Resurrection Sunday APRIL 20th, 2025 OUR HOPE // INTRO How now shall we live? That is the quintessential question asked by Christian philosopher and apologist Frances Schaeffer A dear brother in Christ showed up on my doorstep many years ago, and handed me, “The Complete Writings of Francis Schaeffer” in a 5 volume set I hadn’t asked for them, and I was confused The man who brought them to me was ecstatic about passing them on to me I began to read, and I was more voracious in my reading then, so I devoured them, and it changed my life Francis and Edith Schaeffer lived in LaBri, Switzerland, and in the name of Christ, took in many hippies and wanderers in the 1960’s, 70’s, and 80’s into his own home for a season, not only that they might hear the Gospel, but also to see it lived out (which is the harder thing to do consistently) For decades, this couple welcomed people into their home with an aim to make Christ known in the Swiss Alps They impacted so many lives by simply opening their door to those who were searching And this ministry - this quest to make Jesus known - all began with a genuine question, “How now shall we live?” Given that Jesus really, actually lived, ministered, died, and rose again, how should we now live in the light of this reality? What does this mean for us? We will revisit this question at the end of this talk Spoiler alert, if you do not already know it The final enemy will be defeated and destroyed, and that enemy is Death itself // TEXT & EXPOSITION 1 Corinthians 15 [1] Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, [2] and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. Paul preached the Gospel What is the GOSPEL? It is the GOOD NEWS that anyone can place their faith in Jesus Christ, and be saved from the due penalty of his or her sins Jesus took the sins of the world on the cross as He hung there in agony And He did that to set us free from the Law of sin and death But many today, especially in Western culture, do not believe this The esoteric religions of the world seem to have a stronger draw on people And I believe it is because those religions require service What I mean is that there is something that the individual must DO in order to gain salvation But in Christianity, that which is needed for salvation has already been done for us, as Christ Jesus was the only one who could accomplish it Moreover, many people do not see themselves as doing anything wrong in life Western culture has devolved and been devalued over our lifetime, and now what we see is Nihilism This is the doctrine that claims nothing actually has meaning, or that existence and values are simply meaningless because they are relative to the individual Thus, we hear people in our culture saying things like, “Nothing really matters” “Do what you want” (which is a derivation of Do As Thou Will, which is the mantra of Satanism) We have become a culture that is relentlessly negative or cynical about everything except their own inherent goodness “You do you” is the constant mantra of the younger crowd This Nihilism is pointing to an absence of solid values or beliefs in our culture And this is why the Gospel must be preached, but not just in the Churches It must be shouted from the rooftops and the street corners If we cannot change the course and trajectory of our nation, and that right fast, our nation will implode on itself Our only hope in life or in death is Jesus Christ! Still for many, the question remains, “Can one believe in vain?” We just dealt with that in Hebrews (falling away, apostatizing their faith), so let me know if you want my notes or to have coffee and talk about it I’d be delighted to do that! But back to the text… [3] For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, [4] that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, [5] and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. [6] Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. [7] Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. [8] Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. Christ died for our sins Why would that be of first importance? The answer is that without Christ’s atoning death, we would all still be in our sins perpetually, with no hope of redemption at all This is precisely why Jesus was scourged, beaten, and tortured as He went to that cross, for your sins and mine Without this, we would, by default, resigned to the Lake of Fire for all eternity And someone will inevitably ask the question, “Why would God punish me for all eternity because I didn’t put my faith in Christ? Aren’t there many paths to God??” The answer is a resounding NO! There is only one way, and that way was forged by Jesus, who is the Christ, who took the agony of beating and scourging and crucifixion so that guilty sinners might have their court cases dismissed before God This is the heart of the Gospel message Others continue to suggest other options about Jesus and His death and Resurrection Some put forth the “swoon theory” by which Jesus just fainted on the cross and then recovered in the cool of the tomb But this theory doesn’t hold water The beating and scourging prior to being crucified shredded the flesh of Jesus Hanging there in the Judean sun for hours left Him even more dehydrated than anyone had been before The trained Roman soldiers did this to others, and were effective at killing people in prolonged and horrible ways But the beating and insults had actually started the night prior, and Jesus likely did not sleep because of all these things This added to His exhaustion, but there is much to parse out So please allow me to relate to you the eye-witness accounts of Jesus just on the day of His Resurrection At the tomb, where the stone was rolled away, Mary Magdalene encountered the risen Christ A group of female disciples came to the Tomb early that morning It appears that the women first accompanied Mary Magdalene Then the women went to tell Peter and John what they had seen Peter and John came with Mary back to the tomb early to mid-day The Emmaus Disciples encountered Him late Easter afternoon on their journey The He appeared to them that same evening without Thomas That’s 7 eye-witnesses encounters of the Risen Christ in the first day of His Resurrection, at different times and in different places Going back to v5-8, the preponderance of evidence within the first 24 hours is simply overwhelming And we haven’t even touched on the crack detachment of trained killers (the Roman soldiers) who were guarding the tomb so that no one could steal Jesus’ Body, and then go about pretending that He was alive The disciples and followers didn’t even get a chance to come up with some Scooby-Doo hair-brained plan Jesus had it all in hand The Trinity had planned it from eternity past, and we are the beneficiaries! [9] For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy 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. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. [11] Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed. Paul did not consider himself as being on par with the other Apostles (Apostolos - those sent with a message (specifically the Good News of salvation in Jesus) The reason for this was because Paul had been one of the most ardent persons in attempting to stop THE WAY (which was what Christianity was first called) Paul acknowledged that he was an apostle by grace (as were the others) He said he worked harder than the others - that’s not to make much of Himself In fact, quite the opposite - He didn’t feel that he had done anything to merit serving the Risen Christ in this way So Paul worked harder because he knew what he had done, and what He had been, and He knew that he could never pay back what Christ had given freely It was God’s choice, and He chooses the foolish things in the world to confound those who think they are wise Jesus promised to rise from the dead Eye-witness accounts attest to this miracle And this singular event has impacted the entire world to the present Jesus is the Messiah of Israel, the Savior of the World, the Son of God [12] Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? [13] But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. [14] And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. [15] 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. [16] For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. [17] And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. [18] Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. [19] If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. Without Christ and His finished work on the cross, and without His Resurrection, life on this earth is meaningless Furthermore, if Jesus did not rise from the grave, our lives cannot be a lives of Objectivity What I’m saying is that we CAN know things, and CAN experience things (both good and bad) But without Jesus in this life (and even more so in eternity), there is NOTHING good at all This is Nihilism Nihilism is a philosophical view that suggests there is no inherent meaning, no purpose, nor any value in life or existence It can manifest in different forms, and normally it tends to be amoral (a denial of objective morality) It can also be existential, which would be to deny any objective meaning in life But the basic fact of the matter over all of this is that IF Jesus did not rise from the grave, not only is there no real meaning here in this life, but Nihilism is correct, we’re all just in a pipe dream, and doesn’t even matter if all or none of this is even objectively real or not! But isn't it interesting? Every person on the planet who is not currently in a deep depression looks out at the world and says to themselves, “I matter. I’m someone. I want to live and have meaning, and to add something of value to this life!” So Jesus even throws the Nihilist a lifeline! Sin separates the individual sinner from God and the from the life that a person would otherwise experience IN God and WITH God And the longer the individual goes without repentance and faith in Jesus, the worse his or her condition will be With Jesus, that lifeline is always there, as He waits patiently for the sinner to forsake his or her sin and come to repentance and faith Without Him and His amazing grace, there can be no hope So allow me to read v19 again…” If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.” What does that mean? Well, it means…He is longsuffering And because He took on flesh during His Incarnation, He has experienced every temptation that we have, and yet, He is without sin because He never gave in to temptation And that is why we talk about being IN Christ, because none of us could have accomplished this for themselves, much less make it available to everyone else It is BY Him and THROUGH Him that we receive salvation But that salvation doesn’t stop at our physical death It extends into Eternity! Now, stop and think about how long eternity will be…go ahead…let it hurt a little in your frontal lobe… We are going to reign and rule with Jesus for 1000 years in the new Heavens and new Earth, and THEN we will have ETERNITY to explore all that God has made, and to sit and talk with Him I don’t know what all else we’ll be doing, but here’s what the Scriptures say about it: “as it is written, “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man, what God has prepared for those who love him” So go home this afternoon, after you’ve had your lunch, and try to conceptualize what that actually means! We can’t even begin to imagine what awaits us! [20] …(that) in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. [21] For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. [22] For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. [23] But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. [24] Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. [25] For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. Christ, the firstfruits of those who’ve fallen asleep That’s a euphemism for death The physical body is dead, but the soul goes on in one of 2 places: Heaven or the Lake of Fire Death entered the world through one Man’s sin That man was Adam, our first “Father” Death came to Adam because he sinned against God in the Garden of Eden, from which they were banished, and us as well And I’ve wondered where Eden might have been, but one of my theories is that it could be one of the wastelands or desserts on the planet, having been made desolate because of the insidious nature of sin I’m sure we’ll have plenty of time to have many of our questions answered Or maybe Heaven will be so wonderfully overwhelming that we won’t bother to ask, as we will be overwhelmed in the Presence of our King [26] The last enemy to be destroyed is death. [27] For “God has put all things in subjection under his feet.” But when it says, “all things are put in subjection,” it is plain that he is excepted who put all things in subjection under him. [28] When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all. Paul is explaining that the last enemy against humanity is going to be destroyed forever, and that enemy is DEATH itself And the Lord God put all things under subjection, but when you think about it clearly, that does NOT include Jesus being subjected, as He is the One who is subjecting all things And then, Jesus will subject Himself to the Father This whole paragraph baffles some people, but what Paul is delineating here is that Jesus is not subject death because He has defeated that final enemy and is the very Son of God But can you even conceive of death being no more? Death has touched every life in this room, whether directly or indirectly But death will be no more! I believe that statement, but I cannot conceptualize that statement!! Nevertheless, we take it on faith because God has said it! [29] Otherwise, what do people mean by being baptized on behalf of the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized on their behalf? [30] Why are we in danger every hour? [31] I protest, brothers, by my pride in you, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die every day! [32] What do I gain if, humanly speaking, I fought with beasts at Ephesus? If the dead are not raised, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.” [33] Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.” [34] Wake up from your drunken stupor, as is right, and do not go on sinning. For some have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame. This speaks to a situation that wasn’t Biblical at all Some people were being baptized as proxies for those who had already died, so that that baptism was retro-actively applied to the person who had died And even today in Roman Catholicism, this is practiced But the problem with this approach is that once a person is dead, that’s it That individual is either in Heaven because of faith in Jesus, or is in Hell because he or she died in their sins There is no recourse at that point You cannot buy your loved one out of Hell It is the choice of every person made in the Image of God But Paul’s point in all of this was show that this “baptism on behalf of the dead” had no impact on reality past, present, or future When a person dies, that’s it That one stands before the Judge of all the earth It’s either Heaven or Hell If heaven, it is only by faith alone in the finished work of Jesus If Hell, then that one is in “the county lock-up” until Judgement Day, and then will be cast into the Lake of fire forever and ever And just as an addendum to that, some people really struggle with eternal punishment, though no one struggles with eternal bliss But because Jesus is an eternal Being, and perfectly good and righteous, He MUST punish evil and sin So those who reject Him in this life will go on to reject Him for eternity, wanting reprieve from the punishment while still rejecting Jesus V32 is the stake through the heart of that rebellious attitude that goes it’s own way If the dead are not raised, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die… The warning/admonition here is to walk in a manner worthy of the calling of Jesus And through the Apostle Paul, He warns them to awaken from their stupor (not alcohol necessarily, but licentious living) Paul tells them (and some of us in the Church today) to “Wake up from your drunken stupor, as is right, and do not go on sinning. For some have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame.” If we, as born again Christians live like card-carrying pagans, who will tell the lost about Jesus? Who will walk in a manner worthy of our Lord to set an example for others? Paul is ashamed of many of the Believers and their behavior So he makes the strong assertion that, if the dead are not raised we should just party on like nothing really matters…tomorrow we die.” Here’s his warning to us: (I want to read it a second time!) [33] Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.” [34] Wake up from your drunken stupor, as is right, and do not go on sinning. For some have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame. The only way you can avoid being deceived is to handle, examine, and learn that which is true and good One of my good friends from high school is a Secret Service agent, and as we sat down a while back, we ended up talking about counterfeiting and fraud It was an interesting conversation Tip of the day: Don’t mail checks or cash! And the “bad guys” are postal workers for the most part! And this brings me to the next point… Don’t keep bad company (who you choose to run around with) Those 2 things are antithetical to the Gospel, which is the way, the truth, and the life They are not A way, or A truth, as so many erroneously believe Jesus is the ONLY way to the Father, and faith in Him is the ONLY way to salvation Someone will object to the narrow way of salvation, but I am only a herald of it Jesus is the one who established it, and the way that it works It is by faith in Christ alone, not of works, so that no one can boast in their salvation So beware of bad company These things are only found in Jesus Christ That is precisely why we must stay in God’s Word daily Our enemy is the master of what is false and deceptive So the admonition here is for the individual sinner to wake up from your drunken stupor Now, this doesn’t necessarily mean literal inebriation, but a spiritual version of it Just as too much alcohol can impair your senses and thinking, so can false doctrines and beliefs Look around at western civilization today and see realize that for many, “deconstructing one's faith” is the new moral imperative And we are warned about a “great falling away (apostasy) in the Last Days Are we seeing this happen now? I believe so! Those who consider themselves to be born-again Christians need to walk the walk and talk the talk That’s precisely what v33-34 is saying - There are still so many who do not believe, or have not heard the Gospel We who have faith in Christ have been tasked with the going and telling And some in this very church have been frustrated by my regular admonitions to engage in the Great Commission Imagine that… [35] But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?” [36] You foolish person! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. [37] And what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare kernel, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain. [38] But God gives it a body as he has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body. The physical body that you have is going to be changed at the coming of Jesus The dead will be raised, and then those who remain will be taken up, and so shall we ever be with the Lord We will have new bodies that will not age or become sick We will be fully sanctified (made holy) and glorified (made perfect) And I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait!! You will never experience pain again [39] For not all flesh is the same, but there is one kind for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish. [40] There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is of one kind, and the glory of the earthly is of another. [41] There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory. [42] So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. [43] It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. [44] It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. [45] Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. [46] But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual. [47] The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. [48] As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. [49] Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven. What it sown is perishable (our current earthly bodies) will be perfect and will never age and never die, because death was defeated We will have glorified bodies, and I can’t wait to take the test-drive! And all this is a transition from Jesus, from the sinful flesh that we inhabit because of the Fall, to the glory that is waiting for us in His Presence So Paul’s point here is that all living things die because of sin and the Curse But when we see Jesus face to face, all of that will change forever We will receive new bodies - glorious bodies - that can do things we can’t even currently imagine As we were all in Adam, and have had physical bodies that get hurt and sick and die because of the Curse, so then we will have perfect glorious bodies like Jesus’ Resurrection body! [50] I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. [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 imperishable, and we shall be changed. [53] For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. [54] When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” [55] “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” This continues on the same theme Flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom This is why we will have new, glorified bodies in the Presence of the King of Kings And we who have received the Holy Spirit who indwells the Believers will be co-heirs with Christ This is the promise of God for those who believe And this is why Scripture states that, “No eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor has it entered into the heart of Man what God has in store for us!” And I don’t know about you, but I have a pretty active imagination, so if what Jesus has for us is better, it’s going to be something that we can’t even really imagine this side of Heaven What matters now is that Death itself is a defeated foe, and for those who are IN Christ, it can only touch us in this life Death is defeated will not be in the life to come 1 Corinthians 2:9 - But as it is written, “No eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor has it entered into the heart of Man, what God has prepared for those who love Him!!” [56] The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. [57] But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. [58] Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain. We still live with sin, and also our schoolmaster, the Law of God But through Jesus and His death, burial, and Resurrection to life, has overcome the grave for us So what does that mean for you and me today? Well, Paul tells us that we must “be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain” SO “How now shall we live?” Given that Jesus really, was actually born, lived, ministered, died, and rose again, how should we now live in the light of this reality? What does this mean for us? We must strive to be steadfast In our convictions, we must be immovable Until He comes for us, we must be abounding in God’s work We must always be operating in the knowledge that what we do in this life for Christ is NOT in vain In the days ahead, I’d like to cast a vision (along with the Elders) for a more discipleship in the Church I find that many people over-complicate discipleship But in the days ahead, I hope have those conversations How? Who? When? and Where? Feel free to text or email with your thoughts! // APPLICATION Quickly, please allow me to offer 2 options as handholds going forward: If you are IN Christ already… Tell someone about how you got to where you are today Tell them what Jesus has done in your life It’s that simple Invite someone to coffee and share your story But if you have never put your faith in Jesus Christ alone…I want to invite you to do so today The last enemy to be destroyed will be Death itself Please allow me to tell you: HOW CAN A PERSON BE SAVED? John 20:31 - …these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. Pau boldly wrote: Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. Romans 10:8–10 [8] But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); [9] because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. [10] For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. Romans 10:13–17 [13] For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” [17] So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. We’ve looked intently at the things that were written so that we might believe The Gospel - the message of Jesus and His offer of salvation - it is the power of God unto salvation One need only confess that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead in order to be saved Salvation is hanging all your hope on what Jesus has done because you know you could never, in a million years, accomplish for yourself what He has done for you Instead, you need only embrace the fact that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved If you’ve done that for the first time this morning, I would rejoice to celebrate with you and help set your feet on the path to being more like Jesus Please let me know if that’s you! Our world is a beautiful place, but it is also a fallen place If all we have is this closed system apart from relationship with God, then life is meaningless and therefore hopeless Jesus is distinctive among all other religions and religious figures in history, and that distinction is mostly clearly seen in the Resurrection of Jesus from the dead Therefore hope is only to be found in Jesus Christ because only Jesus has overcome the grave Death IS defeated One day soon, death will be no more! O Praise the One who took my sin, and raised me up to Life again! // PRAY // SING // ANNOUNCEMENTS Wednesday nights Potluck 6pm-8pm in the meeting space Theme is: Let’s go Greek Thursday night jam session for anyone who wants to come SAT April 26 Men’s and Women’s breakfast at ER at 7:30am Helping Hands - opportunity to serve. SAT April 26 after breakfast - going to help Lindalee pack // GO Emmaus Road Church, YOU ARE SENT!!