The Resurrection of the Dead

of the word of God, and I'm going
to have to hear the scriptures and learn from the scriptures
who Christ is and what Christ did. And I have a message for
you today on the resurrection of the dead. I have some interesting
things to share with you, and I'll be using 1 Corinthians 15,
the 15th chapter of 1 Corinthians. Now, evidently, evidently, There
were some people, some preachers and people in the church at Corinth
who were denying, actually denying the resurrection of the dead.
They were denying the resurrection of the dead. And Paul writes
to the church at Corinth, and in this portion of the epistle,
chapter 15, From verse 1 all the way through to verse 57,
58, 59, he deals with the subject, the resurrection. So it's quite
interesting. I'd like you to take your Bible
and open it to 1 Corinthians 15. I'll try to call out the
verses as I deal with them, but you'll find them there. But the
subject, the resurrection of the dead, the resurrection of
the dead. It's so fundamental to the gospel
of Christ that without the resurrection you have no gospel. And that's
how serious this matter is. Without the resurrection you
don't have any gospel. That's what Paul says in verse
16 and 17. Look down there at verse 16 and
17. He said, if the dead rise not,
then Christ is not risen. And if Christ be not risen, Your
faith is vain. And you're yet in your sins.
You have no hope without God, without Christ, without hope
in this world. If the dead rise not. For if
the dead rise not, Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not
risen, you're in your sins. And your faith is vain. So, you
see, the resurrection is fundamental to the gospel. And that's where
I'm starting, verse 1. Now let's go back to verse 1
of chapter 15. There is and will be a resurrection
of all the dead, no question about it. Job said, If a man
die, shall he live again? For according to the word of
God he shall. According to the scripture he
shall. Now look at verse 1. And Paul says, Brethren, I declare
unto you the gospel, the gospel, which I preached unto you, and
which you received, and wherein ye stand, and by which ye are
saved, if ye keep in memory that which I preached unto you, how
that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures,
and that he was buried. But that's not all. This is the
gospel, and that he rose again. He rose again according to the
scriptures. And he goes on down there in
verse 5, 6 and 7 and says he appeared to Peter, the apostle
Peter. Peter talked to him after his
resurrection. Then he appeared to the twelve,
all of the disciples. And then he appeared to over
500 brethren at once. And then Paul says in those next
verses, and I saw him as one born out of due time. I saw Christ
in the flesh, he appeared to me. So this being the very truth
of our gospel, without which we have no gospel, Paul says,
how is it that some among you say there is no resurrection
of the dead? What do you mean by that? Verse
11. How say some among you there is no resurrection of the dead?
This is fundamental to our gospel. Our gospel is that Christ died
for our sins according to all the types and patterns and pictures
in the Old Testament. and that he was buried like the
scapegoat of all, and that he rose again according to the scriptures. Now, I say some among you, there
is no resurrection there, especially after all these witnesses, he
said many that are still alive, saw the Lord after he arose from
the grave. But verse 12 through 19 in that chapter, Paul deals
with the consequences of such foolishness. It's foolishness
to doubt the resurrection of the dead. And here are the consequences. Now listen carefully. If a person
denies the resurrection of the dead, here are the consequences.
He said, number one, if there's no resurrection, then Christ
is not risen. Jesus Christ is not. He lied.
He said, destroy this temple and in three days I'll raise
it up. They thought he was talking about the literal temple, but
the scripture says he was talking about his body. He said again,
as Jonah was three days in the belly of the whale, so shall
the Son of Man be three days in the heart of the earth. Secondly,
if Christ is not risen, our preaching is in vain. There's no need to
preach. No need to teach your children
the word of God, because your faith is in vain. If there's
no resurrection, don't bother with teaching them the Bible,
because it's all in vain. Thirdly, if Christ is not risen,
then we have misrepresented God. We have falsely preached that
there is a resurrection when there's not. And that's serious.
It's serious to misrepresent God. And fourthly, if Christ
be not risen, if he be not risen, that means his body's still in
the tomb because he did die. And if his body is still in the
tomb, then he's an imposter and he's not God, because God certainly
can't be dead and can't lie in a tomb. And fifthly, if Christ
be not risen, you see these statements there before you in your Bible?
If Christ be not risen, your faith is vain and you shall die
in your sins. And Christ said, if you die in
your sins, you can't come where I am. So there's no heaven. No
resurrection, no heaven. And sixthly, if Christ is not
risen, all who have died already, everybody who has died, believing
on Christ. This is your Lutherans and Zwinglers
and Knox and Whitefields and Spurgeons and Edwards and all
these people. They're perished. They are perished. And they have no hope. And then
if Christ be not risen, we are of all men, and Paul sort of
sums this whole thing up, and he says we are of all men most
miserable. Of all miserable creatures, we
are the most miserable. Because our confidence and hope
is in a failure, and in a myth, and in something that did not
happen. But, watch this, the next verse, but now is Christ
risen. The truth is that Christ is risen. There's no question about that.
He arose from the tomb. And here are two things I want
you to see here now that are very important. He has risen.
He has risen. And he has risen as our representative. Now this is so vital and so important. Look at the next three verses,
verse 20, 21, 22. Verse 20 says, but now. doing away with all these foolish,
foolish statements, no resurrection, all this sort of thing. Christ
is risen. Verse 26, he is risen. And he has become the firstfruits,
now that's interesting, the firstfruits of them that slept. Now what
are the firstfruits? Well, over in the book of Deuteronomy,
chapter 26, the firstfruits were the first harvest whether it
be barley, wheat, corn, or whatever, the farmer planted the crop,
they planted the fields of barley and the fields of wheat and the
fields of corn, and the first fruits, the first fruits that
were picked, that's the first fruits, the first seeds and the
first fruits were taken to the temple and offered to the Lord. That's the first fruits, they
were his. And what he's saying here is that Jesus Christ is
the first fruits of those that shall rise from the grave." In
other words, the first fruits were taken to the temple and
offered to the Lord. There will be plenty more fruits. There
will be some more corn and some more wheat and some more barley,
but the first were taken and offered to the Lord. And Christ
has become the firstfruits of those who were dead. He has risen
from the dead and become the firstfruits of them that slept.
There will be more rise like he rose, there will be more resurrected
like he was resurrected, but he's the first. Oh, but you may
say, Preacher, Lazarus was raised from the grave, but Lazarus died
again. The little son was raised, but
he died again. Everybody who was raised died
again. See what I'm saying? Christ was the first to rise
from the dead to die no more. He was risen from the tomb to
die no more. He was risen with an incorruptible
mortal body that cannot die. And he's the first one. And he's
the first fruits of many, many, many that slept. All right, watch
this now. Go on, verse 20 and 21. But now
Christ is risen from the grave, and he has become the first fruit
of them that slept, for," now watch this, "...since by man
came death." What is that talking about, by man came death? Well,
by Adam. In Adam we died. Therefore by
one man sin entered this world, and death by sin, so death passed
upon all men. Adam was a representative of
the whole human race. You see, God never created but
one man. He created Adam. And every human being came from
Adam. He is made of one blood, all
nations. We may be different nationalities
and different colors and all that, but we're one One race
that came from Adam, everybody did. God confounded their language,
God sent them off in different directions, but Adam was the
only man God ever created. And every one comes from Adam.
That's right. It says, for since by man came
death, by man came the resurrection of the dead. There's another
man that two men talked about here. The first man is Adam.
His very name means man, it means red earth, the man that was created
from the red earth. And he represented all who were
in him, all who came from him. All who came from his loins were
represented by him in the fall. By man came death. When Adam
was created, we were created. When Adam stood, we stood. When
Adam fell, we fell. When Adam sinned, we sinned.
When Adam died, we died. The whole human race was in Adam.
Well, by man came the resurrection. But there's another man, there's
a second Adam. The first Adam is of the earth,
the second Adam is the Lord from heaven. We're going to see that
in a minute. So by man came death, by man
came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam, all die. See verse 22? Even so in Christ,
all who are in Christ shall be made alive. All who are in Adam
died. All who are represented by Adam
died. All who came from Adam died. They died spiritually and
they die physically. There is no living human being
that isn't going to die. We're born sinners. We're born
tainted and polluted and corrupted by Adam's sin. That which is
born of flesh is flesh. But there's a second Adam. There's
a second man, the Lord from heaven, the Lord Jesus Christ. God's
Son came down here in the likeness of sinful flesh, made of a woman,
made under the law, but made without a human father. Therefore
he didn't partake of Adam. He wasn't in Adam. He was in
the bosom of the Father. He didn't come from Adam. He
wasn't in Adam. He wasn't represented by Adam.
He wasn't identified with Adam. The first Adam represents all
of us. He's the Lord from heaven. And
he came down here to represent a people in him, given to him
by the Father. And in Adam, we lost spiritual
life and died physically. In Christ, life is restored and
we are left forever. By Adam's sin, we were made sinners. By Christ's obedience, we were
made righteous. All who are in Adam, all who
are in Adam die. That's every human being. And
all who are in Christ. Who's that? Every believer. All
who are in Christ. If you're not in Christ, then
this promise doesn't apply to you. If you're not in Christ
by faith, the promise doesn't apply to you. All who are in
Christ shall live. As in Adam, all die. In Christ,
all live. By Adam's fall, we receive an
evil nature. and fell under the curse of the
law. By Christ's obedience and Christ's death, we were delivered
from the curse of the law. Christ has redeemed us from the
curse of the law, being made a cursed father, and restored
us to God's fellowship. And by Christ's resurrection,
you see, like Adam, we die. Die physically and we're buried.
That's all Adam can do. But Christ can take us beyond
the tomb. By his resurrection we live.
He said, because I live, you live. And his resurrection from
the dead as our Savior and representative, now what's this? His resurrection
is proof that God accepted what he did on our behalf and what
he did for us. And what he did as our representative,
it's proof, now listen to this, it's proof that God the Father
accepted his offering. on our behalf. Act 1731, listen
carefully to this next one. God hath appointed a day in which
he will judge the world in righteousness and true holiness, not professed
holiness and put on holiness and veneer in true righteousness,
by that man whom he hath ordained, Jesus Christ, whereof he hath
given assurance unto all men, in that he raised Jesus Christ
from the dead." That's our assurance that God will face all men in
judgment. That's our assurance that all
who are in Christ shall be delivered. That's our assurance that all
that aren't in Christ and don't have his righteousness shall
be condemned, because when God raised him from the dead, God
said, I accept him, I accept his And I accept his sacrifice,
and I accept all who are represented by him, and all who believe him,
and all who are in him, and no one else. I accept him, and he's
going to judge the world by that man. Do you see that? Now is
Christ risen and become the first fruit of many fruits, of them
that slept. For sent by man came death. that representative man, that
federal head Adam, in whom we all lived, and from whom we all
came. Even so, in Christ, all who are
in Christ shall be made alive. All right, look at verse 35.
But some will say, and this is a mystery, no question about
it, what a mystery. But someone will say, how are
the dead raised? How are the dead raised, and
with what body shall they come? You see that in verse 35? How a dead body raised from the
earth that's been buried so long, and it has undergone thousands
of changes, it's gone back to the dust, it's corrupted, it's
decayed, the worms have devoured it. With what body does it come? Now listen to Paul in verse 36.
He uses the example of the farmer. He illustrates. And he starts
out this way in verse 36, thou fool, you're foolish. You're
foolish to doubt the power of God. You don't ask how God does
something. How are the dead raised? Is anything
too hard for God? Is God not able to raise the
dead who created Adam out of the dead? It created Adam out
of the dust of the ground and breathed into his body the breath
of life that became a living soul. What's to prevent him from
raising someone that's dead and going back to the dust? I'll explain it to you, he said. That which is planted, that which
you sow, plant as a farmer, in the garden does not come up unless
it dies. Now do you understand that? Then
you go out and plant a garden. You put it in the ground. It
stays there several days before it comes up. What's it doing
in the ground? It's raining on it. The sun's shining on it.
It's germinating. It's rotting in the ground. And
it never comes up. You can't keep it on a saucer
and it won't live. It won't eat all that bad fruit. It won't grow anything. But you've
got to put it in the ground. That which you sow does not come
up unless it dies. And when you plant it, listen
to this verse 36, and you only plant a seed. You don't plant
the full stalk. A farmer doesn't go out in the
field and dig a trench and put down a six-foot stalk of corn
with a half a dozen luscious ears on it. That's not what you
do. You get a seed, a withered, hard,
old seed of corn. Doesn't look like much. It's
just a little old single seed of corn. And that withers. And
you take that little grain of corn out and you dig a hole and
put it in the ground. Now that's what you do. Put it
in the ground. And what comes up? Wow, great
big tall stalk of corn, full of moisture. That little seed
didn't have any moisture in it. But the stalk has moisture and
has 3, 4, 5 ears of corn and hundreds of grains of corn on
each ear. And the silk and the tassel. Well, you stand back and look
and say, hey, I didn't plant that. No, you plant the seed. And this is what he says here.
He says you only plant a seed and the full stalk comes from
the seed. Even so, when men die and the
body is buried, a little wrinkled, old, hard, moistureless body
is buried dead and goes back to the dust. But God will raise
it up some day like He makes that seed of corn to grow and
to yield a brand new beautiful stalk. You don't plant what you
resurrect. You don't plant what you grow.
You plant the bare seed. And what comes from it is a miracle
of God, a miracle of transformation. So go on, read verse 37, he said,
we will be buried in corruption, in sickness and old age and decay,
but we'll be raised in incorruption. We'll be buried in dishonor and
shame and sinful bodies, but we'll be raised in perfect holiness
and honor. Compare that seed to what you
go out in the field there and see in about 6 weeks or 75 days. Why? There's no comparison. There's
no comparison. We're buried in weakness and
frailty and flesh and we'll be raised in strength and power.
We're buried a natural body, we'll be raised a spiritual body.
You see what he's saying? Compare a grain of corn which
you plant to the fruitful stalk that comes up, and you have a
picture of the resurrection, only it's infinitely more glorious
and more mysterious. But the same God does it. The
same God does it. The same God. There's life in
that seed. There's life in that seed. Verse
47-52, look down there. He says, Those who believe in
Christ shall be raised from the dead in the image of Christ.
Now, watch these next verses. The first man, Adam, is of the
earth, earthy. The second man is the Lord from
heaven. And as we have borne the image
of the earthy, we're made in the image of Adam. Flesh, sin,
corruption, decay, fear, guilt, all these things. But we shall
bear the image someday of the heavenly. As we mourn the image
of the earthy, we shall bear the image of the heavenly. Now,
take time sometimes, if you will, to study the appearances of our
Lord after the resurrection. After our Lord arose from the
tomb, he appeared to his disciples. And if you listen to his words
and observe him and read carefully in Luke 24, you will find, first
of all, they knew him. People say, well, will we know
each other in heaven? Well, of course! Of course! would be who we are. Our Lord
Jesus Christ was buried and rose again, and he was the same Jesus
that was crucified. They knew him, they talked to
him, they called him their master. They talked to him, he talked
to them, they touched him. He said, They thought they'd
seen a ghost. They'd never seen a dead man
talk to them before. And they thought they'd seen
a ghost. And he said, a ghost doesn't have flesh and bones
like you've seen me. I've touched me. He ate with them. He ascended
to heaven in the same body. And the Bible says this same
Jesus which is taken up from you shall come in like man as
you see him go. And that's what our bodies will
be like, like Christ. We shall be perfectly conformed
to his image. As we are born in the image of
the earthy, the first man, we are going to bear the image of
the heavenly. And then verse 50. This know
that this flesh and blood as we know it cannot inherit the
kingdom of God. This flesh and blood can't survive
in the kingdom of God, in the glory of it, in the beauty of
it, in the holiness of it. So this flesh, a dwelling place
of evil, has got to be changed. And that's what the change is,
when we bury this old flesh. Buried in corruption, raised
in incorruption. Buried in shame, raised in honor. Buried in weakness, raised in
power. of fleshly, natural body, and raised with the moisture
of holiness, and the moisture of everlasting life, and the
moisture of righteousness, and the life of God that can never
die. Never, never die. And he said,
what if I'm living when Christ comes? Well, he said, even those
who are alive shall be changed. He said, I'll show you a mystery.
Look down at verse 51 or 52. I'll show you a mystery. We shall
not all sleep But we shall be changed. In a moment, in a twinkling
of an eye, at the last trump, or the trump of sound, and the
dead in Christ shall rise, and then we shall all be changed,
changed from corruption to incorruption. And this mortal must put on immortality,
and when that takes place, then shall be brought to pass the
saying, death is swatted up in victory. O death, where is thy
sting? O grave, where is thy victory?"
Now watch, here's the key verse, verse 57. Thanks be unto God,
who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. The victory
over sin, the victory over death, and the victory over the grave.
Thanks be unto God. Through our Lord Jesus Christ,
for he is our righteousness, He is our sin offering, He is
our life, and He is our resurrection. And He said, because I live,
ye shall live also.

The Resurrection of the Dead

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The Resurrection of the Dead

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