Victory in Christ (1 Corinthians 15:50-58)

We're going to be in First Corinthians chapter 15 once again.

1 Corinthians 15 · chapter mention

So you can go ahead and turn there.

If you don't have a Bible, please raise your hand.

We would love to bring one to you so you can follow along as we go through this verse by verse.

If you're visiting or you are new, we just take whole books at a time and we go verse by verse all the way through those books.

And we're going to be finishing up chapter 15 finally.

Took us four weeks to get through chapter 15 because there's so much in here.

But this is really kind of a summary of everything that we've talked about in the last weeks in chapter 15.

So, like I said, we are in chapter 15.

We're going to be reading verses 50 through 58 and closing up chapter 15.

And then next week we're going to finish the book of Corinthians.

We're going to go all the way through chapter 16 next week.

But please stand for the reading of God's word.

What I am saying, brothers and sisters, is this flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor can corruption inherit incorruption.

Listen, I am telling you a mystery.

We will not all fall asleep, but we will all be changed.

In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet.

For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we will be changed.

For this corruptible body must be clothed with incorruptibility, and this mortal body must be clothed with immortality.

When this corruptible body is clothed with incorruptibility, and this mortal body is clothed with immortality, then the saying that is written will take place.

Death has been swallowed up in victory.

Where death is your victory, where death 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 dear brothers and sisters, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the Lord's work, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

Let's pray.

Lord, once again, uh we come before you here on a Sunday morning, Lord, holding your your text, your word in our hands, and asking God that you would bless this time, that you would speak to each one of us, Lord, that we would come with openness to what you have for us here this morning, and that we wouldn't just be here for head knowledge, Lord, but we would be here for heart knowledge to grow closer to you and to become more like Jesus.

So, Father, I pray that you would do that work inside of each one of us here this morning, that you would speak to us, that you would change us, and that we would be uh willing participants in that process.

Lord, clay in your hands to mold and to shape and to make us into the people that you desire us to be.

Lord, help us to have submissive hearts to you this morning, we pray.

In Jesus' name, amen.

You may be seated.

So, as we've been talking about in the past weeks, chapter 15 is all about resurrection.

And as we keep mentioning, we're reading one side of this conversation, basically, this letter that Paul has written to the Corinthian church.

And that's really gonna play in a lot today.

That we're only seeing this one side.

We're only seeing Paul's response to this church in Corinth.

Paul's gonna mention in just these little, this little passage, these eight verses, he's gonna mention some deep doctrinal stuff today, specifically about in times.

But he mentions these things, as you probably noticed, kind of in passing.

You know, where at first pass for us it's kind of like, wait, what is he talking about?

You know, he's talking about all these different things.

And he mentions these things as if he's already spoken to the Corinthian church about these things.

And these, I think, are just reminders that he's giving this church about the things that he's probably already taught them.

Otherwise, he'd probably explain a little bit more about what he's talking, but he just mentions these things in passing.

But we're left on this end, like, you know, he's talking about those that fall asleep, and he's talking about trumpets, and he's talking about incorruptibility and immortality, he's talking about the power of sin being the law, and there's no explanation.

He just hits on those things and then he moves on.

So, what we're gonna be doing today is borrow from Paul's other letters where he did expound on these specific issues to kind of fill in for us what he's talking about just in passing here.

So, we're gonna use those other letters to help kind of fill in the gaps here from what he's telling the church in Corinth and not giving them an explanation.

So we're just gonna jump right into verse 50 here.

So let's take a look at it.

He says, What I am saying, brothers and sisters, is this flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor can corruption inherit incorruption.

Again, this whole topic of resurrection, he's continuing on in it.

But he's saying our bodies, our flesh and blood, they're corrupted by sin.

You know, it's what separated Adam and Eve from God, and it's what separates us from God as well.

And even though we're saved by faith in Christ, we're still stuck in these corrupted bodies until the Lord calls us home.

So we still desire the pleasures of sin.

We still get sick as we were just praying for uh for Nate.

Um, you know, we have these physical ailments, and we're gonna have those things as long as we're stuck in this physical flesh that we're currently in right now.

And Paul's just reminding us that these bodies they can't inherit the kingdom of God.

Corruption cannot inherit incorruption, as he puts it.

So we have to be resurrected into an eternal body before we can inherit, fully inherit the kingdom of God.

Think about it this way: eternity with God is gonna be without blemish.

Amen?

Looking forward to that?

It's gonna be without death, it's gonna be without decay.

And if we brought these bodies in our current state with us, we'd be bringing corruption from sin into incorruption.

And Paul's simply saying, you can't do that.

It's not possible because we have to be changed.

Look at verse 51.

He says, Listen, I'm telling you a mystery.

We will not all fall asleep, but we will all be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet.

So when Paul says mystery here in this verse, he's saying, I'm telling you something that can't be understood with the conventional wisdom of humans.

It's something only God fully understands.

But what Paul's doing here is he's gonna tell us what he does know about the mystery in this letter a little bit and then in other letters as well.

So he starts off with this first part of this mystery.

We will not all fall asleep.

And I love how Paul, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, obviously, uses the word fall asleep instead of die for followers of Christ.

You know, 2 Corinthians 5.8 tells us when we're absent from the body, that means that we're present with the Lord.

Our flesh and blood will die, but we will never die.

He says fall asleep here instead because he knows that we're getting back up again.

So he uses this term, and I just love it.

I love that term fall asleep instead of die for all of those reasons.

Because physical death is really only the beginning for us as followers of Christ.

But he also mentions here that there will be a generation of believers that won't fall asleep.

And he's talking about those that are raptured, those that are snatched up, that's what raptured means.

When Jesus appears in the air with the clouds to gather his church together.

Now, for clarity's sake, if the rapture and Jesus' second coming and the resurrection from the dead are a bit confusing to you, or they're new to you, or maybe this kind of stuff just really weirds you out, I think it'll be beneficial to tell you what our church believes regarding these things.

And here's the thing I want us all to be sure that we all understand this.

We can disagree on the timeline, the end times timeline, and still both be saved.

And we can still go to church together.

Because this is a non-salvific issue.

It doesn't have anything to do with being saved, it's just how different people interpret end times events.

And there are people that I respect greatly that don't hold the same views that I do or that our church does.

And then the question becomes well, then okay, if it's a non-salvific issue, then what if we're wrong?

Or what if the church's view, Abide's view of this, is wrong?

Well, if we hit the tribulation and we're still here, we will officially change our view as a church.

How about that?

Does that sound good?

Okay.

But as you probably can tell from what I just said, we do believe as a church in a pre-tribulation rapture.

Where those that are on earth and haven't died and are following Christ will literally be snatched up in the twinkling of an eye and will meet the Lord in the air and will be taken to heaven with Jesus.

Then we believe there will be a seven-year tribulation, as we see in Revelation.

And then Jesus returns to earth after that seven-year tribulation, this being his official second coming.

Then he'll bind up Satan, and he's gonna reign over the earth with an iron rod for a literal thousand years.

Then at the end of the thousand-year reign, Satan will be released for a short time.

He'll try to deceive the nations one last time, and he'll have some success in that.

Then Satan and his followers will be thrown into the lake of fire forever.

And then at that point, as we've been going through chapter 15, death in all of its forms will be defeated forever.

All authority will be under Jesus' feet, and therefore under God's feet as well.

And we will get to live in eternity with God in the new heaven, the new earth, and the new Jerusalem.

So that's a very quick summation of what we believe as a church, which is going to help us as we move forward and kind of unfold a few more things in these verses here this morning.

Because what Paul's referring to in verses 52 and 53 is the rapture.

And he's saying, regardless of if you die before the rapture, or if you are raptured, we will all be changed in a moment at the last trumpet.

Now, I told you we're going to be borrowing from Paul's various letters other than 1 Corinthians here this morning to kind of fill in some of the gaps here.

And we're going to start with 1 Thessalonians 4, because it was a way, or it is a way better commentary than anything that I can give, and it kind of helps fill in some of these gaps.

You can turn there if you'd like.

I'm just going to read it to you, but it's 1 Thessalonians 4, and I'm going to be reading verses 13 through 18 here because this is where he does expound a little bit more on what he's talking about.

He says, We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, concerning those who are asleep.

There's that word again.

So that you will not grieve like the rest who have no hope.

We have a different hope when we're in Jesus, don't we?

Verse 14.

For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again in the same way through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep.

For we say this to you by a word from the Lord.

So Paul's transferring a word that the Lord gave him.

He's expanding upon that.

Paul didn't have revelation to look at when he's writing this right now.

This is this is what the the Lord has given him directly.

He says, We who are still alive at the Lord's coming will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep.

For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, as we just sang, with the archangel's voice, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.

Then we who are still alive, who are left, so this is talking about the rapture, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.

Therefore, encourage one another with these words.

Encourage one another with the hope of Jesus Christ rapturing his church.

Notice the order here.

Those that have fallen asleep before the rapture are to be resurrected.

And then those that are still alive when this is all taking place and following Jesus, says, In the twinkling of the eye will be changed into their resurrected bodies and will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air.

Which Paul explains a little bit more in verse 52.

So look at verse 52 with me, back in 1 Corinthians 15.

He says, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet, for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we will be changed.

You know, there's a lot of debate that goes around as far as what trumpet is this that he's referring to, that he's speaking of here.

You know, there are those that believe the rapture and Jesus' second coming are going to happen at the same time.

And they equate this last trumpet with the seventh trumpet that we see in Revelation 11.

You know, I have a hard time believing this personally because the seventh trumpet in Revelation is an angel's trumpet.

And in Thessalonians, this trumpet we're talking about says it's the Lord's trumpet.

And in Revelation 8.13, an angel pronounces woe on the earth regarding the last three trumpet blasts of the seven.

So trumpets five, six, and seven.

And in Thessalonians, Paul says we should encourage one another with these words.

You know, so one is a trumpet of woe, and then the other one is a trumpet that we should be encouraging each other with.

So for me, it's hard to reconcile that those two trumpets are the same trumpets.

Now, others argue that this trumpet is an idiom, it's a figure of speech that Paul is using to the Corinthian church that came from the Roman military that anyone in the Roman Empire would probably understand.

Because when the Roman army was leaving an encampment, there would be three trumpet blasts.

The first is to break camp, like get your tents, get everything together, get your gear.

The second trumpet blast would be, hey, get ready, line up, we're gonna get ready to march out of here.

And the third and last trumpet means, hey, march forth, you know, march away from here, we're gonna get out of here.

That was what the last trumpet of the Roman army meant.

You know, and I could see how this would make sense if this was a figure of speech at the time.

Like we would say, hey, let's hit the road.

They would say, hey, it's the last trumpet, you know, let's get out of here.

So that's a possibility.

And then the third option is that we don't know why it says last trumpet, but there will evidently be a last trumpet that is part of the mystery that Paul is talking about here that accompanies Jesus showing up in the sky to gather his bride.

But with all of that said, the point is not the trumpets here.

The point that Paul is trying to make is that we get new resurrected bodies at this time when all of these things take place.

And here's why.

Look at verse 53 with me.

For this corruptible body must be clothed with incorruptibility, and this mortal body must be clothed with immortality.

Now remember, these bodies that we've been talking about the last couple weeks, they don't disappear and then we get a whole different body.

Like Ben mentioned last week, our current bodies are like a seed for our resurrected bodies.

When Jesus resurrected from the grave, he didn't leave his earthly body in the tomb and then come out with his new body.

The tomb was empty, right?

And in some mysterious way that God only knows, Jesus was changed into his incorruptible resurrected body as we will also be.

Because Jesus' resurrection, as we've already talked about again, I told you a lot of review today, is the first fruits.

It's a symbol of what is to come for each one of his followers.

And these resurrected bodies, like Jesus's, are not going to be spirit only, but these new resurrected bodies are going to be flesh and bone.

Because Jesus said after his resurrection in Luke 24, he said, Look at my hands and my feet.

That is I myself.

Touch me and see, because a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you can see, I have.

And then right after that, he asked him for something to eat, and then he ate.

So he is flesh and bone.

His new resurrected body, that first fruits that we see is flesh and bone.

And the way Paul puts it here is that these bodies that we're in now must be clothed in immortality.

The part of us that is not eternal must put on, your translation might say, put on immortality.

How God uses our old corrupt cells as seed for incorruptibility is part of this mystery that I don't think anybody's gonna understand this side of eternity.

But he does it, and it sounds great, and I can't wait to be in that new resurrected body.

Is anybody here tired of dealing with every form of death?

I know that I definitely am, you know, or maybe they feel like it's this never-ending battle, you know, with their own body, with this flesh and blood that we are in now.

But we have the hope of incorruptibility, which removes the sting of death, which he's gonna mention here in verse 54.

So look at that with me.

When this corruptible body is clothed with incorruptibility, and this mortal body is clothed with immortality, then the saying that is written will take place.

Death has been swallowed up in victory.

Where death is your victory, where death is your sting.

Paul's loosely quoting Isaiah 25, 8 and Hosea 13, 14 here.

But we need to look at what does death has been swallowed up in victory.

What does that mean?

The victory of Christ over death was his resurrection.

Our resurrected bodies will also be a sign of that same victory over death that Jesus did in our place.

So at our resurrection, which we're talking all about here, when we've been clothed in that immortality that Paul's talking about, death will be swallowed up in the victory of resurrection.

Paul goes on, verse 56.

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

Remember, as we talked about a few weeks ago, we're not made for death.

Death is the result of sin.

That's why we really don't know how to handle it.

As hard as we try, as hard as we try to learn and how to grieve well and do all of those things, God didn't make us for it.

It's foreign to us.

But our eternity with Christ is what removes the sting of death.

You know, if we died in our sin, death would sting for eternity, wouldn't it?

And for those that die without Jesus, that's their fate.

Because the sting of death is sin.

And then Paul goes on and he says, the power of sin is the law.

You know, to understand this, we again need to borrow from one of the Apostle Paul's other letters.

And we covered this in depth when we went through Romans chapter 7.

Romans 7 · chapter mention

Paul took almost the entirety of Romans chapter 7 to take this one little statement and expound upon it.

Romans 7 · chapter mention

But if you want to learn more about that, you can go and listen to Romans chapter 7 on the podcast.

Romans 7 · chapter mention

But he elaborates on the concept in that chapter of the power of sin is the law.

We talked about how the law is not sinful and it does not cause you to sin, but the law identifies existing issues that we have.

We likened it back then to an MRI machine.

You know, it doesn't cause the issue, but it identifies the issue.

And once we know what our sin issue is, once it's identified by the law, it tends to make us want to rebel, doesn't it?

Because then we get the attitude of don't tell me what to do, right?

Because now that we we know, and Paul expands a lot on that in Romans chapter 7.

Romans 7 · chapter mention

But if we didn't know that something was wrong, then we wouldn't even have the ability to rebel, because you can't rebel against something that's not wrong, right?

Proverbs 19, 17 says, stolen water is sweet, and bread eaten secretly is tasty.

The forbidden or the stolen fruit always tastes better for a moment, at least, doesn't it?

Therefore, the power of sin, as Paul says here, is the law.

Because if there was no law, there would be no sin.

But the resurrection of Jesus, and therefore our resurrection as well, have defeated death and sin and has always Also fulfilled the law.

None of those things that I just mentioned have power over us anymore.

Death, sin, or the law.

That's why Paul can ridicule death.

That's what he's doing here, saying, where death is your victory, where death is your sting.

And then he goes on to say, the sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law, because all of those things have been taken care of by Jesus.

And we don't have to worry about those as followers of Christ anymore.

Look at verse 57 with me.

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

Notice it says gives and not give us the victory.

He gives us.

It's constant, it's never ending.

Our victory was not in Christ, our victory is in Christ.

And it's over sin, it's over death, and it's over the law.

So we can then also say, where death is your victory, and where death is your sting.

And then in verse 58, he starts off with therefore, and that is a big therefore.

It's referring to everything that we've covered so far in chapter 15.

Starting with how the resurrection is essential to the gospel, how it's essential to our faith, and how our faith is worthless and everything is in vain without the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Then we talked about how Christ's resurrection is proof that we will resurrect as well when we talked about the first fruits.

How we have been corrupted by sin, but through Jesus we will be resurrected as incorruptible, and death will finally be no more.

So he says, therefore, because of all that, because of everything we've covered so far, he says, My dear brothers and sisters, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the Lord's work, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

Paul just spent this chapter proving the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

He said in verse 32, if there's no resurrection, let's just eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.

But since Paul has proven the resurrection and the importance of it, he says, Therefore, this is what you need to do with this information.

Now that you have all of this, this is what you need to do.

And the first thing he tells them is be steadfast.

Your translation may say, stand firm or be strong.

Don't back down from what you now know to be true.

That Jesus was resurrected from the dead and you will be too.

So he's saying, be steadfast in that.

Then he says, the second thing is be immovable.

Don't allow a false gospel to sway you.

Don't allow someone to cause doubt by saying Jesus wasn't really crucified.

You know, it was a big hoax.

Or Jesus didn't really raise from the dead.

Paul's saying, I proved it to you, so don't be swayed.

He's saying, be immovable in that fact.

And then the third thing he tells him is he says, always excelling in the Lord's work.

And when you say the word excelling, that doesn't mean doing just enough, does it?

You know, if we're excelling in the Lord's work, we're going above and beyond.

You know, if somebody is excelling at anything, say, let's say like uh they're taking guitar lessons or something like that.

If you ask a guitar teacher, hey, how is so-and-so doing in their lessons, and like, ah, they're learning, you know.

That's not excelling, is it?

But if the teacher says, oh, they're excelling, that means they're moving at a faster pace than expected.

It means they're practicing more, they're spending more time with their guitar than is required.

They're honing their craft with care and with enthusiasm, and they're playing the guitar really well if they're excellent.

Paul's saying, do this with the Lord's word.

Whatever your gifting is, whatever you're doing for the Lord, don't just do enough to get by.

Excel in it.

At the end of 58, it says, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

Because of everything that we've talked about, you can be that confident, you need to excel in your work because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

So I think for us today, here's the question.

If someone that doesn't follow Christ looks at us, what would they see?

Would they see somebody that's invested in eating and drinking for tomorrow we die?

Or someone that is invested in the kingdom of God.

You know, a life invested in the kingdom excels in their work for the Lord.

If you are blessed with the gift of hospitality, it means using that gift for God's kingdom.

Excellent in hospitality.

If you're blessed with the gift of teaching, it means excelling in that gift of teaching.

If you have the gift of mercy, it means excelling in being merciful.

You know, I've told you before we have a sign that hangs in our house that says, go where you're sent, stay where you're put, and give what you've got.

You don't have to be rich to be generous.

You don't need a podium to teach God's word.

You don't need a platform to share your gift of wisdom with others.

You don't have to have a mansion to be hospitable.

What we're learning here today is take whatever the Lord has given you and excel at it for his kingdom.

Invest all of those things that he's giving you in eternity.

You know, this life is so much more than eating and drinking.

And there's nothing wrong with enjoying, you know, good food.

But there's so much more.

God's calling us to excel in the work for his kingdom.

Because, as we've seen in all of chapter 15, of the truth of the resurrection.

It's true.

It's something we can believe in.

Paul has proven that, and he's saying, now with this information, go and excel in your work from the Lord.

And he's not saying just try harder and be better.

He's saying through the grace of God, because you love him so much, go and excel.

Because you care so much for his kingdom and want to see it expanded, go and excel in the giftings that he has given you as an individual and as a collective church together as well.

Will you please pray with me?

Lord, that's our prayer.

We want to excel in your work.

We want to be steadfast and immovable in the knowledge that you've given us through your word.

Lord, give us a passion for your word that we are all picking it up daily.

Not just waiting for Sundays, but we're in it ourselves, understanding every concept, studying it, not like I said at the beginning, not for head knowledge, but for heart knowledge, to know you more, to know your heart and to understand truth, Lord, so we can stand up for it when it's time.

And I pray that it would all be through your grace and through your mercy, and not just through vain effort on our part, but it would be because all coming from a place of love and a desire to see you glorified and to see your kingdom expanded.

We can't do any of this on our own.

So we pray that through the power of your Holy Spirit living in and through us, Lord, that you would send us out, wherever that might be, to the various places we're going this week in all different directions, Lord, that we would walk by your spirit, that we would abide more deeply in Christ, and we'd come to a place of fuller surrender to you.

Lord, we pray all of these things in Jesus' name.

Amen.