What’s A Church To Do?
Studies in First Corinthians
37^th in the Series

Easter is over for this year. And for those who do not know Christ, it just marks the end of another holiday. Perhaps for some it means the end of spring break. For others, it may signal the beginning of spring, a time to begin to tend to the necessary yard work and cultivation of flower beds. In any event, there are no more eggs to hunt for the kids. The rabbits have laid their last for the year. And it’s back to business as usual for the vast majority of our neighbors.

Of course, because of Mel Gibson’s movie, The Passion of the Christ, this year Easter got a little bit more of a religious emphasis than usual. Around Easter and Christmas, the television networks run some of their religious fare to accommodate the Christians. But this year, because of who was making this movie and why he was doing so and what was being portrayed, some people were stirred up into a panic. For some reason, certain people did not want it made. They attacked it. They tried to discredit the one making it. Before anyone had ever seen it, they gave it a negative review, claiming it was somehow anti-Semitic.

After it opened so successfully, breaking box office records, and now becoming the most profitable R-rated movie in history, the shrill voices of opposition have quieted somewhat. But efforts to discredit the message of the movie or to redefine the story still abound. Some just hope it will all go away. It will not.

The Bible tells us that Easter, in many ways, was just a beginning. In fact, the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ starts in motion powerful purposes that will culminate in the ultimate ushering in of the kingdom of God. You see, Christ was bodily raised from the dead so that we can, not only be made spiritually alive, but also be raised ourselves at his coming, to partake in his life and dominion, and ultimately in the Kingdom reign of God, who is all in all.

As we saw last week, if Easter had not happened, we would have no faith, forgiveness, or future. Today we will explore the implications further. They are many, and they are powerful. Do you realize just how great are the implications of Christ resurrection? They are utterly fantastic! Christ rose to redeem us from sin, to deliver us from death, and to establish us as partakers in God’s Kingdom reign. And we need to see the powerful purposes set in motion, both for us and also for the ultimate victory over evil. Jesus rose to reign. This was a Resurrection with a purpose.

So let’s look today at three purposes of his bodily resurrection and how they impact us and ultimately the world in which we live.

The first resurrection has happened. Jesus rose from the dead. The second resurrection will happen when he returns and all the saints of God will also experience a bodily resurrection. Right now is the time in between, when we are privileged to bring people to Christ to be saved during which they experience a spiritual resurrection in which they get a new life. But we must always remember that the spiritual resurrection is not all there is. Our ultimate salvation, and the fulfillment of God’s purposes do not occur until his return and our bodily resurrection.

We must never lose sight of the fact that Christianity is not simply about going to heaven when you die. It is about becoming a partaker in the rule and reign of God. And for that we will need new spiritual bodies. In fact, there will be a new heaven and earth, just as there will be a new you. I don’t pretend to understand it all. But it does sound fantastic! And we are given glimpses of these purposes in our text.

As we saw last week, the resurrection of Christ is the pivotal event in defining the difference between him and all other religious leaders. Because Jesus rose from the dead, as he said he would, he proves that he is who he said he was, God made flesh. All of the other religious leaders have lived and died and are still dead. Only Jesus rose from the dead, thereby proving that he was divine, and only divinity could atone for our sins. No mere mortal could do it. Because Jesus rose from the dead, he can be our Redeemer and we can be redeemed from sin. His sacrifice paid the penalty for our sin and satisfied the justice of a holy God.

We are told that he is the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. This is an interesting concept. When the time of harvest came, the Israelites brought an offering to the Lord before the harvest. This was called the firstfruits, and was representative of the entire harvest that was to come. Until they had made this offering, they could not harvest their crops. It represented the whole and declared that it was all a good gift from God.

But not only did it represent the harvest, because it was the firstfruits, it was a testimony that there would be a harvest. In other words, there was more to come. It is in this sense that Jesus is declaring by his resurrection that we will also be raised, those of us who have fallen asleep (or died) in the Lord.

Of course, this was all necessitated by the spiritual death we inherited from Adam. It is because in Adam all die that we need both a spiritual and bodily rebirth. And it is in Christ that all will be made alive. All who have received the gift of salvation from the Redeemer will be given this glorified resurrection body designed to never die again.

It is a new kind of body as we will see later in this chapter. It is designed to contain the new life of the one who has been born again. Remember, there were resurrections before Jesus. We read about them in the Old Testament as well as in the New. Jesus himself raised people–– the son of the widow of Nain, Jairus’s daughter, and Lazarus. He raised them from the dead in the sense that he brought their old bodies back to life. But all of them eventually died again. Jesus was raised never to die. And we shall likewise be raised never to die again.

Not only did Jesus rise from the dead in order to redeem us from sin, he rose to deliver us from death. There will come a time when death itself will be defeated. We now live in that in between time that Erich Sauer wrote about. We are between the first Easter of Christ’s resurrection and the second Easter of our resurrection. But that second Easter will come. Christ has guaranteed it by being the firstfruits.

Notice the timing of this event. It will be when he comes that those who belong to him will receive their resurrection. He is referring here to the resurrection of the righteous, or those who believe in Jesus Christ and have given their lives to him. There will ultimately come a resurrection for those who do not believe. According to the Scriptures, they will be raised to damnation and eternal punishment at the end of Christ’s thousand year reign. This is what the Bible refers to as the second death.

The natural question this raises is this: Do you belong to him? If you do, then you can count on the fact that he is coming back for you, for you to join him in his end time work. But if you do not belong to him, there could be no worse situation than what you are now in. Quite simply, you are lost. You have no faith, no forgiveness, and no future, except a fearful and terrifying date before the judgment seat of Christ. Will you hear those horrible words, "Depart from me. I never knew you"?

If you do not belong to the Lord, do not wait another day. Make your salvation sure by surrendering your life to Christ today. Call out to the Lord in faith. Confess your sins to him. Ask for his forgiveness based on the sacrifice he made on the Cross in payment for the penalty of your sins. Surrender your life to him with no strings attached. Do it now. He will hear the cry of your heart and make you his child.

You see, he is coming again. The first time he came, he came as a lamb to be sacrificed. When he comes again, he will come as a lion to conquer. He will take back what is his, namely everything. We see him in Revelation 5 taking possession of the title deed to the earth. He will come again to reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. Our text says that after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power that he hands over the kingdom to God the Father. Jesus Christ will destroy everything evil and all who oppose the rule of God. Every enemy will be destroyed. And we are told that the last enemy to be destroyed is death itself.

Our Lord Jesus Christ rose from the dead to deliver us from death itself. The rule and reign of death has been constant and inexorable. Everyone dies. But that will change with the death of death. Hallelujah!

We should look at one final purpose in our text. He rose to redeem us from sin, to deliver us from death, and to establish us in God’s Kingdom reign.

It was a common practice for rulers and kings to place their thrones in an elevated position so that all who appeared before them were literally below the level of their feet. When he refers to having everything under his feet, he means that everything is subject to his authority. Indeed, it was a common practice on the field of battle for the conquering general or king to literally put his foot on the neck of the vanquished foe to symbolize their defeat.

God the Father sent his Son Jesus on a divine mission that will culminate in his presenting back to God all of the kingdoms of this world. He left his glory in heaven and took upon himself the form of a servant. He laid aside his divine prerogatives and came to this earth as a human baby. He lived a sinless life and died a sacrificial death. He was both fully divine and fully human. He was buried and rose from the dead in a bodily form. He ascended into heaven and is even now interceding for those who belong to him. He will one day return to do battle, conquer, rule, judge, and re-create the heavens and the earth to finally deliver it all to God.

During this time he has been in the place of a servant to his heavenly Father, who gave him the mission and placed everything under the authority of the Son. Jesus has lived as the example of one who is fully devoted and obedient to God the Father. In his last act of fulfilling all he came to do, he will then reassume his former glory as the second person of the Trinity. God the Father, God the Son, and the God the Holy Spirit are the triune God, all in all.

The Bible indicates that Christ will reign forever and that we will have a part to play in God’s Kingdom reign. Those who are faithful in the little things God asks of them will be given many things over which to rule. You see, we are really only stewards of all of God’s possessions. To rule and reign with Christ will be an act of stewardship, of managing what is his.

We have the privilege of starting now. That’s what this life is all about. It is training ground for eternity. God put you here for a purpose. Be faithful to him, even in the little things, perhaps especially in the little things. Remember, God does not judge us based on the world’s standard of success. The words that we want to hear are, "Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your Lord."

That is the contrast. Will we hear, "Depart from me. I never knew you. "or "Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your Lord."? God made us to come to know him. We rebelled against him and continually do. While he had every right to judge us and condemn us as the sinners we are, he chose to come himself and pay the penalty for our sin. But we can reject it. To do so, we will have to step over the one who loved us so much that he suffered incredible physical and spiritual pain to provide a way of forgiveness.

The question is whether you are willing to relinquish your right to rule your life here and now and serve him whatever the cost in order to gain the right to rule and reign in God’s Kingdom forever. Which will it be?

He rose to reign–– to redeem us from sin, to deliver us from death, to establish us in God’s Kingdom reign. That was his purpose. Will you join him and fulfill your purpose?

Copyright © 2004 J. David Hoke. This data file is the sole property of the copyright holder and may be copied only in its entirety for circulation freely without charge. All copies of this data file must contain the above copyright notice.

Except for the use mentioned above, this data file may not be copied (except for small quotations used with citation of source), edited, revised, copied for resale or incorporated in any commercial publications, recordings, broadcasts, performances, displays or other products offered for sale, or made available on the Internet without the written permission of the copyright holder. Requests for permission should be made in writing and e-mailed to J. David Hoke, at David@JDavidHoke.com.

Return to Sermon Page

Return to Homepage