2 Corinthians 4:14–15
14… He who raised up the Lord Jesus will also raise us up with Jesus, and will present us with you. 15For all things are for your sakes, that grace, having spread through the many, may cause thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God.
As we continue celebrating the season of Eastertide, it is fitting to meditate deeply on the significance of Jesus’ resurrection. In our passage today, Paul repeats one of his frequent maxims: He who raised up the Lord Jesus will also raise us up with Jesus… The resurrection of the dead is our hope – not that we will die and be spirits in the sky; not that we will perish and lose all consciousness; but that even as Jesus rose from the dead, we too shall rise. In Paul’s words to the Philippians, Jesus will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body… (Phil 3:21). This mortal body shall become immortal; this corruptible body shall become incorruptible; this weak body shall become strong. Glory be to God!
What this means is that the resurrection is the consummation of all world history. History is inexorably moving to the day when Christ shall return again in glory to judge the living and the dead; inexorably moving to the day when the dead shall arise from their graves – those who have done good through faith in Jesus Christ to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil by ignoring or rebelling against God to the resurrection of death (Jn 5). Creation itself is awaiting this same day. For when we rise from the dead, when our bodies are made new, all creation will share in our glorification. Even as all creation was plunged into death and decay through the rebellion of our first father Adam, so all creation will be renewed into life and glory through the obedience of the last Adam, Jesus the Christ (Rom 8).
And what this means, therefore, for all those in Christ, is that all creation is ours. This is our Father’s world. He has given it to His Son. And He has made us joint-heirs with Christ. We shall inherit all things. The sun, moon, stars, and planets are ours; the oceans, seas, lakes, rivers, and streams are ours; the mountains and plains are ours; the forests, grasslands, and deserts are ours; all creation is ours. “Blessed are the meek,” our Lord Jesus declares, “for they shall inherit the earth” (Mt 5:5). We are heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ (Rom 8:17). All things are ours since Christ has risen from the dead, we too shall rise, and all creation with us. It is this hope that lies behind Paul’s words in our text today. Listen again:
… He who raised up the Lord Jesus will also raise us up with Jesus, and will present us with you. For all things are for your sakes, that grace, having spread through the many, may cause thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God.
All things are for your sakes – all things: birds, beasts, fruit trees and all cedars, the honey bee and the crocus, the lily and the rose. All things.
Now if this is true – and through Christ’s resurrection it is – what kind of people ought we to be? A thankful people. “For all things are for your sakes, that grace, having spread through the many, may cause thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God.” God has made us heir of all things. So need we envy the gifts that God has given to others? Need we grasp or steal the things that others possess? No. In God’s time and in God’s way, all things shall be ours. Therefore, we can be content, content to trust God and His promises, content to wait upon the Lord. And because His promises are reliable, we can be thankful while we wait. We may not have much now, but God will provide abundantly more than we can ask or think. In other words, Jesus rose from the dead in order that we might escape envy and abound in thanksgiving to the glory of God.
So reminded that, through the resurrection of Jesus, God has made us heirs of all things and that we ought to be the most thankful of people, let us confess that we are often unthankful and envious. And as you are able, let us kneel together as we confess our sin to the Lord. We will have a time of silent confession followed by the corporate confession found in your bulletin.