Verse Corinthians 15, 22, for
as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive,
but every man in his own order. Christ the firstfruits, afterward
they that are Christ's at his coming. Everyone who was in Adam
died in Adam. You notice the word in, it's
a very important word in that verse, in Adam. All died. I didn't say after. I didn't
say anything else. It says in Adam all die. In him. In him as his progeny. As his descendants. As him being
our father in a physical sense. And also in him in the sense
of his being our representative. He was the first Adam. Christ
was the last Adam. And we are reckoned by God. We are looked at by God in those
two. By birth, we're seen in Adam.
We were represented by him in the garden. And when he fell,
we all fell in him. In Christ, if we are of God in
Christ Jesus who is made into us, wisdom, righteousness, sanctification,
and redemption, then as he is, so are we in this world. Because of his representation
of us and because of what he accomplished for us on Calvary,
you can't get a clean thing out of an unclean, Job 14.4. Adam sinned and became guilty,
sinful, wretched, depraved in the sight of God. And we all
came from Adam and you can't get a clean thing out of an unclean.
And so we are all born sinners. This is taught throughout the
scripture. We're also born mortals. In Adam we became mortal and
that's key in this. Not only are we born sinful,
but we're born dead spiritually and unto death physically. Bound to death. That's what mortal means. It
comes from a root word which means a dead man. A dead man. If you're mortal,
one day the mortician will see you. That's where we get that
word from. And even so, though, in Christ shall all be made alive. Those words, even so, are key. The same way that we died in
Adam, we're made alive in Christ. by birth and by representation. We're made sinful in Adam by
birth and by representation. Even so, like that, in Christ
shall all be made alive. We know that doesn't mean that
everyone who died in Adam is made alive in Christ. We wouldn't
need a Bible. We wouldn't need a gospel if
that were the case. We wouldn't need to preach. Sinners wouldn't need to come
to a knowledge of the Savior. Christ would have just canceled
everything that Adam ruined and renew it and we would get on
with our lives. So we know that's not true, but
what it does mean is that even so, by virtue of being in these
men, that keyword in again, death and life happen to us who believe
by virtue of being in them. We died in Adam, we are made
alive in Christ. Not just by Christ, not everyone
is made alive who was who became dead in Adam. Being born of the
flesh in Adam by earthly generation, we're dead spiritually and dying
physically. In an eternal sense, we're dead
physically. Being born of the spirit in Christ,
also by birth, you must be born again. That's how life comes. That's how death came in Adam,
but by Christ, and in Christ, life comes by birth. You must be born again, born
of the Spirit, born from above. We're alive spiritually in Christ,
and we'll be raised from the dead in due time, physically.
So in both cases, it's by birth, and also in Christ as our representative,
we are alive unto God now. We were dead unto God and alive
unto sin, Paul wrote, and now we're dead to sin and alive unto
God by Christ Jesus, our Lord. We stand before God in Christ. We have the spirit of life, the
spirit of Christ within us, one with us. Paul said, I live, yet
not I, but Christ liveth in me. So we live spiritually before
God now, and since our representative rose and ascended, Ephesians
1.20, he sat down at the right hand of the Father, and so shall
we. We are risen and ascended in
him, and we're seated together with him in heavenly places in
Christ by representation right now, Ephesians 2.6. When he comes for our bodies,
as he promised to do, we will actually, by experience, be together
with him and reign with him forever, 2 Timothy 2.12. Now notice in
verse 23 that Paul emphasizes again that Christ is the first
fruits in this thing of the resurrection, of rising from the dead. He is
preeminent in this. Not only are we raised in him
and raised by him, but we're raised because of him. He's the
firstfruits, and because he rose from the dead, and he did that
by his own power, he said, no man taketh my life from me. I
lay it down, and I take it up again. And because of him in
that, we rise, we live. So his preeminence is seen there.
He defeated death by his own sacrificial death as our spotless
lamb. He overcame death. A sinner can't do that. The just
wages of our sin is death, but God's perfect spotless Lamb overcame
death, hell, and the grave for us, and we're risen in Him. If
He, as a direct result of His sacrificial death and His resurrection
is a direct result of the success of that sacrifice. And if he rises not, then we
rise not. That's what Paul says in the
context of this. Since he did rise from the dead,
death having no dominion over him, we who are in him must also
rise. If he don't, we can't. If he
does, we must. He the firstfruits, and then
as he says here afterward, us. at His coming. So it's not just
something we have in common with the Lord, it's something that
He accomplished for us. And because He rose from the
dead first, we rise because of Him. In Him, by Him, and because
of Him. Now notice how we're identified
at the end of verse 23. This is precious. at the end of verse 23, where
are we in that? Christ's. It's describing us, but it's
using his name, isn't it? Christ's, that's us. It doesn't
say Chris, it says Christ's. I love that, that's who I am.
I'm his. Again, not everybody who died
in Adam will be raised in Christ. Those who are Christ's are raised
from the dead. Those who were Adam's died, and
that's all. Mankind but those who are Christ's
live and that's not all of mankind. That's those whom the father
gave him They became his in eternity when the father gave them to
his son in the eternal covenant of grace That's clear in the
scriptures those that the father gave him John 17 9. I Don't pray
for the world. I don't intercede he didn't represent
the world but those that the father has given him and He said,
I'm praying for them. I'm interceding for them. And
that's the high priest entering into the most holy place. He
said, the hour has come. Everything that we see in the
Old Testament, the high priest would come. And he would enter
into that most holy place, not without blood. And what was the
first thing? The incense, the smoke of the
incense. would come in, that's the high
priestly prayer of Christ in John 17. The incense rises up
before God as he brings his precious blood, not into the holy place
made with hands, but into the very presence of God. First the
incense, Father I intercede, I pray all those that are yours
are mine, and I pray for them, that they be with me, that they
be one with us, not the world, So that apostrophe S is very
significant. Those who the Father gave him,
his sheep, John 10, 26 through 27, he clearly delineates in
that chapter between those who are not his sheep and those who
are his sheep. His, apostrophe S. He said in John 17, 10 of those
that the Father gave him in that covenant of grace, he said this,
they're mine. They're mine. That's the apostrophe
S in our text. They're mine, they're his. Verse
24. Back in our text. Then cometh the end, when he
shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father, when
he shall have put down all rule and all authority and all power. Then cometh the end. All beginnings
and ends in this world are marked by time. And indeed, there was passage
of time that was integral to God's purpose spoken of here,
then come at the end when he shall have delivered up the kingdom
to the Father. There was passage of time involved
in that. In due time, Christ died for
the ungodly. And every fulfillment of all
that has been decreed by God happens in due time. But sometimes
when the scripture speaks of the beginning, it's not just
about the beginning of time. It's not just about being before
things that happened after. Second Thessalonians 2.13 is
one example of that, but we're bound to give thanks always to
God for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God hath
from the beginning chosen you. He did that before he ever made
a world, before there was ever a sun or anything to mark time. He hath from the beginning chosen
you to salvation through sanctification of the spirit and belief of the
truth. There was no time when that happened,
but it's called the beginning. It refers to causation. Not a timetable, but causation. He did that in eternity, and
it's the cause of every blessing to sinners. It's the cause of
every, he chose us to salvation. There's causation, and then there's
effect. There's a result. The result
is salvation. cause is his choice. And he does that through sanctification
of the spirit and belief of the truth. Through those means he'll
save us, but he chose us to that. In the beginning it says, but
that's not just before other stuff. It's the reason for other
stuff. You are saved by God independent
of time. And independent of time, he loved
and chose you in Christ. Likewise, this ending in our
text is more than just the end of time, though it does correspond
with that loosely. We don't know exactly when time
will stop. What difference does it make? The difference that is made and
that matters is that everything that God purposed before time
is accomplished in time and transcends time. It's eternal. His sacrifice was
eternal. He was the lamb slain before
the foundation of the world. His justification of us by his
precious blood and his perfect life as our righteousness is
eternal. God's never seen us any other
way but in him. It's not just the last second
that ticks when he says the end, it's the fulfillment of every
purpose and decree of God. It is the result of every cause. It's the goal reached. It's the culmination of every
effort, and effort is not even a good word when you're talking
about God. He don't make an effort, but we have to use English, don't
we? It's the culmination of every
part of the work of Christ. It's everything that God predestined
in eternity that Christ accomplished on Calvary come to fruition,
the end. That's what it is. It's a lot
bigger than just the passage of time. Christ finished the work when
he died. Now in the end, everything Christ
did, what he did in order to bring to pass, shall have been
brought to pass. There's no way we can do justice
to the magnitude of that statement, then come at the end. The kingdom
is delivered up. unto the Father by Christ. Christ
will do that. He delivers the kingdom. The
Father laid help upon the mighty one. Psalm 89, 19, and he, the
mighty one, has succeeded in all that was laid upon him. The very hope of sinners was
laid upon him. The success of God himself was
laid upon his son. The glory, the very glory of God was laid
upon him. And when we say laid upon him, we mean it was up to,
it was, he was the surety. He was the one that the father
depended upon. If I can just use human language,
I'm out of my depth and readily admit it. But you see, when it
says there in Psalm 89, 19, and this is integral to our text,
help was laid upon one that is mighty. That means that whatever
God desired, he put that on Christ to accomplish it. And the end is when all of that
is accomplished. The salvation, the perfect, complete
salvation of his elect. The kingdom of heaven is like
what? A king that made a marriage for his son. It had to do with a bride for
his son. That's what glorifies God and
his son is the salvation. Mercy, show me your glory, Lord. I'll have mercy on whom I will. Those who deny His authority
to do that fly in the very face of His glory. The spoils of Christ's victory
over death, hell, and every enemy of heaven are laid at the feet
of the Father. What are those spoils? It's us. It's us. We're the ones that were snatched
from the jaws of hell where we were determined to go. Don't
blame that on the devil. You wanted to go to hell. And
you're pretty good at it. And then the Lord intervened. Complete salvation of his elect
those loved and chosen and given to Christ as their surety The
end Laid at the feet of the father
who assigned Christ our champion the task Of the success of his kingdom
Listen to 1 Peter 3.18, For Christ also hath once suffered for sins,
the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God. This is him bringing us to God. That's why he died. Part and parcel to this is to
put down all other authority in the universe. The kingdom is the people, but
preeminently the kingdom is the king. And when he delivers up the kingdom
to the father, he does so as the king. He alone shall reign. It involves him having conquered
all rivals to the throne and brought all of the authority
that God has bestowed that is legitimate into submission to
and allegiance to the throne of God. When the end comes, let
me say this about it. And again, we're talking about
something that we just have glimpses of in the scripture. I know it
means that Christ has done what He came to do. I know it means
that as the King, He delivers the kingdom perfect. And listen,
let me say this. When the end comes, there will
be no regrets. This is a word here full of victory
and completion. There's not a hint of wishing
that more would have come into the kingdom. that more would
have made that all important decision. There's no hint of
having tried but not being let by others to accomplish what
the Lord wanted to accomplish. The kingdom and all required
for the success of the kingdom was laid upon the Lord Jesus
Christ and he delivers that kingdom when it's all said and done unto
his father. Here they are. He didn't try to save a single
one that he didn't save. All of that is just a sad and
blasphemous lie perpetrated by false free will religion to give
people what they want. Control. That's what people want. They want the throne. That's
what they want. That's what Satan wanted, didn't he? I will ascend
to the throne. It's exactly what Adam wanted. It's just the opposite of submitting
to God. But the word of God says that
everybody is going to submit to God anyway, whether you like
it or not. And bless his holy name, some
of us are going to like it real good. Because he made us willing in
the day of his power, we're gonna like it. We like it already. It's the horrible delusion of
having God submit to you. And sinners are gonna burn in
hell for that. Sadly, many sinners are gonna
burn in hell for that. because they require control.
They want God to submit to them. If I will, God will. Scripture's just the opposite
of that. God says, I will and you shall. They love that. They'll sell
their soul for that. 30 pieces of silver was a sweet
deal compared to what most men sell their souls for. You get to think that everything
is up to you for a little while, and for that, you burn in hell
for eternity. Mark it down. Enjoy it while
you can. You're the big shot. It's all
up to you. In spite of all of religions
raging against Christ's sovereignty. And boy, they do. You talk about
rage. I've never seen anybody so mad.
That's when I told him, it's not up to you. It's up to God.
And showed him that in the scriptures. I think it's the only time I
literally saw somebody's veins sticking out on their neck. And
he said, I don't want anything to do with a God like that. In spite of all of religions
raging against Christ's sovereignty and the dominance of his will,
we have the next words of our text in verse 25. He must reign. You don't like it, maybe. You
refuse to bow. You insist that everything's
up to you, that the decision is yours, that everything hangs
upon your free will, and yet he reigns anyway. And yet he'll
do what he will with you anyway. And yet he'll drop you in hell
if that's what pleases him anyway. Do you really think that God
cares what you decide? Do you really think your decisions
are what God is hanging on? That he's just waiting to, really? He's God now. Remember that. He's God. For he must reign. That means
to be king, to exercise kingly power, to control. The very thing that men crave
and demand they will never have. You're not in control, and I'm
real glad. I'm not in control, and you better
be glad. I'd have put y'all all in hell
a long time ago. No, I probably would have saved
a few of you, maybe. Aren't you glad that it's not
up to us? Think about your loved ones so steeped in ignorance
and darkness. What if your only hope for them
is that the light, that they'll just like decide that they've
been wrong all their life? Have you talked to them about
the Lord? Have you seen the look on their face? And religion talks about leading
people to the Lord. Have you ever given that a shot? I would just as soon convince
my dog of the gospel as I would my lost loved ones. Oh, but if we preach Christ,
God said he might just come and do something for him if we do
that. He might just do it per adventure. God will grant them repentance
to the acknowledgement of the truth. That's my hope. That's my hope for my loved ones
and for myself, for you, for all of us. He must reign. He delivers up the kingdom because
it's his to deliver up. It belongs to him. He has all
authority. He exercises kingly power. That's what the definition of
this word is. Did he not do that on the day that he said to that
paralyzed man, your sins are forgiven? That doesn't sound like somebody
that needs to make a phone call, does it? That doesn't sound like
somebody that's leaving things up to other people. That sounds
like the king, doesn't it? That sounds like the king of
salvation, the king of glory. Your sins are forgiven. We know now he delivers up the
kingdom and he puts all enemies under his feet, under his feet. I don't need him to be under
my feet. I just need him to be under his feet. If they're under
his feet, I'm going to be just fine because he loved me with
an everlasting love. If they're under his feet, then
they're under us, because no enemy can touch us. No weapon
formed against us can prosper. Not a dog can wag its tongue
our way. His very angels stand, and he
calls them our angels. I'm going to meet my angels one
of these days, but that won't be anything. That won't be anything. I'm going to meet the one who
they belong to. And think about this. One of
the enemies who had to submit to him is me. Is not the carnal
mind enmity against God? And I had to bow. I had to submit. I had to throw down arms. And
that me is going to be destroyed. before long. Who shall deliver
me? Who's going to save me from the
body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ
our Lord. My old man, my flesh is to be
destroyed. Thank God he broke me and he's
going to do away with my flesh. The old me, that is my flesh,
cannot inherit the kingdom of God. He's not ever getting past this
earth. Corruption cannot inherit incorruption. 1 Corinthians 15, 50. And bless
God. He brought me down. He broke
me and destroyed the old me. But all his enemies also are
all of my enemies. Just so happens that they're
the same ones. As his subject in his kingdom,
the enemy of the king is my enemy. You know the most despicable
thing about God to this religious, the religious free will sinners
is the sovereignty of Christ. That's what they rage the most
about. In the parable that our Lord told in Luke 19, the evil
wretches in that story said of the master, we will not have
this man to reign over us. We will not. That's our nature. That's our will. Pilate delivered
the Lord Jesus unto the will of the people. And we put on display for the
whole world what our will is all about. Turn with me to Matthew 26 and
we'll close. Matthew chapter 26, verse 62. Matthew 26, 62. And the high
priest arose and said unto him, answerest thou nothing? What
is it which these witness against thee? But Jesus held his peace. And the high priest answered
and said unto him, I adjure thee by the living God. Can you imagine
that? He's swearing by God and he's
sitting there looking at God. And God's looking at him. that thou tell us whether thou
be the Christ, the Son of God. And Jesus saith unto him, thou
hast said, nevertheless I say unto you, hereafter shall you
see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of power and coming
in the clouds of heaven. Then the high priest rent his
clothes, saying, he hath spoken blasphemy. What further need
have we of witnesses? Behold, now you have heard his
blasphemy. What think ye?" Now here's their
response to him saying, you're going to see me majestic. You're going to see
me on the throne. You're going to see me ruling
over all things. Here's what they said, he's guilty
of death. Then, then, when he said you're
gonna see the son of man sitting on the right hand of power, then
did they spit in his face and buffeted him and others smote
him with the palms of their hands. And yet to believers the most
comforting truth is to think that our Savior sits on the throne. Is there anything that rejoices
your heart more than to know the one that gave himself for
you, that loved you that much, is calling the shots? You can't
even mess up because he rules and reigns and his will is accomplished
in his kingdom. The very idea that King Jesus
would direct his universe or let his divine purposes hang
upon the depraved will of wretched sinners like us is repugnant
to anybody that knows him. May we always and ever echo the
powerful declaration of our text. He must reign. He must increase. I must decrease. That is so contrary
to our nature. Not unto us, O Lord, not unto
us, but unto thy name give glory for thy mercy and for thy truth's
sake. Wherefore should the heathen say, where is now their God?
But our God is in the heavens. He hath done whatsoever he hath
pleased. Where's your God? Where's your
God? If you're listening to this,
where's your God tonight? Not only devils and the devil,
but every knee shall bow to the Savior. Everyone. Matthew 21, 42, listen to this. Jesus said to the religious Jews,
did you never read the scriptures? Can you imagine how offensive
that was to them? These were the religious scholars.
These are the ones that had memorized most of the Bible. And he said,
what's the matter? Did you never read the Bible?
Haven't you ever read the Bible? The stone which the builders
rejected, the same has become the head of the corner. This is the Lord's doing, and
it is marvelous in our eyes. Therefore say, I unto you, the
kingdom of God shall be taken from you and given to a nation,
bringing forth the fruits thereof. And whosoever shall fall on this
stone shall be broken, but on whomsoever it shall fall, it
will ground him to powder. He's the chief cornerstone. And
either way, we're broken. Let me close with this thought.
Anybody that feels sorry for the Lord Jesus Christ has got
it all wrong. You remember how he said, even
to the ones as he bore the actual cross up to Calvary, there were
ladies there that wept for him. They pitied him because they
saw his suffering. And he said to them, don't weep
for me, but weep for yourselves and your children. Don't weep
for the solution, weep for the problem. It's not sad that he
went to Calvary. What he's saying is what the
thief saw. That thief on his right hand,
many saw someone to be pitied, a victim. to be felt sorry for,
but that thief saw a king coming into his kingdom, and he begged
for mercy. May God show us all what he saw, and may we fall at his feet now
willingly, gladly, by his grace. That happens by his grace. And acknowledge that he is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.