1 Corinthians 15:12-34, Called to Hope
Theological Proposition/Focus: Resurrection is real.
Homiletical Proposition/Application: Make sure that your life here and now reflect the reality of our future resurrection.
Introduction:
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Preview: Today we are going to see that without the resurrection we have no future, but the resurrection is real and marks the beginning of the culmination of God's plan therefore, life here and now should be lived in light of the resurrection.
Text: 1 Corinthians 15:12-34 read following each main point
Setting the Stage:
Body
Without the resurrection we have no future (12-19).
The Gospel of Christ demands resurrection (12-13).
In order to understand verses 1213 we must do a little of what is commonly called mirror reading. That is we look at the text, see that there was something Paul disapproved of and try to use his arguments to better understand what that something was. Theologians have pieced together six possible issues that the Corinthians might have wrestled with and while all of these issues are nuanced differences they really come down to one simple issue. It seems like some in Corinth had rejected the future bodily resurrection.
The problem, the Gospel does not allow for this rejection. You see, Christ was fully man. We don't need to get into all the details of the hypostatic union, but a few details are helpful.
The hypostatic union is a theological term used in Christianity to describe the union of Christ's humanity and divinity in one individual existence. This doctrine asserts that Jesus Christ is both fully God and fully man, possessing two distinct natures that coexist within a single person.
Key to our understanding is the fact that Jesus possesses two natures:
Divine Nature: Jesus is fully divine, sharing in the same essence as God the Father and God the Holy Spirit. This includes attributes such as omnipotence, omniscience, and eternality.
Human Nature: Jesus is fully human, experiencing all aspects of humanity, including birth, growth, emotions, and death. He possesses a human body and soul.
But these two natures exist within one person:
Despite having two natures, Jesus is one person. The divine and human natures are united in the person of Jesus Christ without mixing, changing, or dividing.
Several key passages give us out biblical basis
John 1:1, 14: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God... The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us."
Philippians 2:6-7: "Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness."
Colossians 2:9: "For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form."
In short, Jesus is fully man and fully God which means when he died he really truly died.
This means that without resurrection Jesus would still be dead.
Our faith depends on resurrection (14-15).
Since the Gospel is the message of the death of Jesus atoning for sin and his resurrection we need the resurrection.
Consider this
The resurrection validated Jesus's claims
- The resurrection confirms Jesus as the Son of God. Romans 1:4 states that Jesus was "declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead."
- The resurrection fulfills Old Testament prophecies about the Messiah. For example, Psalm 16:10 foretells, "You will not abandon me to the realm of the dead, nor will you let your faithful one see decay."
The resurrection proved Jesus had conquered sin and assured our justification
- The resurrection signifies that Jesus' sacrifice was sufficient and accepted by God, breaking the power of sin. Romans 4:25 says, "He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification."
- Jesus' resurrection is a divine endorsement of his atoning work on the cross. It assures believers that they are justified before God. Romans 4:25 links the resurrection with our justification.
The ressurection gives us hope for Christian living
- The resurrection empowers believers to live a new life. Romans 6:4 states, "We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life."
Hope is based on resurrection (16-19).
- The resurrection assures believers of their own future resurrection and eternal life. Jesus’ resurrection is the "firstfruits" of those who have fallen asleep (1 Corinthians 15:20).
We need to realize that so much is wrapped up on the resurrection.
Image: The Chinese phrase "I have no future."
When we were in China we enjoyed playing a lot of games with Chinese college students but one phrase stuck out to us "I have no future"
The phrase "I have no future" (没有未来, méiyǒu wèilái) in Chinese culture, when used in the context of making a mistake, can be understood as a form of self-deprecation or expressing disappointment in oneself. This expression may reflect a momentary feeling of hopelessness or frustration, but it's typically not meant to be taken literally. Nevertheless the phrase is significant because it reminds us that there is a future and that future matters. We do have a future, not because we have lived perfect lives but because we have a savior who already defeated death.
MTR: Evaluate your life, are you living as if there is a future resurrection?
How?
How do you invest your time, resources, money?
But the resurrection is real and marks the beginning of the culmination of God's plan (20-28).
Resurrection begins with Jesus (20).
Death started through Adam but ends through Christ (21-22).
The resurrection enables participation in God's culminating plan (23-28).
Image: Kids missing out.
One of the hardest things for most kids is to feel like they are going to miss out on the culmination of an event.
MTR: Take some time to remind yourself that this is all real.
Therefore, life here and now should be lived in light of the resurrection (29-34).
Even our misunderstandings often reveal that we accept the reality of resurrection (29)
Because of the resurrection we can live boldly for Christ (30-32).
Resurrection life is life lived with the earnest hope, expectation, of an eternal future (33-34).
Image: Lessons learned from the reset and save button on Zelda
I love playing Zelda, especially because I can save my work. I can take risks with my character knowing that the consequences are minor. We should never be dumb, but living in life of the resurrection means we can take some risk for our Savior.
