Behold I Tell You a Mystery

And why are we here? What brings us together here tonight? Well, we're brought together because we share in common beliefs, don't we? We have these core common beliefs that unite us. It's why we're here tonight. And I want to share one of these, just one belief in particular with you tonight, as we go through Scripture to look at this belief that binds us, it connects us, and it's a belief that revolves around a future hope that's been placed in each one of us here today. And here it is. Here it is. We believe. We believe that the reason for mankind's existence is to literally be born as spirit beings into the God family. And at the return of Jesus Christ, a resurrection to spirit life will take place for all those who are God's faithful. And so we believe that at the resurrection, at Christ's return, that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him. And at that time, those who have died in the faith will be resurrected. Those who are alive in the faith will be changed, again, both to become spirit beings and members into the God family. So I'm sure you agree that it's quite a bond that has been created between each one of us that we have here tonight. And in hearing this belief, you may be asking yourself, I wonder what that will be like? When that occurs, when that change occurs at Christ's return, what will that be like? And maybe better yet, what will I be like at that time? What's it going to be like for me? In other words, how are the dead raised? And with what body are they raised up? I'm glad you asked, because tonight we're going to look at the profound answer to this question. And these are actually the questions—this question are ones that God's people have asked from the centuries. And I believe it can be some of the initial questions that can come to an individual's mind when their eyes are opened, to God's truth. I wonder what it will be like when I'm raised up. Well, again, the answer to this is nothing short of incredible. So hold on to your seats, because we're about to find out the awesome reality of you of the future, and the future of all of God's faithful servants. So let's open our Bibles together, and let's turn to 1 Corinthians 15, if you will. 1 Corinthians 15, and to a letter that was penned by the Apostle Paul regarding these very things. 1 Corinthians 15. We're going to begin in verse 1. Now in coming to these Psalm 58 verses here in 1 Corinthians 15, we do come to one doctrine in particular, namely the doctrine of the resurrection. And we actually, though, don't come to the details surrounding the resurrection of God's faithful, you and I. We don't come to that until all the way down in verse 20. So in other words, you don't get to those answers to those questions about us until you get to about verse 20. So what's with all these preceding verses here? Well, Paul knew that when in coming to the issue of the resurrection, it's important for us to be absolutely clear in our thinking. Because the truth surrounding the resurrection is the absolute essential issue for the gospel. It's the very foundation of the gospel, and the gospel stands upon the truth of the resurrection. So we're going to get down to verse 20, and we're going to get to these answers about the you, God's faithful, of the future. But it's important for us to start this resurrection discussion as Paul did here. So let's see how he opens this statement in this letter.

1 Corinthians 15, it's an interesting one here. Look at verses 1 through 4. Let's read this together. Verses 1 through 4. Paul writes, Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, and in which you stand, by which also you are saved. If you hold fast that word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. Verse 3, For I delivered to you, first of all, that which I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he rose again on the third day according to the scriptures.

So let's stop there. So this is the gospel. As he says there in verse 1, he says, I declare to you the gospel. And he says, I preach this to you. This is the words you've received. And this is what you stand upon. And this is the truth and the belief in which you will be saved.

Okay, so in other words, Paul is saying, what I'm about to explain to you, it should be the foundation of your life. What I'm about to say to you, God's people, this is the very thing upon which you stand. So what are we to stand upon? What were they to stand upon? We'll look at the end of verse 3 and 4. The end of verse 3 and 4. It says that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, and he was buried, and that he rose again on the third day according to the scriptures.

So if you would have asked Paul, Paul, what's the foundation of your life? His answer would have been, Christ died, and he rose again. That's my foundation, he would say. Likewise, it's to be our foundation, because remove that, remove that, and there's no meaning to life. Remove that, there's no hope for each of us here today. Remove that, there's no future. This belief, like I said, this is the gospel upon which we stand. And if this is not foremost in your life tonight, he says at the end of verse 2, then you have believed in vain.

Your faith is meaningless, useless. A true Christian's faith is founded upon this truth. Christ died, Christ rose again, this is the gospel. And again, it's absolutely necessary for Paul to begin in this way, when you begin the resurrection discussion in this way, because before we can get to us, before Paul can speak about the possibility of a future resurrection of you and I, it must begin. The discussion must begin with Jesus Christ, because again, Christ makes any and all other resurrections possible. No resurrection of Christ, then nobody at any time gets resurrected, period. So this is why God's people, we don't hold this resurrection doctrine as just simply, it's just one of the other beliefs.

No, rather, the faith in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, without it, there's no hope at all. God's church would have never begun, without it, we're all sitting here in vain. And so, God's people stand or fall with the truth of His, Jesus Christ, resurrection. Every word of the New Testament is written from this perspective of this one phrase in verse 4. He was buried and He rose again on the third day, according to the Scriptures. Okay, we got that. So Paul continues, if you want to read this later, he continues then in the following verses after verse 4 leading up to verse 20, and he's making this case for Christ's resurrection.

And he makes a very good case, and he goes through, and he says, without it, here's all the consequences. It's a wonderful study. But I don't know about you, I can't wait any longer. So what about us? Now that we've set this foundation, we want to fast forward in this letter and find the answer to these questions we ask.

What's going to happen to us? Okay, so Christ is risen with that truth. Now Paul, later in his letter, is going to turn to God's faithful, you and I, and it's going to begin to discuss a first resurrection. And He's going to now paint for us this beautiful picture. It's a beautiful harvest scene you'll notice.

He's going to speak to God's people in Corinth at that time, and He speaks to us today as the first fruits of this harvest. So let's move down to verse 20, if you'll move down with me.

Let's read verses 20 through 24. This is awesome. Look at this, verse 20 through 24.

It says, But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since by man came death, by man also came the resurrection of the dead.

For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. But each in His own order, Christ the first fruits, afterwards those who are Christ, at His coming. Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father and puts an end to all rule and all authority and power. So let's stop there. So again, Paul presents us this beautiful farming scene. It's a beautiful harvest scene here. And here is the truth. Paul says, verse 22 again, For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. That's the truth. That's the beauty of God's plan in Christ with Christ. All shall be made alive. All shall be made alive. That's the truth of the resurrection. But there's more. Verse 23, But each in His own order, Christ the first fruits, afterwards those who are Christ, at His coming. Awesome! So because Christ died and rose again, there will be a resurrection for everyone, a resurrection for all of mankind. But there's an order in which mankind will be raised. And Paul says the first to be raised will be those who are Christ. They will be raised at His coming and they represent the first fruits of the harvest.

All shall be made alive, but each in His own order. And it's going to be Christ first. We know He died.

He rose again. Then afterwards, those who are Christ at His coming. So those of those who maybe have been hearing this letter read aloud to them back in Paul's day, oh man, their ears must have been perked up at this moment when they heard this. And all these questions began to come. They were so intrigued by what Paul was saying. And he continues here. And they began to ask questions. And he's about to give them a further lesson from the garden, if you will. So let your eyes go down the letter a little bit to verse 35, if you will. So verse 35 is where he'll now begin to answer those questions that you and I asked earlier. Those questions, how are the dead raised?

And with what body will I come? You know, what's it going to be like? I want to know what it's going to be like for me and my loved ones. Let's find out. Verse 35 through 38. Here it is. Verse 35, but someone will say, with someone will say, how are the dead raised up? And with what body do they come? Verse 36 is answered. Foolish one. What you sow is not made alive unless it dies. So what you sow, you do not sow that body that shall be but mere grain, perhaps wheat or some other grain, but God gives it a body as he as he pleases, and to each seed its own body. Let's stop there.

So again, these are good questions here for us because, you know, with all this talk about the resurrection, unless it gets down to really to the individual resurrection, unless it gets down to you and I, you know, it can become a little bit irrelevant. But these are the questions here tonight. How are the dead raised? What sort of body? I wonder what will I be like? Will I have when I come out of the grave? And you noticed his response, right? In verse 36, that's kind of humorous, you know, how foolish! How foolish! That might seem like an unkind reaction here, but really what he's saying is, well, if you thought about it, you will have realized that there's a few obvious things that aren't so difficult to understand here, because the answers are right in front of you. The answers to your questions are written in the very fabric of your daily existence. You see it every day, he's saying. So he says, let me answer with just a, okay, I'll give you the answer. Let me give you some obvious illustrations here, and he gives us this lesson from the seed you'll notice. Look at that, verse 36 again. Foolish one, what you sow is not made alive unless it dies. So we understand how this works.

You know, you take a handful of seeds, right, and you look to bury it. You look to bury them. We're very familiar with this, and because we're so familiar with it, it can really lose a little bit of its wonder if we're not careful. And the wonder is, you take a handful of seed and you bury them. Why do you bury the seed? Well, you bury the seed for the purpose of the seed dying, don't you?

So you go by these living organisms, you bring them home, you bury them with the hope that they'll die. Why? Well, if they don't die, there can be no produce from them. It's impossible for them to flower or fruit without death first. Think about that. It's impossible for them to flower or fruit without death first. And as we think about this process, we know then what appears after death is very different from that which was planted, isn't it? That's the first part of verse 37 again. Look at verse 37. And what you sow, you do not sow that body that shall be. Let's stop there.

So you don't go and plant a bloomed flower with a stem, do you? No, you plant the seed.

You sow the seed. You don't sow the body that shall be. Rather, you plant the seed, and the seed becomes the body it shall be. Okay, that's clear. Verse 38, Paul continues with his instruction on what it will be like. Verse 38, but God gives it a body as he pleases, and to each seed its own body. Okay, like the seed, God has given you a body as he pleases, each seed its own body, each person its own body, we could say. And he's given you a body tonight, a unique body, a unique identity of your own. And so when you are resurrected on that great day, you will be different. You don't sow the body that shall be. No, you will be different, just like a seed is different from the flower. A seed is different from its final bloom, isn't it? But Paul is saying, though, while you will be different in existence and form, you will still be you. Wonderful words from Paul here. You will not be someone else. You will still be you. You'll be different, a much different existence. But the very essence of you, it's still you. Incredible. It's incredible. It really is awesome what Paul has given us here tonight. Okay, so Paul continues. He reiterates this. He wants us to get it. You know, he wants his readers to get this truth. So he continues to point out that God has created our unique identity. He's purposefully created it. It's uniqueness. It's a variety. And he's done this with everything on the earth. That's verse 39. Look at this. Verse 39.

It says, all flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of animals, another of fish, another of birds. Let's stop there. So he says, think about the uniqueness of us all. Think about the variety that God has purposely created. All flesh is not the same. We know this, of course. Our eyes teach us this. Science teaches us this, these things. God has determined the variety in every plant, animal, human life. He's distinguished it from one another. There's no two snowflakes the same. There's no two flower petals the same. Why? Because it's pleased God to establish these distinctive and distinguishing qualities. So therefore, therefore, just as you are unique now, likewise, you will be unique then.

And just so you understand this, Paul continues with one other example. You know, he knows he's talking to a lot of different personalities. You know, some people get the farming thing, and okay, you know. So he says, well, how about let me give you it this way. Let me give it to you with astronomy. Let me try astronomy. Maybe this will speak to a few of you out there. Verses 40 through 41. He says, verse 40, there are also celestial bodies and terrestrial bodies, but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. There is one glory of the sun. There's another glory of the moon. There's another glory of the stars, for one star differs from another star in glory. So it's a lesson from astronomy. So he says, now think about this. The sun has one glory, the moon another, star is another. You know, even though we stand up tonight, and if you look up at the stars, it's hard to kind of distinguish one from another. But if you put a scope on it, you know, you would be able to see that they're all... you would just be able to see the glorious variety that God... it has pleased God to create. So look around the variety, the diversity exists in all of God's creation. It exists with you. So let's pause for a moment and ask ourselves, why is Paul using all these illustrations here? Well, it's to help his readers understand.

The questions you remember are, how are the dead raised? With what body will they come?

And so Paul wants us to simply understand this, that there is a body for living here in this physical earth at this time, but after you die, there's going to be a new body given. However, once a man or a woman enters into the spiritual family of God, you won't somehow become someone else. No, you will be uniquely and beautifully you. You. Why? Well, because God created you. He's pleased with your uniqueness that he's given you. But again, why go through all these illustrations of plants, creatures, humans, stars, unless there's a point to it all? Well, he puts an explanation point on it in verse 42. After all these illustrations, verse 42, he says, so also is the resurrection of the dead. So also is the resurrection of the dead. So we're getting this education from Paul. He's educating on us regarding all things regarding the resurrection. And now he's going to sum up the whole process for us here, that God has ordained. Let's read this, the summary of it all, verse 42 through 49. So also, verse 42, is the resurrection of the dead. Here's the totality of the whole process here. The body is sown in corruption. It is raised in incorruption. It is sown in dishonor. It is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness. It is raised in power. It is sown in the natural body. It's raised in the spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. And so it is written, the first Adam, the first man Adam, became a living being. The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural. And afterwards, the spiritual. The first man was of the earth, main of dust.

The second man, capital M, is the Lord from heaven. As was the man of dust, so also are those who are made of dust. And as is the heavenly man, so also are those who are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly man. Incredible, incredible. So while we're sown in corruption in so many ways, you know, in many ways, this physical existence, it has a lot of dishonor to it, you know, it has a lot of weakness to it. While we're here in this present natural, often we feel powerless. Just like the first Adam, we came from dust, we shall return to dust. While that is true, I want you to know Paul says there is another Adam referring to Jesus Christ, and he is not of this earth, and he's a heavenly man, he says. And the body in which he has is a spiritual body, and his body is the prototype of what his own will obtain at his return. That's verse 49 again. Verse 49. And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly man. So what's in store for God's faithful when they are raised? Well, instead of perishable, we'll have bodies of being imperishable. While we're sown in so many ways in weakness right now, we are going to be raised in glory and power.

While we are sown right now in this natural body, we're going to be raised gloriously incorruptible in the spiritual body, in the image of Jesus Christ himself. That is the message of the resurrection.

That's it. Jesus Christ was raised from the dead. He became the first fruits, the first of the first fruits, and all those who are placed in him. And what we see in him is the prototype of what we, by grace through faith, will become. In other words, get ready because we're in for an incredible transformation that's coming. Who can conceive of this? Who can conceive of a world without cancer?

Who can conceive of a world where children will never die? Who can conceive of a world where we won't lose our loved ones? Who can imagine a body without weakness? Who can imagine this world without death? Who can believe these things? Paul says, believe it. Believe it.

This is the resurrection, and this is the truth in which you and I stand upon tonight.

This is our whole life. This is our belief. Someone asks you, you say, Jesus Christ died and rose again, and I'm looking forward to his return because I know what it shall be like.

I know what it will all be like by God's grace. Jesus Christ was raised from the dead. He will return. He will return to call forth his own, first from the grave. What a day it'll be. And it's all here for us in verse 51 through 56. Hear these words here. Verse 51 through 56. Behold, I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we should all be changed in a moment in the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. And when this corruptible has put on incorruption and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, death is swallowed up in victory.

O death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory? The sting of death is sin. The strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God who gives us a victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Let's stop there. Ah, in a moment, a twinkling of an eye, the last trumpet.

It's going to be a universal event. The coming of Jesus Christ is going to transcend all events in time and space. It's inconceivable, really. The Lord Himself will come down from heaven with a loud shout, a trumpet voice, a trumpet call we're told with a loud shout, and those that are His will be called first, and they'll be the first to hear His voice. Matthew 24 tells us, when the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and they will see the Son of Man coming in all the clouds of heaven with power and great glory, He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds from the end of the heaven to the other. John 5 tells us, I tell you a truth, a time is coming when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. So that's why Paul can be so bold in saying, oh death, where's your sting? Oh Hades, where's your victory? Because although death in the grave, while they sting now, let me tell you, one day they won't. One day they will sting no more. And what a beautiful day it'll be. Well, let's conclude with Paul's conclusion here, these final words here at the end.

These words should just fill us with a final victory that God's faithful can stand upon until the day of His return in the ushering end of these days, verse 57 and 58.

But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. You know, in the same way Jesus Christ has raised us up to a new spiritual life, just as He has raised us up from the dark spiritual grave that we were in, in the same way He has raised and released us from sin's grip, from the power of sin to overcome us, in the same way, in the same way, into the darkness of the tomb in which we are laid will come the voice of Jesus Christ and His own will hear the command, arise. And at that moment, all that have died in Christ and all those who are living in Christ will be changed.

And never separated from Jesus Christ and God the Father again.

Well, thank you, Paul, for the truth around the resurrection, what a truth it is.

And I know there are some here this evening. You've shared your story with me that filled the weight of this physical existence.

Some of you are broken-bodied. Some of you are broken-hearted.

Some of you are broken-spirited, going through difficult days.

Listen. Listen. Jesus Christ is risen.

And therefore, you will have victory in the end. So let the truth of the resurrection cause you to be immovable, steadfast, knowing that one day, one day, you will be changed and rise.