. Reaches in front of Justin Broadwater's face. Flips the ball down. Game over. Go home. 24-21.

Season over. Seniors, you're done. Most of them never played football again. Tears cried. Head to the locker room. Over.

Freshman year of college. First home game. S.J. Warrell's coming across the middle. There's one defender. Ball's in the air.

It's beautiful. He's right here. He touches it. And he gets hit so hard there was a crack that rattled through the stadium. His feet flew up in the air. The ball flew up in the air.

Another defender caught the ball and took it to the house. 21-13. Game over. Go home. And that's Christianity. Without the resurrection.

Game over. Go home. Tears cried. Feel shame. Feel guilt. You're still in your sin.

Game over. Go home. And this is true. Because of what we preach. Because of what the New Testament says. Some of you who maybe would be willing to be like, No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.

Hold on a second. Hold on a second. But Jesus, if he didn't rise, we still got all this good stuff. First of all, no. We don't. You say, well, we got, you know, Jesus was a good moral teacher.

No, he wasn't. Because he walked around telling people he was God. And that he was going to die. And that he was going to rise. If he doesn't rise from the grave, he's not a good moral teacher. He's a nut.

Or a charlatan. And then you say, well, we'll never, they added that stuff later. Okay. Do you know the message of the New Testament? The gospel message. The gospels.

Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. The point of them is they're going to tell you that Jesus healed people. They're going to tell you things he taught. But the point is he died and he rose from the grave. And because of that, God's seal is on him. What Jesus said was true.

We should believe in him and sin can be paid for. Do you know what the New Testament letters say? What we believe as Christians? This is the premise of the New Testament letters. You cannot, will not, ever fix yourself. Pay for your sin.

Be good enough. You deserve wrath. You're dead in your trespasses. You deserve for God to destroy you. But Jesus can, does save you.

Pays for your sin, which you could not do. Rises again, conquering sin, death, and hell to give you life. That's why Paul says, if this isn't true, people should feel sorry for us. Do you know how sad this gathering would be if Jesus didn't rise from the grave? Jesus doesn't rise from the grave. Christianity ends.

We're done. If he didn't rise, if you're not a Christian in here, I just want to tell you, this is the thing to investigate. If you're trying to figure out whether you want to believe in Jesus, the resurrection is the thing to investigate. So many people come at Christianity and they're like, I want to know what its stance on this political issue. No. You need to know whether or not Jesus rose from the grave.

If he rose, then talk to him about politics. Because he's alive and he can talk to you. If he didn't rise, have all whatever kind of politics you want. Have whatever kind of moral stances you want. Think of whatever. He didn't rise.

We should be done. If Jesus didn't rise from the grave, get up. Go outside. On the lobby, there's a little coffee thing. It's better now than it used to be. And hit the door.

And don't ever wake up early on a Sunday again. Unless you're going fishing or playing golf or something. Oh, if you have a kid in Kid City, get them first. That's what he says. It's futile. It's a waste.

If Jesus Christ didn't rise from the grave, it's a waste and people should feel sorry for us. Do you know how, just think back to all of our sermons, if you've been here a while. If Jesus didn't rise, do you know what our sermons are? One of our favorite passages is Ephesians chapter 2. And it says that you were dead in your trespasses and sins. That you were captive to the prince of the power of the air.

That you were following him, a son of disobedience and a child of wrath. And then it says, but God, who's rich in mercy. And then it declares the gospel that we've been made alive with Christ. But there wouldn't be a but God there. It would just be, we would open the Bible and say, all right, everyone. You're dead in your trespasses and sin.

You're a child of wrath. You're a slave to Satan. Potluck next week. Bye. We'd sing songs. One of my favorite Christian songs that we sing, worship songs to sing to my son is nothing but the blood.

Without the resurrection, that song is just nothing. It's the title of it. What can wash away my sin? Nothing. Nothing. What can make me whole again?

Nothing. Nothing. Nothing can save my soul. Nothing can make me whole. Onward to hell we go. Nothing.

Nothing. Nothing. What can make me whole again? Nothing. Nothing. Nothing can save my soul. Nothing can make me whole. Onward to hell we go. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. That's Christianity without the resurrection It's nothing You can still be Jewish You can still be Buddhist You can still be a Muslim Christianity hinges on this one fact Jesus Christ rose from the grave And if he didn't If he didn't We're done Look at verse

20 But in fact Christ has Been raised from the dead The first fruits Of those who have fallen asleep You see the resurrection of Jesus is not reanimation He did not come back to life To later die He rose It's resurrection That he is forever alive now That's what we believe We believe that Jesus Christ Literally Physically Physically Lived on earth That he was God Who'd become a human And that he literally Physically Died And he was buried

And then he literally Physically Rose from the grave And this is what the gospels Attest to That there's Place after place In Acts And in Matthew And Mark And Luke Where Jesus goes around People recognize him They eat with him They touch him This happens over and over In Luke 24 It happens in John 20 In Matthew 28 People grab his feet And John 24 He shows him his scars And his hands And his side

He eats fish Which I don't know If it was just to prove That he had a body Or if he wanted some fish But he ate fish He sits and eats They said that they Ate with him They talked with him They touched him Jesus Christ Risen from the grave Literally and physically He wasn't just a spirit It wasn't just that they saw a vision It wasn't that he came to him From the afterlife It's that he had life again And then he literally Physically rose Ascended into heaven That's what we believe I want to share

As we get started That that's what we believe That we believe That Jesus Christ Literally physically died And that he literally And physically rose From the grave And most of our time today Will be spent on The results of that What that actually does How that truth Makes everything else true But I just want to help us See something That there are things That we have historically And that historians agree to That help make this Seem more compelling So we have the gospel story That's what we believe That Jesus Christ died

And that he rose from the grave But there are actual Historical things That also help this Seem very plausible And I just want to share Some of those with you Because I think it's It's encouraging And helpful To see some of this Every once in a while There's a theologian His name is Gary Habermas And he One of the ways That he talks about this Is he says that there are Historical Like undeniable Historical facts That everybody agrees to That they have A lot of historical data

That points to this And then they have Christians Non-Christians Atheists Agnostics Historians of every Brand and stripe And color Agree These things happened That you can just look at history And we agree this happens And he lists them out The first one is this Jesus died by crucifixion There was a man named Jesus And we know that he died By crucifixion That's historical People believe that Nobody's really arguing that Two Very soon afterwards

His followers Had real experiences That they thought Were actual appearances Of the risen Christ Of risen Jesus So The reason why It's worded that way Historians will look back They don't agree That Jesus rose from the grave Historians aren't making that claim Because that's a They would say That's a faith claim But they'll point and go Okay The people that followed him Really did believe it That's what historians agree on They don't necessarily believe That he rose But they believe

That the people around him Actually believed it They weren't just making this up They actually believed it Third one is this Their lives The people who saw Had these experiences Were transformed as a result Even to the point Of being willing to die Specifically for their faith In the resurrection message So what we can see Historically Is that there are A group of people Who followed Jesus around We know that Jesus died And then Soon after All the people who Followed him around Started saying

He's alive And there was a large Group of people Who said No he's not Shut up And this small group Of people kept saying Yes he is You shut up It's a historical fact The church grew In the face of persecution All of these disciples Of Jesus Were actually martyred They were killed On a regular basis For proclaiming this I want to read a quote We'll leave that up there I want to read a quote From a guy named Chuck Colson

Chuck Colson Was the first guy To go to jail For the Watergate scandal He was called Nixon's hatchet man I don't know why But he sounds intense He was Nixon's hatchet man If you're not familiar With Watergate It's like Deflategate But not as big a deal Watergate was the Scandal that Nixon had Where they broke in And Into the Watergate hotel And If you've seen the movie Forrest Gump It's featured in there But they break into The Watergate hotel

Forrest Gump Tails on them And They break into The Watergate hotel And they bug it And it's the Democratic National Convention And they were just Trying to listen in And the bigger issue Is that they then Tried to cover it up They tried to hide this lie It's what eventually Led to Nixon's Resignation From the presidency Chuck Colson Was one of the guys In on that And he goes to jail And in the process Of being indicted

And going through court And all that stuff He becomes a Christian Eventually starts A prison ministry Which I think is cool That Jesus worked in that But here's what he says He says I know the resurrection Is a fact And Watergate Proved it to me How? Because twelve men Testified that they Had seen Jesus Raised from the dead Then they proclaimed That truth For forty Years Never once Denying it

Everyone was beaten Tortured Stoned And put in prison They would have not Endured that If it weren't true Watergate Embroiled twelve Of the most powerful Men in the world And they couldn't Keep alive for three weeks You're telling me That the twelve apostles Could keep alive For forty years Absolutely impossible So this was a man Who's caught up In Watergate And he says We couldn't keep it together For three weeks

And we were powerful He says This is a bunch of fishermen He said I believe the resurrection Happened I believe that they Believed it Because every single one Of them faced death For it And never Said anything else And the boldness That comes from that Is that What we find When we read The scriptures Is that we have Eyewitness testimony Telling us That Jesus Christ Rose from the grave

And every single person Who penned it Who wrote that down Who proclaimed it Believed it When Paul says I saw Jesus And he changed my life He believed it When the disciples Said it They believed it The fourth one That this He gives Is that These things Were taught Very early Soon after The crucifixion That's actually First Corinthians Three through seven

What we just read Where it says I delivered to you As of first importance And then he says That Christ died For our sins In accordance with The scriptures That he was buried That he was raised On the third day In accordance with The scriptures All the way through seven Where it says He appeared to James And then to all the apostles That actually When people who Are really smart Study this And study language They say

That's actually a creed Paul's just quoting that And that's one of the Earliest things That Christians Memorized and said To each other Jesus Christ Died for our sins Rose from the grave He appeared to these people So they began Passing that message around And memorizing that Because that's what They believed Very early on Five James Jesus' unbelieving brother Became a Christian Due to his own experience That he thought Was the resurrected Christ

So again Historians aren't going to Agree that it was They're just going to say We know historically That there was a guy Named James Who was Jesus' brother And he came out And said Jesus is God Now if you have siblings You explain to me How hard it would be For you to convince them You were God Six The Christian persecutor Paul Formerly Saul of Tarsus Also became a believer After a similar experience What we're faced with In the scriptures

Is a bunch of eyewitness accounts Saying I believe that Jesus Christ Rose from the grave And then everything In Christianity Hangs on that If he didn't rise We've got nothing But if he did We get everything That's how Christianity works Jesus Christ Rose from the grave Everything That has been Proclaimed in the gospel Is true So we're going to Take a little bit of time As we walk through First Corinthians To see four results

Of the resurrection Four ways That this Four Truths That this makes true That because of the resurrection This is now true And we can Bank on it And we can rest in it And we can hope in it Because it is now true for us Through the gospel Pick back up in verse 20 But in fact Christ has been Raised from the dead The first fruits Of those Who have fallen asleep For as by a man Came death By a man

Has come all Also the resurrection Of the dead For as in Adam All die So also In Christ Shall all Be made alive So what he's saying Is That our first father Adam sinned And death Entered the world So that in Adam Everybody dies Because of Adam We all die But in Christ All are made alive And because Jesus Rose from the grave He forever lives

And is forever able To offer his life To those who would Believe in him This is why Paul In Galatians 2 20 says I've been crucified With Christ It's no longer I who live But Christ Who lives In me And the life I now live In the flesh I live by the faith In the son of God Who loved me And gave himself For me You see Because Jesus Christ

Rose from the grave He's able to give you His life He's able to live In you Because he's not dead He's risen He's alive And so he's able To give you his life And what that means For us as Christians Because we declare Clearly You're not good enough You're not smart enough You're not going to do this You mess this up You're going to fail You are sinful And that would be Really depressing But we follow that up with But Jesus

Accomplished this For you And as you place Your faith in him Will accomplish it In you One of the reasons Our church expects So much Of each other When it comes to repentance When it comes to confession When it comes to living When it comes to generosity Is because we believe That Jesus is at work In you Our goal is not to ask you To accomplish that On your own Our goal Is to ask each other To yield to Jesus As he works

In you And we expect A whole lot Out of Jesus And we believe That he's alive In you Leading you away From sin And towards holiness But the promise Of Jesus being alive Means that you can Actually say no To sin It means that you can Actually go beyond Your own natural ability To love And to serve And to sacrifice Because it's Jesus Animating you It's Jesus

At work in you And we believe That because Jesus Is at work in you He's the one Who carries You to completion That he's going To make you Holy And blameless And above reproach Let's keep reading Pick up in verse 23 Verse 23 But each In his own order Christ The firstfruits Then at his coming Those who belong To Christ Then comes the end When he

That's Jesus Delivers the kingdom To God the Father After destroying Every rule And every authority And power For he must reign Until he puts All his enemies Under his feet The last enemy To be destroyed Is death I've said this before If you can kill death You win That's the last enemy To be destroyed Is that Jesus Destroys death That through the power Of his resurrection He forever reigns

Over death So that death No longer has Any claim Any power Anything But one of the other Truths that becomes True because of the Resurrection Is that justice Will eventually reign That Jesus will Eventually subject All authorities And all powers Under himself And this gives us Great hope And this hope Is grounded In the resurrection This gives us Great hope

As Christians That one day Jesus will judge He will be fair He will hand out Justice I read a quote From a guy Who had seen A lot of pain And death And destruction In Croatia During some of their wars And he said That when people argue That God isn't just He's not He's not going to Punish anyone He's just going to love He said The only people Who make that argument

Are the people Who have never seen Someone ride through A village Murder Rape And burn things down He said Because The only thing That keeps me From having to Pick up the sword Is knowing that Jesus Christ Picks up the sword The only way I'm actually able To forgive And offer grace Is to know that Jesus forgave And offered me grace And he promises

That one day Justice will be served That either He'll pay for it On the cross Or they'll pay For their sin But that justice Will be served Otherwise we get trapped In having to Seek revenge And retribution He says It's actually the justice Of God That gives us freedom And that justice Of God Is hanging on The resurrection I have a Two year old So I've been catching up

On all my Disney movies One of the ones I like Is Robin Hood It's got a fox And he's Robin Hood And John Prince John And this is based Off of historical stuff I don't know how True Robin Hood stuff is I know he wasn't a fox Prince John is a lion But he doesn't have a mane He sucks his thumb And he has to Poke his ears out Because he's wearing His brother's crown He has to like Poke his ears out So the crown Won't fall down

Over his head And he's Committing massive amounts Of injustice He's He's just Ruling with an iron fist And he's ruling poorly And this crown That doesn't quite fit Is a really good picture Of how poorly he rules And then at the end Of the movie King Richard The Lionheart Shows back up And he's a lion With a legit mane And the crown Fits perfectly And there's something About Jesus One day returning

Because he's resurrected One day returning To set up justice That helps us Clearly see How every authority And every government And every system Of power Has a crown That doesn't quite fit And they have to do Everything they can To try to keep it On top of their head And as injustice Is poured out On us on earth We can hold on With hope That one day Justice will roll down From the mountains And that the king

Will again ascend To the throne And he will rule Everything Because his crown Fits perfectly And that's banking On the resurrection That Jesus rose And one day Will return Let's move to Verse 45 We're jumping ahead A little bit Paul begins to talk About how the resurrection Of the dead works I'm sorry Let's move to Verse 42 I said too far He begins to talk About how the resurrection

Of the dead works And how our bodies Are raised And what that looks like And one of the Examples he gives Is that If we took a bunch Of seeds That went to Different plants And made you guess If you didn't know Much about Botany Plant science If that's what Botany means And you had to guess What the seed Would look like After you buried it His point His argument

Is most of the seeds Look the same But once they start Growing They look very different And they do Very different things And he says That's kind of the way Our resurrection Bodies are work That we all look The same right now But eventually We have to be buried We have to be sown That's the word He's going to use That we have to be buried That that seed Has to die In order for the The real thing to come And so I just want to

Explain kind of how He's saying this Because we got to We got to move We're in verse 42 So it is With the resurrection Of the dead What is sown Is perishable So he's talking About our bodies They fade They perish What is raised Is imperishable It is sown In dishonor It's raised in glory It's sown In weakness It's raised in power It's sown A natural body

It's raised A spiritual body If there is A natural body There is also A spiritual body To what Paul says Is that because Of the resurrection Of Jesus Our resurrection Is secured And this Is A beautiful hope That we have In Christ Because he says Our bodies They're going to be Laid down in weakness They're going to be Laid down in dishonor They're going to perish

They're going to give out They're going to fail They're going to fall short That when Jesus Was walking around on earth And he was healing The blind And he was healing The sick And he was He was letting Paralytics walk again He was accomplishing In them Something that was Going to ultimately Make him have to Go to the cross That he was Pre-working Some of the Resurrection Some of the Paying for sin

That he was Eventually going to do On the cross That Jesus Christ Re-gives us a life And that this hope For us Is in the resurrection That all weakness And sickness And disease And fear And depression And mental illness And persistent sin All those things That make it hard To wake up in the morning Or that follow us Around like a cloud For those of you Who struggle with Depression And someone will ask you

How are you doing And you answer Okay I think And the reason is You feel okay But you've learned Not to trust yourself Because you You don't know If you feel okay Because you're actually okay Or because you've just So untethered yourself From everything You just don't care And you just don't love anymore Those of you Who struggle with Mental illness Can't trust your brain Can't trust yourself Can't be alone With yourself

Have to have people That you're ready to call At a moment's notice When things turn Really dark for you For every single person Who you know Or if it's you That sat in a room And didn't want to Have the sunlight come in And didn't want to Talk to a human And wanted to sleep For 12 hours a day 15 hours a day Didn't want to do Any of the things That would lead to joy And health and life The promise of the resurrection Is that what's sown In weakness Will be raised in power

What's perishable And failing Will become imperishable For every single one of us Who've watched A loved one Slowly fade They get smaller Every time we see Their mind Their mind doesn't Quite work Like it used to Maybe they've begun To have erratic emotions Or they're lashing out Or they're saying things That they never would have said Every single one of us That has to watch A loved one Battle And battle And battle

Cancer Just to lose The hope The hope found In the resurrection Is that what's weak Rises in power And what's perishable Rises imperishable And what's sown In dishonor Rises in glory For every single one of us Who've received a phone call And from that moment on Life changed You have your life Pre phone call And you have your life Post phone call The promise for Christians Is that when we gather At a funeral To mourn

A saint Someone who's Placed their faith In Jesus That we gather As a group of people Who are heartbroken And who hurt Because of the loved one We've lost But we don't gather Without hope Because we have a king Who once had a group Of friends Gather around the tomb Heartbroken And hurting And then he came Walking out And the hope for us Because of that risen king Is that we will rise Our resurrection

Is secure And that all fear And guilt And shame And sin That we can't seem To beat That you've fought For your entire life That you've begged God To release you from That you've asked And pleaded And it's come to the point Where you've begun to think This is going to be With me Forever Every single person Who has a sin battle That is good for a little while And then comes Rearing its ugly head

The promise is That you're weak And you're dishonorable And you're perishable But Jesus Christ Rose from the grave And there will one day Be power An imperishable body And glory Because our God Didn't stay dead The resurrection of Jesus Gives us hope In a glorious Future resurrection That we can hold tightly to In the midst of everything We face now Verse 53 For this perishable body Must put on the imperishable And this mortal body Must put on the

On immortality When the perishable Puts on the imperishable And the mortal Puts on immortality Then shall come to pass The saying that is written He's quoting Isaiah Death is swallowed up In victory Oh death Where is your victory Oh death Where is your sting The sting Of death Is sin And the power Of sin Is the law But thanks be to God Who gives us the victory Through our Lord Jesus Christ

All right I want to explain Verse 56 for us quickly The sting of death Is sin And the power Of sin Is the law So he says The sting of death Is sin And the power Of sin Is the law Okay so the law Is the right rules That God gives That he speaks Into the world And says this is how You ought to live Once those rules Came in You became

Excessively Sinful I'll give you an example Of this My son Gets spanked On a regular basis At my house Because my house Has rules Don't touch that Put that down No You can't have Four popsicles When he goes to His grandmother's house And I say How did he do She says He was great What she means is I never said no There is no power

Of the law At her house Not at least The way it is At my house The power Of the law The power Of sin Is the law What makes Your sin Evident And present And clear Is the law Is the Your sin Is the law So I look at my son And say Don't do that Suddenly there is A law

That he can now Show Clearly and evidently How sinful he is As he looks at me Judges the distance Between us And decides I can do it About three times Before he gets here That was him At about nine months On an outlet Don't touch that Looked at me But the law Showed his sinfulness So what Paul's saying Is that the power of sin Is in the law That all of the things That God said This is how you ought to live

They just show us How much sin Is at work In us For people who think People aren't that sinful It's because they've never Really tried Try to be really gracious And generous And caring And kind And considerate And loving Try that for a really long time Try to be moral For a long time What you'll get Is guilt and shame Or you'll convince yourself There is no God Because you'll never Live up to that And then he says

The sting of death Is sin Death came into the world Because of sin And it's painful Because of sin Death has a sting to it Because we die In our sin That we stand before God In our sin But he says The sting of death Is sin And the power of sin Is the law But thanks be to God Who gives us The victory Through our Lord Jesus Christ If you are in Jesus The law has no claim on you Sin has been paid

And there will be no sting In death Where is your victory? Death Where is your sting? It does not exist For the Christian Because the moment You take your last breath You take your next first one Into eternity When you stand before a king Made holy And blameless And righteous Because Jesus Christ Died for your sin And rose To give you his life And we follow after him He's the firstborn Among the dead And we rise To be resurrected

To glory As all of those Who follow after him As brothers and sisters Made righteous Through Jesus There is no sting In death For a Christian There is no victory Of death Death Will claim us Once And when we go Through death We can look back At it and say Jesus is coming I've read about Your end You see You killed him once And he rose forever

And one day He's calling your number Death And you'll never Claim anyone again Because sin No longer has power Because Jesus Upheld the law For me But if Jesus Didn't rise We've got nothing If Jesus Christ Just died He does not Conquer death He does not Fulfill the law He does not Pay for our sin Death has a sting Sin claims us And the law

Accuses us But we're told That we have one Who stands before The throne of God And who has Disarmed the enemy That sin no longer Has a claim That the law Can no longer Accus us And that when we die We're ushered Into glory Where we're met By a God Who loves us Because he loves us In Jesus Jesus' resurrection life Is alive in you Now Justice will be served

You have the hope Of a future resurrection And victory Is already yours In Christ Those are true If you have placed Your faith In Jesus They're true What do we do With that How does Paul Tell us to respond Matt and Bianca Are going to come up here As we kind of Finish this out This morning Here's what Paul says Is the response For us In Christ Who have

Believed on him For salvation Not just Know that this Happened But actually Believe That he Paid the penalty Of our sin We've trusted in him We've placed our faith In him He says all of this About the resurrection He says all of this About the victory That we have in Christ And then in verse 58 He says Therefore Which just means Because all of this Is true

Therefore my beloved Brothers Be Steadfast Immovable Always Abounding In the work Of the Lord Knowing that In the Lord Your labor Is not In vain Paul's conclusion To this Is don't Go anywhere Don't Go anywhere Be Steadfast Those of you Who are

Tired Those of you Who are Doubting Your hope Is in The resurrection Of Jesus Don't shift To something else Those of you Who have begun To ask the question Am I good enough You've already Moved That was never Your hope To be good enough To be holy enough To be To do enough Your hope Is in

The resurrection Of Jesus Stay There Be steadfast Immovable And then he says Keep working Every bit Of every ounce Of sweat And blood And tears And sacrifice Every penny Spent Because there's A resurrection Because there's A future home Because this life Isn't all we get It's worth it Don't stop

Don't take Your boots Off Don't clock Out Keep working Don't go Anywhere Keep working Let's pray Father I pray That the Reality And the power Of the resurrection Would sink So deeply Into our soul To be the Foundation for Everything for Us And I pray The Lord

That through Your spirit Alive in Us That we Would keep Working That we Would be Steadfast Immovable And always Abounding In your work In your name Amen It's It's It's It's It's It's It I'm It's

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