You Were Made to Rise!

This message, you were made to rise. You were made to rise. And if you will open your Bibles and turn with me to 1 Corinthians 15. 1 Corinthians 15. And in doing so, we come to a letter written by the Apostle Paul to the church in Corinth, specifically to God's people in Corinth. 1 Corinthians 15 will begin in verse 1. And in coming to these 58 verses here in this passage, we come to one doctrine in particular, namely, the doctrine of the resurrection. And so, it'll be to this truth that we set our attention on this afternoon. And so, to set our foundation, let's begin reading verses 1 through 11 here to begin. 1 Corinthians 15 verses 1 through 11. 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 you also are saved, if you hold fast to the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. 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, and that he was seen by Cephas, and then by the twelve, and he was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remained to the present, but some have fallen asleep. After that, he was seen by James, and then all the apostles. Then last, he was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time. For I am the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by grace of God I am what I am, and by his grace toward me was not in vain. But I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me, that for whether it was I or they, so we preached. And you believed, he says. Let's stop there. So again, in coming to this issue of the resurrection, it is vitally important for us to think precisely, to think precisely, because the truth of the resurrection is the absolute essential issue of Christianity. And in turning to this passage of Scripture, what we come to is what is the most direct discussion with regards to the resurrection here. And truth be told, the men and women there in Corinth, in God's church, needed to hear this issue. And they needed to be clear on it. And I think we need to hear it today as well, and be clear on it. Because it is the very foundation of the gospel. The gospel stands on this truth of the resurrection we will see today. So let's begin. Notice first Paul's opening statement here. It's a really interesting one as he begins. Verse 1, he says, again, Moreover, brethren, I declare to you that I declare to you the gospel which I preach to you, which also you received, and in which you stand. Let's stop there. So up to this point, Paul had spent a considerable amount of time with the Corinthians, with God's people. And he was dealing with chaos in many ways. He was dealing with their division that was within the church. And so by beginning the discussion of this future resurrection, by beginning it in this way, I believe what he's doing is resetting the men and women's minds about that which is foremost, or that which is most important. Because I think Paul knew, and we know today, that we can get distracted very easily by those things which are of lesser importance, can't we? But Paul doesn't want to the men and women that he writes to, he doesn't want them to lose sight of what is foremost in their lives. And that which is foremost, Paul says, is the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Look at verse 3 and 4 again, here.

Right at the beginning he says, For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he rose again on the third day according to the Scriptures. So this is the gospel, he says, this is what I received, this is what I preached, and he says this is what you've received, and this is what you believe. And so this is first, this is first of all in priority. And he says in verse 1, let me remind you, this truth is what you took a stand upon, this belief. You received it, you received in which you stand. This is the foundation of your life. If you would have asked those men and women there in Corinth, what is the very foundation of your life? They would have said, Jesus Christ rose again. That's what they would have said. They would have said life has no meaning without it. They would have said there would be no hope without it, no future. And Paul's reminding us as well, this is what we stand upon. It's first and foremost in our life because if it's not, verse 2, then you've believed in vain. Your faith has been without meaning. It's useless. So the Christian's faith is founded upon this very truth. Christ died, and he rose again. This is the gospel. And Paul says, I didn't originate this gospel. He says, I received it. And he passed it on.

As a side note, there's one peculiar teaching on the apostle Paul that says that he came and he taught his own thing. Paul says, no. This is truth from the beginning. And he's saying that very clearly here. If you notice in verse 3 and 4, what's the phrase he repeats twice? Did you notice verse 3 and 4? Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures. He was buried and rose again on the third day according to the scriptures. So what's he making clear here? This is not his truth. The truth regarding the resurrection, it goes back to all the scriptures he's saying. So, in other words, he would tell the Corinth members of the church, the men and women, this is not my truth. And if you believe it's not just for me, go back to your scriptures and you'll read it. Go back to Isaiah 53. They could have done that and read about the one who was led as a lamb to slaughter, wounded for our transgressions, one who would be bruised for our iniquity. It's all there. So Paul is saying to them, this is the one to whom you've read about. He came, he died, he rose again. This is what you've embraced. This is what you've taken a stand upon.

And it's absolutely necessary for Paul to begin this resurrection discussion in this way. Because before Paul can get to the resurrection discussion that involves you and I, before he can get to us, he has to begin with Jesus Christ. Why is that? Because Jesus makes any and all resurrections possible. Jesus makes any and all other resurrections possible. No Jesus, no resurrection of Jesus, then nobody gets resurrected. Nobody gets resurrected at any time. That's why the Christianity really stands upon this doctrinal belief of the resurrection. Because without it, we'd have nothing to say. Christianity would have nothing to say. The Christian church would have never taken flight. They would have never gotten out of the hangar, if you will. Christianity stands or falls on the truth of his Jesus Christ resurrection. Every word of the New Testament is written from the perspective of this one verse we find in verse 4. All of the New Testament is written from the perspective that he was buried and he rose again on the third day according to the Scriptures. And so Paul, almost painstakingly here, takes the first 11 verses of 1 Corinthians 15 here, and he uses it to establish this very truth that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures. He was buried, rose on the third day, and he says he was seen by Cephas. He was seen by the 12. He was seen by over 500 brethren. He was seen by James. He was seen by all the apostles. And not to mention, I saw him. I saw him with my own eyes. Remove it. Remove this truth of the gospel about the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Remove this truth, and there are dreadful consequences. Dreadful consequences.

And so Paul then moves his attention upon those dreadful consequences, we will notice. And that's verses 12 through 19. Verses 12 through 19 now. Paul, the great apologist, has established what's foremost. And now he's going to say, verses 12 through 19, is going to speak to the logical consequences of not believing in a resurrection of Jesus Christ. Verse 12, look what he says. Now, if Jesus is preached that he has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? So, he's going to say, okay, let's explore that in these next verses. So, he's not going to be refuting the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Rather, he's going to take his readers down this logical progression, logical thought progression, the great apologist Paul. He's going to say, okay, let's assume for a moment that there is no resurrection. I hear some of you saying that there is not one. Let's assume for a moment there's not. What would the consequences be?

And he gives them seven of them. Seven of them here. So, let's consider these with Paul here.

Seven consequences if there is no resurrection. If there is no resurrection, if there is no resurrection of the dead, first consequence, well, then Christ is not risen. We find that in verse 13. But verse 13, if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen. That's the number one consequence. No resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen. So, the logic goes like this. If no one has ever been raised from the dead, as you say, some of you say, then to deny the resurrection in that way, then no one has ever been resurrected and no one ever will be resurrected. And Jesus Christ would fit into that scenario. Therefore, he's not risen from the dead. And to deny the resurrection of in general is to deny the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the one to whom we know makes any and all other resurrections possible. Therefore, we can conclude then that the one to whom the Old Testament writers spoke never came to be. Jesus Christ died and he remained right there in that Palestinian tomb. So, then all of Christianity is a lie. The prophecy of the coming Son of God who would die and rise again, it was just a concoction that some men put together. And they perpetrated the biggest lie known to the world and even got themselves killed for it. If no resurrection, Paul says, then no risen Jesus Christ. If no risen Jesus Christ, well, that brings on a whole other set of troubles for us to consider. And he moves to the second consequence here. Second consequence. If there is no resurrection, second consequence found here at the beginning of verse 14, he says, now if Christ is not risen, you see the progression here, then our preaching is empty. He says, let's stop there. Then if Jesus Christ is not raised, number two consequence, our preaching is empty. In other words, it's useless. If Jesus is not risen, then what is the substance to which we've been talking about? Well, our preaching is useless. We remove Jesus Christ and his being risen, we have nothing to say. Christianity has nothing to say at that point. It's absolutely empty.

And that's interesting to think about because if you look around the world and you look at the church's pulpits, you don't hear. You don't hear the resurrection teaching. Either they've removed it all together or they just don't talk about it very often. And to that preacher, Paul would say, you have nothing worth talking about. You've removed the resurrection of Jesus Christ. So he makes it perfectly clear. Preaching is useless. Third, third consequence that comes, if there's no resurrection of Jesus Christ, well then your faith is useless also. Number three consequence. Your faith is useless. We find that at the end of verse 14 here, if Christ is not raised, preaching is empty, and your faith is also empty. In other words, it's irrelevant. And of course, that logically follows the faith upon which you based your the gospel by which your faith is based. Well, it's a lie. So your faith is that it's based upon is a lie, really. No resurrection of Jesus Christ. No basis of the gospel. No basis of the gospel. I don't know what we were preaching.

If the preaching is void, well then what is your faith based upon? You know, true, godly faith, it's not based upon vague hopefulness or possibilities. So take that away. No resurrection. Then your faith is irrelevant. True faith is based upon certainty and reality. And if the reality is that Jesus wasn't risen, well then what is the faith worth in it? Fourthly, if no resurrection of Jesus Christ, we'd all be false witnesses, he says. Look at this. This is verse 15. Verse 15. Yes, he says, and we're all found false witnesses of God. Because we've testified of God that he raised up Christ, whom he did not raise up. If in fact the dead do not rise. So with this consequence, think about all the false witnesses there have been. First and foremost, you might think about Peter on the day of Pentecost. What is he doing? He's out on the streets of Jerusalem, and he's preaching that that tomb is empty. And he's preaching that that tomb is empty because Jesus Christ was risen by his father. Well, Paul says he was lying. And Paul would have to admit that they were all lying too. No resurrection. No resurrection of Jesus Christ. It's all lies. We're all false witnesses to it. Staggering thought. If you think about all those who gave their life for the preaching that Jesus was risen, they lost their life on a lie based upon a lie, if that was the case.

Fifthly, fifth consequence, and this is a big one. With Jesus not risen, Paul says, you're still in your sins. That's verse 17. Verse 17. And if Christ is not risen, Paul says, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.

So every sinful thought, every sinful action that you've ever committed, all of it, it's still attached to you. And there's no way to get clean. You can scrub, scrub, and scrub those sinful spots. There's no way to get clean. It's a dreadful predicament. And you're going to die in those sins. And that would have been a big one for the Corinthians, those in God's church, to hear. Because those individuals, those men and women, specifically, they knew what they had come out of. They knew they used to be fornicators and idolaters and adulterers and alike. And they'd been given the power to come out of those things. And they were changed. And they had faith that they would be cleansed in that way. But Paul says to him, ah, no resurrection of Jesus Christ. You're still in all of those. And you're still trapped. You're enslaved. And there's no power to overcome it available to you. No way to become spiritually clean. You're dying more and more every day. See, he's trying to get their attention here. You know, at the beginning of this, he said, some of you say, he says, think about it. Six, six, sixly, without Jesus Christ's resurrection, those who died in Christ are perished. That's verse 18. Then also, he says, those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. They're simply lost. So, every one of God's ministers who have stood up at a funeral and spoken the words and read from the Bible that Jesus Christ is the resurrection and is of life, they were lying. Every minister that stood up and said to Christ's own that although they may have died, they will live again. Ah, it's not true. If Jesus has not risen, then you might as well stand up at a funeral and say, there he is perished. Because his faith in Christ was a false faith. Christ wasn't risen.

Without the resurrection, the death of those in Christ is not falling asleep and then waking up at the voice of Jesus Christ at his return and to meet him. No, it's not that at all. They're just simply perished, doomed, and there they lay without hope.

Seventh and final consequence without Jesus Christ's resurrection. He says, and to end it all, really we are to be most pitied. Most pitied, verse 19. Verse 19. Verse 19. If in this life only we have hope in Christ and he has not risen, we are of all men most pitiable or pitied. By putting all we have into a lie, ah, we're pitiful. We're pitiful men and women, he says. We dedicated ourselves to a lie. And it's not that the Christian is just interested in the future reward.

If Christ has not risen, just that means that all those who dedicated themselves to that belief, they now know that the present has no purpose. And the past was just the past and the tomorrow doesn't matter. So this was designed by Paul to be heavy. He's hitting him over and over again. Seven of them. Boom, boom. Some of you say, well, let me tell you the consequences of that. And he hits him over and over seven times. It's heavy. It's supposed to be heavy. And I think it was to weigh them down. And I think it's to weigh us down. Till we get to the point so weighed down that we realize that we realize just what the amazing, wonderful truth that we do have. Weighs down to the point where we realize how precious the truth is that's been opened up to us. Think of the weight on those who do not have the doctrine of the resurrection. Think of the weight they're carrying. Without the resurrection, men and women would be lost without any possibility of salvation.

But restore this truth. Restore this truth of the resurrection. Well, that changes everything. And it just reverses everything. And immediately everything is reversed. Look what Paul says in verse 20. He takes him down this road and then he says verse 20. But now Christ is risen from the dead, he says.

So Paul turns now and he comes to the confirming. He comes to the affirming that Jesus Christ is risen from the dead. And with that, he begins to paint a new picture.

And it's a picture of the truth. And it's a beautiful picture here. And he's going to paint first a harvest picture. And he's going to begin to look out at God's people there at Corinth and begin to speak to them about a harvest and firstfruits. And he's going to say, and you're the firstfruits. And he says that to us today. And now, after all the talk of Jesus Christ and all the consequences, now he can get to us. Now they're ready to listen.

Now he can get to the resurrection possibility of you and I. And it's pretty amazing. Let's look at this. Verses 20 through 24. Look what he says here. Verse 20 through 24. But now Christ is risen from the dead and has become the firstfruits 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 should be made alive.

But each in his own order. Christ the firstfruits, afterwards those who are Christ that is coming. Then comes the end. When he delivers the kingdom to God the Father and he puts an end to all rule and all authority and power. So let's stop there. So he paints this beautiful farming harvesting scene here.

And look at this truth here. This is what we stand upon here. Look at verse 22 again. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. That's the truth. In Christ, with Christ, all shall be made alive. That's the truth of the resurrection. Or resurrections, we should say. There's more, he says. But each in his own order. Christ the firstfruits, afterwards those who are Christ at his coming. Beautiful. Because Jesus Christ died and did rise again, there will be a resurrection for everyone.

A resurrection for all of mankind. And there's an order in which mankind is raised. The first to be raised are those who are Christ at his coming. They represent the firstfruits of the harvest, he says. And if there's a firstfruit of the harvest, any farmer knows there's another harvest to come. Now Paul is speaking specifically to the Corinthian church. He's speaking to God's people in Corinth. So he doesn't go into the second harvest. But just for us to note, Revelation 20 verse 5, we won't turn there. But Revelation 20 verse 5, very clear.

Let me read it to you. It says, but the rest of the dead, so after the first harvest, but the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. It's Revelation 20 verse 5 again. First harvest, those in Christ will be resurrected at his return. The rest of the dead, well, their resurrection occurs a thousand years later. And Paul would have gone into that. But he was speaking specifically to God's people there in Corinth. But he just desperately wants to get across to the men and women, the brothers and sisters there, this vital truth.

And he's beginning to get them. He's beginning to get them a little bit because they start to ask questions. They begin to be intrigued here. And let's see, he furthers now this lesson of the garden and harvest. Let's move down a little bit to verse 35 here. Verse 35. And he says, now, some of you have been asking questions. Look at this. It gets good here. Verse 35 through 38. But someone will say, he says, how are the dead raised up? And with what body do we come?

Do they come? In his answer, verse 36, foolish one, what you sow is not made alive unless it dies. And 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 pleases and to each seed his own body.

Let's stop there. So these are good questions. And with all this talk of Jesus Christ's death up to this point, he's now getting to the individual. So their ears are perking up here a little bit. And you see his initial response here, how foolish.

Now, that might seem unkind at first. But what we'll notice is, I believe what it really means is he's about to say, there's some obvious things that you've missed. The answer to the questions you've asked, all of your answers can be found in the framework of your daily existence, is what he's saying.

So you've missed it. It's been right under your nose. How foolish. Let me explain, he says, verse 36 again. Verse 36. Foolish one, what you sow is not made alive unless it dies. When you have a handful of seed, we understand how it works. And we may have lost, just like the Corinthians, lost a little bit of the wonder of it all. But when you go buy that seed and you buy it in the little packets and it makes a nice little noise, if you shake it, if you pour that out in your hand and you bury them, then you're going to have to do that.

You bury them. What is the purpose of burying those seeds? Why do you bury them?

Well, it's for the purpose of that seed dying. So you go buy these living organisms at the store, you bring them home, and you bury them, this seed, with the purpose that they will die. Why? Because if they don't die, there can be no produce from them.

It's impossible for them to flower or fruit without death first.

And what appears after death is very different than that which you planted, isn't it?

So Paul's saying it's right under your nose. And let's think about this illustration a little bit that he's provided. He's given you a body this morning, a unique body. It's uniquely yours. It's your own. And when you are resurrected, God willing, at his son's return, he's talking to first fruits here, by grace through faith, when you're resurrected on that great day, you will be different just as the seed is different from the final bloom.

But even though you will be different, you will still be you. You're still the very essence of that seed, aren't you? Verse 37 says, I love this, verse 37, he says, you don't sow, you don't bury that body that shall be. You don't take the stem and the flower and bury it. No, he says, you don't bury the body that shall be. No, you bury the seed. And what shall be springs forth.

But you will not be someone else. You will be you, however different. You will be different in your makeup, in your existence. But the essence will still be you, that seed he's given to you. Incredible. And he continues now. He wants to really get this point across. This was important to those men and women there in Corinth. And just as he's created our identity, he's also created variety. But he's pleased with the specific identity he's given each of us. So he says, here's another illustration. Verse 39. Verse 39.

All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one kind of flesh of men. There's another flesh of animals, another flesh of fish, and another of birds. So he says, now, think about this in terms of flesh. We're not all the same. So he's moving from the world of plants and seeds now to animal life, human life, and whatnot. So a man has one type of flesh, animals another. A bird has another. A fish has another. It's perfectly obvious. Our eyes can teach us these things. God determined the variety. He's in charge of the difference. And he delights in the differences. And so everything is distinguished from one another. Every variety of plant, every variety of human life. So you are now, and you will be, unique. There are no two snowflakes alike. There are no two flower petals alike. No true, two true identical twins alike. Because God gives the distinguishing features. So again, Paul is saying, you are now unique, and you will then be unique. Still, uniquely you. You understand, this Paul says.

And if you don't understand it, let's talk stars. Let's talk astronomy, he says. Verse 40 and 41. Verse 40 and 41. He's covering everybody. No matter what thinking makes sense to you, he's going to cover everybody here. He says, verse 40 and 41, there are also celestial bodies and terrestrial bodies. But the glory of one celestial is one, and the glory of a terrestrial is another. There is one glory of the sun. There is one glory of the moon. There's another glory of the stars. For one star differs from another star in glory. So sun has its own glory. Moon has its own glory. Stars have another. We look up into the skies and they all look the same. But if you were to train a scope on it, of course, you would see the variety here of it all. Diversity. So all this is telling us, Paul says, so once you bloom, if you will, at Christ's return, once you bloom, you will still be uniquely you. You, glorious you, he says. Glorious you.

And we have to remind ourselves, why go through all these illustrations? Well, they asked, and he wants to be perfectly clear here. How are the dead raised and what kind of body do they come up with? And so he's saying, you have one body for the here on earth and it fits this existence here, and you will have another body once you enter into the family of God. And he's pleased with your uniqueness here, and he will carry that into your next existence. Again, why go through all these illustrations? Verse 42, he says, verse 42, so also is the resurrection of the dead. So he's given us an education on all these things.

And now, Paul, the great teacher, the great apologist, he's going to sum it all up for us here in verse 42 through 49. He says, let me sum it all up for you here. Verse 42 through 49. So also is the resurrection of the dead. So here's the totality of the whole process.

The body is sown in corruption. It's raised in incorruption. It's sown in dishonor. It's raised in glory. It's sown in weakness. It's raised in power. It's sown in a natural body. It is raised in a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. And so it is written, the first man, Adam, became a living being. The last Adam, Jesus Christ, became a life-giving spirit. However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural. And then afterward, the spiritual. The first man was of the earth, made of dust. The second man 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. Let's stop there. Incredible. So we can look at this physical existence, and we know so much of it is sown in dishonor. You know, so much of it is sown in weakness. So much of it is sown in corruption. We're in this natural body, powerless in many ways, from dust to dust. But Paul says, I want you to know, there is another Adam, a heavenly man referring to Jesus Christ. And the body with which he has now is a spiritual body. And his body is a prototype of what his own will obtain at his return. That's what verse 49 again.

As we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly man. So what will God's own be like when they're raised? Well, instead of perishable and perishable, instead of weakness, glory, and power, instead of a natural body, a spiritual body. That's the message of the resurrection.

If you ever want to be a good apologist like Paul and you get this question, just point him to this passage. Go through it with him. He just spells it out just so perfectly. Jesus Christ, in being raised from the dead, has become the first fruits of all those who have been placed in him. And what we see in him now is the prototype of what we will be by grace through faith. We will become. In other words, get ready because it's going to be an incredible transformation to come. An incredible transformation. Who could conceive it?

Who could conceive a world in which children never die, loved ones never leave us? Imagine a body without weakness. Imagine a world without death. If you're questioning those things, Paul would say, no, believe it. Believe it. This is the resurrection upon the truth in which you took a stand. So many of us took this stand many years ago. Well, Paul's reminding us that stand that we took. Don't forget it. This upon which we stand. Jesus Christ was raised from the dead and he will return. And he's going to call forth into the grave those first that were his. What a day it will be. And the mystery of it all is that you were made to rise. You were made to rise. Look at verse 51 through 56. What will it be like? Verse 51 through 56. He says, Behold, I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed. He's talking to God's people. Remember, in a moment, in a 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. So when this corruptible has put on incorruption and this mortal has put on immortality, then it 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 the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Let's stop there. So, in the twinkling of an eye with the shout of a voice. And we should never think that Jesus Christ, at his return, it will have to go and search it out somehow. Look for it. You know, the scripture says, when they say, oh Jesus is over here, he's over there. It says, don't believe it. No. This is going to be a global cosmic event. A universal event. Transcending all events in time and space. Can't even conceive it. Paul is trying to give us an idea so we can try to imagine. The Lord coming down, a call from heaven, trumpet call of God, a loud shout. And when he sends his voice into those graves, his own will hear it. The lambs, the sheep will hear the shepherd's voice. They'll recognize it and respond. Matthew 24 tells us that when we see the Son of Man coming from the clouds with all power and all glory, he will send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet. They will gather up his elect from the four winds from one end of heaven to the other. Revelation 1 tells us every eye will see him coming from the clouds. John 5 tells us the time is coming when the dead will hear the voice of God and those who hear will live. That's why Paul can be so bold when he says, oh death, where is your sting? Hades, where is your victory? And he wants God's people to be bold too about this truth. It is the truth upon which you took a stand. Death and Hades make no doubt their fate is sealed. It is sealed. And their fate is that there will be no more. How can we say that with such confidence? Jesus is risen.

It all is the foundation. Jesus is risen. And that's the victory. That's the gospel.

And before you get to your and I resurrection, remember that first. In verse 57 and 58 as we move to a conclusion here. Verse 57 and 58 again here. Verse 57 and 58, but thanks be to God, he says, who gives us victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast and movable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. So in the same way Jesus raised us up to new life now. In the same way he took us from the dark spiritual grave that we were in and gave us new life is in the same way he will return. And those who are of us who are still alive in the twinkling of an eye, those of us who are in the grave, will hear a great sound of a voice as he calls out to his own and be raised. And the confidence we know in that is that he's really already performed it in our lives. He's already given us new life. He's already given us new life. He's already called us out of the spiritual dark grave. I know he has. I've spoken to many of you and I know your testimony. I know your personal story. And he's done that. So you can be just as confident that on the day of his return he will call out upon you to rise. And at that moment those who have died in Jesus Christ will hear his voice and be raised. Those who are alive will be raised never to be separated from Jesus Christ and God the Father again. So he says, therefore my brethren, my beloved brethren, be steadfast and immovable. How could you be movable with this truth?

Well, thank you, Paul. Thank you for the truth of the resurrection, what a truth it is. And I know some of us here are feeling the weight of our physical body, broken-hearted, difficult days, overwhelmed. Listen, Jesus is risen. Therefore, that's your confidence. Stand upon that truth. And if you stand upon that truth one day as Christ's own, you will rise as well. In fact, you were made to rise. So be steadfast and movable, knowing that one day you will rise.