SPEAKER_00: I one of my favorite lines, I sought the Lord and he answered me.
SPEAKER_00: Um, the faithfulness of God.
SPEAKER_00: If you're here this morning and you've been seeking the Lord and there's been silence, keep seeking.
SPEAKER_00: Be like David in Psalm 63, who says, Oh God, you are my God.
SPEAKER_00: Earnestly I seek you.
SPEAKER_00: My soul thirsts for you, my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
SPEAKER_00: He will answer.
SPEAKER_00: He is faithful.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: All right, we're continuing our time this morning in our series in 1 Corinthians, and we're going to be looking at 1 Corinthians 15, 12 through 20A.
SPEAKER_00: So just the first half of verse 20.
SPEAKER_00: And few moments, few moments expose what we really believe more than when we're standing or sitting at a funeral.
SPEAKER_00: Because when death is suddenly in front of you, in front of us, the distractions fade, achievements don't really seem to matter.
SPEAKER_00: Politics, you could care less about them.
SPEAKER_00: All the entertainment that you've sought after feels small.
SPEAKER_00: And beneath all the flowers, all the memories, and all the tears, there's only one question that remains.
SPEAKER_00: Whether you've been to a Christian funeral or even a non-Christian funeral, which are really awkward and really difficult to be at, there's one question.
SPEAKER_00: Is there actually hope beyond the grave?
SPEAKER_00: Can death truly be defeated?
SPEAKER_00: Or is this all there is?
SPEAKER_00: I mean, you look at our culture, you look at the world around us, and people are striving for everything in this life.
SPEAKER_00: Because that's what they believe.
SPEAKER_00: And that's exactly where Paul takes us in 1 Corinthians 15, starting in verse 12.
SPEAKER_00: Last week, Pastor Justin led us through the first 11 verses where we looked at the historical reality of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Christ died for our sins, he was buried, he was raised on the third day, and he appeared to many witnesses.
SPEAKER_00: And now Paul presses the issue even further.
SPEAKER_00: Because Christianity does not center itself on good advice or religious tradition or moral improvement.
SPEAKER_00: It centers itself on an empty tomb.
SPEAKER_00: Because if Jesus did not rise from the dead, Christianity actually collapses under its own weight.
SPEAKER_00: Paul says our preaching is empty, our faith is empty, and we are still in our sins.
SPEAKER_00: What a tragedy.
SPEAKER_00: But if he walked out of that grave, then death is not the end.
SPEAKER_00: Hope is alive, history changed, and every single person must respond to him.
SPEAKER_00: Because the resurrection cannot remain a background belief.
SPEAKER_00: If it is true, it changes everything.
SPEAKER_00: Which leads us, and we're going to start with our main idea and work down from that, which is this this morning.
SPEAKER_00: If the resurrection isn't true, nothing holds.
SPEAKER_00: If it is, everything changes.
SPEAKER_00: So in 1 Corinthians 15, Paul takes us straight into that claim: the resurrection of the dead and what happens if you deny it.
SPEAKER_00: So verse 12, we're going to look at our summary of denying our resurrection, denying our resurrection.
SPEAKER_00: So what was happening at this time?
SPEAKER_00: As Paul is writing this letter, he's immediately addressing the question that some of those at Corinth, there in the church, believed that Jesus was raised from the dead.
SPEAKER_00: They did believe that, but they did not agree or believe that there was a future bodily resurrection of the dead.
SPEAKER_00: And why?
SPEAKER_00: Well, at this time in Corinth, they were heavily influenced by the Greco-Roman culture.
SPEAKER_00: That was influencing them.
SPEAKER_00: They were allowing culture to help them understand what they should believe.
SPEAKER_00: And there was a pagan religious view that both Greeks and Romans held to at this time.
SPEAKER_00: They had a problem with the future resurrection of the physical body.
SPEAKER_00: And it was because they believed that matter itself, meaning physical matter, like the human body, was actually evil.
SPEAKER_00: So at death, Greek pagans believed that the human spirit was actually liberated from the body.
SPEAKER_00: They were excited about that.
SPEAKER_00: That was what they looked to and longed for.
SPEAKER_00: The body was seen as a prison and was the reason for all of our bad habits and choices and desires and everything that was wrong with us was because of our physical body.
SPEAKER_00: So as a result, death was seen as this great moment where finally they were freed from the physical body and never had to deal with any problems again.
SPEAKER_00: So why would they want to hold to a belief or this idea where they would one day be physically resurrected and reunited in this prison?
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: That makes sense if you held to that belief.
SPEAKER_00: Because if the physical body was evil, then of course you would deny the physical resurrection.
SPEAKER_00: You're free.
SPEAKER_00: The moment of death was a good thing in your mind.
SPEAKER_00: I think about it like this.
SPEAKER_00: Imagine driving a car that constantly breaks down, right?
SPEAKER_00: You have this car, you've had it for a long time.
SPEAKER_00: When you bought it, it wasn't in great shape, but you just needed something, so you got this car, and you're not a mechanic yourself, so you can't really do much to it.
SPEAKER_00: The AC doesn't work, so you're you're super hot during the summer, the heat doesn't work, you're you're freezing during the winter, the engine makes terrible sounds, you're embarrassed by this car.
SPEAKER_00: You don't dream about restoring this car, do you?
SPEAKER_00: You long for the day to get something new, something better.
SPEAKER_00: That's how the Greeks viewed the body, not something to redeem, but something to escape.
SPEAKER_00: So when Christians started talking about being reunited with their physical body at the resurrection, you can imagine the level of lack of excitement that was actually taking place.
SPEAKER_00: They were more likely thinking, why would I ever want that thing again?
SPEAKER_00: I think it's easy to stand here from a distance and as you think through this or read through this, to think to ourselves, I can't believe these Christians in Corinth would believe this.
SPEAKER_00: But I don't think we are that different from them today.
SPEAKER_00: And I believe we actually fall into a few traps similar to what the Christians in Corinth were falling into here.
SPEAKER_00: The first trap we can fall into is that the spiritual is good, but physical is bad.
SPEAKER_00: And what do I mean by this?
SPEAKER_00: Well, many of us today treat faith as disconnected from the body or the physical world.
SPEAKER_00: So we start to think that heaven is what matters, but not this life.
SPEAKER_00: It's all about the future.
SPEAKER_00: My body doesn't really matter, only my soul.
SPEAKER_00: And you might be thinking that's not me, and you might even verbally and mentally say you believe in the physical resurrection of the dead one day, but it doesn't actually impact how you live today in the present.
SPEAKER_00: Deep down ask yourself if you actually believe that one day you will rise again physically to be with Jesus and the new heavens and the new earth.
SPEAKER_00: Do you actually believe that?
SPEAKER_00: Because our beliefs actually impact our actions and how we live every single day.
SPEAKER_00: Here are some ways you actually believe this.
SPEAKER_00: We neglect physical obedience.
SPEAKER_00: Well, we downplay, what are some of those ways?
SPEAKER_00: We downplay issues like sexual ethics.
SPEAKER_00: We don't really believe that sex outside of the covenant relationship of marriage is that big of a deal.
SPEAKER_00: What about care for our body?
SPEAKER_00: Do you actually take care of your physical body?
SPEAKER_00: Do you get some physical type of movement?
SPEAKER_00: I'm not talking about a specific thing.
SPEAKER_00: You don't have to be locked in in one way, but do you actually get some physical movement, some type of exercise, or do you see it as something you hate?
SPEAKER_00: It's okay if you hate it.
SPEAKER_00: But you should do it.
SPEAKER_00: Treat your body well.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know anyone personally who like is thrilled halfway through a workout, just like, this is the best.
SPEAKER_00: I love this.
SPEAKER_00: Unless they're weird.
SPEAKER_00: Do you examine what you put into your body?
SPEAKER_00: Do you know why we do this?
SPEAKER_00: It's the same reason the Corinthian Christians held these beliefs.
SPEAKER_00: We allow culture to redefine what God's word actually says.
SPEAKER_00: Take the church in Corinth here in this letter.
SPEAKER_00: Do you actually think the Corinthian Christians randomly rejected the resurrection?
SPEAKER_00: No, they allowed Greek philosophy to realign their thoughts and redefine their beliefs.
SPEAKER_00: Think about it like this: it's like taking a document and editing it until it says what you want it to say.
SPEAKER_00: You don't delete the whole thing, you just tweak the parts that feel uncomfortable.
SPEAKER_00: I don't really like that.
SPEAKER_00: Thomas Jefferson, he was known to do that with the New Testament.
SPEAKER_00: He just ripped pages out that he didn't like.
SPEAKER_00: That's what was exactly happening here in Corinth.
SPEAKER_00: They didn't reject Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: They just edited out the resurrection of the body.
SPEAKER_00: And the truth is we do the exact same thing all the time.
SPEAKER_00: Now, maybe it's not Greek philosophy that we allow to shape us, but the culture around us to shape us more than the actual word of God.
SPEAKER_00: Or maybe we allow our feelings to shape what we believe.
SPEAKER_00: For the Corinthian church here, it was Greek philosophy, and I wonder what Greek philosophies we allow to shape us as well.
SPEAKER_00: What are some of those Greek philosophies of our day?
SPEAKER_00: Well, materialism.
SPEAKER_00: We uh only what can be measured is real.
SPEAKER_00: If something can't be scientifically verified, it's treated as irrational or unimportant.
SPEAKER_00: This can flatten Christianity into moralism and self-help while making the supernatural feel embarrassing or secondary.
SPEAKER_00: Miracles, spiritual warfare, resurrection, providence, and even prayer start to feel symbolic instead of real.
SPEAKER_00: It doesn't really matter.
SPEAKER_00: I don't need those things.
SPEAKER_00: What about individualism?
SPEAKER_00: Truth is personal, right?
SPEAKER_00: Rampant in our culture.
SPEAKER_00: The highest authority becomes the self, my own self, rather than God.
SPEAKER_00: My truth replaces objective truth.
SPEAKER_00: That's what you believe.
SPEAKER_00: Well, that's just your interpretation.
SPEAKER_00: How do you know that's real?
SPEAKER_00: Doctrine becomes negotiable because authenticity is valued more than submission.
SPEAKER_00: Instead of making, asking the question, is this biblical?
SPEAKER_00: We ask, does this resonate with me?
SPEAKER_00: I don't like it.
SPEAKER_00: It doesn't make me feel good.
SPEAKER_00: Comfort first living, we avoid suffering at all cost.
SPEAKER_00: Our culture treats discomfort as something to eliminate immediately.
SPEAKER_00: But scripture repeatedly teaches that suffering is often one of God's primary tools for sanctification, to grow you, to become more and more like Christ.
SPEAKER_00: But when comfort becomes ultimate, doctrines like self-denial, perseverance, discipline, sacrifice, and carrying your cross feels extreme or unhealthy.
SPEAKER_00: I can't do it.
SPEAKER_00: We start expecting Christianity to make life easier rather than holier.
SPEAKER_00: What about therapeutic moralism?
SPEAKER_00: The purpose of God is to make me feel whole.
SPEAKER_00: Sin becomes reframed primarily as emotional brokenness rather than of rebellion against a holy God.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus becomes more of a life coach and therapist than a savior and king.
SPEAKER_00: Repentance gets replaced with self-acceptance.
SPEAKER_00: The goal of faith suddenly shifts from holiness to emotional wellness.
SPEAKER_00: So as a result, we allow these cultural beliefs to reshape what we believe about God or what the Bible actually says.
SPEAKER_00: And we can be tempted to reshape doctrine instead of being reshaped by doctrine.
SPEAKER_00: And this is exactly what the Corinthians did.
SPEAKER_00: They didn't outright reject Jesus, they didn't reject spirituality, they simply allowed the surrounding worldview to redefine a key doctrine.
SPEAKER_00: They let culture reshape the resurrection.
SPEAKER_00: And we do the exact same thing.
SPEAKER_00: We often let our culture reshape what feels believable, comfortable, or even reasonable about Christianity.
SPEAKER_00: So the question is, are you more influenced by what feels natural or logical?
SPEAKER_00: Or are you more influenced by what the Bible clearly and actually teaches?
SPEAKER_00: This is the exact tension that the Apostle Paul is addressing here in his letter to Corinth, and it's still alive today.
SPEAKER_00: And why is this so important?
SPEAKER_00: Because when we allow culture to reshape our beliefs instead of the Word of God, we risk denying our physical bodily resurrection, just like the church in Corinth.
SPEAKER_00: And why is that a problem?
SPEAKER_00: Because denying the resurrection isn't just adjusting one belief, it sets off a chain reaction.
SPEAKER_00: It's like pulling a thread on a shirt and it starts to unravel.
SPEAKER_00: When you pull that thread, the whole gospel begins to change.
SPEAKER_00: And that's exactly where Paul takes us next.
SPEAKER_00: He doesn't just say they're wrong, he shows them this, how they're wrong, and then where it will lead in verses 13 through 19.
SPEAKER_00: And this is what we see in our summary of verses 13 through 19 with the problems of denying our resurrection.
SPEAKER_00: Now, in verses 13 through 19, Paul doesn't just give us random problems here.
SPEAKER_00: He lays out this chain reaction.
SPEAKER_00: If our future resurrection is denied, this is the outcome, one implication after another, until nothing is left standing.
SPEAKER_00: And this confronts a dangerous assumption we often make that some doctrines really matter while others we can afford to get wrong.
SPEAKER_00: That's not that big a deal.
SPEAKER_00: As long as we believe this, then it's okay to kind of that's not that big a deal over there.
SPEAKER_00: But the truth is, theology is not a set of isolated beliefs, it's a unified whole.
SPEAKER_00: And when you remove one place, what will eventually happen is everything else will unravel around it.
SPEAKER_00: How many of you have ever played the game Jenga?
SPEAKER_00: For those of you who are competitive, you understand right now, you're like, oh man, that's a stressful game.
SPEAKER_00: You have this tower built up, but some of you are like, I have no idea what Jenga is.
SPEAKER_00: I'm like, what?
SPEAKER_00: Now they have like massive ones that you can play that are huge.
SPEAKER_00: But you have this tower that's built up and made of multiple blocks, and one by one you go around to everyone playing, and they have to take one block out.
SPEAKER_00: Originally started somewhere like this big, it was real little.
SPEAKER_00: And it's on a table and you're sitting there and you're pulling out a block, and the goal is that the whole tower, you don't want it to fall when it's your turn.
SPEAKER_00: You want it to fall when it's someone else's turn, because then you win, they lose.
SPEAKER_00: At first it's awesome, right?
SPEAKER_00: You're just, I'll take one from the top, nothing.
SPEAKER_00: And you have always that one person halfway through that's like risky, they're like, I'm gonna go towards the bottom.
SPEAKER_00: You're like, oh yeah, they're gonna, and then it stands, you're like, dang it, now it's my turn.
SPEAKER_00: And every block that comes out, the structure gets more unstable.
SPEAKER_00: And if it falls, you lose.
SPEAKER_00: So every time it comes back around you, the pressure begins to build.
SPEAKER_00: And every block that's removed doesn't just disappear in isolation, it brings the whole strect the whole structure one step closer to collapse.
SPEAKER_00: And that's exactly what Paul is doing here.
SPEAKER_00: He's showing us that if you pull out the resurrection from that tower of theology, you don't just lose one doctrine, you start losing everything it holds up.
SPEAKER_00: So, how does Paul help us understand how denying our physical resurrection in the future leads us to that chain reaction now?
SPEAKER_00: Which shows us, I think, these this chain reaction in three different ways.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 13, how it undermines Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Verses 14 through 17, we'll get to these in a minute, but it empties the gospel of Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: In verses 18 through 19, it destroys all hope.
SPEAKER_00: So let's look at verse 13 and how it undermines Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: What does Paul say in verse 13?
SPEAKER_00: But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised.
SPEAKER_00: If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised.
SPEAKER_00: So Paul starts at the center of it all with Jesus Christ himself.
SPEAKER_00: You can't say, I believe in Jesus' resurrection, but not ours.
SPEAKER_00: Paul says it doesn't work like that.
SPEAKER_00: If if the resurrection isn't real, then Christ isn't raised either.
SPEAKER_00: And if Christ isn't raised, everything we're doing right now is empty.
SPEAKER_00: Verses 14 through 17, listen to what he says.
SPEAKER_00: It empties the gospel of Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain, and your faith is in vain.
SPEAKER_00: 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 not, if it is true that the dead are not raised.
SPEAKER_00: For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised.
SPEAKER_00: And if and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.
SPEAKER_00: That's pretty tragic.
SPEAKER_00: Paul shows us a logical flow of denying our resurrection, and notice where he starts.
SPEAKER_00: He starts with Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: If the resurrection is denied, it doesn't just impact the future, it comes all the way back to Jesus Himself.
SPEAKER_00: Then he shows us how it empties the gospel of Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: The chain reaction begins.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 14.
SPEAKER_00: And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, and your faith is in vain.
SPEAKER_00: That means everything you're doing right now, every sermon you listen to, every sermon the pastors here preach, every proclamation of the gospel is built on nothing.
SPEAKER_00: It sounds meaningful, it may even feel powerful, but at its core it actually becomes empty.
SPEAKER_00: And it's not just preaching, Paul says.
SPEAKER_00: If there is no resurrection of the dead, then Jesus did not rise again either.
SPEAKER_00: And if that's a case, then your faith is empty too.
SPEAKER_00: That means what you're trusting in, what you're building your life on.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, think about the multiplied joy.
SPEAKER_00: This whole situation, nothing.
SPEAKER_00: What you're anchoring your hope to, it has no substance to hold you.
SPEAKER_00: Every storm that hits you, it's just gonna rock your world because it doesn't matter.
SPEAKER_00: You might be sitting there right now thinking, well, that's not good.
SPEAKER_00: You're right.
SPEAKER_00: That wouldn't be good.
SPEAKER_00: That's what Paul is trying to get our attention here this morning.
SPEAKER_00: And and Paul is only just getting started.
SPEAKER_00: It actually gets worse.
SPEAKER_00: Listen to verse 15.
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: It's if it's not just empty, it's it's actually false.
SPEAKER_00: We are misrepresenting God.
SPEAKER_00: We are standing in his name claiming he did something he didn't actually do.
SPEAKER_00: We are liars.
SPEAKER_00: We're not just mistaken, we're lying about God Himself.
SPEAKER_00: And then Paul brings it to the most personal place possible.
SPEAKER_00: Listen to verse 17.
SPEAKER_00: And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.
SPEAKER_00: Let that sit for a moment.
SPEAKER_00: No justification, meaning you are no longer declared righteous before God.
SPEAKER_00: Meaning you are working for this.
SPEAKER_00: It's not based on Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Now it's based on what you do, and guess what?
SPEAKER_00: You can't do enough.
SPEAKER_00: Every moment, every day, you are struggling and you are striving then to do this all on your own.
SPEAKER_00: There's no reconciliation with God, meaning, guess what?
SPEAKER_00: You are still his enemy.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know if you've read through the Bible, but look what God does to his enemies.
SPEAKER_00: Every sin you've ever committed, past, present, and future, still stands against you.
SPEAKER_00: The guilt is still there, the shame is still there.
SPEAKER_00: The separation between you and God is still there.
SPEAKER_00: That curtain was never torn.
SPEAKER_00: You don't get access to God.
SPEAKER_00: Your prayers are empty because you can't get them to God, because Jesus didn't rise.
SPEAKER_00: Judgment is still coming, and if you have to stand before God on your own, apart from Jesus Christ, what does that make you?
SPEAKER_00: Well, not neutral, an enemy of God.
SPEAKER_00: There's no appealing to God in that moment.
SPEAKER_00: Well, God, I did all these things.
SPEAKER_00: I think we read that in the New Testament.
SPEAKER_00: Lord, Lord, look what all we did for you, depart from me, for I never knew you.
SPEAKER_00: Have you ever stopped to think about what happens to the enemies of God?
SPEAKER_00: Listen to what John, who wrote the Gospel of John, also wrote in Revelation 20, verses 11 through 5.
SPEAKER_00: Then I saw a great white throne in him who was seated on it.
SPEAKER_00: From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them.
SPEAKER_00: And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened.
SPEAKER_00: Then another book was opened, which is the book of life.
SPEAKER_00: And the dead were judged by what was written in the books according to what they had done.
SPEAKER_00: And the sea gave up the dead who were in it.
SPEAKER_00: Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them according to what they had done.
SPEAKER_00: Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire.
SPEAKER_00: This is the second death, the lake of fire.
SPEAKER_00: And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
SPEAKER_00: And that's what the Apostle Paul is trying to help us understand that this is where this leads.
SPEAKER_00: But it doesn't stop there.
SPEAKER_00: Because if we deny our future physical bodily resurrection, Paul continues on down the chain reaction in verses 18 through 19, where we see how denying our resurrection destroys all hope.
SPEAKER_00: Denying our resurrection destroys all hope.
SPEAKER_00: Listen to what he says in verses 18 through 19.
SPEAKER_00: Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.
SPEAKER_00: If in Christ we have hope, in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.
SPEAKER_00: Now Paul takes us even further.
SPEAKER_00: He says, Those who have already died in Christ, they're gone.
SPEAKER_00: Done.
SPEAKER_00: All those Christian funerals you've been to, where you say, Well, one day I'll see them again.
SPEAKER_00: Doesn't matter.
SPEAKER_00: You know how the Bible talks about we mourn as those who have hope?
SPEAKER_00: No, you don't.
SPEAKER_00: It says, those who have already died in Christ, they're gone.
SPEAKER_00: Just gone.
SPEAKER_00: They are not currently with Christ in heaven.
SPEAKER_00: There won't be a new heaven and a new earth.
SPEAKER_00: And if that's true, then Christians of all people are most to be pitied.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because you've spent your life living a false claim.
SPEAKER_00: You've done all these things.
SPEAKER_00: For what?
SPEAKER_00: Nothing.
SPEAKER_00: It doesn't matter.
SPEAKER_00: You should be pitied.
SPEAKER_00: It's terrible.
SPEAKER_00: When Paul says Christians would be most to be pitied, he's saying, if this isn't true, then Christians are admirable, they're tragic, they're not respected, but misled.
SPEAKER_00: They're not wise, but foolish.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because if our future resurrection isn't real, then we've structured our entire lives around something that isn't real.
SPEAKER_00: Think about the weight of that.
SPEAKER_00: Every sacrifice you've made because of your faith in Jesus Christ, every time you've said no to sin, every time you've chosen obedience when it was costly, it wasn't leading anywhere and it was pointless.
SPEAKER_00: Every moment you choose to obey God's word when it went against what you wanted, every act of faithfulness that cost you something in this life, it was pointless.
SPEAKER_00: And every time you suffered and held on to hope, every season where you said, God is still good, I will trust him through this, it wasn't building toward anything.
SPEAKER_00: It was all for nothing.
SPEAKER_00: Every time you sacrificially give a sacred mission, it was pointless.
SPEAKER_00: Think about the weight of that.
SPEAKER_00: The prayers you've made, the endurance you've gone through, the quiet obedience that no one has seen, the hope you've clung to when life doesn't make sense, all of it stripped of meaning.
SPEAKER_00: Because if we won't be raised from the dead in the future, then Christ wasn't raised, and none of this is going anywhere.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, have you ever tried to just wrap your mind around what if there was nothing after this?
SPEAKER_00: Like, give me all the drugs, give me all the alcohol, give me all the other things, and let me live and enjoy life now because there's no point after this.
SPEAKER_00: Like it makes sense when I hear like the tragedies of suicide or drug overdoses, or and I'm not talking about like the tragic, like terrible situations of like uh well, they're all tragic, they're all terrible.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not talking about like the people stuck in poverty and things like that.
SPEAKER_00: I'm talking about the people who have everything in the world and they overdose or they commit suicide and you're going, but they had it all.
SPEAKER_00: This is why, because there's nothing in the future for them in their minds.
SPEAKER_00: They've not heard the gospel of Jesus Christ, they haven't been resurrected out of death into new life.
SPEAKER_00: So if we were to zoom out for a moment and we were to look at the whole chain reaction of what Paul is trying to do, just as a quick kind of run through, this is what it would look like.
SPEAKER_00: If our resurrection isn't true, Christ isn't raised.
SPEAKER_00: If Christ isn't raised, the gospel is empty.
SPEAKER_00: If the gospel is empty, your faith is useless.
SPEAKER_00: If your faith is useless, you're still in your sins.
SPEAKER_00: And if you're still in your sins, there is no hope now or after death.
SPEAKER_00: Do you see what Paul is doing?
SPEAKER_00: He's not just correcting the theological mistake, he's showing that if you remove our future resurrection, you don't just weaken Christianity, you erase it.
SPEAKER_00: And we actually understand this kind of logic in everyday life in our own situations.
SPEAKER_00: Think about a building when it's declared unstable or unsafe.
SPEAKER_00: When it can no longer stand, they don't just close the doors and walk away.
SPEAKER_00: They clear the area and they demolish it.
SPEAKER_00: They crush it.
SPEAKER_00: Because once something is proven unstable, it cannot stay.
SPEAKER_00: That building then becomes a distant memory that no longer matters.
SPEAKER_00: And this is what Paul is trying to help us understand in 1 Corinthians 15.
SPEAKER_00: If our future resurrection is not real, then Christianity becomes a memory that has no relevance to our lives today.
SPEAKER_00: But thankfully, Paul doesn't end his letter to the church at Corinth in verse 19.
SPEAKER_00: Thankfully, it's not like 1 Corinthians 15 goes up to 19 and then he's like, we'll see you guys later.
SPEAKER_00: He leads us to verse 20a, where we see the guarantee of our resurrection.
SPEAKER_00: Listen to what he says.
SPEAKER_00: But, in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead.
SPEAKER_00: But I love how theologian and commentator David Pryor talks about the butt here in verse 20.
SPEAKER_00: In his commentary, he literally said, This butt must rank with the great butts of the Bible.
SPEAKER_00: I told that to my wife, Chelsea, and she said, be careful with that one.
SPEAKER_00: For example, here are some other great places we see, especially in the New Testament, where but is huge.
SPEAKER_00: Listen to Romans 3, 20 through 21, also the Apostle Paul.
SPEAKER_00: He says this, for by works of the law, no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.
SPEAKER_00: But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the law and the prophets bear witness to it.
SPEAKER_00: Paul uses the but here in Romans 3.20 to help people understand that now righteousness is not through the law and works, but through faith in Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Earlier in 1 Corinthians in chapter 6, Paul also says in verses 9 through 11, or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God?
SPEAKER_00: Do not be deceived, neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God, and such were some of you, but you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
SPEAKER_00: Paul goes through this long list of unrighteous acts and says, Such were some of you, but you were washed, sanctified, and justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: What about the Apostle Paul?
SPEAKER_00: He loves to do this.
SPEAKER_00: Ephesians 2, 1 through 5.
SPEAKER_00: And you were dead in the trespasses and sins, not just like asleep, dead in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work and the sons of disobedience, among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the flesh and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath like the rest of mankind, but God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses.
SPEAKER_00: It's all about God.
SPEAKER_00: You were dead, but God, our rescue was never going to come from ourselves because we were dead in the grave.
SPEAKER_00: Like out.
SPEAKER_00: There's no hope.
SPEAKER_00: You cannot raise yourself, but God steps in.
SPEAKER_00: And when we come back to 1 Corinthians 15, 20, what do we see?
SPEAKER_00: But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead.
SPEAKER_00: Not symbolically, not metaphorically, not merely spiritually alive in our memories.
SPEAKER_00: The tomb was empty, death was defeated.
SPEAKER_00: Christ walked out of the grave in a resurrected physical body where people literally touched the holes in his hands.
SPEAKER_00: And Paul says this changes everything.
SPEAKER_00: Because Christianity is not built on moral ideas alone, it's built on a historical event.
SPEAKER_00: If Christ is still dead, then sin still reigns, death still wins, and our hope collapses.
SPEAKER_00: But if Christ has truly been raised, then death is no longer the end of the story for those who belong to him.
SPEAKER_00: Because he was raised, you also will be.
SPEAKER_00: His resurrection is not only proof of his victory, it's the promise of yours.
SPEAKER_00: The resurrection of Christ means your sin has truly been paid for completely.
SPEAKER_00: Like you don't have to work for it.
SPEAKER_00: And that goes for your future sins as well.
SPEAKER_00: You stand before God justified, meaning you are legally declared righteous.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, imagine if you murdered a bunch of people.
SPEAKER_00: I'm talking about right now.
SPEAKER_00: You went on, you murdered a bunch of people, you're standing before the court, you're up against like 10 life sentences, there is no hope.
SPEAKER_00: The death penalty, all of it.
SPEAKER_00: You stand before this judge, and the judge says, innocent.
SPEAKER_00: You are legally declared free.
SPEAKER_00: That's the gospel.
SPEAKER_00: Death has truly been conquered.
SPEAKER_00: Satan's accusations no longer have the final word.
SPEAKER_00: Your future is not the grave but glory.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, think about that for a moment.
SPEAKER_00: Whenever we feel anxiety or stress, it's because we we have lost our faith in God.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not talking about we've lost our salvation, but we've forgotten our faith in God and how He's been faithful.
SPEAKER_00: God has been just ravaging me with that lately over the past few months, just trying to free me of that.
SPEAKER_00: And I have to continually go back to how faithful God has been.
SPEAKER_00: He's never let me down, he's never left me, he's never abandoned me.
SPEAKER_00: I can go back and recount all sorts of ways how God has been faithful over and over and over again, but in the moment I forget.
SPEAKER_00: It drives me to anxiety.
SPEAKER_00: But when we come back to the empty grave, this is why Christian hope is so different from vague optimism or positive thinking.
SPEAKER_00: Our hope is actually anchored in a risen Savior.
SPEAKER_00: The resurrection of Jesus Christ tells the believer, your body matters, your suffering is temporary, your labor is not in vain, and the grave is not your final home.
SPEAKER_00: The world says death is natural and final.
SPEAKER_00: The gospel says death is an enemy that Christ has defeated.
SPEAKER_00: And because Jesus walked out of the tomb, every believer united to him will one day do the same.
SPEAKER_00: So the resurrection is not just something Christians celebrate once a year.
SPEAKER_00: It's the foundation underneath every promise God has made.
SPEAKER_00: When fear comes in, look to the resurrection.
SPEAKER_00: When grief hits you hard, look to the resurrection.
SPEAKER_00: When our bodies begin to fail, look to our future resurrection.
SPEAKER_00: Because the risen Christ guarantees a coming resurrection for his people.
SPEAKER_00: This is why for centuries Christians have confessed in the Nicene Creed, we look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Notice the creed does not merely say we look for heaven or we look for spiritual peace.
SPEAKER_00: It says we look for the resurrection of the dead.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because Christianity is not ultimately about escaping the physical world.
SPEAKER_00: It is about Christ redeeming and restoring all things.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus did not rise as a spirit, he rose bodily.
SPEAKER_00: And because believers are united to him, we too await a bodily resurrection.
SPEAKER_00: The Christian hope is not death winning, souls floating endlessly, or this world being discarded forever.
SPEAKER_00: The Christian hope is resurrection, which brings a renewed creation, glorified bodies, sin gone forever, death swallowed up in victory, life with Christ in the world to come and church, that changes how we actually live today.
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes as Christians, we we just focus on the past.
SPEAKER_00: But we don't look to the future, we don't look to right now.
SPEAKER_00: Because if the resurrection is true, then suffering is not the end of your story.
SPEAKER_00: Cancer is not the end.
SPEAKER_00: Grief is not the end.
SPEAKER_00: Your chronic pain is not the end.
SPEAKER_00: Your aging body is not the end.
SPEAKER_00: The funeral will not have the final word, and neither will your sin.
SPEAKER_00: The battle you keep fighting, the temptation you are weary of resisting, the brokenness you see in yourself, it will not last forever.
SPEAKER_00: Christ is making all things new.
SPEAKER_00: And this is why Paul can say with such confidence, but in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead.
SPEAKER_00: Because his resurrection guarantees ours.
SPEAKER_00: And that means this world is not meaningless.
SPEAKER_00: History is going somewhere.
SPEAKER_00: Christ is reigning and he will finish what he started.
SPEAKER_00: So, what does that mean for us today?
SPEAKER_00: It means we stand firm in the gospel.
SPEAKER_00: Every morning we should remind ourselves of how good God is that he willingly gave up his son, Jesus Christ, so that you and I could be forgiven, redeemed, and made alive in him.
SPEAKER_00: And when we allowed ourselves to sit in that truth, that truth will begin to grip our heart.
SPEAKER_00: It will change how we live, it will change what we believe, it will change how we strive for what we do every single day.
SPEAKER_00: It gives us strength to put sin to death because the fleeting pleasure of whatever you long for outside of Christ is never worth it.
SPEAKER_00: If I could ask every single one of you, hey, when you gave in to that temptation, was it worth it?
SPEAKER_00: I guarantee you, you will say no.
SPEAKER_00: Sin always sells the same lie.
SPEAKER_00: This will satisfy you.
SPEAKER_00: This is gonna make you happy.
SPEAKER_00: This will be worth it.
SPEAKER_00: But it never is.
SPEAKER_00: And because Christ is risen and because our future resurrection is secure in him, we can live differently now.
SPEAKER_00: We can love our neighbors better, we can be more generous, we can serve the church when we're tired, we can forgive when it's hard, we can raise our children faithfully, which is hard.
SPEAKER_00: We can proclaim the gospel boldly, and we can keep following Christ even when obedience is costly.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because in the risen Christ, none of it is in vain.
SPEAKER_00: Your labor is not in vain, your faithfulness is not in vain, your suffering is not in vain.
SPEAKER_00: He lives, and because he lives, you will do.