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Sermon Notes
The Resurrection of the Body and the Life Everlasting
- A Hope Worth Having (1 Corinthians 15:19)
- If our hope in Christ is only for this life, we are of all people most to be pitied.
- The real question is whether our hope can survive our own funeral.
- Most of what we hope in cannot.
- Hope Guaranteed: The Firstfruits (1 Corinthians 15:20–23)
- Christ has already been raised as the firstfruits, and the first sheaf of the harvest guarantees the rest of the field is coming.
- Our resurrection is not a hope that MIGHT pay off; it is a down payment already made.
- What happened to his body is what is coming for ours.
- Resurrection, Not Resuscitation (1 Corinthians 15:35–44)
- Our hope is not that we get this same body back, only to die again.
- That is resuscitation.
- Our hope is resurrection: a body raised never to die again.
- Paul describes it in four ways.
- What is sown perishable is raised imperishable.
- What is sown in dishonor is raised in glory.
- What is sown in weakness is raised in power.
- What is sown a natural body is raised a spiritual body.
- Getting older only reveals how this body lets us down, but that is not the last word.
- We will be changed.
- Hope's Certainty: The Trumpet (1 Corinthians 15:50–53)
- Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom, so a change is not optional.
- In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet, the dead will be raised imperishable and WE WILL BE CHANGED.
- For those who have died in Christ, the body rests while the soul is already, consciously, at home with the Lord.
- Hope Fulfilled: It Is Done (Revelation 21:1–7)
- A raised body needs a world to live in, and God is making all things new.
- The center of everlasting life is not the scenery but the presence:
- God dwelling with his people.
- Every tear will be wiped away, and death, mourning, and pain will be no more.
- Death Defeated, Therefore (1 Corinthians 15:54–58)
- Death is swallowed up in victory, a victory given to us through our Lord Jesus Christ, not achieved by us.
- Therefore we can be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, because in the Lord our labor is not in vain.
- Eternal life IS KNOWING GOD, and it begins the moment we are his.
Reflection/Application Questions
- Paul says Jesus is the Firstfruit. How does “firstfruits” change the way you think about your own future?
- Which of the four contrasts (perishable, dishonor, weakness, natural) do you feel most in your own body right now?
- What does it mean to you that it is raised imperishable, in glory, in power?
- What is the difference between resuscitation and resurrection, and why does that difference matter for Christian hope?
- How would facing aging, illness, or death look different if you truly believed your body will be raised imperishable? Where do you need that hope this week?
- An eternal perspective can produce courage. What is one fear (embarrassment, awkwardness, rejection) that keeps you from speaking about Christ, and how does everlasting life put that fear in its place?
Pray
Thank God that Christ is risen as the firstfruits and that our hope survives the grave. Ask him to reorder your hopes, to comfort those grieving, and to give you courage to invite someone who is thirsty.
Time of Response
Take a few minutes of silence. Allow your own thoughts to quiet and be still. Where does the Holy Spirit want you to decrease so that Christ could increase in your life? What part of your life, if reduced, would make more room for you to thrive spiritually?
QUESTIONS TO ASK WHILE READING SCRIPTURE
What does this reveal about God?
What does this reveal about you in relation to God?
What do you need to do about it?
The Covenant Prayer from John Wesley's Covenant Service, 1780 (adapted)
I am no longer my own,
but Yours.
Put me to what you will,
rank me with whom you will.
Put me to doing,
put me to suffering.
Let me be employed for You or laid aside for You,
exalted for You or brought low for You.
Let me be full,
let me be empty.
Let me have all things,
let me have nothing.
I freely and heartily yield all things
to Your pleasure and disposal.
And now, O glorious and blessed God,
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
You are mine,
and I am Yours.
So be it.
And the covenant which I have made on earth,
let it be ratified in heaven.
Amen.
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How Can I Be Intentional When Reading Scripture?
One Method To Use When Reading Scripture:
The S.O.A.P.S. Method
S.cripture: Write down the Bible passage you will be studying.
O.bservations: Examine the text and write down what you notice and see. Start with the obvious and move to the deeper.
A.pplication: Apply God’s Word to your life in a practical way. What is God saying about Himself, about you and about what He is calling you to?
P.rayer: Respond to God’s Word with your own words.
S.hare: Commit to share what God is showing you with someone else.
- Inductive Bible Study:
- Observation (what does the passage say?)
- What is happening in the passage?
- Who is involved in the passage?
- What happened before and after the passage.
- Where are they located and how is that influencing the passage.
- Interpretation (what does it mean?)
- What is the passage saying considering everything I have observed and what I know from the rest of Scripture
- What does the scripture say within context of the entirety of Scripture?
- Application (how does it apply to my life?)
- What does the passage say about God?
- What does the passage say about me and to me?
- What am I being called to DO because of the passage of Scripture?
How do I talk with God?
WAYS TO PRAY
One Way to talk with God is to:
Pause.
Rejoice.
Ask.
Yield.
ANOTHER OPTION
Adoration
Confession
Thanksgiving
Supplication: Requests
