1 Corinthians 15 - "Raised in Glory: Our Certain Hope of Resurrection."

But one Corinthians 15, verse 20, the title of the message is

raised in glory, our certain hope of resurrection.

And in our introduction we're going to look at this idea that

that we weren't made and meant to die.

So we were not made to die, but sin in the fall of humanity

'cause that I don't know about you, but I'll ask this question.

I'm think we're all going to ask in the affirmative.

How many of you would trade in your body today for a new one?

I would. I think most of us would,

because we're getting old, aren't we?

And we're feeling it every day. It used to be when I was younger

that I would feel parts of my body that might be through an

accident or a sporting injury. Now I'm waking up with sleeping

injuries. No idea how it happened, but I'm

sore because I just spent the night lying down.

We've got parts of our body that start to crack and creak and

groan and smell and ache, and right now I'm sweating more than

Mike Tyson in a spelling bee. You know, it's warm in here, I

know, but it's, it's not that warm.

Our bodies, they just don't seem to work well, do they?

And mirrors certainly aren't our friend.

I don't know if you remember the film Brad Pitt was in it, but

it's called The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

It's based on a 1920s novel. And effectively it was this

idea, this premise of what life might be like lived in reverse,

of starting elderly and morphing back into an infant face.

So somebody wrote that idea, took that idea and wrote this

down. It's called My Next Life.

And and the author said I want to live my next life backwards.

I'll start out dead and get that out of the way right off the

bat. Then I'll wake up in a nursing

home and start feeling better every day.

When I'm kicked out of the home for being too healthy, I'll

spend several years enjoying my retirement collecting benefit

cheques. When I start work, I'll get a

gold watch on my first day. I'll work 40 years or so,

getting younger every day until pretty soon I'll be too young to

work. So then I'll go to high school,

play sports, date and party. As I get younger, I'll become a

kid again. I'll go to primary school, play,

and have 0 responsibilities. In a few years I'll become a

baby and everyone will run themselves ragged keeping me

happy. Finally, I'll spend my last nine

months floating peacefully in a luxury spa with conditions like

central heating and room service on tap.

It's an interesting idea, isn't it?

And we kind of laugh at it. But imagine never having a body

that wears out, never experiences those things that we

get frustrated with, you know, living in a world where there is

just simply a body that is fully functioning, a body that is at

its peak, that is at its prime. There, there are no handicaps.

Imagine having a body that never sags, that never droops, that

never aches, one that never has any kind of a disease or any

kind of a problem. And and we really have

difficulty imagining that I think especially as we age and

the opposite becomes more and more our reality.

And so we spend so much of our, our life dedicated to fixing

what ails our bodies to try and rectify our health, going to

doctors, to naturopaths or working on our diet or

exercising, taking medication if we get sick and, and then next

thing you know, you're on antibiotics because what was

supposed to fix it didn't. And then on, and, and then you

get really sick and, and hospitalised and we need surgery

and cancer happens and we have chemotherapy and, and we're

frustrated with our bodies and, and the sickness and, and all of

the difficulties that come with life and, and living here in

this fallen world. And, and we want to get this

body together. And it never really does come

together. We experience the death of loved

ones and it breaks us. And we sit there and we consider

and we think, you know, my dad should be alive today.

He should be playing with my kids.

He's not. And so why, why death does not

feel right for us is because of this.

It is not right. Death is not natural.

It's not part of God's original design.

And so the human heart within us resists death and all of the

symptoms that go along with that.

Why? Because we're made for life and

for living. And Paul's message to the

Corinthians here as as we get into this passage, is that he

answers these deep questions that are within many of us, like

what kind of body will I have in the resurrection?

We've been looking at that, and he's been Speaking of that last

week. How and when will this

resurrection happen? And in a world of sickness, in a

world of loss, in a world of death, on Corinthians 15

declares the Christians certain hope that we will rise in very

real, imperishable, glorified bodies like our risen Saviour,

just like Jesus. And so in this passage, Paul

pulls back the curtain and shows us the ultimate enemy in death

being swallowed up in victory. That's the language that he

uses. And he shows us that because

Christ is risen, we will rise too.

We're going to look at three points in our passages as we

break them down. And the first is again, Christ's

resurrection is the pattern, is the prototype for ours in verses

20 through to 28. But now Christ has 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 one in his own order.

Christ the first fruits, afterward those who are Christ,

that He's coming. Then comes the end, when he

delivers the Kingdom to God the Father, when he puts an end to

all rule and all authority and power.

For He must reign till he has put all enemies under his feet.

The last enemy that will be destroyed is death, for He has

put all things under His feet. When he says all things are put

under Him, it is evident that He who put all things under Him is

accepted. Now when all things are made

subject to him, then the Son himself will also be subject to

him who put all things under him, that God may be All in all.

Now again, we looked at this bit last week, and I want to build

on our understanding from that. I want to ask some questions and

answer them as we do so. The first is this.

Maybe you're wondering why resurrection?

Why not just spirits after we die?

Why not just souls, you know, ethereal entities?

Why is it that physically our body is to be resurrected?

It's a good question and it's a very honest question as we look

and read and consider this. And so the short answer is this,

that the resurrection is what completes our salvation.

God is interested in saving not just your soul, but also

redeeming your body. Began with the frustrations of

our physical bodies and salvation is an entire complete

process. Why?

Well again, because of what happened in the Garden of Eden

when man sinned and there was original sin.

Remember what God had said, that in that day when you eat thereof

of the tree, of the fruit, of the forbidden tree, He said you

shall surely die. And men have died and women have

died ever since. In the garden day, Adam and Eve,

when they ate, they died immediately spiritually, they

were separated from God. There's no longer that intimacy

of fellowship of relationship that they once experienced, but

also immediately Adam and Eve began to deteriorate in body and

they eventually died. And we have that passage in

Genesis where it goes through all of those that had been born

and then they died, and then they died, and then they died.

And every generation since has died.

And so too, you and I should the Lord tarry.

And so to counteract the death principle that came in through

the fall of humanity that was instilled in God's creation at

the fall, a resurrection is absolutely necessary.

And so Jesus, he said, here is the first fruits of this.

And last week I touched on this, but I want to go into a little

bit more deeply. The first fruits is reference to

a Jewish feast which took place after the Passover.

We've celebrated communion modelled on the Passover

tonight. And the ritual was that in

Judaism, they would bring a sheaf of the harvest and they

would wave it before the Lord as an offering unto him.

And and the first sheaf, that one sheaf indicated that the

rest of the harvest was coming as well.

And in other words, the idea was wrapped up in that we're

dedicating this first sheaf unto you God.

But it's more than just this first sheaf that we're doing so,

but a whole lot more is coming that we're going to dedicated to

the Lord out of our produce. And so the sheaf was indicative

that more was to come and Jesus bodily resurrection was, Paul

says, the first fruits in verse 20.

And that means that there are more resurrections to come,

yours and mine. And so Jesus resurrection is the

guarantee of our resurrection. That's the principle.

And on top of that, Paul uses this language of death where he

says falling asleep. And it's called going to sleep,

because when you sleep, what happens?

You get up again. The next day rolls around and

you're awake. And so when you die, you get up

again. Your body will rise.

And then Adam and Christ are mentioned and, and are seen as

as two federal heads of two dispensations, Adam as the one

who brought sin into the world, Jesus as the one who brings life

into the world. Adam caused the fall of

humanity. Jesus brings the redemption of

humanity, both acting as federal heads.

And see, people think of Adam and, and they go and, and maybe

you thought this, and I know I certainly have.

You know, it's not fair that Adam sinned and, and that I

today, thousands of years removed from him, am suffering

the repercussions of that. OK, So let's entertain that for

a moment. And, and I'll go along with

that. Yeah, not fair.

But isn't it then, if that's the case, also not fair that Jesus

died on a cross and that you weren't there when that happened

and that I was not there when that took place.

And yet we get the benefit, we experience the blessing by

believing in Him. And we could say on that, not

fair because it isn't. You should not have the benefits

of what Jesus did. I should not experience the

benefits of that. But we have them.

And so both Adam and Jesus performed an act that has

repercussions like Adam's sin or like Jesus death and

resurrection. We get the bogus results of one

in Adam and we get the benefits, the blessing of the other in

Jesus. And so yes, we can blame Adam,

but we can also bless Jesus Christ for his work as the

federal head. Whereas in Adam all die, he says

Even so in Christ all will be made alive, but each one in his

own order. Christ the first fruits,

afterward those who are Christ's at his coming.

Then comes the end when he delivers the Kingdom to God the

Father, when he puts an end to all rule, all authority contrary

to God in all other powers. Why?

Because Jesus must reign until those enemies are put under his

feet. And the final, the last enemy,

is death. So what kind of resurrection,

what kind of body will we have in such a resurrection?

Well, let's look at this for a moment, and we'll build on this

a little later as well. Our resurrected body, since

Jesus is the first fruits, it says of the resurrection, our

resurrection body is going to be very much like Jesus

resurrection body being able to do some of the things that Jesus

was able to do when he was resurrected.

We're going to have in our resurrected body an earthly body

that is glorified. Jesus rose from the dead, but he

was fully man as well. He said to his disciples, touch

me, feel me. A spirit does not have flesh and

bones like you and I. And he was able to eat meals

with his disciples. And then he ascended into

heaven. And so today at the throne of

God, there's a man, a physical, real man, Jesus, in his

glorified resurrected body in heaven, seated at the right hand

of the Father. He's the first fruit.

So again, what is your body going to be like?

It's going to be very much like that.

You're going to have your earthly body.

You're thinking, well, I hope it doesn't look quite like this

one. Hold that thought for a moment.

But it is going to be an earthly body glorified.

Not a new body, but your old body renewed somehow.

Jesus died and was buried. A new body did not come up, did

it? His body that was on the cross

and died is the same body that was resurrected.

The body that goes into the ground at death is the body that

gets raised from the dead at resurrection.

But your body is going to have advanced properties.

It's interesting, when Jesus rose from the dead and was in

his glorified physical body, the same one that was on the cross

again, but now glorified, renewed, what was he able to do?

Says that he would just appear sometimes and then vanish right

before their very eyes. It's like he could go through

walls there. The disciples are in the upper

room, doors are locked. All of a sudden Jesus just poof,

Shalom, how are you fellas? Peace.

One minute he was able to be in Jerusalem and then suddenly when

the disciples were in Galilee, just be transported to the

Galilee region instantly on the shores for a fish breakfast.

And then he was also that that body that was able to to move

not just horizontally but move vertically.

He ascended up into heaven. The the disciples stood on in

ore at what's probably the Mount of Olives.

It is and Jesus went heavenward up, up, up.

If you consider, and we'll get to that in, in Revelation, our

resurrected bodies for a moment, But think about when the New

Jerusalem is mentioned. You know, it's roughly 2000

kilometres cubed horizontally, vertically.

I don't want to go too far with this, but because we only have

certain things revealed about our bodies in Scripture, but

it's fair to say that you'll have advanced properties to be

able to traverse around in the New Jerusalem.

Think of that, but in the eternal state that is mentioned

here. And don't worry, we're going to

build on this in future verses that we'll read.

But it will be God and the glory of the Lamb that lights this New

Jerusalem, we're told. And the throne of God will be

present and will be able to worship God face to face, to be

in his presence. His name, it says, was written

on our foreheads. And so there will be this

immediate, direct kind of fellowship that we'll be able to

have physically with God. Where, when, Now that is not

possible. Now currently the only way to

have access to God is through a mediator.

There's, there's one God, the Bible says and and 1 mediator

and that is Jesus Christ. But in the eternal state you

will have direct access to God the Father.

You will see him face to face. You will be like Jesus, the

Bible says. You'll be like him for you will

see him as he is. It says you will see God's face

and there's direct intimacy there that requires resurrected

body. And so the second aspect that we

consider tonight is our, our glorified, our, our glorious

resurrected bodies. And and as I say, it's built on

in verses 35 to 49. Jump ahead to verse 35.

But someone will say, how would the dead raised up and with what

body do they come? We've sort of looked at that,

but now we'll, we'll dig in a little further.

Foolish one. Verse 36.

What you sow is not made alive unless it dies.

And what you sow you do not sow. That body shall be, but mere

grain, perhaps wheat or some other grain.

But God gives it a body as He pleases.

And each seed, its own body, all flesh, is not the same flesh.

But there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of

animals, another fish, and another birds.

They're also celestial bodies and terrestrial bodies.

The glory of the celestial is 1 and the glory of the terrestrial

is another. There is one glory of the sun,

another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars.

For one star differs from another star in glory.

So building on that illustration of of what happens in the

physical world and our understanding of that, he says

so verse 42 also is the resurrection of the dead.

The body is sown in corruption. It is raised in incorruption.

It is sown in dishonour. It is raised in glory.

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

It is sown a natural body. It is raised a spiritual body.

There is a natural body, there is a spiritual body.

So it is written 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

afterward the spiritual. The first man was of the earth

made of dust. The second man is the Lord from

heaven. As was verse 48, the man of

dust, so also 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.

So again, back in verse 35, Paul pre empts the question.

He says, but some will say, how are the dead raised up?

And what body do they come? And so now this is 2 questions

that we'll look at. How are the dead raised up?

How is that even possible that dead people can get up?

Again, in the 1st place, I mean in the history of humanity,

every generation has the proof on display that dead people, as

a general rule, stay dead. I've not seen a resurrection.

I've been to plenty of funerals, not been to 1 yet, where someone

has popped out of the casket, said, what's what's going on

here? And so the question is, how are

the dead raised back? How is that possible?

And then that flows onto other considerations.

And maybe you've pondered this, You know, as a kid, I thought

often, how about a soldier who's at war and and the body is blown

to smithereens. What about their body?

How about someone who out in the ocean drowns, dies shark, bites

off 1 arm, takes it over here, bites off the leg, takes it off

over there. How's the body come together in

the resurrection? All of those questions or

creation, cremation, how is that going to happen?

And these the physical aspect here.

And then the second question with, with what body do they

come back? And so, you know, if a person

dies with a stroke and is incapacitated in their final

days, is that how they're going to come back in the

resurrection? Or if they've lost a limb, an

amputee, and is that how they're going to come back in the

resurrection? Or if an infant is born and

dies, will that person be an infant for all of eternity?

Or if an older person dies, 104 a 105, and it's just vegetable

state, is that how they'll be for all of eternity?

So with what body do they come? These are the questions that the

Corinthians had. Have you ever wondered those

things? Thought through that perhaps so

these two questions are addressed here and what we've

just read how is it possible that dead people are raised with

what body do they come back? So notice how wonderfully

gracious Paul is in answering that.

He says in verse 36, foolish one dummy, what you saw was not made

alive unless it dies. And so back to the first

question, with what body do they come short answer to what body

you'll have in the resurrection. Let me go to another book in the

Bible, Philippians chapter 3. We've sort of anticipated the

Philippians 3 · chapter mention

answer a little in verse 20. It says Philippians chapter 3,

Philippians 3:20

verse 20, our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also

eagerly wait for the Saviour of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Now get this, who will transform our lowly body, that it may be

conformed to his glorious body according to the working by

which he is able even to subdue all things to himself?

So again, the short answer is that our body is going to be

like Jesus body. Isn't that awesome?

A real human body, but limitless.

He'll transform it into a glorious body.

Now what Paul does back to 1 Corinthians 15 is he gives us

some illustrations from the biological world.

He he speaks of the plant world, the terrestrial world as as well

as the heavens, the celestial world.

Let's consider the plant example for a moment that he gives to

us. He says you take a seed,

effectively it's dead, it's dormant, but you place it into

the ground and it decomposes. And the point is that you bury

it, but something comes up that is related to it but different

from it, right? It has the same genetic code,

the same DNA. And this is what Paul is

pointing to as an illustration for our bodies.

So there's a relationship genetically, but they're vastly

different from one another. And so with our bodies, the body

that shall be in eternity is related to this one here now,

similar but different. Consider tulips as a tangible

example. That's a, a beautiful, a perfect

little flower if you've ever seen one.

And if you were to to look at a bunch of tulips and go, man, I'd

like to grow 1 like to grow a bunch of those things and have

them through my garden. And and you go and you buy a

bulb and you look at that and you go, that's not what I

wanted. You ever seen a Tulip bulb?

Those things are ugly. It's lowly, you might say, but

put it in the ground and watch what happens.

If I were to tell you, you know, you, you take that brown ugly

thing, you, you stick it in the ground and life and beauty will

come out of it. You might say that's insane.

That's, that's incredible. That's impossible from that old

thing, this Tulip, this beautiful creation.

Paul said, look, this is common knowledge, like plants, like

grains, like flowers, What goes into the ground, the sowing is

lowly compared to the glory of the produce to come of what

comes out of it. And the harvest is more

beautiful than that which went into the ground.

And so he connects that to our physical bodies.

And that's what he does from versus 42 on through to 44.

He says the body is sown in corruption and it's raised in

incorruption. It's sown in dishonour.

You know, there's nothing majestic about a dead person.

Even our bodies alive are dishonourable at times, right?

Joke at the beginning, but you know our feet stink, our ears

filled with wax. We hop into bed and cut one

another with our toes. Hair moves from our heads and

grows elsewhere. Our ears get bigger, our noses

get bigger, we sweat, we groan. We are dishonourable.

But when we die again, there's nothing majestic about a dead

body. That's why we typically cover up

a corpse when they die. There's a dishonour to that

event, the way they look. I mean, some of us now are

afraid to get out of the house without our makeup on.

When you die, all is exposed. It's sown in dishonour, but it

is raised in glory, Paul says. It's sown in weakness, it's

raised in power, it's sown a natural body and it is raised a

spiritual body. And he talks in this passage

again about Adam and again about Jesus natural body, spiritual

body. Now again, this does not mean

that our resurrected body will be immaterial.

It's not just a, a spirit being, some kind of ethereal thing.

It's going to be a real body. A better translation, I believe,

of this passage is a supernatural body.

There's a physical body, a natural body, but you're going

to get a supernatural body without the limitations that now

physically we're held by. Why?

Because think of it, you and I are going to be in a place, in

an environment that demands different capacities.

If you wanted to go to the moon, you couldn't go to the moon

unless you had some kind of a contraption of sort.

You'd have to have a space suit, It'd have to be pressurised.

You have to have the oxygen that we breathe here on Earth

transported with you to take into the atmosphere.

You could not live otherwise. Well, heaven, eternity is going

to be somewhat like that. Now, I don't want to live for

all of eternity in a space suit with limitations.

And so God is going to give us a body that is suited for the

environment of eternity. And so because you'll be living

in a glorified body, you'll be able to enjoy the glorified

state. It would be a body, but a

supernatural body, not a non corporal body or a non material

body. It will be a real, again,

physical body. You're just going to get a

marvellous makeover and our new body will be immortal.

It'll live forever. Won't you be happy to never have

to go to another funeral? Won't you be happy to not have

to worry about the death of a loved one or of yourself?

This immortal body will live forever.

It will not die. Now, it's no coincidence, I

think that on that, that humanity is consumed with

wanting to live forever. You know, many of our cultural

stories, many of the things that we gravitate to and our, our

myths, our fables, our folklores teach us something.

I think about this deepest longing within us.

I was thinking about that particular point and connecting

it. You know, there's a whole heap

of, you know, new comic book kind of movies coming out and so

on. And that's really what our comic

book superheroes are, aren't they?

There's this average ordinary person that then undergoes some

extraordinary transforming event, often times in an

instant, and they subsequently get a a new body.

They're strong, they're they're supernatural and they don't die

and they don't get sick, but they live the life that that we

wish, we wish we could. That's the appeal for us.

So a Peter Parker becomes a Spider Man, a Bruce Wayne, a

Batman, Diana, a Wonder Woman, Bruce Banner, Incredible Hulk,

and these characters that humanity invents.

They're human beings, but they're superhuman and they

don't get sick, they don't get injured, they don't die, not

like we do. There's there's something

immortal about them and we love that.

We're enamoured with that. It'd be disappointing if, you

know, you read a Superman comic or watch the Superman movie and

he's got the flu all the time, right flying around.

He's going, man, I got to be a fever, runny nose.

I got to go home. I got to stop this.

And and we'd be annoyed if if the Hulk was picking something

up and threw out his back and like Hulk need Cairo.

See something in US wants this this different kind of body

that's incapable of being hurt and broken and and and frail and

and fragile and defeated. Something within us wants this

eternal state. Ecclesiastes in the Old

Testament puts it this way and says that God has set eternity

in the hearts of men. You see, it's God given and it's

fulfilled here in our text. So, so people ask back to this

question, what is my body going to look like?

What will it be like? And, and again, if I have a, a

relative who's an amputee and, and they come to Christ, what

will their body be like? And, or an infant when they pass

or an elderly person and on and on and on through the list.

So let me try and answer that by going back to Genesis a bit.

When Adam was created by God, he was created as an adult.

He had an apparent age even though he also had a a technical

age. When God created Adam on day

one, how old was he? A day old, but he did not look

like a day old. He looked probably 20-30 mature

adults. Hard to know exactly, but a full

functioning adult with adult capabilities.

But a day old he had an apparent age, a peak age and so I believe

that your resurrected body will be like that peak age capacity.

So if having died as an infant or a miscarriage.

I I love this we've my wife and I had a couple of miscarriages.

There are two waiting for us in eternity that we'll get to meet.

It's going to be amazing. Or if you die 104 I believe you

won't be like that in eternity. More like a full functioning

adult with incredible capability.

Again Jesus when he died, When he was resurrected he was

unrecognisable by a lot of people.

Wasn't he at 1st until he did or said certain things?

And yet he bore unique markers, specifically the marks of

crucifixion, similar characteristics, attributes

recognisable in one hand in in those instances, but not in

others. Sort of hard to tell exactly

what it's going to be like for us, but it's going to be, I

think something like that. So physical bodies, glorious

bodies, glorified bodies. How awesome.

And let's finish this now versus 50 to 58.

Our transformation will be instant and irreversible.

Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit

the Kingdom of God, nor does corruption inherit incorruption.

Behold, I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we

shall all be changed. So even if you're worried about,

well, what's that going to be like with the rapture in my

body? You'll be changed in a moment,

in the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet, verse 52.

For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised

incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

This corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal

must put on immortality. So when this corruptible is 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.

Oh, death, where is your sting? Oh, Hades, where is your

victory? The sting of death is sin, and

the strength of sin is the law. 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 labour

is not in vain in the Lord. So we wonder when thinking of

resurrection, when will this happen?

How will this happen? It's the miracle of the moment.

Paul speaks of the last trumpet of Christ's return.

Those who are dead will be raised in perishable the living

transformed instantly. No long drawn out process, no

purgatory, no reincarnation, no more doctors, no more

prescriptions, no more funerals. This is not science fiction.

This is God's promise to you and I.

And you don't need to wait, it says it will happen suddenly,

completely and gloriously. Isn't that amazing?

And then the mockery of death, he said.

Death has been swallowed up in victory.

Where, O death is your sting? Paul here quotes Isaiah in the

book of Hosea to show that death's days are numbered.

So there will come a day, when you think of it, that you'll

look at your coffin and say you didn't win because of Jesus.

We mock death like Jesus did death's sting.

It's there because sin has power through the law.

But Jesus kept the law, bore our sin and broke deaths grip and

took out the venom from the sting.

Only Jesus claimed to forgive sin, to die for sin, to rise,

and to conquer sin. You know, no other religion

makes that claim and none offers resurrection as a gift.

Verse 58, Here's the conclusion for us tonight.

He says, therefore, stand firm. First of all, let nothing move

you now. We can stand firm now in light

of what we've discovered, in light of what we've read through

in this passage, through suffering, through the

frustrations of our physical body.

Now Paul knows what life is like.

Paul ever got sick. Paul ever grieved.

Paul grappled with questions, tells us that there was a point

in time where he was sick, that he cried out to God to have it

removed. But God said, no, My, my grace

is sufficient for you. And maybe you've had questions

like that, You know, why am I sick?

Why am I going through this? Why is she dying?

Why is he dying? Why is he suffering?

Where is God in all of this? And yet Paul says, therefore, in

light of all of this, stand firm.

Let nothing move you. God's not asking you to fake

happiness here, but He is calling you and I to cling to

hope, the hope of resurrection. And we need the Lord most when

we're hurting, don't we? And others need him most when

they're suffering. And so we pray and we go to him

and we stand firm. And then second, he says, serve

fully with the resurrection hope.

He says, always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord.

Now our ministry, what we do, our service unto God and and to

one another is not, it's not just for the strong or for the

healthy amongst us. You know, many times haven't you

found that it flows best from our weakness.

If you've known pain, if you've experienced loss, if you've

encountered grief, you are uniquely equipped to comfort

others. The mother who's lost a baby can

minister to the one who is grieving with the same.

The man with chronic illness can encourage the weary.

The widow can help the grieving spouse.

So he says, serve fully with resurrection hope.

Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord.

And so tonight, because of resurrection, we suffer, Yes,

but not without hope. We grieve, but not as those

without a future. We serve not in vain, but in

resurrection power. May that be an encouragement to

you tonight. Let's pray.

Lord God, we thank you for your word out of this passage.

How wonderful it is to think and to consider of eternity of our

of our resurrected bodies, of us forever being in your presence,

of how glorious and how wonderful that will be and of

the frustrations that we experience in our bodies here on

earth, of them no longer being a part of our experience.

And what a hope that is for us, what a joy that brings to our

hearts in the midst of what we encounter now.

And so, God, I come before you now and pray for all of your

people gathered here tonight and ask that you would bless them,

you would guide them, that you would be with them, that you

would fill their hearts with great hope tonight.

It's in Jesus name we pray, Amen.

May God bless you.