Death Swallowed Up in Victory

All right, we're going to read together from God's Word from the New Testament.

From 1 Corinthians 15, and that's verses 35 all the way down to 58.

So we have Bibles upstairs and downstairs.

If you'd like to have a hard copy of God's Word today, feel free to grab one of those.

It's also, the text is printed in the bulletin as well.

And then you can also read along on the screens as I read for us.

So let's look at God's Word together.

Paul writes,

But someone will ask, how are the dead raised?

With what kind of body do they come?

You foolish person, what you sow does not come to life unless it dies.

And what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare seed, perhaps of wheat or some other grain.

But God gives it a body as He has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body.

For not all flesh is the same.

But there is one kind for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish.

There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is of one kind, and the glory of the earthly is another.

Then there is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars.

For stars differ from star in glory.

So it is with the resurrection of the dead.

What is sown is perishable, but what is raised is imperishable.

It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory.

It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power.

It is sown in natural body, it is raised, a spiritual body.

If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.

Thus it is written, the first man, Adam, became a living being.

The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.

But it is not the spiritual that is the first, but the natural, and then the spiritual.

The first man was from the earth, a man of dust.

The second man is from heaven.

As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust.

And as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven.

Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.

I tell you this, brothers.

Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God.

Nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.

Behold, I tell you a mystery.

We shall not all sleep, but we shall 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 imperishable, and we shall be changed.

For this perishable body must put on the imperishable.

And this mortal body must put on immortality.

When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality,

then shall come to pass the saying that is written,

Death is swallowed up in victory.

O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.

But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast and movable, always abounding in the work of the Lord,

knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.

This is God's holy word.

For three weeks, we've been working through this chapter, 1 Corinthians 15.

This is our final look at it here on Easter Sunday.

And if I was to put it all together, 1 Corinthians 15 as a chapter, it's an argument.

And Paul is saying to every single one of us that the resurrection of Jesus Christ

gives us today a hope and future glory that is so certain that it can change us in the present.

So he's saying to us that the resurrection of Jesus Christ is a hope, a future glory,

that's so certain that it has the power to change you in the present,

to have an immediate effect on your life.

Right here.

And so Paul's been making this argument, and he said that Jesus Christ really did die

for the forgiveness of all sins.

And he said he really was buried because he was actually dead.

And he really was raised from the dead, not just as a mere symbol,

but physically, bodily, he was raised from the dead on the third day.

And that means in his power, the Holy Spirit brings that to matter to us

right here, right now, in 2025.

The resurrection matters right here, right now, today.

How?

Two things, two ways.

Number one, death has been defeated.

Number two, you have hope today in a holistic glory.

So those two things, let's think about them.

The resurrection matters right now because death has already been defeated.

That's the first thing we learn here.

Now, this is a formal argument Paul's making in this chapter,

but he lands on the conclusion down in verses 54 and 55,

and it's where he says this poetic form here, quoting from the Old Testament,

the conclusion, death is swallowed up in victory.

Death, where is thy sting?

So he's been making this very formal argument.

It's been philosophical.

It's in this Greek philosophical style that would have matched the Corinthian philosophical environment.

But then he gets to the conclusion.

He just says, death, you've been swallowed up, Isaiah 25.

Where is thy sting?

No more.

And so he enters into this moment where he taunts death,

and then he just starts to worship.

That's his conclusion.

Now, there is lots of argumentation and detail and important words and clauses all throughout this chapter.

We've looked at some of them the past couple of weeks,

and it would be easy to get way down into all the little details that Paul's probably addressing in the context.

But I don't want to overcomplicate it, and I know that sometimes I do overcomplicate it.

So let's be simple.

Right?

Paul is saying, we're all going to die.

And he's saying, we don't want to die.

We want to live.

And with Dylan Thomas, we say, I rage against the dying of the light.

Right?

I will not go gently.

I don't want to die.

Death is our great enemy.

And here in verse 38, especially in 55, he's saying,

but God will raise the dead because Jesus is alive.

And he starts to worship.

And that's basically the whole of it.

And verse 38 is really the turning point.

A lot of commentators will point this out because in verse 38, he says,

but God gives the body.

So people in this day are saying, but Paul, how could somebody be raised from the dead?

And he says in verse 38, God can do it.

And then he just starts to worship at the end of this passage.

And that's really the whole of it.

We said last week, if there is no resurrection of the dead, God is not God.

Paul says you can go worship a different God altogether if Jesus is not alive.

If there is no resurrection, God is not God.

But the God who raised Jesus Christ from the dead can raise you.

He can raise you from the dead.

He has that power.

Now, let's get into the details a little bit.

Paul is dealing with skepticism in Corinth.

And that's why the text begins in verse 35 by him saying,

but somebody is going to ask a question.

So he's basically just saying there's going to be objections.

Somebody is going to object to what I'm saying.

What is the objection?

Somebody is going to ask, how are the dead raised?

And you can see that he's dealing with something that's frustrating him.

He says, oh, foolish person for asking a question like that.

Because basically what's happening is people are making fun of the concept of the resurrection.

And in this time in Greek philosophy, people are saying things like,

how can it be that when somebody's body goes down into the grave and they decay,

or let's say in our time they're cremated, we ask these same questions,

and their particles go into dust and they become dust.

He's saying, you and Corinth, some of you have been making fun of that and saying,

oh, Paul, you've been talking about resurrection, but how is it that,

are all the dust particles that have fed the grass going to come back together?

Is that what it's going to look, in other words, they're saying,

are we looking for a zombie apocalypse situation?

So is it going to be that when the resurrection happens,

people are going to have their particles come back together in a bandaged way?

They're going to stick their arms through the dirt?

In the same way we say, what exactly should we think about how the resurrection works?

How could a person have a resurrection body?

Anthony Thistleton, one commentator, he puts it a little more elegantly

than zombie apocalypse language.

He says, they're asking, can we conceive of such a thing,

such an impossible thing,

that somebody who has died and decayed could come back from the dead?

And he says, what are the mechanics of that?

How could that work?

That's the objection that's coming up in Corinth.

And now, we can think about that in a Greek perspective.

The Epicurean philosophers were saying,

once somebody disintegrates, they don't come back together.

And in the same way, we can think about objections

that come up to the resurrection in our time.

It's very similar for us today.

And in our time, I think the most common view,

counter to the idea of the Christian resurrection,

is that people will say that death is normal.

Even though they'll say, death is a friend.

Death is something that you can befriend,

that you can count as simply normal.

Dylan Thomas has that famous line I quoted earlier,

where we say, I rage, I rage against the dying of the light.

But we often don't read the next line right after that.

And this is what he says,

those,

though wise men at their end,

know dark is right.

So we rage,

we rage against the dying of the light.

He wrote that for his father on his deathbed.

But the very next line,

though wise men,

at their end,

know the dark is right.

What was he saying?

He was saying,

yes,

on the one hand,

we modern people,

we hate death.

And we say,

I will not go gently.

But at the same time,

he was saying,

but we know as modern people as well,

death is right.

It's good.

It has to be that way.

It's part of the natural process.

And so many,

many people in our culture today would say,

death is not an enemy.

Death is a friend.

Death is necessary.

Death is part of the natural order.

It has to be that way

if we're going to continue as a species,

if we're going to survive in this world.

And so the naturalist position,

that's what that's called.

There's a man named Todd May

who wrote a book called Death.

And he's an atheist philosopher.

And I really appreciated it

because he was very honest.

And he writes this,

I know that death is necessary,

but I hate to think about it.

And he says,

the silence that is death,

the idea of me

not being here any longer,

it's something else entirely.

It seems to resist fault altogether.

It's a wall that my mind runs up against

without being able to penetrate

or find its way around it.

It confronts me

as an incomprehensibility.

Sometimes I wonder,

what is the point

if death is to undermine

all the meaning

that I've created in my life?

Now, we ignore death

as much as we can

as modern people

because we don't see it

as much as people used to see it.

It's behind closed doors.

It's under sedation.

Right?

Or,

we call it normal.

And we might even call it a friend.

And remember what Mufasa said about it.

Remember?

He said,

Simba and Mufasa,

what do they do?

They eat the antelopes

and then they die

and they become grass

and the antelopes eat the grass

and it's the circle of life

and it's beautiful.

Right?

But,

I don't know if you've ever seen

a lion eat an antelope.

It's not that beautiful.

But far beyond that,

have you ever seen

a human being die?

See,

death,

Paul's saying something

very different.

Death is not a friend.

Death is ugly.

And in our modern advances

in medicine,

we're able to sedate

and we're able to

push back the ugliness

in a way,

but it always comes out.

Death is ugly.

It's not beautiful.

Death is an intruder.

Death is an enemy.

Death is punishment.

Death is a sin.

And the Greeks,

knowing that

there wasn't going to be

a physical afterlife,

that's what they thought,

they would say things like,

will anybody remember me

after I die?

You remember Achilles,

you know,

he said,

I will go into battle

and I die

as long as they raise

a statue for me.

And that was the greatest hope

is that you might be remembered.

But is anybody remembered?

Think about it.

Can any of you

say anything

about your great,

great grandparents?

Maybe,

maybe some of us,

the oldest in the room,

maybe could say their names.

Maybe.

But most of us,

not a single word.

We can't say anything about them.

There's a famous

tale by Percy Shelley

called Ozymandias.

He was the husband

of Mary Shelley

who wrote the book

Frankenstein.

Shout out to Edinburgh

for inspiring

Frankenstein,

the book.

And Percy wrote

a little tale,

a short little tale

about a man

who was out in the desert

and he writes this,

I met a traveler

from an antique land

who told me

about a desert monument

and on the pedestal

these words appear,

my name is Ozymandias,

king of kings.

Look upon my works,

ye mighty,

in despair.

But nothing beside

remains.

Round the decay

of that colossal wreck,

boundless and bare,

the lone and level sands

stretch far away.

Even the greatest people

in all of world history

that have done the most,

nobody really remembers them.

And nobody will.

Happy Easter.

Right?

You walk through

a graveyard,

have you had this experience

where

you walk through

a graveyard

and

you enjoy it,

you see the beauty

of a graveyard

right in a way

and you look at

the headstones

and you read about

all these people

and you think,

wow,

I wonder what their story

was like.

And you see,

when did they die,

when were they born,

when did they die,

how long did they live,

what caused their death,

you look for things like that

all in the graveyard.

But at the end of the day,

at the end of the day,

what you realize is what?

You don't know anybody

in the graveyard.

Not really.

And you realize

your name

is going to be there.

And one day,

what's left

is going to say,

here lies

Corey.

And somebody's

going to walk by

and they're going to say,

oh,

when was he born?

When did he die?

Is there a single line

about who he was?

And they'll know nothing.

Right?

And that's all of us.

We all are facing that.

We're all facing death.

And the naturalist

naturalist,

the naturalist,

the modern naturalist

comes and says,

you see,

that's a good thing

because death

brings meaning to life.

And if that wasn't

going to be the case,

I would never appreciate

life as it is today.

I wouldn't have any meaning

in my life right now.

Paul comes with

a very different idea.

And he says,

death does not bring

meaning to life.

The resurrection does.

Only the resurrection

brings meaning to life.

Death is an intruder,

an ancient foe.

And only the resurrection

gives real meaning,

real hope.

Death makes us,

look,

death makes us nameless.

Christ remembers our name.

How does he argue this?

Verse 37,

it feels like a complicated argument,

but it's quite simple.

He says,

people in Corinth were saying,

look, Paul,

explain it.

How does it happen?

You're saying people's

decayed body parts

will come back together somehow?

And he says,

you foolish,

that's a foolish question.

And then he says,

let me say this.

He doesn't give us much,

but he says,

let me say this.

You go down into the ground,

you're sown like a seed.

And in a way,

metaphorically,

that seed dies.

That seed goes down perishable,

but you come up imperishable.

You go down perishable,

able to die.

You come up imperishable,

not able to die.

He says,

you go down in weakness,

but you come up

like a beautiful flower.

That's the seed metaphor.

You come up like a great oak tree.

You come up,

you go down in weakness,

you come up in glory.

That's his word for it.

Doxa, glory.

You come up gloriously,

somehow,

you go down mortal,

but you come up immortal.

He says,

you go down bearing the marks of shame,

dishonor is the word he uses,

but you're raised in shamelessness,

glory.

That's his comparison.

All light,

all good.

How,

Paul,

the people were asking,

and he says,

verse 38,

God does it.

God,

it's all God,

top to bottom.

God shall be all in all in that day.

He shall be everything to everyone,

he said in the last section.

God does every bit of it.

And he's telling us here,

the resurrection body

is of a different kind of glory

altogether to one we can imagine.

So he says,

you know,

the stars have a certain type of glory

and animals have a certain type of glory

and the stars are glorious

and,

you know,

they've never sinned.

They've never done anything wrong.

They're glorious.

And he says,

but the resurrection body

is of a glory altogether different

that we have yet to see,

yet to imagine.

And he's saying,

look,

don't,

don't try to answer the question,

what exactly happens?

What exactly is it like?

He says,

God will do it.

If God raised Jesus Christ

from the dead

in the middle of history,

God can raise you from the dead

and it will be to a glory

that you can't imagine

that we have yet to see

in world history.

He's,

he's telling us that

you shall be raised

in Christ

to a glory

so great

that today

if you were allowed,

if you were able

to get to see a picture

of your future self,

you would be strongly tempted

to worship.

A glory beyond imagination.

That's his answer.

And to the question,

how does it all work?

You know,

Paul,

how does it all work?

He just says,

let God be God.

God will do it.

And the connection there he makes,

he says,

I will tell you this,

verse 49,

he says,

here's how it works.

Just as you were united

to Adam

from the very beginning,

everything that Adam deserved,

you get

because you deserve it too.

Adam merited death,

so you merited death.

Adam was guilty,

so you're guilty.

He says,

but in the second Adam,

everything that he deserved,

now you get.

Adam went,

Adam went down in death,

but the life,

the one who was raised to life,

he comes up

and you get what he deserves.

You get what he got.

He says,

that's how it works.

There's a question here

that a lot of people will ask

verse 44 and 45

because Paul says,

you're sown in a natural body

but raised in a spiritual body.

Is he saying,

you go down physical

but you come up spiritual?

You come up ethereal?

And here,

the important thing to see

is that natural

equals sinful.

Spiritual doesn't equal ethereal.

Spiritual equals

by the Holy Spirit,

cleansed,

pure.

You go down natural,

sinful,

you come up,

cleansed by the Spirit,

pure,

glorious,

spotless.

Jesus Christ becomes for you

the life-giving Spirit.

He's so connected

to the Holy Spirit

that when he's raised

from the dead,

he sends the Spirit

to give you everything

that he deserves.

That's the resurrection.

It's a glory beyond imagination.

Jesus Christ gives you

everything

that he has purchased.

Now,

let me be practical.

Secondly,

finally,

that means that we have today

a hope

of a holistic glory.

Death has been defeated.

We have the hope

of a holistic glory.

Very practical.

Think today

about your problems.

does anybody

today

have fear

in their life

right now?

Does anybody

in the room today

have unmet longings

in your life?

Hopes and dreams

that have never been fulfilled?

Does anybody

today

have guilt

and shame?

Does anybody

in the room today

have struggle

with things

that you know

are wrong

but you can't put away?

Does anybody

today come

with burdens

decisions

that are plaguing you?

Does anybody

in the room today

come

with an addiction?

An addiction

of any kind?

Does anybody

in the room

come today

with a relationship

in your life

breaking down

right now?

Or a relationship

that broke down

a long time ago

and it's never been repaired

and you don't feel

like it could be?

Does anybody

come today

with heartache?

Do you have heartache

today?

Are you coming

thinking about

and fearing

your own

physical death?

Do you have

that kind of

heartache

in your life

right now?

The gospel

Paul's argument

is this

Jesus Christ

made your problems

his problems

when he went

to the cross

all of your problems

became his problems

and he died

bearing their weight

under the weight

of their guilt

every bit

of problem

that you have

became his

at the cross

in the middle

of history

and

we could say

that's good news

let us pray

no

don't stop there

second question

does anybody

here today

have physical

problems?

Do you got

joint issues?

Is your

gut digestion

system

not working

quite like it

used to?

Right?

Anybody facing

a diagnosis

in the room

anybody struggling

with their body

in some way

beauty

is fading

and death

is coming

and Jesus

Christ

when he went

to the cross

he made

your problems

his problems

but he didn't

stop there

when he was

raised to glory

when he was

raised

your sins

were cleansed

and forgiven

forever

but at the same

time he promised

in that moment

that he will deal

with all your

physical problems

as well

do you think

do you think

today that

Jesus Christ

came to deal

with your guilt

and your anxiety

and your heartache

but he didn't

but he didn't

come to deal

with your bad gut

Jesus Christ

came to deal

with every bit

of it

he came to deal

with the heartache

and the sin

and the guilt

and the shame

the addiction

in your life

and he came

to deal

with your joints

the gospel

is holistic

the hope today

the change

that he brings

is holistic

in the gospel

and if you

don't know that

today

if you don't

think like that

you're thinking

like a Greek

philosopher

not like a Christian

the gospel

that comes

is holistic

in his death

and in his resurrection

he took every bit

of the curse

upon himself

and he was raised

to defeat

every bit

of death

even the curse

of the body

let me say it

practically

illustratively

I don't know

if you've seen

the film

The Betts Feast

it's one of the

great movies

of the 20th century

one of the great

Christian films

we might say

won an Oscar

but in The Betts Feast

there's this village

this Danish village

and in this Danish village

there's these

Christian

pietists

a sect of Christians

that have moved

away from the city

they live by themselves

out far away

from everybody else

and they're very committed

to not enjoying

any physical pleasures

any sensual pleasures

at all

so it's a very

bland lifestyle

they say

one must not

enjoy food

one must not

enjoy color

and so they wear

very bland clothing

they eat the same meal

every day

very bland meals

and one day

while they're in the

midst of that cycle

of working

and praying

never enjoying life

in any way

this French woman

named Babette

shows up

and she's from Paris

and she's run

because of the revolution

that's happening

in Paris

and she's come

to this

pietist community

and she asks them

for room and board

and they say

you know

we can't pay you

we can't afford this

but you can work for us

so she says

walk and cook

so she cooks

she makes their meals

and after all

they do for her

they give her

a place to live

they love her

so she says

I want to pay you back

I want to show my appreciation

I want to make

one great meal for you

and so she starts

to bring in

all this food

from Paris

because she has

connections

and the people

of the community

the congregation

they start to see it

and they say

boy

we're not going to be

allowed to eat this

this would cause us

sin

the sensual pleasure

that would come out

of this food

would cause us

to sin

against God

and so they gather

together

they have a

congregational meeting

and they decide

alright

we don't want to

shame Babette

so what we're going to do

is we're going to eat

the meal

but we're going to

be sure that we

never express

any enjoyment

and so they do that

they come to the meal

they come to the meal

and

it's a wonderful meal

and you know

they say

we're committed

we're not going to

say that we even

liked it for a second

we're not going to

ever show that

because that would

be a sin

and you know

what happens

they take the first bite

right

and

I won't tell you

all the movie

but I will tell you this

because it came out

a long time ago

alright

so sorry

but Babette

just happens to be

a master chef

from the city of Paris

and

they take the first bite

and you start to see

you know

they're struggling

they're fighting

against the light

right

and

now you've got to

go watch it

okay

don't let your

Christianity be tied up

in Greek philosophy

like that

know that

God

loves the physical

he made it

and in the resurrection

he says

I came to deal

with every bit

of the problems

of your heart

and I came to deal

with every bit

of the problems

of your body

and I'm going to do it

and Jesus Christ

is the first fruits

of the great harvest

that is to come

and so let me finish

with this

the resurrection hope

is for today

it's for right now

we don't have to wait

the resurrection matters

for this very moment

let me tell you

three ways it does

and I'll just list them

and be done

okay

number one

in verse 58

at the very end

he says

at the very end

of the passage

therefore my beloved

brothers and sisters

be steadfast

be immovable

abounding always

in the work of the Lord

knowing that your labor

is not in vain

now he says here

that because of the resurrection

because there is a life

that is to come

you can die

in this life

but the most important way

to die

is to die

to yourself

so everything you do

when you die

to yourself

and you live

for Christ

in this life

Christian

your labor

is not in vain

it will matter

forever

so he says

be steadfast

be immovable

die to yourself

let the resurrection

matter for you

right now

by giving up

your hopes

and your dreams

that are selfish ambitions

and live unto Christ

holistically

live for him

every single day

he's saying

to us

that living

for self

is very very boring

but dying to self

and living for something

like resurrection life

is thrilling

it's a purpose

that's far far better

number two

as you face death

in this life

and all of us are

maybe you've

you've had an experience

recently

that's brought

the reality of death

a little closer

to home to your heart

that the tombstone

is coming

here lies

it's on the way

right

and so we've

got to prepare

for that

and so as you face

death today

the resurrection

matters right now

for you

verse 56

he says

the sting of death

is sin

a little bit

hard to understand

that verse

but the sting

the word for sting

here typically

references

a scorpion stinger

and so he's

saying here

the sting

the sting

of a scorpion

you think

the scorpion

gets on you

hopefully that'll

never happen to you

but the scorpion

gets on you

and it gets you

with the stinger

right

and he's saying

death is like

the end of that

stinger

that goes in

but the real sting

of death

is sin

what is he saying

he's saying

the real problem

is the poison

what's the poison

it's sin

he's saying

sin

drives the power

of the stinger

sin drives

the power of death

just like the poison

drives the power

of the stinger

and that means

what is he saying

he's saying

if it were to be

the case that sin has died, then it could also be the case that death will die. If the real power

of the scorpion is in the poison, not the sting itself, then if the poison were to go away,

then the sting would be far less. Right? So he says the sting of sin is death, but if sin has

died, then death is going to die. You see what he's saying? He's saying that means you Christian

today can right now say, death, where is thy sting? All that's left is just that little prick.

I have to pass through that. It hurts. Yes. But I can say there's no poison left there.

I will pass through this and I will come into resurrection life. I will come into hope.

Right? You can say, death, do thy worst. The lower you lay me, the higher he will raise me. The far,

the farther you take me down, the better I will get. Third, finally, I'll close with this. However,

finally, this is not automatic. Okay. So you can read chapter 15 and you can come and see all these

amazing Easter promises. And you could say, you know what? I'm a Christian, but that list of problems,

addictions, heartaches, anxiety, fear of facing death is still very alive for me.

And that's true. And it's because Paul, Paul is not telling you that when you become a Christian by

faith in Christ, it's like putting, uh, putting your money into a vending machine, you know, where you

press the number of thing you want and you press the button and then out comes the, the, the bar,

the drink, the water that you were looking for. It's not just that you become a Christian

and all of a sudden out comes the fearlessness. You become a Christian and you press the right

buttons. And all of a sudden out comes the ability to face death and say, death, where's thy sting?

Right? It's not automatic. And this whole chapter, you see, this whole chapter is an argument.

It's highly philosophical. And I, and I think one of the things he's trying to tell us in that is he's

saying, if you want the power of the resurrection to really get down into your soul,

you've got to think, you've got to do theology. You've got to rehearse the gospel and the truths

of the gospel over and over and over again, every single day. You've got to come back every single

day and look at it again and again and again. You've got to bring the gospel and think from your head

down into your heart all the time. If you really want to stand and be able to say in verse 56,

thanks at the end of your days, the sting of death is sin. The power of sin is the law, but thanks be to

God for I have victory in the Lord Jesus. Let us pray. Father, we thank you for victory in Jesus. And we

now come and ask that you would bring the words of the gospel from our head down into our hearts,

that we would be helped to think, think, think that we would have the Holy Spirit come now and drive

these truths so deep into our soul that we could say today, death, where is thy sting? Thanks be to

God. I have victory in Jesus. So Lord, as we, as human beings face death in this life, we long

that the Holy Spirit would grant us the beauty of resurrection hope. We pray that in Jesus name.

Amen.