1 Corinthians 15:35-58, Called to Anticipate
Theological Proposition/Focus: God is the God of life and hence the God of the resurrection.
Homiletical Proposition/Application: We should live in anticipation of the resurrection. Even though we cannot fully comprehend resurrection we have confidence because our Savior has gone before us and has promised that we will be transformed and resurrection is just the beginning.
Introduction:
Image: What is it you anticipate?
How I felt the night before we left for Africa.
Text: 1 Corinthians 15:35-58
Setting the Stage:
In First Corinthians 14 Paul concluded his discussion of proper order in worship and in chapter 15 he dives into the theology of the resurrection of Christ.
1 Corinthians 15:1-11 is a reminder that the resurrection is central to the Gospel.
1 Corinthians 15: 12-34 is a reminder that the resurrection is central to our hope.
And 1 Corinthians 15:35-58 is a reminder that the resurrection is worth our anticipation.
Need: We need to live a life in anticipation of the resurrection.
Preview: We should live in anticipation of the resurrection. Even though we cannot fully comprehend resurrection we have confidence because our Savior has gone before us and has promised that we will be transformed and resurrection is just the beginning.
Body
Anticipating our resurrection requires that we accept a future we cannot fully comprehend (35-44).
The resurrection naturally leads many to a foolish question, "how?" (35).
The simple answer is "God does it" but some metaphors help to explain (36-41).
We cannot really understand but should accept that our resurrection body will be imperishable, glorious, powerful, and spiritual (42-44).
Image: The phrase you don't know what you don't know.
When I was in graduate school working on my PhD I remember one of my brother's friends upon finishing calculus his senior year of high school stating. something like "well that all made sense to me, I think I fully understand math, there really isn't anything else that I could learn." I just laughed. The reality is that you don't know what you don't know and I quickly realized that the more I learned the less I knew.
When it comes to resurrection we cannot comprehend because everything that we know or experience seems to have an expiration date. We are bound by the knowledge that we have gained in our experience and that experience is finite so we cannot fully comprehend resurrection.
