Arguments Two and Three: The Outcomes of Christ's Resurrection

1 Corinthians  •  Sermon  •  Submitted
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Intro

Good morning and welcome to the Countryside Vineyard church, for those who are here, and for our live-stream peeps, we welcome you as well.
My name is Joe Fager and I am one of the pastors here.
Today is the first Sunday of February, 2021 and as such we will be doing communion at the end of the service together. So for those of you catching us on the live-stream you are more than welcome to join us in that at home. We will do that live, so have your bread and wine (or juice) ready at the close.
So this morning we are continuing our walk through the book of 1 Corinthians. We will be in Chapter 15 verses 12-28 this morning. Bill Quibell was supposed to take the first half of these verses last week, but the weather, so this morning my task will be to cover two weeks of material because it just too important to simply pass over.
So, before I begin to teach let’s pray.
So, this chapter is one of the most important chapters in the entire Bible.
This chapter focuses on the one thing that is central to the gospel. That is, resurrection. Resurrection in general and what that means, and the resurrection of Jesus specifically.
Often we tend to focus on the death of Jesus. What is the gospel? Jesus died for my sin, in my place. Right?
We focus on that, but I tell you the pages of the New Testament focus more on the resurrection than they do the death of Jesus.
The qualifications for becoming and Apostle was to have seen or been in contact with the risen Jesus.
Every single sermon recorded in the book of Acts has as its central theme the resurrection.
The resurrection is, in fact, the heart of the gospel the good news.
Another way saying what I am saying is that if the resurrection didn’t happen than there is no good news.
The resurrection is the heart of the gospel, and apparently there were some in Corinth who were running around saying there is no resurrection.
Paul is going to list several consequences of that belief in verse 12-19 and
then in 20-28 he will list two important truths that are consequences of the resurrection.

I. Consequences of denying the Resurrection (Verses 12-19)

1 Corinthians 15:12–19 ESV
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? 13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14 And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. 15 We are 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. 16 For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19 If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.
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So the consequences of denying the resurrection.
Paul lists 6 consequences of denying resurrection and we are going to ask and answer two questions that result from this argument.
He breaks the argument into two parts.
13-15; 16-19.
Verses 13 and 16 say the same thing almost exactly
So the argument goes.
If there is no such thing as resurrection then...
Jesus was not raised.
If Jesus was not raised then...
our preaching is in vain (useless, meaningless)
your faith is in vain (useless meaningless).
the Apostles are liars and the whole thing falls apart. (the whole New Testament is based on the fact of the resurrection)
you are still in your sins.
Your dead friends and relatives are just dead - they have ceased to be forever.
You have no hope and are more miserable than anyone else.
So out of these six propositions I think two of them in particular cause many Christians to stop and say, what?
Before I get to those, however, I need to explain what exactly the Corinthians were denying.
The Corinthians were molt likely denying physical bodily resurrection.
In essence they believed in the Aristotelian concept of the immortality of the soul.
In short they believed the soul went on without a body forever in some ethereal state.
They believed that the body was a prison for the soul, and that death freed the real person (the soul).
What Paul is arguing that all of that is nonsense and that the truth is exemplified in Jesus’ physical resurrection and glorified body.
Paul is saying, no resurrection is not some spiritual experience, it is real physical being and will require a real physical world in which to inhabit.
This is the new heaven and new earth so often to referred to in Bible.
So Paul says, If there is no such thing as resurrection then...
Jesus was not raised.
If Jesus was not raised then...
our preaching is in vain (useless, meaningless)
your faith is in vain (useless meaningless).
the Apostles are liars and the whole thing falls apart. (the whole New Testament is based on the fact of the resurrection)
you are still in your sins.
Your dead friends and relatives are just dead - they have ceased to be forever.
You have no hope and are more miserable than anyone else.

First Question

Why are we still in our sins if Christ has not been raised? (Vs. 17)
1. We often say Christ died for our sins when explaining the gospel.
However, the death of Jesus is only part of the equation.
Romans 4:25 says, “He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.”
The two facts cannot be separated.
Without the resurrection the act of salvation would not have been complete.
Charles Hodge says, “denial of the one involves the denial of the other.” Charles Hodge, An Exposition of the First Epistle to the Corinthians (New York: Robert Carter & Brothers, 1857), 321.
2. Jesus’ resurrection is what gives us hope of a future resurrection, which is the point of the Christian gospel.
the new heavens and the new earth and living for all eternity in that reality is the hope of the gospel.
2 Pet. 3:13 says that we are hoping for a new heaven and new earth where righteousness dwells.
Romans 8 is a beautiful passage that talks about this.
For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees?
3. Another way to think about this, and the way I do is to say that the resurrection validated everything that Jesus said and did.
Therefore, if Jesus had stayed dead he would have been just another moral teacher, another dreamer making claims to be the savior.
The disciples were lost after the crucifixion.
They had no idea what do.
They were scattered, like sheep after their shepherd died.
it wasn’t until the resurrection that all got it. That the light bulb went off.
They were like hey this guy really was who he said he was.
That’s the point. What makes a group of guys so scared for their lives, suddenly overnight be the boldest, most outspoken proponents.
It was the fact that they saw the risen Jesus, and knew that everything was true.

Second Question

Why are we to be pitied among men if no resurrection? (vs. 19)
First, “Modern Christians sometimes see Christian living as so beneficial that they think it would be better to live as a Christian than not, even if Christianity were false. This is true because, for many Christians, commitment to Christ does not require much suffering. In the early church, however, believers sacrificed a great deal to follow Christ. They lost families, friends, jobs, homes, and even their lives. Thus, Paul could say that Christians would deserve great pity if their hope for resurrection proved to be false. Not only would they receive no benefit from their religion, but they would also forfeit the pleasures their brief lives on earth offered.”
Richard L. Pratt Jr, I & II Corinthians, vol. 7, Holman New Testament Commentary (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2000), 262–263.
Second, the Apostles above everyone else knew persecution for preaching the resurrection.
Listen to what Paul says about that.
2 Corinthians 11:24–28 ESV
24 Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. 25 Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; 26 on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; 27 in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. 28 And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches.
That’s Paul’s experience of persecution.
Do you honestly think anybody would go through all that for what they knew to be a lie?
No something happened to these guys, and that something an encounter with the resurrected Jesus.
So to deny resurrection is to say that Jesus wasn’t raised and if that is true then the consequences are significant.

II. Positive Outcomes because of the Resurrection (Verses 20-28)

Now we come to the Outcomes of the resurrection.
There are two main ideas that we need to grapple with.
The first is the idea of firstfruits (20-23) and the second is eschatology (the last things). (24-28) What happens at the end of this age and the beginning of the next.
Now we turn to the best words in Scripture, “But now!”
It always means there is good news coming.
vs. 20 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. 23 But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ.
​
The First & Second Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Corinthians (King James Version) C. Argument Three: The Consequences of Christ’s Resurrection, 15:20–28

But now is Christ risen!” He is not dead; He is not lying as a decayed corpse in the grave. We are not living in hopeless misery. In fact, the very opposite is true. We have the greatest hope in the world, the hope of being resurrected from the dead. And the great guarantee of our resurrection is the resurrection of Jesus Christ Himself. He has risen; therefore, we shall arise. He is the first fruit—the guarantee, the seal, the assurance of our resurrection.

The first point in this section I want highlight here is firstfruits.
What does this mean that Jesus was the first to be resurrected.
I mean he resurrected Lazarus, right?
Lazarus’ resurrection was different because Lazarus died a second time.
The resurrection of Jesus, on the other hand, was something brand new. This had never happened before. And the resurrection body of Jesus was different too. He still ate food, yet he could enter a room through a locked door. Something was different about his body. Furthermore, the disciples who had been following him for three years didn’t recognize him. Why?
This is Jesus in his glorified body. Still his body but different, better, with more abilities than what we currently have.
C.S. Lewis says this in his book called Miracles,
The New Testament writers speak as if Christ’s achievement in rising from the dead was the first event of its kind in the whole history of the universe. He is the ‘first fruits’, the ‘pioneer of life’. He has forced open a door that has been locked since the death of the first man. He has met, fought, and beaten the King of Death. Everything is different because He has done so. This is the beginning of the New Creation: a new chapter in cosmic history has opened.
​
Lewis, C. S.. Miracles (Collected Letters of C.S. Lewis) (pp. 236-237). HarperOne. Kindle Edition.
Romans 8:11 says, “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.”
This is the good news of the gospel. We will have a share in what Christ realizes now.
Peter says it this way in 1 Pet 1:3-5
1 Peter 1:3–5 ESV
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5 who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
Philippians 3:20-21 says,
Philippians 3:20–21 ESV
20 But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.
Jesus was the first to receive this new body, and it was because he did, that we have hope in getting one too.
It’s that simple. Paul and the other New Testament writers all spoke of this new body.
It has various descriptions and we will talk more about those in a couple of weeks as Paul gets into the nature of the resurrection.
So you will have to wait until then for more specifics.
But suffice it to say here that we have hope of something better, not in some floating ethereal state with no body, but in a better in every way body, but still our body.
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Now I am going to close with this last section. (vs. 24-28).
Paul says this about the second consequence of Jesus’ resurrection:

24 Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. 25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death. 27 For “God has put all things in subjection under his feet.” But when it says, “all things are put in subjection,” it is plain that he is excepted who put all things in subjection under him. 28 When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all.

There are __4 _ items in these verses that I want to highlight.
He must reign until he puts all of his enemies under his feet. (24-25)
1 Corinthians 15:24–25 ESV
24 Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. 25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.
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These enemies include human rulers or opponents of God and his people
These include powers, authorities, rulers, dominions and other language the New Testament uses to describe malevolent spiritual beings
Rules and powers in vs. 24 mean spiritual beings that we can’t at the moment see.
Scripture is very clear throughout that there are beings that have a certain level of authority, but that they misused this authority.
Psalm 82:1, 6 God has taken his place in the divine council; in the midst of the gods he holds judgment: I said, “You are gods, sons of the Most High, all of you; nevertheless, like men you shall die, and fall like any prince.”
In Eph. 6 Paul says, this: Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
So, we assert that Christ is presently ruling. The Kingdom of God is here now.
We assert that we as Christians have a certain amount of authority over these beings. We can undo certain havoc that they have unleashed.
Healing, casting out demons, and other such acivities all demonstrate that the Kingdom is ruling.
We also assert that this authority we have is not 100%. There is some sort of tension between the now the Kingdom is here, and the not yet, the kingdom in full reign.
From these we conclude that for certain Christ wants us to be engaged in bringing the kingdom into realization in people’s lives.
This is the important gem from this passsage, that you and I are to be actively engaged in the work of the Kingdom.
We are to thwart the plans of the enemy.
When see someone who is sick, we pray for them to recover.
When we someone who is afflicted by demons we pray for them to be set free.
These are to do the work of the kingdom.
As far as timing, this passage is not concerned when all these things happen, but that they will happen.
This means that from the time of his resurrection Christ has been working to undermine the schemes of Satan, and at a fixed point in time will have accomplished all he intends to accomplish, and all the powers will be fully subject to God through Christ.
As Charles Hodge points out the language does not permit us to conclude that all evil will be banished from the universe as some think. It means that all evil power will be rendered impotent.
One may ask, why is all this taking so long to happen?
Paul does not say anything about it and neither can I. God is sovereign, but I trust that he will do it.
2. Death will be destroyed. (That means in the New Earth we won’t experience the loss of death. No more dying.

26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death.

Death is personified all throughout the Bible.
Death is what Adam invited to rule over the human when he obeyed sin also personified.
Both of these are under the dominion of darkness.
But both will be under the authority of God in Christ and no longer be allowed to rule humans in the new earth.
3. vs. 27 means God gave Christ all authority to redeem the creation. Obviously not the Father himself.

For “God has put all things in subjection under his feet.” But when it says, “all things are put in subjection,” it is plain that he is excepted who put all things in subjection under him.

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This obvious when Christ puts all powers under him, it doesn’t include the Father or the Spirit for that matter.
the handing over of the Kingdom is to say all is complete.
4. 28 This does not mean the son is somehow inferior but is functional language.

When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all.

What it indicates is that all be restored to its original intent under the eternal rule of God.
This in no way undermines or refutes the doctrine of the Trinity.
The Godhead Father Son and Spirit are equal in essence, but ordered in function.
When Christ hands the kingdom over to the Father, the whole Godhead Father, Son and Spirit will continue to rule over eternity, but rule will not be anything like what we imagine it to be now. It will be loving community.
There will be no opportunity for evil.
Perfect community of love.
Created of those who willingly accepted the invitation, by believing in the hope and life that Christ offers.
That is the gospel the good news, and you can accept that invitation right now this morning if you never have, by simply saying yes I believe.
In Jesus name!

Communion

For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”
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