First Corinthians chapter 15,
if you would tonight please turn there and let's look together
at a very, very precious and comforting passage
of Scripture. First Corinthians 15.53. Verse 53, for this corruptible
must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. It's an imperative. It's got
to happen. It must happen. Why? Because this victory that we're
going to see in this chapter is a person. Let's read a little farther down
from verse 53 So when this corruptible verse
54 shall have put on incorruption and this mortal Shall have put
on immortality then shall be brought to pass the saying that
is written death is Swallowed up in victory. Oh Death where
is that sting? Oh grave, where is that victory? The sting of death is sin and
the strength of sin is the law. The thanks be to God which giveth
us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. The two words, the two times
that the word must is used in verse 53 is because of the person in verse 57. It's reminiscent
of what Paul wrote in Romans chapter eight. If you'd turn
over there with me for a moment, Romans 8, 34. Romans 8, 34. I think we get a sense of the message
of this whole passage in our text. We get our minds in the right
place here. Romans 8 34 who is he that condemneth? That is that condemneth me Or
the elect of God any of God's elect verse 33 who shall lay
anything? To the charge of God's elect
who is he that condemneth it is Christ that died Yea rather
that is risen again who is even at the right hand of God who
also maketh intercession for us in other words Paul is saying
We're innocent, uncondemnable before God because of a person,
because it is him. Why do we stand before God in
perfect righteousness? Three things in that verse 34.
Christ died. He washed all of my sin away
with his precious blood as he rode me in the eternal white
of his own righteousness. robe washed in his blood, paid
all of my sin debt so that there's no sin on my account. That's
why nobody can condemn me. Justified before God, he rose
again. What happened on Calvary is accepted
of God, successful, satisfactory, and sufficient, or Christ Jesus
cannot rise. We know that we are indeed redeemed
by him and made spotless to stand in his presence, the presence
of God, because he is the firstborn of the dead, because he rose
for us, died in our place, rose again. And listen to Romans 4.25,
who was delivered for our offenses and was raised again for our
justification. He is why we're justified before
God. And then the third thing that
verse 34 there says is he also, who is even at the right hand
of God, who also maketh intercession for us. As our mediator is God's
son who gave himself for us, we can never lose a case in the
courts of heaven. No one can lay anything to our
charge because Christ Jesus, our Redeemer, is also our advocate. Our case is based not on anything
about us. He doesn't plead anything we've
done or would promise to do. But our case is based on his
precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ as of a lamb without blemish.
Without spot. So. Christ himself is our justification. He is why we stand guiltless
in the sight of God. So what does that have to do
with our text? Well, the imperative in verse 53 also has for its
reason the Lord Jesus Christ himself, a person, and what he
is to us as we saw in verse 57. The victory is given to us in
that those musts, the must, this corruptible must put on incorruption,
that's the victory. From death to life, from impurity
to holiness, from our sin to his righteousness.
Those musts are a victory won by the Son of God. The certainty
of us going from, and these are the, These are the Greek definition
of the words in the text. We're quoting it a little different
way, but because these are the definitions. The certainty of
us going from impure and perishable to perfect and everlasting in
our very being. That's what we are. We're going
from what we are now to what we are in Him. That certainty,
that victory, was won by the Lord Jesus Christ for us and
given to us by Him. The way that God has won this
victory through our Lord Jesus Christ, God the Son defeating
every enemy, including our own sinful nature. We are our own
worst enemy by nature, but the old man is done for. So him the old us Satan and all of All of those who work for him
this whole world this whole wretched godless world It's a victory one And that's
important to understand all of the blessings that we have in
Our standing before God in righteousness and holiness without blemish
and without spot is a victory that was won. You see why we're
so insistent to proclaim from God's word that whatever Christ
came to do and gave himself on Calvary to do, he fully accomplished. If that victory is not won, then
we're goners. We have no hope. We are condemnable
before God. We will die in our sins. And we will never be anything
but dying, dead and dying. We insist repeatedly in the gospel
messages that he did not make victory available. He won it. That's what we have to understand
here. What happened on the cross is not subject to our pathetic,
depraved, sinful will. It was a victory won for us.
Our will is the problem, and Christ crucified is the victory. And there is certainty because
of who did it, who accomplished it. So that's what we're seeing
there in verse 53, a person. Like in Romans 8, and all through
the gospel is a person. He said, I am the way, I am the
truth, I am the life. Martha, I am the resurrection. Don't trust in events, don't
trust in doctrine. Like the Pharisees did, you think
by searching the scriptures and knowing the scriptures, you have
luck, but they point to me. and you won't come to me that
you might have life. So that's what begins to jump
out in this passage. If we begin with the very first
verse there, verse 53, this corruption must put on incorruption. Why?
Why is that a necessity? Well, because of who it is that
won that victory for us. It's that event, us becoming
immortal, holy, changed preachers before God with his own glorious
body, made like unto his own glorious body. That's the victory here. And
it was given to us by the Savior. Look at verse 54. So when this
corruptible shall have put on incorruption and this mortal
shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass
the saying that is written, death is swallowed up in victory. You see that? That event, that
miracle, that wonderful, like an old dried up dead seed that's
planted in the ground. And because God gives it life,
Because as we read, God giveth it a body as it pleaseth Him. And then we go from that shriveled
up, corruptible thing, dead, no life, no hope. A seed will
just lay there. You lay it right here and it'll
just lay there forever. It'll never be anything. But
when the Lord Jesus Christ died for us, we died in Him. A corn
of wheat, except it fall into the ground and die, it abideth
alone, but if it fall into the ground and die, it beareth much
fruit. And Paul has described this event
that way, that we're dead, but we're planted in Christ, we're
immersed in Christ, we're baptized into Christ, and rise again with
newness of life as pictured in baptism. We come forth with a
different body, not the same. We're changed, glorious and perfect
and fit to live face to face with the Son of God forever.
That's the victory. And it's the bringing to pass
of God's word. Death is swallowed up in victory. Simple language, simple truth,
The last enemy shall have been destroyed. Death has swallowed
up in victory. Again, we have the word victory.
In this verse, people talk about the afterlife as though it's
just something that's there, you know. The same way they think
about the universe. It's just there, you know, we
just, here we are. And the earth is just here and
the sky is just up there. The after, there's this thing
called the afterlife, you know. and it just happens to be there,
nope. What happens to every man and woman, boy and girl that
dies is a direct result of what Christ did on Calvary, good or
bad. That's when it comes to your
eternal destiny. It's not just there. It's a question
of the victory that Christ won. Death is swallowed up in victory,
or it's not. What happens to this body when
it dies is attributable alone to the Son of God and what he
did on this earth. If there is victory over death
for you, it was won by your Savior. What a simple truth this is and
how thoroughly it banishes all thought of what we do and what
we make of ourselves and how we live or don't live. The preaching of the gospel of
Christ and what he did is the savor of death and life. Because
Christ crucified is the cause of life in them that believe And to reject him is to forfeit
what he did and to be consigned to everlasting death so It all
is consequential of Christ and what he did in this world him
He that hath the Son hath life and That's what happens, that's
what the afterlife is. He who hath the Son hath life,
and he who hath not the Son of God hath not life. That's true
right now, and that's true in eternity. That's the simple gospel
that we preach. Victory, salvation, justification,
our standing before God, life from the dead, From a dead seed
to a glorious fruit-bearing plant unto God The difference is a person That's
what's so clearly clearly laid out here all of this also from
this verse 54 Let's say this all of this is just another dot
on God's timeline. I It comes to pass like everything
else. And I'm not saying that to trivialize
it, but to show simply how that it's according to the perfect
will and declaration of God in his word, because God said so,
because God said that death shall be swallowed up in victory for
those who are in Christ Jesus. That's the message of this verse. It's because God said so. It's
his perfect will expressed, revealed in the scripture, coming to pass. Just another dot on the timeline. And yet, what a dot. What a dot. What a wonderful
thing shall come to pass when this body breathes its last. Christ gives victory over death,
God said so. Job said in Job 19.23, oh, that
my words were now written, oh, that they were printed in a book,
that they were graven with an iron pen and lead in the rock
forever. For I know that my Redeemer liveth
and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth And
though after my skin, worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall
I see God. How is Job able to say that?
How can he know that? To the point where some say,
when he's talking about engraving it into the rock forever, he's
saying, put this on my tombstone. My Redeemer lives, and because
He lives, I will live forever. I'll see Him in my flesh. Changed, yes, but me. He's redeemed me soul, body,
and spirit. I will yet see Him after this
body is corroded and decayed and is nothing but dust if it
comes to that. I'm gonna stand and see God in
my flesh. That's the victory that our text
is talking about. And Job could say that way back
then. Some say that's the oldest scripture
in the Bible, even older than Genesis, the book of Job. He
was able to say that then, why? Because God said it. That's what
our text is telling us. Because God said so. The saying
of God shall come to pass. Our enemies cannot win, you see
that? They can't win. Death is swallowed
up in victory. Death is called an enemy. We
have others and none of them can win over us. They can't have
the victory. Where is the victory for them? It can't be. The word grave is also there. And I didn't read far enough,
did I? But the word grave in our text, verse 55, O death,
where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? Our enemies can't win because
of who our champion is. That's the message of the whole
passage. The word grave there also is the word for hell. There's no victory for hell or
death or the grave. And because There's no victory for the grave
death is not so such a bad thing. There's no sting to it for the
believer For the sheep of God The way that death is vanquished
is by life And Christ is the life That's what mortal putting
on immortality means life eternal life everlasting life and Christ
our life, because my Redeemer liveth, Job said, I shall also
live, even after worms have destroyed this body. And we know that eternal
life is not just living forever. It's living in his presence.
To go and be with him is far better. Not just living forever. I don't want to be like this
forever, do you? Who shall save me from the body of this death?
Look at verse 56. The sting of death is sin, and
the strength of sin is the law. Death is a problem because of
sin, and sin is a problem because of God's holy law, which is just
an expression of his person, who he is, what he requires,
the righteousness that he requires. The wages of sin is death, and
sin is transgression of God's law. which our Savior said, by
the way, that the law is contained in these two. Thou shalt love
the Lord thy God with all thy heart, soul, mind, and strength,
and thy neighbor, that's thyself. In those two things, all of the
law are contained. Our problem, though, is that
we hate God by nature. You see how that brings that
out? The Ten Commandments on their wall, they're like, well,
I haven't killed anybody today. Really? According to God, you
reckon you have? When he said that if you get
angry at your brother for no reason, you've murdered him in
your heart. Well, we'll put that aside for
now, though. They put him on the wall, they
say, well, here's what we have to abide by in order to have
favor with God. No. Do you love God with all
your heart? You know how that happens? You
meet his son, fall in love with his son, God gives you faith
in his son. The law is contained in that
in loving him and loving his people. Loving your neighbor. And the reason you know we hate
God, we you know why we hate God is because we love ourselves. This is the condemnation that
light is coming to the world and we hated the light because
we loved our darkness. We love the darkness rather than
God's light. And the world sings, you know,
the greatest love there is, is to love yourself. That's what
sin is. That's our problem, is that we
love ourselves and not God. Paul said, if any man love not
the Lord Jesus Christ, Let him be accursed. That's your
problem. Your problem is not that your
great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great,
great, great, great grandfather ate the wrong fruit. Your problem
is he hated God and so do you. And I do too by nature. By his grace, we've been given
eyes to see that he's altogether lovely. We've fallen in love
with God's son. Thou shalt love the Lord thy
God. And by his grace we do. Not in a way that measures up,
not in a way that can be called our righteousness before him.
Christ is all of our righteousness before him. It's not Christ plus
we love God. Our love is bad enough to put
us in hell without Christ. By his grace, we can say with
Simon, I love you, Lord. You know everything, and you
know he's the one that put, we love him because he first loved
us. His love is the cause of ours. So the law, that's our
problem, is that we hate God. But think about it this way. If any man love not the Lord
Jesus Christ, let him be accursed. Well, do we love God? Well, God
came down here. Maybe there's some evidence of
how we felt about him. What happened when he came down
here to earth among us? Well, we ridiculed him. The only
reason we ever even asked him, would you like to ask God a question?
The only reason we asked him any questions was to trip him
up and to prove him to be an imposter so we could go on loving
ourselves. We had no room for him. We stoned him, tried to. We despised him. We opposed him
at every turn. The only ones that didn't were
the ones that he walked up to and said, come, I'll make you
something that you're not now. Those are the only ones that
didn't hate him. They didn't choose him, he chose
them. And so we showed how we feel
about God. We spit on him, cursed his name, humiliated him in every possible
way we could up to and including the most ignominious death that
we could possibly imagine for him. We nailed him to a cross
and we mocked him while he bled. That's our problem. We nailed
the son of God to a cross and we delighted in the fact that
he died before us in shame. But by that very cross, the Lord
Jesus Christ took the punishment of his people Satisfied that
law which sealed our doom And it's by the preaching of that
cross that were made to fall in love with him The preaching Of our hatred for him and his love
for us That were caused to fall in love
with him and his son and there's only one thing that Just say
to that, verse 57, thanks. We are bound to give thanks to
God for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God hath
from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification
of the spirit and belief in the truth. We're bound. We owe it
to him. We're compelled. We're debtors
to say, Thank you, God, because salvation's of the Lord. You know the word thanks there,
thanks be to God, that word thanks is translated 11 times in scripture,
thanks. But do you know, can you guess
what it's translated as 160 times? Grace. Grace be to God. The victory that Christ won for
us on Calvary is given unto us by grace. And that's what we
say to him, Lord, grace be to you. The way in all eternity,
we'll say salvation and glory and honor unto thee, strength,
power unto the Lamb. unto the Lamb. So now, even now,
we say, Lord, grace unto you. Grace be unto you. This Thanksgiving that we express
is an acknowledgement of that free and sovereign grace of God,
whereby we are included and put in Christ, who has made unto
us all we need. Notice there in that verse 57
It's not offered unto us It is given unto us Thank God for that
Thank God for every word of this glorious passage of scripture
it is given It is given to those Who've done nothing? But that
which would make us undeserving of it. It is given unto us. That's what
grace is. Turn with me to Matthew 13, please. We'll close with this thought. Matthew 13, 10. With this thought in mind, it
is given Victory is given to us Matthew 13 10 and the disciples
came And said unto him why speakest
thou unto them in parables? He answered and said unto them
because it is given unto you To know the mysteries of the
kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given when he gives us the knowledge
of himself, the mystery of his person and work and his grace,
God's sovereign love for us in Christ Jesus, when it's given
to us, that's when life begins for this dead sinner. Because it is given. For whosoever
hath, verse 12, to him shall be given and he shall have more
abundance, but whosoever hath not from him shall be taken away
even that he hath. Therefore speak out to them in
parables, because they seeing see not, and hearing they hear
not, neither do they understand. And in them is fulfilled the
prophecy of Isaiah, which saith, by hearing you shall hear, and
shall not understand, and seeing you shall see, and shall not
perceive, for this people's heart is waxed gross, And their ears
are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, lest at
any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their
ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted.
And I'd heal them, but blessed are your eyes. Oh, blessed are your eyes for
they see, and your ears for they hear. Blessed of God. Blessed
are the pure in heart, You weren't born like that. We're bound to
give thanks to God for that. Thank you, God. Thanks be to
God. Grace be to God Almighty for
the victory won by his son and given to us. You know who knows
what grace is? You can't learn it in a book.
Well, it can be revealed to you in scripture now, but I'm talking
about, you can look up books and read doctrinal essays on
the doctrine of grace or the doctrines of grace. You know
who knows what grace is? A sheep. A sheep that has been lost and
knows that the only reason that it's at home now is because the
shepherd came a-seeking. because he went where we were,
found us where we were, picked us up, put us on his shoulder,
and brought us home rejoicing. If that's you, you know what
grace is. And you're not gonna know it
any other way except by knowing him, to know him. All of it's
a person, all of it's Christ. I found my sheep, which was lost,
my sheep. And so Paul says here, all grace
and glory unto God for sending his only begotten son to bring
me home by the sacrifice of himself. We know what it took for him
to bring that sheep back home. We know why he's able to call
us my sheep. because he bought us with his
precious blood, gave himself for our wretched souls. I pray he'll give us grace to
go from here praising him for it. Let's pray.