1 Corinthians 15. Actually, you might want to turn
to John 5 first. John chapter 5. I've entitled
this message, Death Is Not The End. We're all sitting here, breathing,
hearts pumping. Maybe we feel good, maybe we
feel bad. Maybe we feel happy, maybe we
feel sad. We're all sitting here though,
alive, and one day we're going to die. You know that. Life will cease. Our lungs will
stop breathing. Our hearts will stop pumping,
and I guess they'll have a funeral for us. People will say things
about us, but we'll be dead. They're going to put us in a
casket. We're going to be buried underground,
and our bodies will decay and return to the dust. That's the
future of every single one of us. Life is so brief. Oh, it's
so brief. and we're going to die. And upon
the return of Christ, these bodies will be raised from the dead. There will be a resurrection
unto damnation and a resurrection unto life. Let me show you that
in the scriptures in John chapter 5. These are the words of the
Lord Jesus. And he says in John chapter 5, Verse 28. Marvel not at this
for the hours coming in the which all that are in the graves shall
hear his voice and shall come forth. They that have done good. Under the resurrection of life.
And they that have done evil. unto the resurrection of damnation."
Now here is the resurrection of the believer and the unbeliever
spoken of. They that have done good. If
Christ did good, I did good. If Christ obeyed, I obeyed. I've
done good. In the Lord Jesus Christ, I have
done good. I'll be raised up unto life.
the resurrection of life, and we read of the resurrection of
damnation. Now, the resurrection of the
unbeliever is an unpleasant subject at best. Christ called it the
resurrection of damnation. And I don't know what all to
say about that other than this. Every unbeliever is going to
find out that there really is a place called hell. And they're
going to be raised up to an eternity in that awful place. I don't
want to go to hell. I want to go to heaven. I want
to be with the Lord Jesus Christ. There is such a thing as the
resurrection of damnation. We're not going to talk any more
about that. Paul in our text in 1 Corinthians 15 is speaking
of the resurrection of the believer, the resurrection of life. Now,
I read that passage of Scripture in Mark chapter 8 when he said,
it's better to enter into life maimed. This is not life. This is not life. Life is awaiting the believer,
a life of joy, bliss, and pleasure. that cannot be adequately described. This is not life. Now in verse
20 of 1 Corinthians chapter 15, Paul says, but now is Christ
risen from the dead and become the first fruits of them that
slept. Now Paul had been talking about
the awful consequences of their If there's no resurrection, all
these things will take place. And we considered that last week. But he says now Christ is risen
from the dead. He dead, in fact, died, not figuratively,
but literally. The Son of God died. And I have
such a hard time comprehending that. He's alive. He's the God-man. How did he die? That's hard to
get hold of, isn't it? He actually died. My sin became
His, and He died. The only reason for death is
sin. There is no other reason for
death. And He did in fact die, and He
became the firstfruits of them that slept. Now what's this thing
of the firstfruits all about? When the crops would come up
in the Old Testament, that which came up first would be given
to the Lord. And you were pledging by that,
that you're depending on the Lord to take care of the rest. It was a pledge to the Lord to
bless the crop. Now, Christ is the first one
to rise from the dead. He's the first fruit. Now, somebody
may think, weren't there other people who were raised from the
dead in the Old Testament and the New Testament? There were.
There were. But they ended up dying again. They weren't raised up to life.
They were raised from the dead, lived a life once again, and
died once again. They weren't truly raised up
to life as the resurrection speaks of when we'll be raised up to
life. And oh, what a life. It is. And Christ is the first
to rise to the resurrection of life, and His resurrection is
the guarantee that those who sleep in Him will also be raised
from the dead. Now, I think it's very interesting.
Let's read verses 20 and 21 together. But now, is Christ risen from
the dead? and become the first fruits of
them that slept. For since by man came death,
by man came also the resurrection of the dead." Now, here the death
of the believer is described in two ways. And I love these
two descriptions of the death of the believer. First, it's
described as a sleep. A sleep of rest. You know, the
Lord never describes the death of the believer in any other
way but then of sleep. not death, our friend Lazarus
sleepeth. He speaks of them which sleep
in Jesus. It's the sleep of rest. It's
described as a sleep and it's described as a sowing. Christ
is the first fruits. He's sown into the ground and
He comes up. And you know what a mystery it
is when you take a dead seed, doesn't have any life in it,
and you plant it in the ground, and something altogether different
comes up, isn't it? That's a miracle of God, isn't
it? Scientists can't duplicate this. This is the work of God. You take that dead seed, you
plant it in the ground, and something comes up altogether different. That's the resurrection of the
believer. Now, he says in verse 21, For
since by man came death, By man came also the resurrection of
the dead." Now, this is a reference to Adam, the first man, and Christ,
the second man, the Lord from heaven. By man came death. Romans chapter 5 verse 12 says,
"...for as by one man sin entered the world, and death by sin,
so death passed upon all men in that all have sinned." When
Adam sinned, You know who else did? I did. It's not simply that his sin
was charged to me, but I didn't really do it. There's no justice
in that, really. When Adam sinned, I sinned. That's
what the Bible says. For as by one man's sin entered
the world, and death by sin, so death passed upon all men,
in that all have sinned. When Adam sinned, I sinned. It's not just that I'm this poor,
unfortunate victim where his sin was charged to me when I
didn't do it. No, not at all. I did it. When Adam sinned, I sinned. What he did, he did as a representative
man. And when he sinned, when he ate
the fruit, I did too. And death came because of that
sin. In the day you eat thereof, you
shall surely die. What is death? It's the departure
of life. There was a time when Adam was
alive. He had spiritual life before God. And what happens
when you die? Life leaves. Life leaves. You no longer can perform the
functions of life. Now, why is there death? There's
only one reason because of sin. Now, understand this. I touched
on this this morning, and this is so important for us to understand
this. Men don't die because they're
not elect. Men don't die because Jesus Christ
didn't die for them. Men do not die because they're
victims of the sovereignty of God. Men die because of their
sin. You and I are going to die because
of our sin. We can't blame God. If a man
goes to hell, if a man goes to hell, what a solemn thing to
think about. Like I said, I don't want to go to hell. I've had
a dread of that all my life. When I was a little boy, I just
trembled the thought of going to hell. I don't want to go to
hell, but I'll tell you this. If a man goes to hell, it's all
his fault. He's completely responsible for
his own actions. And if I don't believe that,
I haven't really understood grace in the first place. I was talking
to somebody and I've said this in this thing of responsibility,
thus being responsible for our actions. If you don't believe
that you're responsible for your actions, number one, you've never
really confessed your sin before God. It's somebody else's fault. Number two, you've never asked
for mercy. Because you'd never ask for mercy
unless your sin was all your fault. And number three, you
don't really believe in grace. You see, grace is for guilty
people. It's not for victims. It's for
guilty people. So in this thing of responsibility,
it's very important. I don't really have any understanding
of the gospel if I don't understand human responsibility. My sin
is my fault. By one man sin entered the world,
and death by sin. So death passed upon all men
in that all have sinned. That's why there is death. By
one man came spiritual death. And more on that in a moment.
Physical death also came as a result of that, and eternal death, hell,
came as a result of that. But he's talking about spiritual
death. But what that reminds me of is how evil sin is. Why is there death? Because of
sin. You think of God as a glorious,
just God, and the punishment's going to fit the crime. It's
not like He's going to be too harsh and punish people too harshly.
This gives us some idea of just how bad sin really is. By man came sin. You know, people become puzzled
over the origin of evil. Where did evil come from? Well,
by Adam. By Adam. I mean, there it is. By one man,
sin entered the world. That's where sin came into this
world. By Adam. By his transgression. And he
did what he wanted to do. I don't understand how someone
with an innocent nature can end up falling like that, but he
did. He did. And you and I don't think you
wouldn't have done the same thing. You did do the same thing. What
he did, you and I did. By man, the man Christ Jesus,
by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the
dead. Remember, Christ is the firstfruits
of them that slept, and because He is the resurrection. I love
what he said, he said to Mary, he said, your brother shall rise
again. And she said, well, I know that. I know he'll rise on the
resurrection the last day. I'm already aware of that. I'm
familiar with the doctrine of the resurrection. And he said,
I am the resurrection. It's not a future event. I'm
it. I am the resurrection and the life. That's how much He
is the resurrection. So it's not an event. He's the
resurrection. When He was raised, I was raised.
Now, the Bible speaks of three resurrections. First, there's
the resurrection of Christ, His bodily resurrection. And then
there's the spiritual resurrection that every believer experiences,
and you have He quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins.
The hour is now coming and now is when the dead shall hear the
voice of the Son of God. And that's what happens when
you hear the Gospel. The dead hear the voice of the Son of
God and they that hear shall live. And then there's the physical
resurrection that will one day take place when the Lord returns.
Isn't it glorious to think about it? He's going to come back with
a shout. Everybody's going to know who He is at that time.
And the dead in Christ are going to be raised. Now, by man came
the resurrection of the dead. In all three of these resurrections,
this is what is so glorious about the Lord Jesus Christ. You know,
He raised Himself from the dead. Now, that power, to be able to
raise yourself from the dead, He raised Himself from the dead.
And if you're quickened, if I'm given spiritual life, it's because
He gave it to me. And then on that last great day,
when all the dead in Christ are raised up, it'll be Him doing
the raising. By man came death, by man also came the resurrection
of the dead. Verse 22. Now verse 22 is an
amplification of what verse 21 says. For as in Adam all die,
even so in Christ shall all be made alive. By man came death,
in Adam all die. By man came the resurrection
of the dead, in Christ shall all be made alive." Now, this
is a verse that has helped me tremendously in understanding
the gospel. There's not a more important
verse in all the Word of God than 1 Corinthians 15, verse
22. Now, this verse answers three very important questions. This
verse tells us what actually took place in the Garden of Eden.
This verse tells us what actually took place on the cross. And
this verse tells us what really takes place in a sinner's heart
when God saves them. Now that's interesting, isn't
it? This verse answers all three of those questions. But first,
what's meant by in Adam and in Christ? For as in Adam all die,
even so in Christ shall all be made alive. Well, you know what
that means. In Adam, that means everybody
Adam represented. Adams, our federal head, is what
some people have called it. Everybody that Adam represented.
Everybody that was in the loins of Adam. What he did, they did. He represented everybody. I was
united to Adam. Whatever Adam did, I did. He
did what he did as a representative man. And it's the same thing
with the Lord Jesus Christ. Even so, in Christ shall all
be made alive. Is everybody in Christ? No. The elect are in
Christ, those who believe, those who trust the Lord Jesus Christ.
They are in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, in Christ, every single
one of them will be made alive. What really happened? Let's let's
consider these three questions that are so critically important.
What really happened in the Garden of Eden? You know the story. Adam ate
of the fruit. That God forbid him to eat. And
he died. And you know that he didn't die
physically at this time. God said, in the day you eat thereof,
you'll surely die. He didn't die physically, but he certainly
died spiritually. Adam died. Now, what took place? Here's the first thing that I
see that took place. God's purpose was accomplished. God said to
Adam in Genesis chapter 2, verse 17, in the day you eat thereof. There wasn't any If you eat it,
this is what's going to happen. That's not the way the language
is stated. He said, in the day you eat thereof,
you will surely die. Now, could God have prevented
this? Well, of course He could have. But He didn't. It was all
a part of His purpose. Now I realize somebody's going
to say, well, you're charging God with evil. Well, I don't know
what I'm doing, but I know it wouldn't happen if God didn't permit it.
And I know God didn't cause it. God's holy. God does not... Listen
to this scripture. Let no man say when he's tempted,
I'm tempted of God. For God tempts no man with evil.
You can't say, well, God was trying to get... God wasn't trying
to do anything. This was just all part of his
purpose. He said, in the day you eat thereof, you shall surely
die. So what happened when Adam ate
of that fruit? Well, first of all, God's purpose was done. And that's the way the language
of the scripture is. In the day you eat it, you will surely die. Now, how could God have let that
happen? Because it was His purpose. God's
holy. Whatever He does is right. Whatever
He does is just. Whatever He does is good. It's
the best. It's the best. And, well, why
didn't He? Why nothing? Whatever God does
is the best. You believe that? Do you have
that view of the Lord God that you think that whatever He does
is the best? That's the way a believer views
God. So God's will was done, but here's the second thing that
happened. Adam died. In Adam all died. Adam died. He died spiritually. He lost
the ability to love God. He lost the ability to believe
God. He lost the ability to walk with
God. Adam died. What can a dead man
do insofar as performing the functions of life? He can't do
anything. He's dead. Adam died. And you know who else
died? You and I did. For as in Adam,
all die. Adam did what he did as a representative
man and all died in him. When he sinned, I sinned. It's
more than his sin being imputed to me. I actually did the sinning
when he sinned. Now, I realize some people will
have a hard time with that. I wasn't even born then. How
could I do the sinning if I wasn't even born when he sinned? Well,
you weren't born when Christ kept the law, were you? Of course
you weren't. Are you going to say, well, his
righteousness can't be imputed or charged to me. No, you won't
say that, will you? Not at all. You're thankful for
his perfect obedience being charged to you. People say, well, I don't
have anything to do with Adam's sin. Well, okay, if you go that route, you
can't have anything to do with Christ's righteousness either.
Really, the only hope we have is what we're looking at right
now. Adam sinning, me sinning in him, as in Adam all die, and
this death manifests itself in that men are born into this world
as God's enemies. The carnal mind, Romans 8, 6
through 8, the carnal mind, that's what I have by nature, is enmity
with God. It doesn't say it's at enmity
with God, it says it is enmity itself with God. It's not subject
to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are
in the flesh cannot please God. The reason I'm born into this
world as a sinner is because I sinned in Adam. I have his
nature. That's the reason the Scriptures
say the wicked go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies. They might not even be able to
talk yet, but that lie is already in their heart. That's what the
Scripture teaches about us. Now that's what happened when
Adam fell. He died and you and I died in Him. What happened on the cross? You
know, if we just stopped there, this wouldn't be a very pleasant
message, would it? But what happened on the cross? Well, it says in
verse 22, For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall
all be made alive. Now, you know the story. The most wonderful story ever
told, the Son of God never sinned and yet He was nailed to a cross
and brutally put to death by a bunch of people who hated His
guts. Now, we know the story, we know what took place, but
what actually happened in that? What took place on the cross? Well, first thing is God's will
was done. Now, what was the first point
of the last point? What happened in the garden?
God's will was done. What happened on the cross? God's will was
done. Christ is called the Lamb slain from the foundation of
the world. Him being delivered by the determinate
counsel and foreknowledge of God. you have taken with wicked
hands of crucified and slain." He said, the Gentiles and the
people of Israel were gathered together for to do whatsoever
thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done. What happened
on the cross? God's will was done. He was there
by the will of God. What happened on the cross? Here's
the second thing I'd like to say about this, and this is a
joyful thing to think about. A real substitution took place.
a real substitution. Now, what do I mean by real substitution?
I'm a sports fan. Love baseball, love football,
love basketball. You know what a substitute is
in sports? It's when somebody goes in and takes their place.
Let's say I'm playing in a baseball game and a pitcher comes up that
I might not be a very good hitter against and the coach yanks me
out and puts a substitute in. a pinch hitter. He's my substitute. He's going to take my place.
Let's say this guy gets up and the pitcher pitches the pitch
and he knocks it out of the ballpark. Home run. Wins the game. Boy, I'm thankful for that substitution. Now the next day in the box score,
you know whose name is in there who hit that home run? It's not
my name. I was put on the bench. And it's
that substitute's name that was put in there and he gets the
credit. But you know, in the Lord's substitutionary work,
You know whose name is in the box score? Mine. I'm the one who hit the home
run. But you didn't do it, Christ did. If Christ did it, I did
it. That's his substitutionary work.
It means more than, the biblical view of substitution is more
powerful than the way we think because Somebody else gets the
credit. Well, Christ gets all the credit,
no doubt. But you know who else gets all
the credit? Every single believer. You see, there was a real substitution
that took place. My sin became His. It wasn't simply charged to His
account. My sin became His, so as He was
guilty before God, so as He Himself said from the cross, I am a worm. And that word worm in the original
is maggot. That's what Jesus Christ said
about Himself. My sin so truly became His that
He said, I am a worm. And no man, not even fit to be
called a man. That's how truly my sin became
His. And just as truly as my sin became
His. His perfect obedience, His law
keeping, His righteousness is mine. Isn't that wonderful? That gives me such confidence.
I can come into the very presence of God with the same confidence
Jesus Christ Himself can come, because I'm the very righteousness
of God in the Lord Jesus Christ. A real substitution took place. And on the cross, a real satisfaction
took place. The Scripture says, he shall
see the travail of his soul and be satisfied. Do you know? Because
of my union with Christ, because of the obedience of Christ, because
of the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, God, the thrice holy
God is satisfied with me. He's satisfied. Right now, and
you know when I say that, I can think of all kinds of things
about myself that grieve me. And I don't know one millionth
of the truth about myself. I'm sure it's a whole lot worse
than I have any imagination. But God is satisfied with me. God sees me as perfect. And if God sees me as perfect,
you know what? I am perfect. That's how God views His people.
What happened on the cross? A real satisfaction took place.
A real reconciliation took place. Now, remember, we lost our favor
with God in the fall of Adam and by our own sin. We lost our
favor and we're not reconciled to God. God has reason to be
angry with us, but on the cross, Christ Jesus reconciled us to
God so that God has no reason to be angry. Look in Romans chapter
5 for just a moment. Verse 10, For if, when we were enemies,
we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more,
being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. When were
we reconciled? When we were enemies. Not when
we said, I'm sorry, would you forgive me and be reconciled?
No. When we were enemies, we were reconciled. What reconciled
us? The death of His Son. If, when we were enemies, we
were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more being
reconciled, we should be saved by His life. What took place
on the cross? A real reconciliation took place.
Now, that's what happened on the cross. God's will was done. A real substitution took place. A real satisfaction took place
so that God really is satisfied with us. And a real reconciliation
took place. God doesn't even have a reason
to be mad. for holy, unblameable, and unreprovable in His sight."
Now, thirdly, what happens in a sinner's heart when God saves
them? Well, in Christ shall all be
made alive. In Christ shall all be made.
That's what happened on the cross. Here's what happens in their
heart. In Christ shall all be made alive. Spiritual life before
God. What took place? Well, God's
will was done. Somebody already read that. John 1, 12, and 13. But as many as received Him,
to them gave He the power to become the sons of God, even
to them which believe on His name, which were born, not of
blood, not of the will of the flesh, not of the will of man,
but of God. Born of God. God's will was done.
James 1, 18 says, of His own will begat He us through the
Word of truth. Will was done. What happens? Life from the dead. And you hath
he quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins. Now understand
this. It's not light. It's not just having your mistaken
notion straightened out. It's not just having your wrong
thoughts corrected. Yes, there's light involved,
but it's not light. It takes life to see light. Can
a dead man see light? No. It takes a seeing eye to
see light. It takes life. In Christ, here's
what happens in a sinner's heart, life from the dead. Spiritual
life. You know, I have the life of
God in my soul. Every believer. Do you see beauty
of Jesus Christ the Lord? Do you see beauty in the Gospel?
Can you see the beauty of how God can be just and yet justify
the ungodly through the work of the Lord Jesus Christ? Do
you see the beauty of salvation by grace? That's the life of
God in your soul. You wouldn't see that if you
didn't have life. Life from the dead. And remember, He was reconciled
to us, now we're reconciled to Him. We're not mad at the Lord
anymore. You know, when we were unbelievers,
we were always mad at God. Why did He let this happen? Why
did He let that happen? We were mad over the, why didn't
He save everybody? Why, why, why did He elect some
and not elect everybody? As if, you know, that we'd do
anything different. Why did He, why, why is, why
did Christ only die for the elect? That's not fair. You know, we
have all these objections, all these objections. But when God
saves us, our hearts are reconciled. Whatever He does, It's beautiful. It's perfect. It's right. We love God as He is. And truly, if it were in our
power to change Him, we wouldn't do it because we love Him. In
Christ shall all be made alive. What happens in a sinner's heart
when God saves them, God's will is done. There's a spiritual
resurrection, spiritual life, and it's evidenced by reconciliation
toward God. We're reconciled to Him. Now,
let's go on reading. Back to our text in 1 Corinthians
15. But every man in his own order,
Christ, the firstfruits, Afterward, they that are Christ's at his
coming. Now, Christ's resurrection. Is
the first fruits. He's the first to rise from the
dead and the spiritual life, and he is the guarantee that
you and I also will rise from the dead. And I love the way
he says after afterwards, they that are Christ's at his coming. Oh, the coming of the Lord Jesus
Christ. I can say honestly, I'm not just
saying this because I know I ought to feel this way, but I really
do anticipate the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Turn with
me for a moment to 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. Now remember, the
title of this message is Death is Not the End. Verse 13, But I would not have you to be
ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep. Notice
death is called being asleep. I would not have you ignorant,
brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that you sorrow not,
even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that
Jesus died and rose again, Even so, them also which sleep in
Jesus will God bring with Him. For this we say unto you by the
word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain under the
coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with
the voice of the archangel and with the trump of God, and the
dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain
shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the
Lord in the air. And so shall we ever be with
the Lord. Now you comfort one another with
these words. Now what happens when a believer
dies? Well, he dies. Are we disembodied spirits floating
around? I don't believe so. I know we
don't have our resurrection bodies yet, but I don't believe it's
possible for us to be disembodied spirits floating around. I don't
know what all that means. So what happens when a believer
dies? I don't know at that point. I don't know. I know the Lord
did say, today thou shalt be with me in paradise. So I know that's what happens.
I'm with the Lord in paradise. What kind of body I'm going to
have at that time, I don't know. Then in His coming, the resurrection
raised with a glorified body. No more pain. No more sorrow. No more sin. Consequently, no
more tears. And I love thinking about this.
When the Word of God describes the death of the believer, three
words are used to describe it. First, blessed. Blessed are the dead that die
in the Lord. Revelation 14, 13. Second, precious. Precious in the sight of the
Lord is the death of His saint. We mourn, we're so grieved. We're just, we're grieved. We're heartbroken when one of
our dear brothers and sisters in Christ die. And we're sorry
for us. We're not sorry for them. We're
sorry for us. But you know how the Lord feels about it? Precious. And the third description is
gain. Paul said, for me to live is
Christ and to die is gain. The best day of your life will
be your last day here. And then life begins. What all is involved in that,
I don't know. I don't know. But I do know this. I'm going
to be without sin. I'm going to be just like Christ.
Do I understand that? No. I can't imagine what it is
to be without sin. I mean, I just, I can't even
fathom it. I can't even fantasize about it. I can't understand
it, but I believe it. I'll be without sin. I'll be
face to face with the Lord Jesus Christ. And what a, what a, well,
death's not the end, is it? Death is the beginning. And so we can actually look forward
with anticipation to death. I like what George Whitefield
said when he heard of a believer dying, he said, when will my
time come? And that's the attitude we all
ought to have toward death. Now, I realize young people,
you think, well, I got living to do. I understand that. I understand
that. I understand somebody wanting
to live. I mean, God has given us all things richly to enjoy,
and I want everybody here to enjoy life and all that kind
of stuff. But also know this, and I'm not an old person yet.
I'm getting there. But the more experience I have
of life, the more I long to be out of here and to be in the
very presence of Jesus Christ. And I've got that waiting. So
does every believer. What a blessed, blessed hope
we have. Let's pray together.