Auto-pilot and Sinful Ideas

May 11, 2014 in Bible - NT - 1 Corinthians, Church History, Creeds, Easter, Eschatology, Heresy, King Jesus, Meditations, Resurrection
1 Corinthians 15:12–19 (NKJV)
12 Now if Christ is preached that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen. 14 And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty. 15 Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ, whom He did not raise up—if in fact the dead do not rise. 16 For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. 17 And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins! 18 Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19 If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.
As readers of Scripture we are often tempted to go into auto-pilot and assume that we know what a text is saying without really paying attention. Consequently, we miss the point of the text.
Take the Scripture before us today. Many read our text and assume that Paul is arguing for the significance of Jesus’ resurrection. “Paul’s point is that Jesus really rose from the dead and that this is what guarantees our forgiveness.” And so we go on auto-pilot and move on to the next paragraph. But this is not Paul’s point. While Jesus’ resurrection is central to Paul’s whole argument, it is not Paul’s point. Jesus’ resurrection is not under dispute; Paul has already asserted that Jesus’ resurrection is central to the Gospel he preached. 
So what is his point? His point is that all other human beings are going to rise from the dead. You see the Corinthians weren’t denying that Jesus had risen from the dead; they were denying that the rest of us would rise from our graves. Listen to Paul again: Now if Christ is preached that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead [generally, at the end of history]? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen.
Notice that Paul is endeavoring to highlight the inconsistency of the Corinthians’ beliefs. If there is no resurrection at the end of history; if the dead will not be raised when Christ returns again in glory, then neither did Jesus rise from the dead. Why? Because Jesus’ resurrection is the guarantee that every human being will rise from his tomb and stand before God. Jesus is the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. So note Paul’s argument: if we deny the general resurrection then we must, of necessity, deny Jesus’ resurrection. And if we deny Jesus’ resurrection, then we are still in our sins and without hope. But Jesus has risen from the dead, therefore there will be a general resurrection. Paul’s point is that the resurrection of the dead on the last day is a central part of the Christian faith; we believe, as the creeds remind us, in the resurrection of the dead.
In the modern American church we stand in dire need of re-reading Paul’s words here in these verses. We have gone on auto-pilot. We imagine that we can teach that Jesus rose from the dead and simultaneously teach that our ultimate destiny as human beings is to go to heaven when we die. But this is not the Gospel; this is not the Christian hope for the future; this is not the meaning of Jesus’ resurrection. Our hope is that we shall emerge from our graves just like Jesus. So our confidence is that the bodies of those who have fallen asleep in Christ have not perished but that they do rest in their graves until the resurrection. We are not to be pitied; for we have not only in this life placed our hope in Jesus; there shall be a resurrection of the just and the unjust – Jesus’ resurrection is proof.
What Paul’s words remind us is that sins are not simply wrong actions; sometimes our ideas are sinful as well. We can embrace ideas that are erroneous and sinful. By denying the general resurrection, the Corinthians had embraced an idea that was poisonous to the Gospel. So when God in His grace and mercy shines the light of truth on our error and corrects us, corrects our thinking, what ought we to do? What ought the Corinthians have done? We ought to confess our error, ask God’s forgiveness for our folly, and rely upon the sacrifice of Jesus to make us right with God despite our erroneous ideas. Jesus is the sacrifice for our sinful ideas even as he is the sacrifice for our sinful actions. And praise God this is so.

And so reminded that our ideas are often sinful and dishonoring to our Creator, let us confess our sin to the Lord, seeking His forgiveness through Christ. Let us kneeel as we confess.

The Historicity of the Resurrection

May 4, 2014 in Bible - NT - 1 Corinthians, Church History, Cross of Christ, Easter, Heresy, Meditations, Resurrection
1 Corinthians 15:3–11 (NKJV)
3 For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. 6 After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep. 7 After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles. 8 Then last of all He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time. 9 For I am the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. 11 Therefore, whether it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.
The American Presbyterian historian and theologian J. Gresham Machen wrote his classic work Christianity and Liberalismto expose the fundamental differences between Christianity historically understood and liberalism. In his day liberalism was beginning its conquest of the American mainline churches, a conquest which in our day is largely complete. Machen insisted that liberalism is not merely a corrupted Christianity, it is no Christianity at all. It is a new belief system that teaches that whether or not Jesus actually rose from the dead is insignificant. What really matters is our subjective experience of Jesus, that Jesus lives on in our hearts.
As Machen correctly perceived, this notion is entirely foreign to the message that Paul preached and that Christianity has preached. The Gospel that Paul preached was rooted in history, rooted in reality. Christ died for our sins, was buried, and rose again the third day. The very thing that distinguishes Christianity from every other religious system is that Christianity is rooted in reality, centered on God’s actions in space and time, in history. It is not merely a system of dogmas but a declaration of events that have dogmatic significance.
Note, therefore, that Christiantiy is, as Machen insisted, founded upon a combination of historical events and their theological significance. Christ died. This is history. He did not get spirited away or exchange places with someone else as Islam teaches. He actually died on a cross outside Jerusalem while Pontius Pilate served as prefect of the Roman Empire in Judea. And why did Christ die? He died, Paul says, for our sins; he died to endure the punishment that our sins deserve. That is theology.
This same combination of historical reality and theological significance characterizes Jesus’ resurrection. Jesus rose from the dead on the third day. This is history; and note that Paul emphasizes the historicity of this event by appealing to witnesses. The Risen Christ was seen by Cephas, the Twelve, 500 brethren at one time, James, the Apostles, and Paul himself. And, Paul implies, if you want to verify the truth of all this, go ask them since most of them were still alive in Paul’s day. In the rest of the chapter, Paul goes on to unfold the theological significance of Jesus’ resurrection.
As Christians we are often led astray by the theological liberalism that pervades our social institutions – both religious and political – ino believing that religion is just a subjective phenomenon. No one religion is superior to another; each has it adherents; each meets the subjective needs of its followers; each is merely a private, personal experience; so who are you to judge? But this is to subvert completely the very meaning of the word Gospel – good news. The Gospel is an announcement of something that objectively happened and that objectively changed the course of human history. Christianity is not just a private religious matter but a public announcement: Jesus died, was buried, and then rose again; so all men and nations are called to confess that Jesus is Lord; Jesus is God’s Anointed One.

So reminded that if we are to approach God it must be on the basis of truth, something that really happened, and not just on the basis of our sincerity; reminded that we must approach God through Jesus who died and rose again for our sins, died and rose again to reconcile us to God, let us kneel and confess our sins to God.

Standing Before God

April 27, 2014 in Bible - NT - 1 Corinthians, Bible - OT - Isaiah, Cross of Christ, Easter, Federal Vision, Justification, Meditations, Resurrection
1 Corinthians 15:1–2 (NKJV)
1 Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, 2 by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.
Following Jesus’ resurrection on the first day of the week, he appeared to the disciples over a period of 40 days, manifesting Himself to them, convincing them of the reality of the resurrection, and enlightening their minds to understand the things that had been written about him in the law and the prophets. This 40 day period has historically been called Eastertide, a time to celebrate the way the resurrection of Jesus has transformed the world. The entire cosmos has been changed, shaken at its very core. And because the world has been changed, we can be changed. Hope has arrived; forgiveness has been achieved; new life has entered into the world; consequently, we can have hope, can receive forgiveness, and can experience new life.
So for Eastertide we begin a series of exhortations from the 15thchapter of Paul’s letter to the Corinthians. What is the significance of the resurrection? Why does it matter?
The first answer Paul gives, the introductory declaration, is that the resurrection matters because it enables us to stand before God unto salvation rather than damnation. The word Gospel means “good news” – and the good news of Jesus’ resurrection shines in its brilliance only when set in context of the bad news of our sin and rebellion.
Biblically heaven is for real as the recent book and movie by that name announce; but the tragic reality is that hell is for real too. And by nature we all are alienated from God, pursuing our own passions and desires and priorities rather than those of God Himself, and hence heading to judgment, heading to hell. We all like sheep have gone astray, each to his own way – some of us worship other gods, some of us think of no god but ourselves, some of us claim the Name of Jesus but live for our own lusts and pleasures – we all like sheep have gone astray, each to his own way. And the consequence of this straying is death and judgment. It is appointed unto men to die once and after this to face judgment. And shall not the judge of all the earth deal justly?
When we come before God, when we stand before Him to give an account for what we have done, when we rise from our graves and give an account to Him who without partiality judges according to each one’s work, the inevitable result – if we endeavor to stand before him on the basis of what we have done – the inevitable result will be condemnation.
But thanks be to God that though we all like sheep have gone astray, each to his own way, the Lord has laid on Jesus the iniquity of us all. The Good News is that God provides a substitute, someone to take our punishment, to stand in our place, to endure the judgment of God for us. Through faith in Him, through trust in His work on the cross, we can stand in the day of judgment, we can be saved.
And how do we know that this man’s sacrificial offering has been accepted by God? Because, on the third day, he rose again from the dead. He rose – and sin was conquered. He rose – and death was overthrown. He rose – and the gaping jaws of hell that opened before our feet, preparing to welcome us to the grave, were broken.
So let us believe, let us entrust ourselves to Christ, to this One who gave Himself for us that He might reconcile us to God. And let us not merely believe for a time, let us not be among those who believe in vain, but let us trust Him all the way to the end of our days and so have an entrance abundantly supplied to us into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

And this morning, let us confess our sins to the Lord, rejoicing that in Christ he freely forgives us.

How Shall a Man be Set Right with God?

April 20, 2014 in Bible - NT - Romans, Church Calendar, Church History, Cross of Christ, Easter, Federal Vision, Justification, Meditations, Resurrection
Romans 4:23–25 (NKJV)
23 Now it was not written for [Abraham’s] sake alone that [righteousness] was imputed to him, 24 but also for us. [Righteousness] shall be imputed to us who believe in Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, 25 who was [crucified] because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification.
How shall a man be set right with God? Shall we love our neighbor and so please God? Shall we practice the ten commandments and so please God? Shall we beat our bodies into submission and so please God? Shall we live and let live and so please God? Shall we practice jihad and so please God? How shall a man be set right with God?
For nearly two millennia now our fathers and mothers have been celebrating the feast of Easter – the celebration of our Lord Jesus Christ’s resurrection from the dead. On this day, the first day of the week, our Lord Jesus rose bodily from the grave. Why?
Paul answers our question here in Romans. The resurrection presupposes the crucifixion, the death of Jesus. So why did Jesus die? He died, Paul tells us, because of our offenses. In other words, Paul reminds us that we all of us have sinned against God in thought, word, and deed. We have failed to live up to God’s standards, failed to love our Creator with all our heart, soul, and strength. Consequently, by nature we all stand guilty before God – estranged from God and in need of reconciliation with Him.
So how shall we be set right with Him? Only through the sacrifice of Christ on our behalf. Jesus gave His life, sacrificed Himself, that He might take away our guilt and set us right with God.
And how do we know that Jesus’ sacrifice was accepted by God? How do we know that trusting in Jesus to reconcile us to God isn’t just some pie in the sky hope; some degree of wishful thinking? We know because Jesus rose from the dead. In the resurrection, God has given proof to all men that the sacrifice of Christ has been accepted. Jesus was raised because of our justification. In other words, Jesus was raised to set us right with God.
So what of you? Where have you placed your hope for acceptance by God? Have you placed it in your good works? This hope shall fail. Have you placed it in your sorrow for your bad behavior? This hope shall fade away. Our only hope lies in Jesus, the Lamb of God who was crucified for us and then rose again from the grave that we might be set right with God. So put your trust in Jeus. On the last day, we shall all rise from our graves and stand before our Creator – and the only way we shall endure that interview is if Christ is our Advocate.

Reminded that we can only be reconciled to God through the sacrifice of Jesus, let us kneel and seek His forgiveness in Christ.

Palm Sunday 2014

April 13, 2014 in Bible - NT - Luke, Cross of Christ, Easter, Justification, King Jesus, Meditations
Luke 9:51–56 (NKJV)
51 Now it came to pass, when the time had come for Him to be received up, that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem, 52 and sent messengers before His face. And as they went, they entered a village of the Samaritans, to prepare for Him. 53 But they did not receive Him, because His face was set for the journey to Jerusalem. 54 And when His disciples James and John saw this, they said, “Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did?” 55 But He turned and rebuked them, and said, “You do not know what manner of spirit you are of. 56 For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them.” And they went to another village.
When Jesus entered into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, it was the culmination of intentional planning on his part. From the very beginning of his ministry, Jesus understood that one day He would be called upon to enter into Jerusalem only to be rejected and killed. And it is this fixed purpose of Jesus to die for His people which Luke highlights for us in our text today.
Luke tells us that when the time had come for Jesus to be received up – in other words, when the time had come for Jesus to be crucified, the time when He would be delivered over to the scribes and chief priests, and rejected, and put to death – when that time had arrived, Jesus steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem. He knew that it was impossible that a prophet should die outside Jerusalem – that it was there in that city that the final contest would be waged. And knowing this, He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem.
As they are traveling to Jerusalem, they come into a Samaritan village, but the village rejects Him and refuses to grant him and his disciples shelter. Why? Listen to Luke’s words: But they did not receive Him, because His face was set for the journey to Jerusalem. Jesus is rejected in this village as a foretaste of the destiny that awaits him in Jerusalem. He goes to Jerusalem to suffer and be rejected.
Why? His rebuke of James’ and John’s vindictiveness gives the answer. For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them. Jesus is going to Jerusalem so that He might save men from sin and death, save men and women and children from the ravages of the Evil One.  He is going to Jerusalem to give His life a sacrifice for others, to give His life so that the just penalty of the law might be paid by Him so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. Jesus set His face to go to Jerusalem to die.
It is fitting, therefore, on Palm Sunday – this day that we celebrate the entry of our Lord Jesus Christ into Jerusalem – that our color changes to red – for red is the color of blood and it was to shed His blood that Jesus entered into the city. While Jesus was acclaimed today, He knew that this acclamation would not continue and that the end of the story would be bloody. He had set His face to go to Jerusalem.

And so this morning we are reminded that Jesus set His face to go to Jerusalem for our sins – and so let us confess our sins in the Name of Christ and seek the Lord’s forgiveness through the shed blood of Jesus our Savior. As we do so, let us kneel.

Jesus the Risen Lord

March 31, 2013 in Bible - NT - John, Confession, Easter, Meditations, Resurrection

John 20:19–23 (NKJV)
19 Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, “Peace be with you.” 20 When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. 21 So Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” 22 And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”
For nearly two millennia now our fathers and mothers have been celebrating the feast of Easter – the celebration of our Lord Jesus Christ’s resurrection from the dead. On this day, the first day of the week, our Lord Jesus rose bodily from the grave and definitively conquered sin and death.
So what is the meaning of the resurrection? Is the resurrection just a nice story about the tenacity of life over death? Is it like the fairy tales of old, a tale that’s obviously not true but meant to teach us some moral lesson? The Scriptures proclaim that neither of those answers is sufficient – the meaning of the resurrection is, first of all, historical. Jesus did in fact rise from the dead. It is then, second, theological. Because Jesus rose from the dead, He has conquered death and now reigns as the Ruler of all. As I said in our greeting this morning – Jesus Christ is “the firstborn from the dead, the ruler of the kings of the earth.”
John records the significance of Jesus’ Lordship in his Gospel. In the evening of this day, Jesus appeared to the disicples and pronounced his blessing upon them and commissioned them to be his emissaries to the world. “Peace be to you!” he said, “As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” Even as the Father sent Jesus into the world to seek and to save that which was lost, to reconcile us as human beings to Himself, so Jesus has sent the Church into the world with this same mission – he has entrusted to us the ministry of reconciliation so that we petition others on behalf of Christ, “Be reconciled to God!”
To accomplish this task, our Risen Lord has poured out His Spirit upon us and given us the immense privilege of proclaiming forgiveness in His Name. “If we forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them.” We have the privilege of declaring to all those who put their faith in Christ, “You are forgiven. Jesus really has conquered sin and death. He is our great High Priest who makes reconciles us to God.”
Alongside this joyful task, we have the solemn duty of warning the nations that there is no other way to be reconciled to God. We must come to God through Christ alone. “If we retain the sins of any, they are retained.” There is no way to be accepted by God other than through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. All other paths end in judgment.
So listen – where have you placed your confidence for acceptance by God? Jesus is the Risen Lord, the ruler of the kings of the earth. On the last day, we shall all rise from our graves and stand before this King as our judge and give an account of how we have served him. If we remain in rebellion against him, refusing to find in him the one who reconciles us to God, then we shall be judged. So turn from your sin and turn to Christ; rely on Him and Him alone for forgiveness. Only in and through Jesus can we be reconciled to God.
Reminded that we can only be reconciled to God through the sacrifice of Jesus, let us kneel and seek His forgiveness in Christ.

Resurrection, Thanksgiving, and Praise

May 14, 2012 in Bible - NT - 2 Corinthians, Easter, Meditations, Resurrection

2 Corinthians 4:13–15 (NKJV)
13 And since we have the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, “I believed and therefore I spoke,” we also believe and therefore speak, 14 knowing that He who raised up the Lord Jesus will also raise us up with Jesus, and will present us with you. 15 For all things are for your sakes, that grace, having spread through the many, may cause thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God.
What is the significance of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead? This is the question we have asked for several weeks during this time of Eastertide. As we anticipate Ascension Sunday and Pentecost Sunday in the weeks to come, I would like to close our observations on the resurrection today. In our text today Paul helps us understand the significance of the resurrection: Jesus rose from the dead so that we might be thankful and praise our God.
To make his point, Paul quotes from Psalm 116, “I believed and therefore I spoke.” Long ago the psalmist penned these words while thanking God for delivering him from the pains of death. “The pains of death surrounded me, and the pangs of Sheol laid hold of me; I found trouble and sorrow. Then I called on the name of Yahweh; “O Yahweh, I implore you, deliver my soul!” In the course of the psalm, we learn that the Lord heard the psalmist’s prayer: “For you have delivered my soul from death, My eyes from tears, and my feet from falling. I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living.” In reponse to God’s kindness delivering him from the fear of death, the psalmist does the only thing he can rightly do: speak out, praise and thank the Lord. I will offer to You the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of the Lord.
The faith and thanksgiving manifested by the psalmist are imitated and expanded by the Apostle Paul in our text today. The psalmist trusted the Lord and was delivered from death – and what was his response to this deliverance? He spoke, he praised God. So we also believe and therefore speak.
13 And since we have the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, “I believed and therefore I spoke,” we also believe and therefore speak, 14 knowing that He who raised up the Lord Jesus will also raise us up with Jesus, and will present us with you. 15 For all things are for your sakes, that grace, having spread through the many, may cause thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God.
Note that the reason we can join the psalmist in praising God for deliverance from death is because God in his grace and mercy has given us immense confidence in the face of death by raising Jesus from the dead. We thank and praise God knowing that He who raised up the Lord Jesus will also raise us up with Jesus. Death is a defeated foe; Christ is Risen, so we too shall rise.
Notice, therefore, that the end goal of Christ’s resurrection is that praise and thanksgiving might abound in all the world to Yahweh, the living God. Jesus came in order to restore rightful worship. Jesus rose from the dead in order to restore rightful worship. In other words, Jesus rose from the dead so that you would be here this morning, joining your voice in company with the voices of all God’s people and praising and thanking God for his mercies, thanking God that He has delivered us from the fear of death.
So, brethren, how eager are you to be here? God raised up Jesus so that you would be here this morning; so that you would your voice in company with the voices of your brothers and sisters; so that you would worship him. So how ought we to approach this morning? With sloth? With mere formality? With mumbling and inattention? May it never be! Let us join our voices week by week in thankful acknowledgement of God’s mercies toward us in Christ – Alleluia! Christ is risen! So let us worship.
Reminded that Jesus rose from the dead in order that we might worship Him together, we are also reminded how we often approach worship with insufficient joy and delight. So let us kneel and confess our sin to the Lord. We will have a time of private confession followed by the public confession found in your bulletin.

The Hope of the Resurrection

May 7, 2012 in Bible - NT - Romans, Easter, Meditations, Resurrection

Romans 8:31–35, 37 (NKJV)
31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? 33 Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?…Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.
We have been emphasizing in our worship that the celebration of Easter continues in this period known as Eastertide. We continue giving the liturgical greeting, Christ is Risen! And we have devoted some of our exhortations to the topic of the resurrection. Why did Christ rise from the dead and what does this mean for our own attitude toward death?
As we continue on theme, let me remind you that it was the hope of the resurrection that invigorated our fathers and mothers in the pages of Scripture and it is this same hope that is to invigorate us. Paul reminds us that all those whom God has predestined to life, he will call to faith in himself; and all those whom he calls to faith, he will justify; and all those whom he justifies, he will glorify, he will raise from the dead and present before Himself spotless and blameless.
It is in response to this promise, this promise of glorification and resurrection, that the words of our text are written. “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?”
You see the promise of the resurrection is the promise that all the promises that God has ever issued to His people will be fulfilled. God commands children “honor your father and mother that it may go well with you and that you may live long on the earth.” Well what are we to think when a child loves and serves the Lord by honoring his parents and then suddenly dies? Will God’s promise fail? No – for in the flesh that child will serve God and with his own eyes and not those of another he shall see his Redeemer and worship Him.
What are we to think of Jesus’ promise, “there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My sake and the gospel’s, who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this age…” What are we to think of this promise and its application to the martyrs? Will Jesus’ promise fail? No – for in the flesh those martyrs will serve God and with their own eyes and not those of another they shall see their Redeemer and worship Him.
The assurance that the resurrection gives us is that all the promises are yes and amen in Jesus. Because of Jesus, because Jesus is risen and by His resurrection He has overcome sin and death, because through Him and the power of His Spirit all creation will one day be renewed and resurrected, all the promises of God will reach their fulfillment. Not one promise will fall to the ground. So we can cry out with confidence:
“Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? …Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.”
This is our privilege and right as children of God – to live in hope of the resurrection. Too often, however, we live in fear – pressed down by the cares of this world, overwhelmed with the needs of the moment. We stand in need of the forgiving grace of God and the empowering grace of God’s Spirit to enable us to live resurrection lives in the here and now. Let us kneel and confess our sins to the Lord.

Contempt for Death

April 23, 2012 in Bible - NT - 1 Corinthians, Easter, Meditations, Resurrection

1 Corinthians 15:51–57 (NKJV)
51 Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed— 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. 54 So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” 55 “O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?” 56 The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Last week we observed that we are in the time of Eastertide, the period of time when the Church has historically remembered and celebrated the resurrection of our Lord Jesus from the dead. So why did Jesus rise from the dead? To demonstrate for all those who believe in Him that our bodies likewise will be raised.
And it is this theme upon which Paul dwells in our text today. This corruptible body must pass through the furnace of death and be raised incorruptible; this mortal body that is subject to death must pass through the furnace of death and be raise immortal. And when this has happened, when at the Last Day Christ has returned in glory and raised from the dead all those who believe in Him, transformed us into His own image – righteous, incorruptible, immortal – then shall come to pass the promise of Scripture, “Death is swallowed up in victory.”
In other words, brothers and sisters, we have immense hope. Death is not the final word. As horrible as death is, as devastating as it is, death is a conquered foe. Jesus rose from the dead; Jesus dealt death a death blow. We now live in sure and certain hope of the resurrection of the dead; because Christ has risen we too shall rise.
So what does this mean? It means that we can have immense confidence in the face of death itself and in the face of all death’s minions – sickness, pain, torture, persecution, hardship, trial. None of these things have the last word – the last word belongs to Jesus and to life. And this is what our psalmist understood. “I would have lost heart, unless I had believed That I would see the goodness of the LORD In the land of the living.” “Oh death, where is your sting? O grave, where is your victory? Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Such confidence is absolutely necessary for us to possess as the people of God. After all, consider the twofold task that has been entrusted to us. First, we are to lead lives of godly sincerity and purity no matter what others may think or say. Second, while living this way we are not to retreat into a little hovel but to engage all the nations of the earth with the message of the Gospel. What would enable us to accomplish such things? Listen to Eusebius:
[To do so] the strongest conviction of a future life was necessary, that [we] might be able with fearless and unshrinking zeal to maintain the conflict with Gentile and polytheistic error: a conflict the dangers of which [we] would never have been prepared to meet, except as habituated to the contempt of death.
How are we to treat death? With contempt. Why? Because Christ is risen and has broken his power. Even as Christ rose from the dead, we too shall rise. This mortal shall put on immortality. So what should characterize our lives? Fearless and unshrinking zeal to maintain the truth of God against all opposition – whether from our own flesh or from the world or from the devil himself. Congregation of the Lord, Christ is Risen! (He is Risen indeed!)
So reminded of the power of Christ’s resurrection but no doubt reminded also that we frequently are fearful and shrinking rather than fearless and unshrinking, let us kneel and confess our lack of faith to the Lord.