What You're Waiting For

A Sermon on 1 Corinthians 15:35-58

1. THE QUESTION WE ALL ASK (vv. 35-41)

• Paul knows his audience. Someone's going to push back. "How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come?"
• Look at Verse 36-38: 
• You fool! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. And as for what you sow—you are not sowing the body that will be, but only a seed, perhaps of wheat or another grain. But GOD GIVES it a body as he wants, and to each of the seeds its own body.
• Paul is saying, “Every spring, this happens. You have seen this.” 
• Verses 39-41 pile on more examples - different kinds of flesh for different creatures, different glories for sun and moon and stars. The pattern is clear: God is a God of diversity, creativity, transformation. He makes bodies fit for their purpose. He gives resurrection bodies that fit eternity.
• We are not:
• Animals
• Fish
• Birds 
• The question isn't, "Can God raise the dead?" 
• The question is, "Do you trust the God who raises the dead?"
• Resurrection is not God repairing your old body.
• It is God bringing new life out of surrender.

1. THE TRANSFORMATION CHRIST PROMISES (vv. 42-53)

• Now Paul gets specific. He tells us exactly what resurrection bodies will be like. 
• Verses 42-44:
• So it is with the resurrection of the dead: Sown in corruption, raised in incorruption; sown in dishonor, raised in glory; sown in weakness, raised in power; sown a natural body, raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.
• Corruption to Incorruption. 
• Dishonor to Glory. 
• Weakness to Power. 
• Natural to Spiritual. 
• But notice, Paul doesn't just describe the resurrection body. He tells you why it's possible. Look at verses 45-49:
• So it is written, The first man Adam became a living being; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, then the spiritual. The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. Like the man of dust, so are those who are of the dust; like the man of heaven, so are those who are of heaven. And just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we will also bear the image of the man of heaven.
• Here's the gospel in seed form:
• Adam was made from dust. 
• But Jesus is the last Adam. 
• He's the new humanity. 
• He didn't just receive life - He gives life. 
• THIS IS WHY WE NEED JESUS
• YOU CAN’T TRANSFORM YOURSELF! 
• But the last Adam already did.
• Jesus died. 
• Jesus rose. 
• Jesus has a resurrection body right now; glorified, imperishable, powerful. 
• That's the only hope that works.
• Now look at verses 50-53. Paul calls this a mystery:
• WHAT I AM SAYING, brothers and sisters, is this: Flesh and blood CANNOT inherit the kingdom of God, nor can corruption inherit incorruption. Listen, I am telling you a mystery: We will not all fall asleep, but we will all be changed (exchanged), 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 will be changed (exchanged). For this corruptible body must be clothed with incorruptibility, and this mortal body must be clothed with immortality.
• A mystery in Scripture isn't a puzzle. It's something hidden that God now reveals. And here's what God reveals: YOU WILL BE CHANGED.
• Not some of you. All of you who are in Christ. 
• THIS ISN’T IMPROVEMENT. THIS IS COMPLETE EXCHANGE. 

1. THE VICTORY CHANGES EVERYTHING (vv. 54-57)

• Verse 54:
• When this corruptible body is clothed with incorruptibility, and this mortal body is clothed with immortality, then the saying that is written will take place: Death has been swallowed up in victory.
• Death swallowed up. Not defeated quietly. Not just neutralized. Swallowed up. Consumed. Gone.
• Paul is quoting Is 25:8-9
• ⁸ When he has swallowed up death once and for all, the Lord God will wipe away the tears from every face and remove his people’s disgrace from the whole earth, for the Lord has spoken. ⁹ On that day it will be said, “Look, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he has saved us. This is the Lord; we have waited for him. Let’s rejoice and be glad in his salvation.”
• Verse 55
• Where, death, is your victory? Where, death, is your sting?
• Verse 56: 
• The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.
• Why does death sting? Because of sin. 
• BUT Verse 57
• But thanks be to God, who GIVES us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!
• There it is. JESUS
• And GOD GIVES - GIVES - the victory to everyone who trusts in Him.
• VICTORY: GOD gives us victory and then keeps giving us victory
• We don't earn it. We don't achieve it. 
• We receive it. 
• The resurrection isn't escapism. It's realism. 
• It's the only hope that actually works when everything falls apart.

1. THEREFORE, LIVE (v. 58)

• And that brings us to verse 58. This is where it gets practical.
• Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the Lord’s work, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.
• Therefore.
• Because the resurrection is real. Because Christ is risen. Because you will be raised. Because death is defeated. Because you have an imperishable future.
• Therefore: Stand firm.
• Don't waver. Don't drift.
• Therefore: Let nothing move you.
• Not fear. Not anger. Not despair. Not the culture. Not the news cycle. Not the pressure to conform or the temptation to withdraw. Let nothing move you from the truth of the gospel and the hope of the resurrection.
• Therefore: Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord.
• Not halfway. Not when it's convenient. Not when it feels safe. Always. Fully. 
• Why? Last phrase: Because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

Reflection/Application Questions

1. What doubts or questions do you have about the resurrection? Where does the idea of bodily resurrection feel hard to believe or understand? How does Paul's seed analogy help you think differently about what God can do?
2. We live in bodies that are corrupted, dishonorable, weak, and natural. How are you experiencing that reality right now physically, emotionally, or spiritually? How does knowing your future body will be incorruptible, glorious, powerful, and spiritual change the way you think about your current limitations or struggles?
3. Paul says we currently bear Adam's image, but we will bear Christ's image. In what specific ways do you see yourself still bearing the image of the "earthly man”; patterns of sin, mortality, brokenness? What would it look like to live now in light of the image you will bear in the resurrection?
4. What is currently tempting you to be moved; to waver in your faith, to compromise your obedience, to lose hope? How does the reality of the resurrection help you stand firm against that specific pressure?
5. What work for the Lord feels pointless or futile to you right now? How does the resurrection give that work meaning and hope?
6. Apart from Jesus, we all face death as the just consequence of our sin. How does understanding this make you appreciate the gospel more deeply? How would you explain to someone why we desperately need Jesus based on this passage?
7. What is one specific way you need to "stand firm" or "give yourself fully to the work of the Lord" this week? 

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?