First Corinthians 15:42

 

In the King James Version of the Bible it says in First Corinthians 15:42-44, "So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption. 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. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body." The best is yet to come. There is a bright future for those who believe in Jesus. If you consider the limitations of your human body, it is wonderful to know that the worst of the limitations will be done away with. People have always been fascinated by the concept of a super-human, who can do things that an ordinary human cannot do. That is the reason for the popularity of the Superman story and others like it. Such stories are fiction and fantasy, but those who will have a part in the resurrection of the dead through faith in Christ really will have a new and a fantastic body: a resurrected body.

The resurrected body will not corrupt. In other words, it will live forever. It will not die. The resurrected body will not sin. It will never fail, and it will never be dishonored by its own actions. It will never grow tired, and it will never get sick. Disease will never cause the resurrected body to fail, and fatigue will never cause it to grow weak. It will be a powerful body: capable to do far more than we can probably imagine.

There is a natural body and there is a spiritual body, just as there is a natural world and a spiritual world. The natural world will pass away, but the spiritual world will abide forever. In First Corinthians 15:45-49 the Bible says, "And so it is written, The first man, Adam, was made a living soul. The last Adam was made a quickening spirit. Howbeit that was not first which was spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. The first man is of the earth, earthy. The second man is the Lord from heaven. As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy; and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. And as we have born the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly."

The principles given in these Bible verses explain the major reason for the problems that plague the human race. It is what we have inherited from Adam that has plagued us. That is the explanation for man’s inhumanity to man, for the crime rate, for the hatred and jealousy, and for the wars. Why do all these things plague the human race? Because of the sinful nature that we inherited from Adam. "That which is of the earth is earthy."

The solution to these problems is implied in First Corinthians 15:50 that says, "Now this I say, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither does corruption inherit incorruption." This is essentially the same teaching that Jesus gave to Nicodemus in John Chapter 3 when Jesus said, "You must be born again." "That which is born of flesh is flesh, and that which is born of spirit is spirit." There is a spiritual birth that is required to be able to enter the Kingdom of God. You are born the first time when your mother gives birth to you, and with that birth you inherit from Adam the characteristics of physical life.

But flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. According to Jesus, you must be born again. You must receive the spiritual birth through faith in Christ in order to inherit the Kingdom of heaven. Once you have this spiritual relationship to Jesus Christ, then you will inherit from Him a spiritual destiny that will include being given a resurrected body.

Concerning the spiritual destiny that you will inherit, the Bible says in First Corinthians 15:51, "Behold, I show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed." A mystery in the New Testament is something that used to be hidden, and is still hidden to many people in the world, but is revealed to those who believe and who understand the scriptures. Not everyone will die. Those who are alive when Jesus returns will be given a resurrected body without ever dying. First Corinthians 15:52-53 says, "In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality."

In the ancient world the sound of a trumpet was the announcement of an important event. What can be more important than the return of Christ, and the resurrection from the dead, and the end of all the enemies of mankind, including death? This great event is inevitable. It has been planned by God for many centuries. It was purchased by Jesus as one of the benefits of His death on the cross.

First Corinthians 15:54-57 says, "So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy 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."

When you think of the terrors of death and the sorrows of death, some people may think of the separation that death causes loved ones who are left behind. Others may think of the opportunities that death has stolen, because when death takes someone it also takes their talents and what they would have accomplished if they had been given more time. Some may think of the loneliness that death may cause and the tears and the indescribable pain, but this passage of scripture talks about the greatest negative concerning death. When a person dies, a sinner has died because we have all sinned. And that sinner must stand before a holy God.

The judgment to come is the worst part of death. "It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment." The most important issue concerning death is the judgment to follow. "The sting of death is sin." Because all have sinned, all have come short of the glory of God, and all are in danger of condemnation. Sin is made exceedingly sinful because of the law. No one will be able to claim ignorance. There is the written law in the Word of God, and there is the unwritten law within their own conscience. Everyone knows what they should have done, but did not do. There will be no hiding from the all-knowing, all-wise God of the universe. Everyone who is judged according to their own actions will be found guilty, and then what destiny will they face? That is the sting of death more than anything else: sin and judgment.

But that is not the end of the story. God could have let the history of the human race end at the grave and at the judgment, but He did not. God would have been true and just and good if it had all ended there and we had all perished. But God is a giver of life. In this very passage Jesus is called a "quickening spirit." To quicken means to make alive or to give life to. God has not allowed the human race to perish forever, even though it deserves to do so.

Instead of the failure that we deserve, and instead of death, God has given us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. We could not win the victory. The enemies of sin and selfishness and Satan were too strong for us. The strong man came into the house and bound us and we were his slaves. But there was one who came and loosed us from our bondage. The Second Adam, the second representative of the human race, came and won the victory over sin and death and the grave; and now Jesus will give the victory to those who seek it from Him.

Paul said, "Thanks be to God who gives us the victory." If you can remember it, then every day you will have at least one thing to be thankful for: what Jesus suffered on the cross of Calvary so that you could share in the victory. He suffered the torments of physical and spiritual death so that you could live forever.

Notice in First Corinthians 15:57 that it says that God "gives us the victory." You cannot earn the victory, and you cannot gain it for yourself, because you have already failed. By your best efforts all that you will gain is the grave and the sting of sin. If you are going to be a part of the victory over death, then you must receive it freely by His grace. A gift is given by the giver because he has paid for it, but it only comes into the possession of someone else when the gift is received. Have you received the gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ? Thanks be to God for His unspeakable gift.

We must also notice that the victory comes through our Lord Jesus Christ. The victory over death does not come through a church, or through a ceremony in a church, or through the clergy of a church. The victory comes from our Lord Jesus Christ. If you can bow before our Lord Jesus Christ and ask for the forgiveness of sins with the purpose of following His teachings, then you will enter into the victory that He alone can give over sin and over death.

We who believe in Jesus know what life is all about. We know the sting of sin and the importance of forgiveness. We know that the next life is more important than this life, and we know that the grave is not the end. We know that because Jesus rose from the dead, we will also. Therefore, we should not get discouraged, and we should not slow down, and we should not give up in serving God in this world. First Corinthians 15:58 says, "Therefore, my beloved brothers, be you steadfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord."

Because there is life after death, we are encouraged to continue in the work of God. Some people start serving God, but they do not finish. Something happens and they get moved into a different way than the way of God. One of the things that should help all of us to continue walking with God is to remember that life is short and that there will be a time when we will stand before God. Our lives will be reviewed. Important details of our eternal destiny will be based upon what we did with our time and our opportunities.

Human effort is of no consequence in regards to the salvation of the soul, but human effort is of great consequence in regards to serving God after a soul has met Christ for salvation. Earlier in the book of First Corinthians Paul said, "I labored more abundantly than they all." First Corinthians 15:58 says; "Be you steadfast, unmovable, always abounding..." This is a command. A command can be obeyed or disobeyed. Christians are commanded to be steadfast and unmovable. There are certain basic principles upon which every believer should stand. They should stand upon the doctrine of Christ, and they should stand upon the infallible Word of God. There should be a determination, a will, and a resolve to stick with those principles.

Part of your Christian preparation to serve God will be the acquiring of certain foundational beliefs and principles from which you must refuse to be moved. You will not be worth your salt to man or to God if you do not hold to such principles. There will be no spiritual value in this world for a reed that is shaken in the wind.

You are called to stand firm, and you are also called to be always abounding. To abound means to overflow: to have more than enough. It is the same word in the Greek that is used in the gospel of Matthew when it teaches about the feeding of the 5,000 and the disciples who picked up the fragments that were left over. If we abound in the work of the Lord, we will go the extra mile. We will do more than what needs to be done to fulfill the objective that has been laid before us.

Notice that it is the "work of the Lord." It is not our work. It does not belong to us. It is His work, and He has given us the great privilege to be workers together with Him. We are God’s co-workers in the great harvest field that we call earth. We are all told to abound in the work of the Lord, but we are not told specifically what that work is because God has a different will for each of us. If you follow God, He will guide you more and more into the work that He wants you to do; but your work will be different from that of someone else because God has a specific job for each of us to do.

Once you find the work that God wants you to do, the challenge will be to remain steadfast. Once you have found the consistency and the faith to remain steadfast and unmovable, the challenge will be to always abound in the work of the Lord. Some people have been moved from the place where God guided them and they became like a shipwreck, and sometimes it takes no small effort to get them back to where they once were. Others were not so easily moved, but they became lethargic and lost the passion that should animate anyone who does the most important work in the world: the work of the Lord.

For whoever does the work of the Lord, there is a serious and important promise in the last part of First Corinthians 15:58, "Forasmuch as you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord." You probably will not see all of the fruits of your labors in this life, because the work of God most often takes place in the heart, and only God sees the heart. You may very well go unknown and unsung in this world, but if you are a child of God and if you walk in fellowship with Christ, the Lord knows how important your work is. Even a cup of cold water given in His name will not lose its reward.

  

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Copyright; 2000 by Charles F. (Rick) Creech
All Rights Reserved