Living Like There¡¯s More Than This Life
1 Corinthians
15:12-19, 29-34
I wanted to look
at 12-19 and 29-34, but there¡¯s no way I can do real justice to these passages
in the time that I have. We¡¯ll look
at the passages, but zoom in on and develop two main implications of the
resurrection.
The Corinthians
did believe in the gospel, that Jesus died and rose again, but they did not
believe in the resurrection of the dead.
In vv. 12-19, Paul plays out the thought, If there is no resurrection of the dead (as you
say) . . .
In vv. 20-28, Paul then says, But Christ has been raised from the dead . . .
Then we surely will also be
resurrected. Paul wants to make a
direct connection between Christ¡¯s resurrection and our own. Paul argues for our resurrection, based on (1) our union with Christ, (2) Christ¡¯s
supremacy over death, and (3) the activity of the persons of the Godhead to
love, serve, and honor one another.
(12-18) If there
is no resurrection from the dead, then Christ has not been raised. Paul repeats this connection: But he did not raise him if in fact the
dead are not raised. 16 For
if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. (1 Corinthians 15:15-16)
If there¡¯s no
resurrection, then Christ has not been raised.
If Christ has not
been raised
[I, myself] am also a false witness, we
proclaim the Father has raised Jesus from the dead
you are still in your sins (v. 17)
the preaching and faith is useless because the gospel is powerless, bankrupt, useless.
those who have died have perished, there is no hope for them (v.
18)
It¡¯s like if I started saying, ¡°This
medicine can prevent and cure cancer.¡±
I preaching it passionately, I devote my life to telling people they
don¡¯t have to die of cancer. Some
people believe, and they buy the medicine.
People without cancer trust that the medicine will
protect them. People with
cancer stop their chemotherapy or radiation treatments.
But it turns out that the medicine is
phony. It (say, vitamin C) doesn¡¯t
cure or prevent cancer.
Then my preaching and your faith are
useless. It doesn¡¯t matter what I
preach and what you believe—you still have cancer.
The crux of this paragraph is, if Christ
has not raised from the dead, then we are still in our
sins. We will have cancer. We¡¯ve not been delivered or forgiven. Preaching the gospel, believing the
gospel are both useless, empty, bankrupt.
If Christ has not been raised, then the
gospel is not true—we are still in our sins.
Paul does not see the gospel as ¡°This is what¡¯s true for me. This is my personal belief, but you need
to find what¡¯s true for you.¡± Either
it¡¯s true (the medicine cures cancer, the Jesus does forgives our sins), and it¡¯s
true for everyone who believes, or it¡¯s not true, and it doesn¡¯t matter if you
believe, for your sin remains.
I want to zoom in
on the phrase, ¡°If Christ has not been raised, then you are still in your sins¡±
(v. 17)
Paul establishes
a direct connection: the resurrection of Jesus proves we are no longer in our
sins.
Imagine all the sins of humanity on one
side of the scale [picture of a scale].
Every sin from Adam on down; every act of hatred,
lust, violence, jealousy, selfishness. All the atrocities of the Crusades, the
Holocaust, all the genocide in Rwanda and Darfur, all
the injustice, racism, oppression, bloodshed; my sins and yours. All humanities sins on one side of a
scale, and the cross of Christ on the other side. How do we know Jesus¡¯ cross was
enough? What if it was only good
for 50% of the guilt? In the OT,
the Israelites had to slaughter countless sheep, goats, rams and bulls. How do we know there isn¡¯t some guilt
remaining? How do we know Jesus¡¯
death was enough?
There was this scene in Pursuit of Happyness
[picture] where Chris Gardner (Will Smith) has been really tight on money and
so he hasn¡¯t paid his many parking tickets. One day police come knocking at his door
and arrest him for these tickets and put him in jail. Will Smith empties his checking account
by writing a check for the fines.
The police guy said he can¡¯t release him until the check clears, but
they won¡¯t know the check clears until Friday
How do we know the check cleared? How do we know there was enough money in
the checking account to pay for all the fines?
We know because on Friday morning, the
police guy releases Will Smith.
How do we know the cross was enough for
all our sins? Jesus Christ rose
that Easter morning [empty tomb picture]
When God raised the Son, He showed his
approval, that Christ¡¯s work was complete.
Christ had no longer any need to remain dead. There was no penalty left to be paid, no
more wrath for Christ to bear, no more guilt or
liability to punishment.
The
resurrection validates the sufficiency of the cross.
If Christ had not been raised, if Will
Smith were not released, it was because the death was not sufficient; we are
still in our sins!
But Christ has been raised, and we are no
longer in our sins. Payment has
been made in full!
If you ask the average person on the
street if she believed in heaven and if she thought she¡¯d go there, my guess is
that she¡¯d say, ¡°I hope (believe?) there a heaven, and
can I get it, we¡¯ll I hope so. I¡¯ve
made some mistakes and I¡¯m far from perfect, but I try to do a lot of good
things. My friends would recognize
that I do my best, I stay true to what I believe in, and I care for my
friends. Isn¡¯t that good
enough? Well, I hope it is.¡±
The Bible has some clear answers to her
reply. Is it good enough? No, we all fall short. Our sins deserve death. Putting our hope in our goodness and
good works is only false hope.
But Christ has offered to pay for our
sins, to pay our parking tickets.
Was that good enough? Was
the Father satisfied that the punishment was complete,
the payment was made in full? The
Father raised him from the dead!
The empty tomb proves Christ was enough.
Let me also speak to those of us who say
we already do believe the gospel.
Some of us have made mistakes, have regrets, feel
like we¡¯ve failed God in many ways.
We say we believe that Jesus took away our sin and guilt, but we still
hold on to it. We still feel like
we¡¯ve got to ¡°make it up to God by being a better Christian.¡± We look at ourselves, we don¡¯t feel
righteous or pleasing to God, we feel inadequate,
flawed, and sinful.
The empty tomb says, there is no more
punishment, no more wrath, no more displeasure
left. It was all completely poured
out on Jesus and He has taken it all.
The resurrection proves that Christ has paid it all—His cross was enough!
We need to take a look at our sin, so we
can come to the cross and the empty tomb and see, Jesus paid it all.
And now complete in Him
My robe His righteousness,
Close sheltered ¡¯neath
His side,
I am divinely blest.
Jesus paid it all,
All to Him I owe;
Sin had left a crimson stain,
He washed it white as snow.
Preach the gospel to ourselves, see ourselves the way God sees us.
v. 19, if there
is no future, if there is no resurrection, if when we die we are still in our
sins, then everything is gone!
To deny the resurrection of the dead is to
deny Christ¡¯s resurrection.
To deny Christ¡¯s resurrection is to deny
the sufficiency of the cross.
To deny the sufficiency of the cross is to
deny our past forgiveness, our present sonship, and
our future resurrection.
Everything is tied together; lose the resurrection, and everything
collapses, and we are to be pitied.
But the tomb was
empty that Easter morning! [empty tomb picture]
Was it
enough? the
empty tomb says YES.
The payment was
sufficient and accepted. Jesus paid
it all. We see the sufficiency of
the cross.
There¡¯s a number of lessons we could learn from
verses 29-34, but I¡¯d like to zoom in on vv. 30-32.
Paul is willing and ready to die
He exposes himself to danger regularly, daily.
The ¡°beasts of
Are they servants of Christ? (I am out of my mind to talk like
this.) I am more. I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently,
been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. 24 Five times I received from the
Jews the forty lashes minus one. 25 Three times I was beaten with
rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a
day in the open sea, 26 I have been
constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from
bandits, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles; in danger
in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from
false brothers. 27 I
have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger
and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. 28 Besides everything else, I face
daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches. 29 Who is weak, and I do not feel
weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not inwardly burn? (2 Corinthians 9:23-29)
Why is Paul willing to suffer danger and persecution? Notice vv. 19 and 32.
If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more
than all men. . . .
If I fought wild beasts in
Paul is saying,
if there were no resurrection, I wouldn¡¯t be doing this! Why would I devote my life to a lie, why
would I risk my life for nothing?
If there is no resurrection, then Christianity is completely bankrupt, Jesus
is a phony Messiah. There is no
future hope, ¡°So eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.¡±
If you¡¯re not a
Christian, and you do not believe in a future resurrection, a future glory.
Perhaps you don¡¯t even really believe there is anything beyond the
grave, then what are you living for? The Apostle Paul himself suggests that
if he believed that, he would just eat and drink, have fun and enjoy what you
can, for tomorrow we die, and there¡¯s nothing more to live for than today.
Why should we not just live as
hedonistically as we can? What¡¯s
the point of try to do good, if we die and the people
whom we could have served also die.
What¡¯s the point of making the world a better place if in the end,
everyone just dies?
Or maybe you agree with Paul, let¡¯s just
enjoy what we can because there really is no meaningful tomorrow. We started from random meaninglessness
and we¡¯ll end in meaninglessness.
If so, then there really is no meaning for our lives. Is that what you believe, that your life
and mine, that all of human life is profoundly meaningless? Animals & plants,
live and then die.
As you perhaps consider the Christianity,
I¡¯d like you to compare it to whatever it is you believe now. Ask tough questions of Christianity, but
also ask tough questions of your beliefs today.
Paul says what he¡¯s living for. He believes there is more than just this
life. He believes in the
resurrection. He believes Christ¡¯s
resurrection assures him of forgiveness and acceptance by God, Christ¡¯s resurrection
assures him that death is not the end (Christ has conquered sin and death), Christ¡¯s
resurrection gives him a future hope that makes him unafraid to lose this life.
You look at Paul¡¯s life and you see, he was not afraid of
suffering, he was not afraid of death.
You¡¯re not afraid to lose your baby teeth if you know you¡¯ve got
grown-up teeth coming.
You¡¯re not afraid to damage your cell phone if you know your new cell
phone is on the way.
You¡¯re just not as protective, cautious, fearful;
you don¡¯t have to guard it so tightly.
You¡¯re not afraid of losing this life if
you know you there¡¯s another chapter, there¡¯s a new and heavenly home and a God
who waits to embrace his faithful followers
2. Do
we have a hope that makes us unafraid to face suffering, persecution, even
death?
Are we living in such a way that without
the resurrection, our lives don¡¯t make sense?
If we took out the resurrection, would
anything change in our lives?
That¡¯s what I see in Paul.
He himself points out, why am I living like this if I didn¡¯t believe in
the resurrection? If you take out
the resurrection, my whole life is complete foolishness!
These might be good discussion questions,
spouses, small groups. More than
just talking about movies and restaurants, maybe we can help sharpen our focus
and strengthen our faith.
Let me give you two implications we see in Paul¡¯s life:
Are we ready to suffer for Christ? Are we ready to die for Christ?
We might recall, that is one of the definitions Christ Himself
gives of his followers: His followers take up their crosses (ready to die) and
follow Christ.
Are we spending our lives to help people
both for the present life, but even more importantly, for the life to come?
It was Paul¡¯s passion to spread the gospel. That¡¯s why he was so ready to die, to
spread the gospel.
As I asked these questions of myself, I¡¯ve been challenged. Do I really live like I¡¯m living for the
future resurrection, or do I live like everybody else?
Some Christians expect too much from heaven and too little from
this life.
They don¡¯t appreciate that we already have the power over sin, the
presence of the HS, the assurance of love and forgiveness. They think what Christ has provided for
them is all future.
Other Christians expect too much from this life and too little
from heaven.
They think of Christianity as blessings for today: Christ empowers me, guides me, loves me,
transforms me today, but they don¡¯t look forward to what is yet to come. They think what Christ has provided for
them is mostly for the present life.
The Good News is that in Christ we have
tremendous blessings and benefits both now and tomorrow, for this life and the
life to come.
The Corinthians were in the second
camp. They thought they had already
received the benefits of Christ¡¯s work and they didn¡¯t look forward to what was
yet to come. Paul is emphasizing
the ¡°what is yet to come¡± and the power of embracing that future.
Let me suggest that we (I) are like the
Corinthians in that our Christianity is mainly focused on this life. Jesus can help us with our present
guilt, fears, scars; Jesus can comfort, guide, empower
us. And yes, that¡¯s wonderfully
true.
But perhaps we deprive ourselves of the
power of hope, looking forward.
Hebrews 11, the great chapter on faith, describes the power of looking
to the future, and how looking to the future was the
faith that empowered the saints of old and the faith that pleased God.
Sometimes it¡¯s good to talk with older Christians, like 70 or 80
years old, people who¡¯ve been living for Jesus longer than we¡¯ve been alive. They¡¯re looking forward to glory. They¡¯re thinking more about the life to
come than life here and now. ¡°I
just want to go home.¡± We¡¯re going
to go home!
The resurrection tells us to look forward to what is ahead.
Keep Your Fork... the Best is Yet to Come
There was a woman who had been diagnosed
with a terminal illness and had been given three months to live. So as she was
getting her things "in order," she contacted her pastor and had him
come to her house to discuss certain aspects of her final wishes. She told him
which songs she wanted sung at the service, what scriptures she would like
read, and what outfit she wanted to be buried in. The woman also requested to
be buried with her favorite Bible.
Everything was in order and the pastor was
preparing to leave when the woman suddenly remembered something very important
to her. There's one more thing," she said excitedly. "What's
that?" came the pastor's reply. "This is
very important," the woman continued. "I want to be buried with a
fork in my right hand." The pastor stood looking at the woman, not knowing
quite what to say.
"That surprises you, doesn't
it?" the woman asked. "Well, to be honest, I'm puzzled by the
request," said the pastor. The woman explained. "In all my years of
attending church socials and potluck dinners, I always remember that when the
dishes of the main course were being cleared, someone would inevitably lean
over and say, 'Keep your fork.' It was my favorite part because I knew that
something better was coming...like velvety chocolate cake or deep-dish apple
pie. Something wonderful, and with substance! So, I just want people to see me
there in that casket with a fork in my hand and I want them to wonder "What's with the fork?' Then I want you to tell them: "Keep
your fork... the best is yet to come."
The pastor's eyes welled up with tears of
joy as he hugged the woman good-bye. He knew this would be one of the last
times he would see her before her death. But he also knew that the woman had a
better grasp of heaven than he did. She KNEW that something better was coming.
At the funeral people were walking by the
woman's casket and they saw the pretty dress she was wearing and her favorite
Bible and the fork placed in her right hand. Over and over, the pastor heard
the question. "What's with the fork?" And over and over again, he
just smiled.
During his message, the pastor told the
people of the conversation he had with the woman shortly before she died. He
also told them about the fork and about what it symbolized to her. The pastor
told the people how he could not stop thinking about the fork and told them
that they probably would not be able to stop thinking about it either. He was
right.
For Paul, the resurrection of Jesus is
central. It
means, the cross was enough.
There is no more wrath or judgment left. And it means that¡¯s what Paul is living
for. He¡¯s banking his whole life on
this future hope. He encourages us
all, friends, keep your fork . . . the best is yet to come!