Resurrection of the Body

So we're at 1 Corinthians 15, 35-58. We've been going through this series for some time now.

We're wrapping up the book next week.

And last week we established that Christ's resurrection guarantees our future resurrection.

But what exactly will this resurrection look like?

When we die, our bodies will be buried to decay or be burned to ashes.

Then how will we be resurrected?

This seemingly sensible question is the one that's on the mind of the Corinthians believers as well.

And so in fact the main reason why some of the Corinthians have rejected the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead.

It was because they could not conceive of the resurrection of the body.

Because they could not understand how it would happen, they rejected that it would happen.

So they rejected the doctrine on that ground.

And so Paul is answering those questions here.

So in chapter 15 so far, first Paul talked about the resurrection of Christ.

Second, he talked about the resurrection of the dead.

And now today, in this passage, he talks about the resurrection of the body.

And this for Paul is not just an abstract theoretical exercise.

He understands that this doctrine affects how we live and that's why he teaches it.

And the main point really that he brings into climactic focus on the doctrine of the resurrection is this.

That the hope of the resurrection enables us to abound in the work of the Lord.

That's the main point of this passage.

Hope of the resurrection enables us to abound in the work of the Lord.

I'll cover that in three points.

The first is the resurrection like the Lord's.

Second is the victory through the Lord.

And third is our labor in the Lord.

So Paul anticipates the Corinthians question first in verse 35.

Look with me at your Bibles in verse 35.

But someone will ask, how are the dead raised?

With what kind of body do they come?

And Paul doesn't pull any punches.

He says in verses 36 to 37,

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 kernel, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain.

The Corinthians' argument against the resurrection of the body was that it was so contrary to nature and common sense.

But Paul demonstrates with an example from nature that what they deny as unnatural and impossible is in fact quiet in keeping with the way things operate in nature.

So the two questions that he anticipated in verse 35, he takes time to answer.

The first question was, how are the dead raised?

How will it happen?

There's thousands of years of empirical data that show us that dead don't rise from the dead.

So how will this in fact happen?

Paul's answer is this.

What you sow does not come to life unless it dies.

From the ordinary experience of farming, we recognize that life comes from death.

Unless a seed is buried in the ground in death, unless its integrity is broken, life does not sprout forth from the seed.

In the same way, so the death necessarily precedes life in that picture.

So Paul sees in the example of nature a pattern of death and resurrection that points to the saving death and resurrection of Christ.

He's not the only one to have made that observation.

Following in Paul's footsteps, C.S. Lewis, in his book, Miracles, writes and observes the same pattern.

In the Christian story, God descends to re-ascend.

He comes down, down from the heights of absolute being into time and space, down into humanity, down to the very roots and seabed of the nature he has created.

But he goes down to come up again and bring the ruined world up with him.

In this descent and re-ascend, everyone will recognize a familiar pattern, a thing written all over the world.

It is a pattern of all vegetable life.

It must belittle itself into something hard, small, and death-like.

It must fall into the ground.

Thence the new life re-ascends.

The pattern is there in nature because it was first there in God.

For certainly, no seed ever fell from so fair a tree into so dark and cold a soil as would furnish more than a faint analogy to this huge descent and re-ascension in which God dredged the salt and oozy bottom of creation.

Then Paul answers that second question that they ask in verse 35.

With what kind of body do they come?

With what kind of body can people possibly be resurrected after they are thoroughly decomposed?

Another facet of the analogy provides the answer to that question.

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

When we plant a seed on the ground, we don't expect the ground to bubble forth with some more of the same seed that we planted.

We expect the plant to come forth.

When we plant wheat grain on the ground, we don't expect more grains to come forth from the ground.

We expect the wheat plant.

When you plant a corn kernel on the ground, we don't expect more kernels to come out of the ground.

We expect the corn stalk.

In the same way, Paul says what you plant and what you get from the produce that it yields are not the same.

In the same way, when our bodies are dead, it's sown on the ground,

it does not produce the same kind of body at the resurrection.

It is transformed like a full-fledged plant.

Our bodies will be transformed into different bodies.

And then in verses 38 to 41, Paul turns to other examples from creation to demonstrate the diversity of the kinds of bodies that God chooses to create.

And that it is God who sovereignly chooses what kind of bodies he will give to different parts of creation.

So read with me verse 38.

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 of another.

There is one glory of the sun and another glory of the moon and another glory of the stars.

For stars differ.

For star differs from star in glory.

In verse 39, so he structures it in this kind of enclosing, chiastic format.

So in verse 39, Paul mentions the various kinds of earthly bodies.

So humans, animals, birds, and fish.

And then in verse 40, Paul tells us that these earthly bodies differ in glory from the heavenly bodies.

And then by heavenly, Paul is not speaking of spiritual bodies that he talks about elsewhere in this passage.

It's two different words that he uses for that.

By heavenly here, he means the celestial bodies, right?

The bodies that exist above the earth's atmosphere.

That's what he's speaking of.

And then in verse 41, he says that he lists what these heavenly bodies are and says that even they are diverse in the kinds of bodies that they have.

So not only are the earthly bodies and heavenly bodies different in their glories, within each of those groups, they have a diversity of bodies.

And all of that is according to God who gives them bodies as he has chosen.

So, of course, Paul's interest here is not to prove that there's diversity of bodies in creation.

I mean, that's not the point.

But his point is that the diversity that we see is evidence that God is the one who gives particular bodies as he sees fit.

As he did in his creation.

And as he does in the new creation with the resurrection of the dead, that's what he will do.

So Paul circles back now to the analogy of the seed that he used in verses 42 to 44.

He says,

So is it with the resurrection of the dead.

What is sown is perishable.

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 a natural body.

It is raised a spiritual body.

The body is presently, our bodies are all perishable.

They're subject to decay or dysfunction.

But the resurrected body will be imperishable.

And it will not be subject to decay or dysfunction.

Our present bodies are lowly.

It's base.

It's humble in its state.

But our resurrected body, it will be raised in glory and honor.

The present body is sown in weakness.

It's characterized by the frailty of the human body.

Infirmity.

But the resurrected body will be characterized by power and strength.

And the present body finally is a natural one.

It's limited by the conventions of nature.

But our future resurrection body will be spiritual.

It will be a supernatural one.

And that's the contrast that he is drawing.

Now, make sure that when you hear spiritual body, that you're not thinking of an immaterial body.

Right?

This kind of spirit.

Because that's our tendency to think.

And that tendency to think in that way actually shows us that, shows us how prone we are to think in exactly the same way the Corinthians thought.

Right?

Because that's exactly the objection that they're making to Paul.

They despise the perishability of the body.

They despise the dishonorable and weak natural body.

And that's why they were so eager to say and to believe that when they died, they would discard the bodies altogether and be these disembodied souls in heaven.

That's what they believed.

And so, it's shocking to them that Paul would here juxtapose these two words.

Spiritual body.

Right?

That would have been shocking to them.

Right?

Because their favorite word is spiritual.

They're all about being spiritual.

These gifts.

Spiritual gifts.

All throughout Corinthians.

The first letter.

We see how they were too enamored with their own spirituality.

That's their favorite word.

And then he puts that word to describe their least favorite word.

The body.

The body that they despise.

And he says, the spiritual body.

To prove to them that the body is not evil in and of itself.

That it is not beyond redemption.

But that our bodies will be transformed into this glorious body.

And Paul demonstrates that further in verses 44 and 45.

He says, if there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.

The first man, Adam, became a living being.

The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.

He's quoting here from Genesis 2-7, which I'm putting up on the screen for you.

Then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life.

And the man became a living creature.

Paul is returning once again to the typological connection he made between Adam and Christ.

Adam is the first Adam.

Christ is the last Adam.

And Paul proves his point that the existence of the natural body necessitates the experience, the existence of the spiritual body.

And Christ is called the last Adam.

If you were with us last week, you'll know this.

But it's that Christ is called the last Adam because Adam was the head of humanity.

He was the source of humanity.

He represented all of humanity.

And in his sin, he led all of humanity into sin and death.

And so he was the first Adam.

But Christ, the second Adam, he's the son of man and the son of God.

And he comes to represent all of his people and all those who align themselves to him so that in his righteousness we find our righteousness and salvation.

So on the one hand, the first man, Adam, became a living being.

He was alive.

But the word being here is a verbal cognate of the word natural that he used earlier.

So he's making that same comparison.

Adam is the head of the natural body.

On the other hand, the last Adam, he says, became a life-giving spirit.

And the word spirit, of course, is related to the word spiritual that he's mentioned earlier.

So while Adam merely received the breath of the Lord and became alive, a living being, Christ is a life-giving spirit.

So where is Paul getting that idea, right?

Because Genesis 2-7 doesn't mention anything about Christ or him becoming a life-giving spirit.

But it does mention that the Lord God formed the man of the dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life.

In the same way that the Lord God breathed life into humanity in creation,

Paul now makes the connection that it is the Lord Jesus who now breathes life into the new creation.

His people, the church of God.

This recalls Jesus' post-resurrection appearance in John 20-22.

It says,

Jesus breathed on his disciples and said to them,

Receive the Holy Spirit.

A similar way in Romans 8, Paul writes,

Paul's talking about the future resurrection of the body.

He said,

Not the spiritual that is first, but the natural.

And then the spiritual.

That's why he said in verse 45 that the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.

Paul's not speaking here of the pre-incarnate Christ, the Word of God.

He's speaking here of the resurrected Christ.

And so while it is true that the Corinthians as believers do have the spirit of God,

their experience in the spirit still has not been completed.

It's not been consummated.

So for that reason, they must have the first, the natural body of Adam before they can have the raised spiritual body of Christ.

And Paul continues that contrast in verses 47 to 48.

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

The second man is from heaven, and 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.

This is a little bit, it could be confusing and misunderstood.

This verse is sometimes taken to mean that Adam came from, right, came from the earth,

and that Christ, his origin is from heaven.

It's possible to understand it in that way.

But the preceding text, the context makes it clear that what is in view is not the incarnation of Christ,

but the resurrection of Christ.

So it's not speaking of Christ's origin, but it's speaking of their composition.

What are they made of?

What stuff are they of?

That's why verse 47 specifies that the first man was from the earth, a man of dust.

It's referring to his composition as a man made up of dust.

His body is made up of dust.

The name Adam comes from the Hebrew word Adama, which means ground.

He's literally made up of ground, made up of the earth.

That's why in verse 48 it says,

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.

Christ being of heaven is contrasted with Adam being of the dust.

So he's saying that not just that Christ came from heaven, which he did,

but he's saying that Christ is of the stuff of heaven, the resurrected Christ.

He has a spiritual body.

And so in verse 40 he's contrasting the two things.

Adam has an earthly body, Christ has a spiritual heavenly body,

and that's the body that we will get in the resurrection.

And for that reason, he says in verse 49,

Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust,

we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.

Earlier I mentioned that Paul listed various parts of creation and their diverse bodies.

He was referring to the things that God created in days 3, 4, 5, and 6 of creation in reverse order.

And then he was talking about how they were all created according to their kind.

That's the language that Genesis uses.

All these different things are created according to their kind.

But when it comes to the creation of man and woman in Genesis 1, 26,

instead of creating them like everything else in creation according to their kind,

God says,

Let us make man in our image.

Everything else in creation is created according to its own kind.

But humanity was created not according to its own kind, but in God's image.

And so he says,

We shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.

The word image, it doesn't mean that we look like God, God's a spiritual being, right?

It refers to the idea of representation.

In the ancient Near East, in the context in which Genesis was written,

the kings were seen as images of God.

And when people believed that when they placed images or idols of their gods in a temple,

they believed that those images and idols were actually indwelled by their gods.

So that's what an image does.

That's the function of an image.

It's to represent something.

Represent God.

And that's the idea behind the creation of men and women in God's image.

But instead of just royalties being created in God's image,

of course in Genesis all men and women are endowed with the capacity and the call to rule in God's stead

and to represent Him over the earth.

But this image of God, of course, was marred by sin.

And because Adam rebelled against God and sought to rule for himself

and not for God as his image bearer and representative.

But in Christ Jesus and at the resurrection of the body,

the image of God among God's people will be fully restored to its proper glory.

That's what he's talking about.

We shall bear the image of the man of heaven.

But Paul's point here is not merely about the future,

but actually even more about the present.

If you have an ESV Bible, an IV Bible, or some similar Bible that has references,

and look carefully at the verse again,

you might find a little footnote there.

Now follow the footnote to the bottom of the page,

and it will probably say something about,

some manuscripts say,

let us bear.

Right?

The ESV translates this in the future,

but most of the Greek manuscripts,

and the best and the oldest manuscripts,

all have let us bear the image.

So people translate it as we shall

because they think that makes more sense.

But the actual text says,

let us bear the image of the man of heaven.

So Paul is here pivoting

from an ontological discussion about being and body

to a moral, ethical exhortation.

So he's just as,

he might use an analogy,

just as a royal prince

who is an heir to the throne

should behave in a dignified way

as it befits his station and his future.

Right?

Just as someone who is a job applicant

who is going into an interview

should dress the part

and act the part

as someone who is qualified for the job

that that person intends to fill.

Right?

In the same way as Christians

who are destined

for the glorious resurrection of the body

where the image of Christ is fully restored,

let us bear that image now.

That's what Paul is saying.

And so, like in 2 Corinthians 3.18,

we all with unveiled faces

beholding the glory of the Lord

are being transformed

into the same image

from one degree of glory to another.

Isn't that glorious?

At the resurrection of the body,

we shall bear the image of Christ perfectly

and even now,

as we wait eagerly for that day,

let's strive

and be transformed

daily into that image more and more.

That's Paul's exhortation.

Let us bear the image

of the man of heaven.

So that's Paul's first point

and that's the longest point,

so stick with me.

The resurrection like the Lord's.

That leads us to the second point,

the victory through the Lord.

In verses 50 to 57,

Paul teaches that the resurrection

like the Lord's is guaranteed for us

because of our victory through the Lord.

He says in verse 50,

I tell you this, brothers,

flesh and blood cannot inherit

the kingdom of God,

nor does the perishable

inherit the imperishable.

So those are parallel statements.

Flesh and blood correspond to the perishable

and the kingdom of God

corresponds to the imperishable.

So we cannot inherit

the imperishable kingdom of God

in our perishable bodies.

So our bodies too

must be made imperishable

is what Paul is talking about.

Now this is not directly

related to this passage,

but you guys,

some of you asked this question,

so I'm going to address it.

Some of you are probably wondering

at this point,

well, then what happens when we die?

Don't we go to heaven?

Don't our souls enter

into the presence of God?

So that is true.

That's what's called

the intermediate state.

When our souls leave

our deceased bodies

to be with the Lord

until the resurrection of the body.

It's the intermediate state.

And Paul makes that abundantly clear

in places like 2 Corinthians 5, 6 to 8.

We know that while we are

at home in the body,

we are away from the Lord.

For we walk by faith,

not by sight.

Yes, we are of good courage

and we would rather be

away from the body

and at home with the Lord.

That's pretty clear, right?

He's talking about

the intermediate state.

In Revelation 6, 9 to 10,

he sees a vision of heaven.

He says,

I saw under the altar

the souls of those

who had been slain

for the word of God

and for the witness

they had borne.

They cried out

with a loud voice,

O sovereign Lord,

holy and true,

how long before you will judge

and avenge our blood

on those who dwell on the earth?

So clearly,

these souls are with God

and they are not on earth

and they have consciousness

and they are not in a sleep-like,

comatose state

and their bodies have not yet

been resurrected.

So this is a description

of the intermediate state.

But it's important to note

that this is just an intermediate state.

It's not the final state.

Heaven up there is just a layover

for us believers.

The ultimate destination

is a new heaven

and a new earth

here

when God dwells with us

and that's when we will be united

and dwell with God

in our resurrected bodies.

But if our souls can enjoy

our union with God

after death

when it departs from our body,

then why is it important

for our bodies to be resurrected?

Isn't it enough

that we're with God

in our souls?

Well, the reason is this.

Our triumph is not total

and our restoration

is not complete

until death.

Our last enemy

is vanquished.

And the havoc

that it has wreaked

in all of God's people

is finally

and irrevocably reversed.

God created the whole world

and saw that it was very good

until the toll of death

that's taken

in all of creation

until the material universe

that God created

too is redeemed.

God's redemption

is not fully consummated.

And He has not yet

made all things new

as Revelation 21.5 says

He will do.

So our resurrected King,

He will not stop

His victorious march

until the very last vestige

of the enemy

is wiped out.

all our suffering

due to the frailties

of the flesh,

the disabilities

and pains

of our bodies

under which we groaned

in our life

will be healed

and we will have

glorious

immortal bodies.

The Son of God

is the head

of the body of Christ

which is the church

and since the Son of God

was incarnated,

He took on flesh,

human flesh,

died and rose again

and therefore

He has a glorious body

for all eternity.

His body,

the church too

must have a body.

We must have,

we must be resurrected

in our bodies.

That's when

the church's union

with Christ

in a sense

will be fully consummated.

That's why

the resurrection

of the body

is necessary.

Flesh and blood

cannot inherit

the kingdom of God

nor does the perishable

inherit the imperishable.

Our bodies

must be made

imperishable.

Then in verses 51 to 52

Paul explains

how this will happen.

Behold,

I tell you a mystery.

Paul uses the word

mystery frequently

in his letter,

six times in this letter

and in all of those

occurrences

it doesn't refer to

something that remains

secret or hidden.

It refers to something

that was formerly hidden

that has been revealed

by God

through Jesus Christ.

And that's why

he describes

the apostles

or the ministers of Christ

in chapter 4 verse 1

as stewards

of the mysteries of God.

And the mystery

that has been revealed

through Christ

is this.

Read with me.

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.

Well,

the fact that the flesh

and blood

cannot inherit

the kingdom of God

raises the obvious question.

Well,

what about those believers

who will still be alive

when Christ returns?

They haven't exactly died

so they can't really

be raised from the dead

so what's going to happen

to them?

That's a very logical question.

So Paul anticipates

that question

and he says,

no,

they too will be changed.

We shall not all sleep

but we shall all be changed.

Now,

this doesn't necessarily mean

that Paul expected

some people

in his lifetime

to be alive

when Christ returns,

at Christ's second coming.

It's possible

that Paul believed that

but that's not

the necessary implication

of this verse

because he uses

the plural pronoun,

personal first person

plural pronoun

we all throughout

this passage

even when he's referring

to all the saints

across all generations

not just to the immediate

people that are there,

Paul and the Corinthian believers.

So when he writes here

that we shall not all sleep

he means not all believers

will be dead

at the time Christ returns

but nevertheless

they will all be changed.

And so those who are still

living at the time

of Christ's return

will have changed bodies

and that will happen

at the blink of an eye

he says.

And when the last trumpet

sounds to announce

the return of the king

and summon God's people

to himself

the dead will be raised

imperishable

on the one hand

and the believers

who are still living

will all be changed.

So that's what he's saying.

All will be changed.

All will have glorious bodies.

For this perishable body

he continues

in verse 53

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.

Oh death

where is your victory?

Oh death

where is your sting?

That's so defiant.

when the effects

of Christ's resurrection

are fully realized

and when we

his people

are raised

with imperishable

immortal bodies

the unbroken

chain of death

inaugurated by

the first Adam

will be broken

once

and for all

by the last Adam.

It is then

that the prophecies

that he's quoting

from Isaiah 25a

and Hosea 13 14

will be fulfilled.

Death is swallowed up

in victory.

Oh death

where is your victory?

Oh death

where is your sting?

He's just saying

if I have to put that

more colloquially

he's saying

take that death

right

your tyranny

is over

it is time

for death

to die

and there is

nothing death

can do

to survive

the mortal blow

inflicted upon it

by Jesus Christ

this is why

we are

assured

of victory

through the Lord.

He says in verses

56 to 57

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.

The sting of death

is sin

right

that means

because the wages

of sin is death

the just penalty

for sin

is death

so the sting

of death

is sin

and the power

of sin

is the law

because

as Paul says

in Romans 5 13

sin is not

counted

where

there is

no law

right

no wrong

can be counted

where there is

no standard

of right

there can be

no crooked line

unless there is

a standard

of a straight line

so even though

the law

is good

sin derives

its power

from the law

that's what

Paul is talking

about

but through

the death

and resurrection

of Christ

the law

of God

is fulfilled

so that sin

would be

impotent

and sin

is atoned

for

so that death

would be

without its sting

I don't know

if you've ever

been stung

by a bee

but a honey bee

right

when it

stings a person

because the sting

is barbed

he's unable

to pull

the sting

back out

of the flesh

right

so after

it's stung

a human being

and it tries

to leave

when he's

pulling himself

out

it actually

causes this

huge

abdominal rupture

in his body

so he actually

he dies

honey bees

don't survive

after

they sting

a host

in the same way

when death

stung Jesus Christ

on the cross

Jesus

inflicted

a mortal blow

to death

itself

so it lost

its sting

and is unable

to recover

from it

and its

death

is inevitable

and that's

the progression

we are on

when the

resurrection

of the body

is complete

the devil

and his minions

rage against us

if you're not a believer

yet

if you're not yet

a follower

of Jesus Christ

and I urge you to

put your faith in him

because all of us

we have all sinned

and we have all

been waging

this battle

against the devil

the devil

and his minions

rage against us

they tempt us

to sin

they drive us

into despair

and we are

all of us

together

powerless

to resist his advances

in this battle

for our eternal fate

and when we

were facing

utter despair

eternal destruction

it is Christ

who rose

from our very own

ranks

as the son of man

to be our champion

and as our representative

he fought

the epic battle

against

sin

death

and Satan

and he triumphed

over them

by dying

on the cross

and rising

again

that's

the good news

the gospel

of Jesus Christ

in order for you

to be saved

you must

align yourself

with Christ

and entrust

yourself

completely

to him

as your champion

and commander

later in the service

we all have

we will have

the privilege

of witnessing

a baptism

where a person

makes a public

profession

of faith

and makes

a commitment

to Christ

baptism

in water

signifies

our union

with Christ

in his death

and death

to sin

and serves

as a visible

pledge

that we will

be united

with Christ

in a resurrection

like his

in the future

and baptism

is not this

extraneous activity

that sometimes

Christians make it

out to be

in Mark 16

16

it says

Jesus says

whoever believes

and is baptized

will be saved

but whoever does

not believe

will be condemned

he associates

baptism with

belief

similarly in Acts

2 38

Peter preaches

repent and be

baptized

every one of you

in the name

of Jesus Christ

for the forgiveness

of your sins

and you will receive

the gift

of the Holy Spirit

Christians sometimes

talk individualistically

about salvation

as if personal

private repentance

and faith

were sufficient

but our Bible

associates

private repentance

and faith

with the public

profession of faith

in baptism

it associates

our personal

repentance and faith

with a corporate

baptism into the

family of God

the body of Christ

the church

that's because

the reason for that

is because

the Christian faith

is not a matter

of personal opinion

but a matter

of truth

that's because

Christ calls us

not into a private

faith that you

keep to yourself

but to a public

faith

for that reason

it's in the context

of this personal

and corporate

profession of faith

that the promise

of the Holy Spirit

is given

don't hear what

I'm not saying

I'm not saying

that it is baptism

in and of itself

that saves people

it is God

who saves us

by sanctifying us

and indwelling us

with his spirit

but baptism

is God's chosen

means

his appointed

means

his command

for us

to enter

into this

relationship

with him

so if you are

not yet a follower

of Jesus Christ

I urge you to

look

watch carefully

and consider

what it would be

like for you

to commit your

life to the Lord

if you're already

a Christian

Paul concludes

this passage

with the final

exhortation

in verse 58

therefore

my beloved

brothers

be steadfast

immovable

always abounding

in the work

of the Lord

knowing that

in the Lord

your labor

is not in vain

this is my

third and final

point

our labor

in the Lord

the brothers

I just want to say

he refers to

brothers and sisters

Greek in the plural

form refers to

all siblings

brothers

he's speaking to all

and he

even though

the Corinthians

are his

biggest problem

church

causing him

all kinds of

grief

and questioning

his apostleship

even

he still calls

them beloved

brothers

and everything

he has set up

to this point

leads to this

climactic exhortation

because the

resurrection of the

body is not

merely an

intellectual exercise

to tickle our

brains

or to prove

Paul's own

theological

correctness

rather Paul

has a pastoral

concern

because he

understands that

by denying

the resurrection

of the body

the Corinthian

believers were

jeopardizing

their faith

and perseverance

they were

indulging in

all kinds of

sexual immorality

idolatry

and selfishness

because they

denied the

resurrection

of the body

and believed

their sins

to be

inconsequential

for their

future well-being

so Paul

now exhorts

that my

beloved

brothers

be steadfast

immovable

always abounding

in the work

of the Lord

knowing that

in the Lord

your labor

is not

in vain

be steadfast

be immovable

in your faith

cling to Christ

and his gospel

don't be swayed

by worldly wisdom

or led astray

by worldly pleasures

always abound

in the work

of the Lord

not only when

you feel like

it

not only

when you're

on a spiritual

high

always

abound

in the work

of the Lord

and don't

think for a

moment

that your

labor

is in vain

J.R.R.

Tolkien

understood

what it's like

to work hard

on something

that might

never be

appreciated

by anyone

to work

in vain

looking for

a way

to vent

his frustration

while he was

working on

something

that he

thought

was fruitless

and in vain

he predictably

wrote a story

to vent

his frustrations

he wrote a story

entitled

Leaf by

Niggle

it's a great

story

I commend

it to you

the protagonist

of the story

is an artist

named Niggle

who has been

commissioned

to paint

a mural

on the wall

of a city

hall

he devotes

his entire

life

attempting

to recreate

this mural

about which

he dreamed

in his dream

he saw

this large

strong

and vibrant

and fruitful

tree

that he knew

would inspire

everyone

who looked

at it

and he

devoted

his entire

life

to drawing

this

on that

mural

on the wall

but in the end

he dies

having completed

just a single

lonely leaf

on the mural

on his train

right to heaven

Niggle notices

in the distance

a vague

but very

familiar

picture

and he tells

the conductor

please stop

the train

and he

gets off

the train

approaches

the object

and lo

and behold

it's a real

tree

it's

the tree

it's

his tree

the one

he dreamed

about

devoted

his entire

life to

and there

in the middle

of the tree

is the single

leaf that he

drew

the leaf

by Niggle

for the whole

world to see

and it is at

that point

in time

Niggle

comes to realize

that his

leaf

that he is

commissioned

to draw

was a small

part of

something

far

grander

a part

of a greater

creative

activity

and work

by a greater

artist

who for the

joy and delight

of the world

was creating

this great

eternal

heavenly

city

and the story

goes that

Tolkien wrote

leaf by Niggle

as he was

toiling away

writing something

that he felt

would never be

appreciated by

anyone

and the name

of that

seemingly

insignificant

work

was

the Lord

of the Rings

every

sacrifice

you make

for the

Lord's

sake

every

meal

shared

for the

Lord's

glory

every

hour

of sleep

lost

for the

service

of Christ

every

earthly

pleasure

luxury

forsaken

for the

sake

of Christ

every

dollar

you give

to the

cause

of Christ

every

instance

of

humiliation

and death

to self

that you

undergo

for the

sake

of

Christ

so that

he might

be

honored

so that

he might

look precious

to the

world

so that

Christ

and his

saving

message

might go

forward

to the

rest of

the world

it is

not

in

vain

so

cling

to

Christ

hope

in the

resurrection

and

let's

abound

in the

work

of

the

Lord

together