Episode 300: The Resurrection of the Dead | Tim Henderson

Introduction

Alright, good morning everybody. Good morning. Alright, so we have good news but not perfect news. We have hosts for all but one of the fellows that arrive in about three weeks. And so we are still looking for one family to host one male fellow. We talked about this a few weeks ago. If you're at all intrigued, you're curious, you're not committing yourself to anything, but you'd be willing to let me know, tell me more about how this works. The essence of it is you get a godly 22-year-old that lives in your house for about nine months and they're vetted. We only bring good ones in, okay? So they won't steal any of your stuff, they won't kill any of your children, they'll love them, they'll be great. We even have a higher standard than simply not murdering your children, believe it or not. But we'd love to talk to you about it and we just trust that the rich history of Christian hospitality that really has permeated our faith for hundreds of years will continue for about three more weeks. That'd be great. And we would love to talk to you. So I'll put my number at the end of the message on the screen. You can text me and let me know if you might be interested in talking about more. Okay.

The Series and Recap of Last Week

We're gonna start this morning. We're finishing our series on 1 Corinthians. We'll be in the last half of 1 Corinthians 15. Sloop started it off last week, but it's a long chapter, and so I'm gonna finish the chapter this week. And I'm gonna give you a quiz, two questions, okay. The first question is about Sloop's message, okay, we're gonna see if they were listening, bro. And there's a chance that they were, okay. Dave talked about the historicity of Jesus' resurrection—that he really did not only die on the cross, but he really did walk out of the tomb. And he was arguing that this is not just like a tenant of our faith in the sense that it's something we believe that we know isn't true, but it's a tenant of our faith because we think it is true, it's actually a historical fact, this happened. Okay? And when he did, he suggested there were three lines of evidence upon which our confidence in the resurrection of Jesus Christ rests. What were they? Do you remember any of the lines of evidence? What is it? No body. There is an empty tomb and that has to be explained. The historic fact of an empty tomb. What else? What is it? Eyewitnesses. Eyewitnesses. People saw him, lots of at one point even 500 people at once saw him, very good. The empty tomb, the eyewitnesses that saw him and were alive as this message was being promulgated across the Roman Empire. And what was the third? Change lives. Lives. Sloop. They were listening, gross, good work. Okay? You're so engaging. Alright? Empty tomb, eyewitnesses, change lives. Okay?

The Nature of Resurrection Hope

That's first. Second question needs a little bit of a setup. Most weeks as we gather here, we recite one of the historic creeds of the Christian faith, either the Nicene Creed or the Apostles' Creed. Nicene Creed looks like this, the end of it, the last kind of few lines. It says, we believe in one holy Catholic and Apostolic Church, we acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins, and we look for the resurrection of the dead. The Apostles' Creed is similar, a little bit different language. It reads like this, I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, and the resurrection of the body. Okay? Here's your question. It's true or false? True or false? These lines—oh, no, no, no, back it up. Oh yeah, oh no. Okay, sorry. I thought that was the answer. You can stay on that one. That's good, Caleb. Just don't go beyond it. Okay? Thank you. Okay, you're doing great, Caleb. Okay, those lines of the creeds, true or false, they are an affirmation, right, of the literal, physical, bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. True or false? True, false, oh, DFP is in the I'm fighting with all of you. The answer is false. It is false. Those lines are not affirming the literal physical bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. They are affirming the literal physical bodily resurrection of you from the dead. Okay.

The Focus of Resurrection: Our Hope

We have this tendency when we're Christians, we hear resurrection, we think Jesus. Right? No. Not that, yes, he did rise from the dead. Everything Dave said is true. I'm in complete agreement with everything Sloop said. But these lines of the creed and what we're about to look at in 1 Corinthians 15 is emphatically not about Jesus' resurrection. It's about yours. That you will, one day, rise from the dead. Jesus did rise from the dead. I would not deny that at all. It is the anchor of our faith, but it is simply not what those lines of the creed are talking about.

The Ultimate Hope: Resurrection and Restoration

It seems that somehow, in the way that we've sought to summarize and make simple and make clear the gospel message, we've tended to reduce it down to this idea that the chief good, the final thing that we hope and long for, is that when we die, we get to go to heaven. But I'm telling you, that is not the principle good. The thing that we hope and long for is not going to heaven when we die. It is being raised from the dead when Jesus comes back. That is our chief good. That is what the New Testament promises over and over. It calls it the blessed hope, the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.

And when he comes back, it's the three R's—you can remember it like this, three things, three great things that happen simultaneously—they all start with the letter R. It is the return of Christ, our resurrection from the dead, and the restoration of all things. The return of Christ, our resurrection from the dead, and the restoration of all things. This is what we long for. This is the highlight.

It is true, I'm not denying, it is true that we will go to heaven when we die. Paul says to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. He says I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far. But that is not the good stuff. That is not the end of the story. It is not the climax of the story. It is not the supreme good. The supreme good is the return of Christ, our resurrection from the dead, and the restoration of all things.

The Resurrection of the Dead

Let's take a look. Go to 1 Corinthians 15, we'll start at verse 20, where Nancy kinda took us this morning. Listen to how he says it. He says, but in fact Christ has been raised from the dead. That was last week. That's what Sloop did, that he was the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order, Christ, the first fruits, and then at his coming, those who belong to Christ.

First Fruits and Resurrection Hope

Okay? First thing you gotta get here is this idea of first fruits. When you see first fruits, I want you to think Blue Cow ice cream. Okay? If you go to Blue Cow ice cream, all their ice cream flavors are super weird, amen? Is it all weird stuff? They got ice cream named after and apparently made out of flowers. They got goat cheese, blueberries, okay? And you're like, I don't know about that. And before I shell out $5 for a cone, give me a spoonful. Right? You know how this works? And the spoonful is the first fruits of the ice cream. And their promise to you is whatever is true of the spoonful will be true of the whole scoop. Okay? Jesus is the spoonful. He is the first whoop. He is the sample, and you are the scoop. Okay? Whatever's true of him will be true of you. And if he rose from the dead and you are hidden in him, you too will rise from the dead.

The strange thing about Jesus, honestly, is not that he rose from the dead, it's just when he did it. He just went super early. One day it'll be the most common thing for all of humanity, for all will be raised from the dead. And the Bible promises this over and over. It just permeates the scriptures, this anticipation of life out of death. One of the early ones would be in Daniel, you might be familiar with this passage. Daniel 12 says that multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake, some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt.

Biblical Examples of Sleep and Resurrection

The book of Hosea, same thing. It's all over the place. In Hosea 13, listen to what God says. He says, I will ransom them from the power of the grave. I will redeem them from death. Where, oh death, are your plagues? Where, oh grave, is your destruction? It's not just the Old Testament, Jesus spoke about it multiple times, you may have noticed it at the very last clause of the passage that Brian read. Right? Brian read from Luke 14, in Luke 14 Jesus says, hey, listen, when you throw a party, don't invite all your rich friends because they're just gonna throw a party and then pay you back, and then you're even. Instead invite a bunch of people that can't possibly benefit you. Be good to people that cannot be good to you and then I will even the score. When? Remember what he said, remember the last line of that passage? It's at the resurrection of the just. That we are awaiting a day when everything gets fixed, everything is made better. Jesus himself taught about it multiple times. Paul taught about it. You see it in Paul's preaching in the book of Acts, you see it in his letters, it just permeates there. He says in Acts 24, when he was kind of up against the ropes, Paul says, I have the same hope in God as these men, that there will be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked. And then in Philippians 3, Paul said, he hopes somehow to attain to the resurrection of the dead. The thing we hope and long for is not going to heaven when we die. It is being raised from the dead right here when Jesus comes back to restore all things.

The Biblical Emphasis on Resurrection Hope

This is explicit over and over and over again, lots and lots of places that this is the great hope, our resurrection and his return and the restoration of all things. But beyond all of the explicit statements throughout the Bible, there's one thing that I think is just a fascinating, very subtle hint, it's laden throughout, and I'm curious if you guys have ever noticed it.

Have you ever noticed that the New Testament almost never describes Christians who have passed from this life as being dead? We say all the time, so-and-so died, so-and-so died, my friend died last year. We say it all the time. The New Testament virtually never does. Do you know what it says instead? It fell asleep. We've even heard it this morning in the passage I already read. Christ is the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. Okay? Over and over again it does this.

It's a curious thing to me that the church has never picked up this way of talking. It is the natural and normal way that the New Testament talks about believers who have died. It never says they died. Okay? Jesus is on his way walking down the road and some guy comes up to him and says, hey, hey, hey, my 12-year-old daughter is sick, can you come and help her? And he's like, yes, and he rediverts and he goes to her house. But on the way, he gets interrupted by somebody else who needs his help. There's a woman who has been bleeding for years, and though there is a child with an acute condition, there is a woman with a chronic condition. And so he stops, and he serves the woman with a chronic condition, which must completely drive the father of this little girl completely out of his mind. And eventually, he finally finishes with this woman, he heads to the home before he gets there. Somebody comes out from the house and says, hey, hey, stop. It's too late. Don't bother the teacher anymore, for your daughter has died. And Jesus says, no, no, no, no, stop crying. She's not dead. She's asleep. And they laugh at him because they know full well that she's dead. But he goes in the house and he says to her, Talitha Cumi, which means little girl, get up. And she wakes up.

As the stories go on, there is—and when you get through the biographies of Jesus, we come into this history period. The book of Acts is the history about the first thirty years of the church. And there's lots and lots of stories that are fascinating and exciting. One of them is about a guy named—well, I just read it. What's Stephen famous for? I was gonna ask you who he was. What's Stephen's claim to fame? It's rather unfortunate. First Christian martyr. How does he die? He gets stoned to death, okay, except do you know that the New Testament doesn't actually say that? Listen to how it describes it. What is it? Well, that's a language about Jesus, and he does imitate Jesus, but listen to this, listen to how he says it. This is Acts 7:59. It says, while they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. That's probably what you're thinking of, Mary Beth. And then he fell on his knees and cried out, Lord, do not hold a sin against them. And when he had said this, he fell asleep. Can you imagine? There are certain forms of death that you might describe as falling asleep in a more natural way. Taken like a stone to the temple, and even that violent of a death, they say, he fell asleep. Okay? It's over and over the New Testament does this. If you read through the biographies of Jesus, you read through the history, you know, of Acts, you jump into this collection of letters, including the letter of the Corinthian church that we're looking at, just listen to this. This again is last week's passage, and we tend to listen to it about Jesus because that's what it's about. But listen to the last line. What I received, pass on to you as of first importance, that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures, that he appeared to Peter and then to the 12. After that, he appeared to more than 500 brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Right? Over and over, they fall asleep, they fall asleep, they fall asleep. Did you notice, by the way, you know who never is described as falling asleep in the New Testament? It's Jesus. They always talk about Jesus dying, which is an interesting thing. I don't have time to unpack why that is, which is really too bad because it's a really good reason, but you can be curious about that. We'll talk about it sometime. Okay?

Passages on Falling Asleep and Resurrection

The same guy that wrote the letter to the church in Corinth wrote a letter to the church in Thessalonica, and this is maybe the most pointed passage about us falling asleep. He loves the Thessalonians, enormous amount of warmth and affection towards them, but they were all freaked out about Jesus' return. They knew that he was supposed to come back. They thought he would be back like, pronto, right now. And so, as members of that community, they began to worry about what would happen when they died. They were all freaked out about it. They're like, well, what happens if you die before Jesus comes back? Which is kinda crazy because we almost assumed they were going to die before he comes back, right? And there'll be this handful of leftovers that don't. They were in the opposite set of assumptions. They're thinking, if you die before Jesus comes back, what happens to them? Like, do they miss it? Do you have to be alive when he comes back? They're all terrified, like he's taking longer than we thought. And so Paul writes to reassure them. And in 1 Thessalonians 4 he says, brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep or to grieve like the rest of men who have no hope. 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 own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left to the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel, with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.

The Promise: Death Will Die

Right? I'm gonna tell you it's everywhere, over and over again. The New Testament describes Christians who passed from this life not as dead, they are merely asleep. Okay? Now, maybe this is obvious, maybe it's not, but it seems to me that the distinguishing characteristic of someone who falls asleep is what? They wake up. That's what's going on here. It's not just that Bible is being euphemistic and unable to look a hard thing in the face, it is simply reaffirming the deep theological reality that those who sleep will wake up. We will sleep and there will be a resurrection from the dead. God's promise is not of some disembodied experience somewhere else, but a real tangible body right here that will last forever. Those who sleep in the dust will wake to everlasting joy.

Stand in Maryland, Susan is sleeping and she will awake. Max is only asleep and he will wake up and you will see him. Jesus will bring him with him when he comes. As a church, we have so many in our community. Kathy Murphy recently fell asleep. Max and Titus and Paris and Tommy and Jay and Terry, your mom, your dad perhaps, someone that you love. The Bible does not affirm that they have died. Kim, your dad is sleeping, and he will wake up, and you will see him again, most assuredly. And when Jesus comes back to restore all things and to wake up the sleepers, things will change.

We don't just get this back. Right? It'll be better than this thing. It'll be better than that thing. It'll be better than that thing. We get bodies, but they're better, they're gonna be transformed. What Paul goes on to say, it's interesting, as he describes it, he says there's going to be changes. Listen how he says this in verse 50. I tell you this, brothers, flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold, I will tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep. That's because some of us will be alive when he comes back. Maybe some of us in this room will be alive when he comes back. But we shall all be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet, for the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall all be changed.

When Jesus raises the dead, when he wakes the sleepers, Paul teaches that he will transform our lowly bodies to be like his glorious body. Now honestly, the New Testament, it just gives us tantalizing hints about this. Once again, Jesus is the sample, not just of the fact that we will rise, but something about the manner in which we will arise. When Jesus raised from the dead, his body was same but different, right? He still ate food, he still walked, he still talked, he still, he even had the scars of his crucifixion, they recognized him by his scars. And as he broke the bread with them, he did normal things. But there were differences. Right? What do you remember? What was different about his body after his resurrection? Do you guys recall? He could apparently pass through walls or just like disapparate and reappear on the other side of it or something like that. Yeah. What else? Can you think of other things? Yeah, so his multiple appearances. He had some ability to show up in places. Now it's hard to know how much of that do we get to do. I don't know how that's gonna work. It really doesn't give us too much, but there was a difference. Maybe the most curious thing is it seems that he could fly. Right? At the very end of the story, he ascends before them. You remember this in Matthew? He ascends on the Mount of Olives. Or wait, Mount of Olives? Which mountain? I don't know if he'll be able to do that. It'd be fine with me, if not, but I mean seriously, that would be pretty cool. But here's what Paul says is the most important difference. Mark this. This is of enormous significance. It's radical, it's transformative. Look at verse 53. This perishable body must put on the imperishable. This mortal body must put on immortality. And when the perishable puts on the imperishable, when the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written, death is swallowed up in victory.

The Victory Over Death and Our Eternal Hope

Where, oh death, is your victory? Where, oh death, is your sting? One of the principle promises of the Scriptures is not just that we will be raised, but that we will never die again. Okay? And the reason I underscore this, you guys, Lazarus was raised from the dead, and then he died again. This is not what will happen to you. You will be raised from the dead and then you will never die again. You will be given the gift of immortality. You will be granted eternal life. You will become an imperishable being.

I've noticed most Christians seem to think that we are already immortal. We're just fundamentally, because we're made in the image of God or for some reason, God made human beings with an immortal soul. I have never found any evidence anywhere in the Scriptures to support that claim. I was taught it, you were almost certainly taught it, but I don't think it's true. Rather, what the Bible says every time the Bible talks about immortality or eternal life, it is always talking about one of two things: either God himself. First Timothy 6 says that God alone is immortal, that he lives in unapproachable light. It's either talking about him or it's talking about those that are hidden in Christ.

Over and over and over again, it will say that those who are in Christ have been given that which they did not already possess, namely eternal life. Now, if you can contradict that, if you can show me in the Bible where the Bible affirms the universal immortality of the human soul, show me it. I'd like to see it. I've looked for it and I've been unable to find it in about the last twelve years. But maybe you'll find it, and show me if you do. Okay? It is not in our nature to live forever. We are mortal beings. We are things that perish. And I don't just mean our body, but I mean our souls as well. It's why Jesus was asked, when Jesus responded about this topic in Matthew 10, he said, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body in hell. We are killable things. But to those who are mortal, perishing beings, but who are also hidden in Christ, God grants immortality. He gives us eternal life. And this promise is stated over and over and over again throughout the Scriptures. I'll just give you like a small sample. It goes on forever. John 3, famously, Jesus says this, everyone who—or John says this about Jesus—he says, everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. Most famous verse in the Bible says, that God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life. John 3 later he says, whoever believes in the son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the son will not see life for God's wrath remains on him. John 6, Jesus says, don't work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him the Father has placed his seal of approval. Romans 5, Paul says this a thousand times. He says, just as sin reigned to death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Romans 6:23 famously, the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Galatians 6, the one who sows to please his sinful nature from that nature will reap destruction. But the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit, from the Spirit, will reap eternal life. Okay? All will be raised, but not all will live forever because we're not fundamentally immortal beings. We are more perishable. We do not have immortal souls. Rather, eternal life is a gift. And it is given to those who do not deserve it, but who have believed in Christ. And it is when he makes you immortal that Hosea's ancient promise comes true. Right? Look at what he says in verse 54—when the perishable puts on the imperishable and the mortal puts on immortality, then it shall come to pass the saying that is written, death is swallowed up in victory.

The Defeat of Death and the Joy of Eternal Life

You guys, we've been playing a very, very, very long game, and death has had the lead score in every single inning. Death won the first inning, the second inning, the third inning, the fourth inning, and on we go. But death is going to lose the game. This is what Paul is saying. It seems like death has just never failed to win a contest, but is going to lose the game. In fact, what Paul is saying here, what the New Testament affirms, is that death itself is going to die. The way that John depicts this is so interesting. In Revelation 21, have you ever noticed this? Death gets cast into the lake of fire. It's not just the devil, it's not just the lost, but death itself will die. It is almost impossible for us to conceive of a world in which death is dead, but so it is. And if you are in Christ, that is the world that you shall inhabit forever, when he raises you from the dead and grants you immortality.

Application and Invitation

With all of this, you can say, okay, so what do I do with that? Well, Paul tells us what to do with that. Look at the very last verse of this section, because he does the application for us. Look at what he says. Verse 58—therefore, in light of all of that, 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.

Because it is our confident certainty that we will be raised, that death will die, and that we will live forever with him that enables us, that propels us to be a people that are steadfast, that are immovable, that give ourselves fully to his work. We are not sissies. We don't shrink back. We do not assume that all the happiness that I can get is gonna come in the next twenty years, and so I better make that be my number one priority at all moments. We believe in infinite, increasing, endless joy. And so I can live with the world, we don't like it, but we can live in a world of unjust suffering and take the hit. We can forgive our enemies. We can make sacrifices for the good of others. We can be undaunted when a world hates our message and love them in a way that baffles and befuddles them. We can be undespairing because we know that infinite, endless, increasing joy is ours. That we will be given eternal life. And not only that, but we also know that the very people that we work next to, live with, disagree with, that for all of them the same offer stands. And that if they would but abandon their unrighteousness and their self-righteousness and cling to Christ, then he will raise them from the dead and give them eternal life. And that hope, that grace and that mercy that we did not deserve, but that we received would yet abound to others. Because God is so unbelievably generous and kind and merciful. And to us, it makes why would you perish when you can believe the gospel and have infinite joy? Our lives are about that in a steadfast way because we believe we are anchored in the hope that when he comes back, he will raise us too and restore all things.

Invitation and Prayer

Now for you, who knows where you're at? We're all in lots of places. There may be something in here that you need to process through a little. What does that mean? How do I process? How do I think about that? Come forward. This time is for you. If you're not sure that he would raise you from the dead and give you eternal life, would you like to be sure? He has done all that is necessary. He has drunk. He's drunk. I don't know how you say this. He did drink all of our badness, and it gives us credit for all of his goodness. And you can make the trade right now and lock it up. We invite you to come down. You can pray by yourself right here. If you wanna pray with somebody on the straight rails, we can do that too. And what a joy it would be that together, one day, when Jesus comes, he brings all of us with him in a world of endless joy.

Lord Jesus, who is like you? Lord, you are stronger than death. It was by virtue of your perfect life that you were raised. We have no such hope ourselves. Who am I to conquer death? My only hope is to ride your coattails. And we thank you, Lord, that you have long coattails, that you are generous. And I wanna pray for all that are here that are already hidden in you. Would you give them the confident certainty that you will grant them eternal life in a way that compels them, gives them courage and steadfastness and generosity and wisdom for how they live these days? And for any that aren't yet in you, that they would be jealous for that, desirous of that, and they would seek and find that it is theirs for the asking because you are so unimaginably kind. Lord, we love you. Amen.