Series: God and the Nations

Part 1

"God's Plan for the Nations"

Gen. 11.1-9; 12.1-3; Acts 2.1-12; Rev. 7.9-10

The world is a place of struggle, conflict, and competition. This is true for individuals as well as for groups. Sometimes this tension erupts in physical violence. This condition exists because everyone wants to have their own way. It is not always clear who should get their way. Who is right and who is wrong? It requires moral or value judgments. Everyone tends to think that they are right! People are naturally selfish and interested in their own agendas or that of their own group. And everyone thinks that his interests, views, or group are superior to other interests, views and groups!

Power is the ability to get your way. It might be through persuasion, influence, threat, intimidation, coercion, or deception. Power is at work everywhere in the world! Is there anyone free from the effects of power? But the will or interests of people conflict and not everyone can have their way at the same time. From one perspective everyone wants the same kinds of things, such as security, food, or shelter. But there are some interests that people have that we must question morally. The ability to get your way enables you to determine your own future. Generally speaking, people don’t want their future to be determined by someone else. We want the control of self-determination. This desire for power or self-determination was behind the first temptation of man in the Garden and is at the root of all sin against God’s authority. Rather than trust God we want to take matters into our own hands.

God gave man dominion over the earth. In this dominion man was made in God’s image. But Satan also has power and dominion in the earth. Ultimately, the earth belongs to God and we are God’s stewards who must give an account to Him. We are not free and independent to do as we want. Men live on the earth, but God lives in heaven. God rules the world from heaven. There are also angels, principalities and powers in heavenly places who also exercise some power over the world of men. Jesus has entered heaven and is now ruling the world. The Bible is constantly showing us that heaven is the main place and the superior power or control room for the earth. Nothing is ever really out of control.

The will of God reigns supreme. Can men successfully resist God’s will? It appears that men can FOR A TIME. But then the judgment comes and God has the last word. What about “free will?” It depends on what you mean by “free.” Man is free to resist God. But he is not free to escape from God and the consequences of this rebellion. God is present and active, not distant and passive. He is not the clockmaker god of Deism. He is not like the capricious, petty gods of the pagans. God cares about the world. Common grace is experienced by all men. God upholds His creation, gives life and breath and everything else. This is all because of God’s own nature, not man’s goodness.

God holds men responsible for their choices and actions. Most men fail to acknowledge and thank God for His good gifts. Men can know something about God, but mankind has purposefully rejected that knowledge and worshiped idols. Man suppresses the truth about God.

God is driven by His eternal purpose. The world is a stage on which God is working the drama of redemption, with spiritual powers watching it unfold. God’s purpose does not depend on what men do but on His own will. God is not just reacting to human need or even to human rebellion. There are events in Scripture which caused the eternal purpose of God to move forward significantly. We must assume that all events recorded in Scripture fit into the overarching purpose of God and do not have a life of their own but only take on their real significance in the context of the larger story or purpose. The Bible contains a gradual unfolding of God’s purpose or PROGRESSIVE REVELATION. The purpose of God required extensive preparation without which it would be difficult if not impossible to understand what God is doing. The purpose of God is continuing to advance toward a destination or goal that will be realized so that everyone can see and acknowledge God’s work thereby giving glory to God. We must be able to identify these key events if we want to understand the MEGA-NARRATIVE of Scripture. This helps us to avoid the misuse of Scripture for private agendas. This also helps us to see the consistency and unity of God’s revelation.

We should be able to see that what often looks like chaos in the world is actually being managed by a purposeful God. The nations do not exist according to their own will but according to the will of God. The nations did not simply evolve on their own but were provided for by God for His own purpose. God’s management of the nations of the world involves both His wrath and His mercy, resulting in the revelation of His person and His purpose. God will be glorified among the nations!

Babel: The Alienation and Scattering of the Nations

The Babel narrative comes at the end of a lengthy section detailing the effects of the Fall. Violence soon erupted in human history. The trouble with the human family continues even among righteous Noah’s offspring. In attempting to understand the “human condition” we must see how sin and alienation from God have been at work in human history. Any failure to acknowledge sin and alienation will cause us to be focused only on symptoms. The problem with the world is that it is hostile to its source of healing. Sin is the desire for independence from God. The effect of this independence can only be death. In this context in Genesis we see the effects of sin continue with each successive generation. Things never improve. Sin is always a downward spiral. Left to his own devices man never improves from a spiritual or moral perspective. What is it that keeps the world from imploding? God has his hand on human history! What would happen to the world if God withdrew His hand completely?

The evolutionary theory has infiltrated every part of modern thought. The Biblical doctrine of sin is a direct challenge to the modern mindset. Modern, secular thought fails to consider the spiritual or inner life of man. Man is a biological machine with no higher purpose than to survive and flourish according to his own appetites. Morality in this context is simply a means to the end of forming the kind of society men envision. There is no higher goal or purpose other than what men think they want. The Bible teaches that sin corrupts the heart of men rendering their thoughts and desires corrupt as well. Human life is bent in the wrong direction. To keep moving, or evolving, in the wrong direction is not progress. This is why the Bible never places hope for the world in men.

Sin is more than breaking a commandment. Sin was in the world before God gave the Law. Sin is alienation or man living apart from any thought of God. Anything becomes warped, bent, or twisted when God is not the goal. Man’s ambition is to be his own god and to dethrone the authority of God, to throw off the fetters of God’s very existence. This was also the sin of Satan and caused his fall and expulsion from heaven. This same spirit of rebellion has infected the world of men, who are actually in agreement with Satan and under his dominion.

The plans of the men at Babel may not seem to be overtly wicked. What is really going on is a conspiracy against God. God is being removed from the mind and actions of men. All of the plans of men have a spiritual or moral dimension. It is dangerous to separate spiritual and moral issues from everyday life. All plans that are made without God are wicked, not because of the content of the plans necessarily, but because we are living apart from God. This alienation is the result of a deliberate ignorance of God. There is nothing innocent about this agenda. There is knowledge about God available to men. But for moral reasons men reject this knowledge. The knowledge of God is a constraint the world does not want. If you don’t like the umpire’s call, then why not just remove the ump from the game entirely? Men are held accountable by God, which assumes that there is some kind of knowledge available to men. Men cannot successfully escape from God. But men often assume that they can.

The major sin of Babel seems to be pride and the desire for men to exalt himself rather than glorifying God. Pride may be the root of all other sins. Pride must always be seen as a wrong view of self that comes from being alienated from God. The person who knows and acknowledges God can never be proud because in His light we see ourselves accurately. To glorify God means to defer to or advance His person, will and purpose. If God were a piece of music, then to glorify Him would be to play that tune as loudly and as accurately as possible! But man would rather play his own tune. If God is God, then He deserves and has the right to be glorified. Man has no such inherent rights but can only derive his worth and dignity from the Creator. There is a glory that comes from God that we should seek. But men do not seek this glory. We usually seek glory from other men rather than from God.

The men at Babel were in no way concerned with the will of God but were only interested in their agenda. The will of God was for man to fill the earth and subdue it, not to stay in one place. The will of God had been revealed and they were ignoring it. We should never defy the revealed will of God. If we do not know the will of God, then it is our responsibility to seek His will. Those who seek will find! Those who never find are not really seeking.

The word “Babel” and “Babylon” become a Biblical shorthand for opposition against God and a man-centered agenda. This is the spirit of the World. Babel or Babylon is the City of Man. In Babylon man is on the throne and is the center of all things. But God is creating His own city or community of people. We are either citizens of Babylon or citizens of Zion! Babylon and Zion are growing together in the same world now, but eventually a separation will be made. Until that time the people of God in the world must separate themselves spiritually and morally and come out of Babylon. If the Church marries the world and is unfaithful to God, then her married name becomes Babylon.

The tower may have seemed impressive to men, but it is so insignificant that God had to come down to see it! Man is not really a challenge to God. The Bible is calling us up higher to see things from a better perspective. Don’t be overly impressed by men. Fear God!

Man’s fall and wickedness is so great because he is made in the image of God. Monkeys don’t build towers or bombs. God knew that the unity of mankind in a state of alienation would not be the proper environment for His purpose to be worked out. Even if the world were to perfectly unite it would be wicked if not on God’s agenda. God is managing the world so that His purpose can advance. It is like a man who has a garden. The point is to grow his vegetables. The Garden is not for the weeds to grow!

God introduced a principle of confusion and disharmony among the people, which in turn would produce rivalry and mistrust. God is not the author of confusion. Whatever God produces does not result in chaos. But Babel was something man was doing that God judged. As long as the nations are struggling with each other they cannot unite against God’s people in the world. Man is not free to do whatever he wants. Man will not be allowed to successfully challenge the sovereignty of God. Just as the governments of the world constrain their citizens, God governs or constrains the nations. God is the one who actually raises up nations and their rulers. This is why it is expedient to submit ourselves to authority, even wicked governments.

The scattering of these nations reminds us of Adam being driven out of the Garden. Sin scatters and drives us out, alienating us from God. The principle of sin and death, which entered the world through Adam, continues to be at work in the human race. Mankind has a kind of collective memory of Eden, always trying to get back to paradise or the perfect world. There are many utopian visions among men, but these have never been realized. The way back to Eden and the Tree of Life was blocked in this world.
 

ABRAHAM: THE PROMISE OF GOD’S BLESSING FOR THE NATIONS

Unable to work with the nations at Babel, God will create a nation for Himself and work through them. How can we explain the existence of the Jews apart from God? The significance of Israel is their association with God. Israel’s association with God has made them the object of hatred among the nations. Abram’s call comes right after Babel and is a contrasting vision for human life and history. Abram is God saying “there is another way and I will provide it and show it!” We don’t have to conform to the world’s system of thought and living. The world is nothing but a frustrating circle of vanity. But God provides a way out!

God’s focus narrows as His purpose moves forward. Blessings through one man is a shadow of Christ. Abraham is a conduit. We must be connected to the approved conduit to be blessed by God. The blessing for the world was not just the nation of Israel. Israel would bring the blessing into the world, which is Christ. God let the other nations go but did not completely forget or neglect them. However, He did not recognize them as being a part of His purpose. God made no covenant with any other nation. No nation can claim to have exclusive rights to the blessing of God.

Abram is called to be physically separate from other nations. God was making a distinction between the people associated with His plan and those who are not. Even though we live in an earthly nation, this is not our primary identity or association. We are not called to be physically separate, but we are called to be holy. God will make Himself known in the earth through His people. Therefore, His people must accurately represent God among all the false gods of the nations. Idolatry is ubiquitous. God will not share His glory with false gods but will prove the worthlessness of idols and His superiority through helping His people. Abram’s separation was actually for the benefit of the nations. The separation was the means to an end, not an end of itself. God needed to be able to use Abram in the world so he had to be separate from the world. Abram and his descendants would be priests. Priests are holy so they can intercede and bring people to God. Abram was an alien and stranger in the world. Abram lived in a tent and had no city even though the land of Canaan actually belonged to him. This is a picture of the people of God in the midst of the world. The promise to Abram concerning the land will only be fulfilled ultimately in the world to come, which belongs to Abraham and all his children. This world is not under our dominion. But the world to come will be!

The nations at Babel wanted to make their own way in the world apart from God and His will. Abram is trusting God’s way and entrusting his life to God’s care. Faith is more than believing God exists. Faith is trusting God’s word and believing that He is good. The only way to have a relationship with God is through faith. The nations were disobedient to God. Abram is consistently obedient. Obedience is the fruit of faith. Obedience is not always easy and may not seem to be the best way. The nations took what they wanted for themselves. Abram received what he had from the hands of God. Greed and ambition define the spirit of the World. The original temptation was for man to take for himself rather than rely on God. This is a spirit of independence or self-sufficiency. It is living as if we don’t really need God. The nations worked to accomplish their objectives. Abraham did not work, but trusted God to fulfill His promise. The purpose of God will not advance through human works and effort but through the faithfulness of God. Faith rests in the promise of God and relies on Divine power.

The nations at Babel were cursed, not blessed. They were scattered, alienated. They had to make their own way in a world that was not in their favor. All the odds were against the nations. They would struggle to survive, as the original curse of God predicted. Abram is blessed by God’s presence and attention. God is working for Abram and not against Him. God’s favor is on Abram. Abraham was called God’s friend! It is a serious matter to make oneself an enemy of God! But the World has done exactly that! No one deserves God’s favor, but God does bestow it according to His own gracious character and will. Abram was blessed with everything necessary for life in the world. He did not have to worry or run after material things. The world labors and strives for the wrong things: creation over Creator, gifts over Giver. If we have God then we have everything else. To have all the world’s goods without God is to have nothing.

Abram would have God’s protection in a dangerous world. His security was in God who was His shield. One of the biggest concern of the nations is security or safety. Nothing in this world is actually secure. Money can fly away. The strength of an army can fail. God is a strong tower for those who trust Him. It is wrong to trust any other source.

PENTECOST: THE GATHERING OF THE NATIONS

Babel was a work of man. Pentecost was the work of God. The disciples were waiting for God. They were not going at it on their own. There was a Divine power that was absent at Babel. To have God’s power you must be doing God’s work.

God’s presence at Babel was for a curse. God’s presence at Pentecost was for a blessing. The blessing of Abraham included the indwelling Spirit. Christ has overcome the alienation making God’s presence a blessing rather than a curse. The world has been reconciled to God through Christ!

God caused confusion and division at Babel. God caused understanding and unity at Pentecost. When it is God’s work there is unity and understanding. The unifying factors are the Spirit and the Gospel. Confusion and division is a work of the Flesh. No work of God can be done in this environment.
God scattered at Babel. God gathered at Pentecost. The gathering at Pentecost was just the first-fruits of a greater harvest from the nations. It is God’s objective to reconcile people to Himself. This must be our objective too!

God’s agenda or purpose would be advanced through the declaration of a message to every nation. The message concerns what God has done. It is a message of good news and is for all the nations. Like Abram we are given a word from God that we must believe. The blessing of Abraham is appropriated through faith. Even Gentiles who believe can be children of Abraham! God wants to bless people, not curse them. The Gospel is the announcement of the fulfillment of the promise to Abraham. Christ is the Seed of Abraham. All blessings are in and through Him. The Promise is both exclusive and inclusive.

The Church is the people God is calling out of the nations. God has always wanted a People for His Name. Jew and Gentile made into a single Body. The Church is a holy nation in the midst of many nations. We are to be Salt and Light. There will be tension with the world! The Church is to represent God among the nations. People come to know God through His people. This includes both privilege and responsibility.

Salvation: The Glory of the Nations

The children of Abraham will indeed be numerous! The people of God often seem like the minority. But we will not be at the end! Right now the children of Abraham are mixed in with the children of the Wicked One, like tares among wheat. This multitude had come through the tribulation of a world in rebellion against God! Our time in the world will be like sailing through a stormy sea. The World does not love the people of God because the world hates God.

Salvation is a big project that will be successful in spite of all opposition. It requires the power and wisdom of God for us to overcome the Dragon, the Beasts, and the Prostitute that John saw in the book of Revelation. There are Powers in the world that look impressive, including the spiritual powers of darkness, but we know where the real Power is. God will get all the glory for salvation because it is His work, not man’s. All the work of men, that was not done for the glory of God, will be blown away like dust. The only work that will stand is the work of God.

What looked like a hopeless mess at Babel will end up glorifying God! There are aspects of God not previously revealed that will be seen by heavenly personalities in the salvation of men. Evil cannot triumph over God. He will have the last word. Since all the nations were rebellious against God we can only trace salvation back to God’s mercy and grace. No one will be able to boast before God. The dark backdrop of the sin of the nations will make God’s grace shine even brighter.

In the book of Revelation, at the end of the Bible, the corrupt City of Man is judged and falls. The only thing left to emerge from the ashes of human history will be the New Jerusalem. Everyone is a member of the City of Man or the City of God: two parallel societies developing together throughout history but in different directions. The City of Man cannot be saved. We must be saved from out of it like Lot out of Sodom.

Just as many are included in this City of God, some will be excluded as well. A great separation is coming! If we are rejected by the City of Man we will be at home in the City of God. If we are at home in this City of Man we will be rejected by the City of God. Anything not compatible with God will have to be removed. In the World to Come there will be only one nation left. This will be a nation prepared to be in the presence of God to serve Him forever. All of the nations of men pass away because nothing opposed to the Kingdom of God can stand.

God has a plan for the nations of the world! Even though the nations rebelled against God He never completely deserted them. At Babel the nations rebelled and were judged and scattered by God. God then called Abram and separated him from other nations. Out of Abraham God created His own nation. Through that nation came the Savior who would bless all the nations. At Pentecost God reversed the curse of Babel. In the end there will be a great multitude of the saved from out of every nation!

Series: The Resurrection of the Dead (1 Corinthians 15)

The Hope of Final Victory

1 Cor. 15.50-58

This is the final part and the crescendo of Paul’s argument about the resurrection of the dead. Some of the Corinthians did not believe in the resurrection of the body. But Paul begins by reminding them that the Gospel was preached to them that Christ rose from the dead. He is the first-fruits from the dead.

If Christ was not raised then the whole of the Christian faith amounts to nothing. But Christians have hope in Christ that He will come to put away death forever and raise all the dead. If there is no hope of the resurrection then there is no motivation to live for Christ now.

The Corinthians may have thought that Paul was teaching that the resurrection body would be just like our mortal bodies. But Paul clarified that the resurrection body will be of a different kind or a different order from the bodies we now have. Our bodies now are subject to death, which is the legacy of all of Adam’s children. But our new bodies will be like Christ’s glorified and immortal body.

We cannot enter into the Kingdom of God, or the New Creation, with these mortal bodies. We must be changed. The final victory will come only when the saints put on their new, immortal bodies and death itself becomes obsolete. This is the final stage of our salvation for which we are waiting in eager anticipation. Until then we live in hope knowing that our lives here are not in vain but are leading to a glorious revelation when Jesus comes again.

The difficulty with Paul’s argument is that it is all based on events that are still in the future. We tend to become wrapped up in life here and now and the future looks dark and unknown. But some things about the future are known, at least to faith.

Hope is faith looking forward into the future. What does faith see when looking forward? It sees this final victory over our greatest enemy, which is death. We have to have hope in order to live properly in this world of sin and death. If we have no hope then we will be swept away by the world and its passions and lust and will give in to despair. We live in a generation that is quickly giving up all hope. Many people wonder why they should go on living, and more and more are choosing either to dull their senses with some kind of artificial escape from reality, or perhaps to end their own lives in a final act of despair and desperation.

As we consider this passage and the hope of final victory, we must not only think about the future but must ask what this hope in the future does to us now and how it helps us live today. Because this was Paul’s purpose: to give Christians encouragement in the present by giving hope for the future.

Let’s begin by attempting to define the nature of Christian hope. Hope is one of those things that the world has managed to make ambiguous. Language often hides meaning rather than making it clear. When we use the word “hope” in common speech we usually mean something we are wishing for. We hope that we can someday purchase a particular home or have a certain career. These wishes may never come true. At least with some of these wishes there are concrete steps we could take to make it happen. We can save money for a down-payment on that home or go to school to have a career. But we still might not reach our ideal situation. But there are other things we wish for that we have no control over whatsoever. We might wish that no one in our immediate family gets sick and dies. But we know there is nothing we could do to stop this possibility. Even a simply thing like wishing for a sunny day so we can enjoy an outing is out of our control. We hope it won’t rain, we wish for the perfect weather pattern, but we know we have absolutely no control over the weather! Christian hope is not analogous to either of these examples.

The things we are hoping for are not what we can make happen. In fact, the coming of the Kingdom of God does not depend on any of our work at all! Jesus rose from the dead without our help and He will come again when He is ready apart from anything we might have to say about it. But there are some people who say that Christians are just wishful thinkers. We are just starry-eyed dreamers who want to escape from the unpleasant realities of this world and so we have created our own little fairy-tale world to help us feel better. That’s why Karl Marx famously said that religion is the opiate of the people. Instead of working to create change and a better world now, we just accept the suffering of this present world because we believe a better world is coming.

How can we respond to this criticism? Well, let’s use Marxism as an example. Is Marxism a reality or is it also just wishful thinking? Anyone who knows anything about history and politics knows that the vision of Marx and his followers has never become a reality. In fact, it has failed miserably in the real world. But is the Christian hope of a New Creation like the wishful thinking of a failed ideology? Christianity is NOT an ideology. This Gospel did not come from man but from heaven. And we are not working toward a better world, like all the rest of the political and social ideologies. We are WAITING for the New Creation to come in when God is done with His purpose. So our hope is in God, not in the progress of mankind, and not even in the progress of the Church and its mission in the world.

So when Christians speak about the hope that we have we are not saying that we wish that the world would accept our ideology so that a new and better age can be ushered in. We are waiting for no utopia on earth. We are waiting for something from Heaven. Actually, we are waiting for SOMEONE from heaven who will usher in the eternal kingdom of God. There is something very concrete about Christian hope because it is anchored in a person and not in an ideology.

So, what is Christian hope, exactly? Hope has to do with looking forward or anticipating some future event. Hope is closely related to faith. We have hope because we have faith in God and His promises. We believe God, that is, we believe that His word is trustworthy.

So when God makes a promise about a future that He will bring about, we believe God is not lying and we have hope that God will bring these things to pass in His time and in His way. This is the very thing that Abraham and Sarah had to do when God promised them a son. And they had to believe in God’s promised future even though what God promised was impossible to the flesh since they were too old to have children. God’s promises are always a challenge to the abilities of the flesh. Whatever God promises to do will take God’s power to accomplish, and that is certainly true of the final victory over death and the resurrection of the dead.

What could we possibly do to defeat death and raise the dead? We have to trust God to make that happen. Because we believe God and we trust His promises we have the hope of the resurrection. So hope is faith looking forward. We can look back and see how God has made promises and kept those promises. We know that God cannot lie. God is consistent and does not change (See Heb. 6.13-20). So our hope is based on the veracity of God’s word and the immutability of God’s character and purpose.

Hope is something positive. I could believe that something is something is coming in the future that is very bad. That is not hope that is fear and dread. Hope is a positive expectation that something will change for the better. A person who is sick, for example, has the hope of one day getting better. Someone who is poor may have hope that they will have more money eventually.

Hope means that I have a reasonable expectation that my situation will improve. Now the key word here is the word “reasonable” because there are some hopes that really do not have their foundation in reality. Hopes can be disappointed, or we can have what is called a “false hope.” A false hope is a hope that is unreasonably founded.

I may have a false hope that is based on nothing but a lie. There would be no good reason for me to base my hopes on a lie and in the end I will be disappointed. Now this happens in real life all the time! People believe in all kinds of things and build their hopes on things that turn out to be false.
Some people believe that the Christian faith is a lie and that Christians are placing their hopes in something that will ultimately disappoint. Paul has already made the point that Christianity really is a false hope IF Christ did not rise from the dead. If Christ did not rise then the Gospel is a lie and there is nothing on which to place our hopes for the future. But if Christ has been raised from the dead, then placing our hope in Christ IS a reasonable thing to do and we are not going to be disappointed if it is true that He was raised.

Those who hope in the Lord will NOT be disappointed in the end, unlike those who place their hopes in the things or people of this World. Christians believe that things are going to get better.

Christ is going to come again and death itself will die. There will be a New Creation and God Himself will dwell with His people forever. We will inherit eternal life. Our hope is the anticipation of a great change that is coming. The most personal aspect of this change will be the change in our bodies. For those who believe in Christ this change will be the fulfillment of all their hopes. We will be forever with the Lord. Hope is like the feeling seen in a young child who is waiting at the window, perhaps standing on her tiptoes, straining to see her daddy pull into the driveway. She looks forward to running into his arms and being caught up in love and affection. We are waiting with eager anticipation to be caught up in the arms of our Savior and Bridegroom. That is Christian hope. Our hope is in a person who will come for us. We are waiting for Jesus. Jesus will bring with Him all of the other things that we are longing and hoping for, including these resurrection bodies, but the main thing is to see Christ.

We will be changed by that vision into an immortal creature of such glory it would probably be unbearable if we were to see ourselves now in that state. We will be like Him for we will see Him as He is, and that is a purifying hope even now as we are waiting for that day to come (See 1 John 3.2-3).

So we have been trying to understand the nature of Christian hope. It is not wishful thinking or blind optimism in human progress. It is faith looking forward into the future, being based firmly on God’s word and character. And hope is the anticipation that things will get better.

Things will change and we greatly desire this change, especially the end of death and the immortality of a resurrection body. Those who hope in the Lord will not be disappointed because Christ has risen from the dead and will come again to bring the fulfillment of our hope.

We need to think further about the ground or the reason for this hope that we have in Christ. I have hinted at this already. Hope has to have a reasonable foundation or it is nothing but wishful thinking or a false hope that is based on a lie.

Now please understand that I am not saying that Christian faith must be reasonable according to a purely human logic or according to the standards put down by the wisdom of the world. If we apply human reasoning to the Gospel it becomes foolishness because the world’s wisdom begins and ends with man and cannot take us any farther than that. But there is a certain reason or logic to faith and to the hope that springs from faith. If we begin our reasoning process by contemplating the power of God then our hope in the resurrection becomes quite reasonable. I think Paul has implicitly been doing this kind of reasoning through this chapter in Corinthians. Some of the Corinthians were in error because they did not know God and this made the hope of the resurrection unreasonable to them. But with God all things are possible! The God who made the world with all of its complexity and mystery can certainly make a New Creation and can also make new bodies for us to live in His New Creation.

The first reason or basis for our hope is the Gospel. That is how Paul began this chapter, by going back and rehearsing the simple facts of the Gospel: Christ died. Christ was buried. Christ was raised. This is the starting point and the bedrock upon which our hope is built.

What is the Gospel? It is the message about what God has done in Christ to redeem us from sin and death. All the heavy lifting has been done. The Gospel is a report about certain facts that have actually happened in our world. In this way Christianity differs from an ideology, a philosophy, and even a religion. An ideology is an idea about how the world SHOULD be and perhaps how to change it. A philosophy is an idea about how the world works. A religion is about what we can do to change ourselves. The Gospel is none of those things. The Gospel is simply the message about how Christ has won the victory against all of our significant enemies and that one day He will return to consummate this victory. The only thing that is left to us is to make sure that we are on the winning side.

I was not alive to witness this, but I have heard stories about the wild jubilation that overcame Americans when it was announced that the Second World War had ended -- first on VE Day and then on VJ Day. (Victory in Europe and Victory over Japan, respectively.) On receiving this good news the nation could have hope that things were going to change and were going to get better for everyone concerned because all the death and fear of war had passed and victory had been obtained. Of course, there was a high price for this victory. But even those who were not directly involved in paying this price were still going to benefit from the victory and could therefore rejoice and be glad.

The same is true of the Gospel. In this case, Jesus paid the price for the defeat of our enemy, which was death, and all of us get to reap the benefits of His victory, both now and especially in the future when He comes again. The Christian life here and now is really just beginning to appropriate the victory that Jesus won. But there is much more to come in the future, and that is our hope of the resurrection.

That leads me to the second aspect of the ground or basis for our hope: the coming of the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God has to do with God’s purpose or will being accomplished in the earth so that what was once out of harmony, or alienated, is brought back into union with God. Now there is a sense in which the Kingdom has already come. But it is still coming. The plan has not yet been completed in which all things will finally be in perfect union and harmony with God the Father.

We know that Christ has risen and is reigning in heaven. But only when He comes again from heaven and death is finally put away for good will the Kingdom of God have come in all its glorious fullness. And earth and heaven will be one, all things being brought together in Christ (See Eph. 1.10). At that time anything that is not reconciled to God will have to be put away for good, including death, the last enemy to be destroyed.

The book of Revelation gives us that final act in the drama of redemption in this apocalyptic imagery:

“Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire” (Revelation 20:11-15).

That passage in Revelation is saying in apocalyptic imagery the same thing that Paul is saying in our text. But Paul is saying it from the perspective of the redeemed and the victory that we will experience at the resurrection of the dead.

We have already submitted ourselves to God’s plan and have already become a part of His Kingdom that keeps on coming. So when it comes in all its fullness that will be glory for us. So while we believe the Kingdom has already started, we also have hope that there is much more to come. We have only seen the first-fruits of the Kingdom of God.

The third basis for our hope is the coming of Christ. I have already made this point. Christians are waiting for Jesus to come again. Our hope is in Christ. When He comes He will usher in the fullness of the Kingdom of God. His command will cause the dead to rise and death itself to become void. When Jesus comes we will be changed from mortal to immortal and the earth itself will also be changed, the present heavens and earth passing away and a new world emerging. All of these things will happen when Jesus comes again. So it is the coming of Christ that will fulfill all of our hopes. Jesus Himself spoke of the events that the Apostle Paul is expounding in my text: “an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment” (John 5:28-29).

When the New Testament speaks about the end of time, or what theologians call eschatology, the main feature is the coming of Christ. This does not mean that the other events associated with the end of time are unimportant. But these other events take on their significance because of the One who is coming to bring the history of the world to an appropriate conclusion.

But today it seems that the whole focus of eschatology, at least in Evangelical circles, is on the other events associated with the end times rather than on the coming of Christ Himself. You seem to hear more emphasis, for example, on the coming of the Antichrist than on the coming of Christ! This has to be wrong because this is not the emphasis of the New Testament. And if we are not careful we can allow a wrong emphasis to rob us of our hope.

The coming of Christ is designed to cause hope and anticipation to flame up in our hearts. But many people do not have hope flaming up in their hearts when they think about the end times. Many people actually have fear, which is the very opposite of hope and the antithesis of the purpose of the Gospel! If we think about the end of time and are unsettled and afraid then we need to go back and reconsider the meaning of the Gospel. The salvation promised in the Gospel will not be complete until Jesus comes. In this hope we have been saved and are being saved (See Rom. 8.23-25).

We have tried to define the meaning of hope and the basis or reason for our hope. But these considerations could be merely academic unless we consider what hope can do for us now. Hope is looking toward the future and anticipating something that has not yet happened and that we have not yet received. But does that make hope irrelevant to our lives now? Many Christians seem to think so, because this whole subject of the resurrection of the dead seems to be ignored today. People seem to be blind to the connection between this future hope and our lives now, as if there are aspects of the Gospel that are irrelevant. But we cannot live without hope. People who don’t have hope either despair of life completely and give up, or they become completely devoted to pleasure in an attempt to get all they can now before their eventual and inevitable demise. Neither of these options are open to the Christian.

So how can we apply hope to our present situation? Or, how does hope help us live as Christians now, even in this present, evil world?

First, we must apply the hope of future victory in Christ to the reality of death. What I mean is that unless we are alive when the Lord returns and are simply changed without having to suffer death, we will all have to face the eventual demise of our earthly vessels, our bodies, and also the death of our loved ones. How we respond to this reality is the real test of our faith in the Gospel and our hope. It may be easy to name the name of Christ when we are in relative ease and comfort and the leaves of the tree are green. But the seasons of life change. Death is the great robber of men’s hopes. Every hope that we have in this world will eventually be taken from us by death. And it might seem hard to think about, but God is the one who has declared this to be. That is because God did not intend for our hopes to be realized apart from Him. Adam’s race is doomed to die. There is no hope in Adam. Every hope that is anchored in Adam and this present order are doomed to disappointment. We must look beyond Adam and this world to Christ and the Kingdom of God to have any hope beyond death. Only when death is destroyed and we are clothed in immortality will our hope be realized.

Secondly, we must apply our hope to facing opposition.We live in a world that is opposed to God and opposed to faith and hope. Having faith and hope in this world is like trying to climb a mountain or swim upstream against a fierce current. When we do encounter any kind of opposition we must have a strong hope that in the future things will be different and that this present conflict and suffering will not last. Unless we have this strong hope we will eventually despair and give up. If we have no reason for hope, then there is no reason to continue to face opposition for Christ. Why suffer if no hope?

Finally, we must apply our hope to facing times of discouragement.The first thing I would say about this is that every believer can become discouraged. The important thing is what we do with this discouragement. But think about why we get discouraged. We might feel like what we are doing is futile or insignificant. But this fails to take into consideration that the victory is not won through what we do, but through what Christ has done and what He will do in the future. As long as my main focus is what I am doing, then I have a reason for discouragement because my work will never be enough. If I focus on Christ and the Gospel then it becomes impossible to be discouraged because the victory is already mine and my future is also secure! I still have to fight the good fight of faith. But my fight will be effective because Christ has already secured the victory and the future is not in doubt.

Now we can summarize and conclude. Christian hope is not just otherworldly wishful thinking. The most powerful incentive for living is found in the hope of the resurrection. Because the final victory is sure there is really nothing for us to fear in this life, not even our own death. Nothing can hurt the believer and so he is free to give himself completely to the work of the Lord.

In this life we are surrounded by the old order, which is still dominated by sin and death. There are always reasons for us to give up in despair or to be afraid. But if the resurrection of the dead is true then there is really nothing for us to fear. If death is defeated then what other enemy can hurt us?

This is how we must reason so that we will not become distracted from the work of the Lord and give up. The only question that remains is whether or not we really believe in the resurrection of the dead.

Series: The Resurrection of the Dead (1 Corinthians 15)

The Nature of the Resurrection Body (Part 2)

1 Corinthians 15.42-49

Introduction

A Summary of the Argument

At this point in his treatment of the subject of the resurrection of the dead Paul is exploring the nature of the resurrection body. What will the resurrection body be like? Or, what kind of body will be raised? At first Paul seems to regard this question as foolish, perhaps because he knew the Corinthians and their doubts. Rather than believing the Gospel and what Paul himself had preached, some of the Corinthians had scoffed at the idea of a bodily resurrection. The Jews believed in the resurrection of the body. The Gospel declares that this resurrection of the dead has already begun in Jesus, who is the first-fruits from the dead. Even if the Corinthians were asking skeptical questions, Paul begins to give an answer anyway.

The first issue Paul seems to be addressing is the idea that the mortal bodies we now have will be raised from the dead. Paul dismisses this possibility. Using the metaphor of a seed that is planted, Paul makes it clear that these mortal bodies must pass away and that something new and different will emerge. No one has to worry about being trapped perpetually in a mortal and corruptible body.

The fact that there is a different kind of body coming at the resurrection should not surprise anyone who knows the creative power of God. God has created all kinds of bodies, even in this creation, and so He is perfectly capable of creating a new kind of body for His people at the resurrection.

The thing to grasp from the first part of Paul’s explanation of the nature of the resurrection body is that it is a different kind of body from these mortal bodies we now have. Having established this, Paul will then go on to further develop this thought. He will present a series of comparisons and contrasts between our mortal bodies and the new bodies of the resurrection. Sometimes the best way to learn about something is through a kind of comparison so that we see how two things are both alike and perhaps also very different from each other.

To be sure, the resurrection body is a body. But it is not the kind of body we now have.

The Relevance of the Resurrection 

A modern audience might wonder if raising this subject is even necessary. In our anti-intellectual Age most people do not like to read or hear a disputation and an argument. Furthermore, whatever the resurrection body will be like, this is something that is in the future. At this point we are still in our mortal bodies. So why not talk about something that we can apply immediately? Paul seems to be dogmatic, or insisting that the Corinthians believe something specific about the resurrection body. This kind of dogmatism is unappealing to the modern mind that values freedom of thought and opinion. Why not just let the issue alone or allow the Corinthians to form their own thoughts and opinions on the matter? There are few reasons why Paul considers this an important subject: 1.) the resurrection is a key component of the Gospel, which in turn is the very foundation of the Christian Faith. Get this wrong and you may not be a Christian anymore! 2.) This doctrine of the resurrection is the hope of the believer. We cannot live without hope. 3.) The implication of the resurrection is the Day of Judgement.

Two Different Bodies

Perishable vs. Imperishable

Paul is making the point that the resurrection body will not be like the bodies we have now. He has already introduced this comparison and is now developing this thought even further. In nature we see that there are different kinds of bodies. So it should not surprise anyone that God can create a new kind of body at the resurrection. The idea of these same, old bodies coming back may not be very attractive to us. But getting a whole new kind of body is something we can look forward to! The first set of contrasts is between the perishable and the imperishable. The bodies we have now are perishable. The resurrection body will be imperishable. Now this is perhaps the foundational thought in this entire passage.

Death is going to be destroyed. Jesus Himself has already risen from the dead and is a little glimpse of what is to come. So it should be obvious that when death is destroyed and the dead are raised there will be no more dying after that point. Our bodies are now in a continual state of perishing. We are all in the process of death. “All flesh is grass.” This truth is so obvious to everyone that it really needs no further proofs. Everyone can see that we are dying, even if we prefer not to talk about it. The Bible continually reminds us of our eventual demise, probably because pride makes us forget it. Consider what Moses said in Psalm 90: “For all our days pass away under your wrath; we bring our years to an end like a sigh. The years of our life are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty; yet their span is but toil and trouble; they are soon gone, and we fly away” (Psalm 90:9-10). What is our “life expectancy?” If we avoid some kind of untimely end we can probably expect about 80 good years, on average! We may live longer than that, but there is a very good chance that these years will be difficult because of the degeneration of the body. In Western countries life expectancy has risen in recent years. But much of these years are spent with illness and the frailties of old age. I do not say these things to cause morbidity or depression! We should remember our frailty and the brevity of life so we do not waste our time. Our main job here is to prepare for eternity.

The resurrection body will not be subject to death or to aging. It will be imperishable. It will never be sick and it will never degenerate. Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, but Lazarus eventually had to die a second time! That is because Lazarus was raised in the same body in which he had passed away previously. But that will not be the case at the resurrection! When Jesus was raised from the dead He was no longer subject to death. We will one day be like our Lord in this respect. When we have those imperishable bodies then we will have the fullness of eternal life and we will be more “alive” than we have ever been!

Dishonor vs. Glory

The second contrast is between dishonor and glory. The body we have now we will have to lay in the grave in a state of dishonor. I think that the dishonorable part is what happens to the body in death. Anyone who has seen a corpse has a natural revulsion to it, especially if there is an advanced state of decay. Death is not pretty, even though we go to a lot of effort to cover this fact. What death does to our bodies is something that we don’t want to see and so we have to dispose of the dead body quickly. This is something that makes the passing of our loved ones especially hard to experience. The resurrection body will not have any of the dishonorable marks of death upon it! I have no doubt that the resurrection body will be so beautiful and amazing that if we were to see ourselves now as we will be we would probably not be able to stand it. When John saw Christ on the isle of Patmos he was not able to bear the sight of the glorified body of the Lord. These mortal bodies are certainly not glorious like that!

Weakness vs. Power

The third comparison between the body we now have and the resurrection body is that of weakness versus power. The bodies we now have are weak. The resurrection body will be one of power. The weakness that Paul is referencing has to do primarily with mortality. Our bodies are weak because these bodies are mortal. The mortal body is subject to both sickness and injury, both of which are liabilities, either of which can lead to death. As we age our bodies become weaker and even more subject to sickness and injury. But even during our youth and the prime of life the body can prove to be weak. Even young people get sick and injured. And we are never guaranteed a long life. Many people die while they are relatively young. Our bodies are also weak in that we have certain limitations. We get hungry and we have to stop what we are doing and feed our bodies. We also get tired and have to rest and go to sleep. Think of all the time we would have if we did not get tired or hungry!

Perhaps God has given us these limitations in the body just to keep us humble and remind us that we are dependent and cannot do just anything that we might want to do. The weakness of the body is one way that God has set limits for the wickedness of men. How wicked would men be if they had no fear of injury or death? We usually think of a strong, healthy body and a long life as a blessing. But it could also be an opportunity for wickedness. Many people use their bodies for wicked purposes. If wicked men had greater power in their bodies this would increase their wickedness and would possibly make human life intolerable. Remember that our bodies are vessels or instruments. Our bodies are utilitarian and are designed to be used to do something. Righteous people offer their bodies to God as instruments of righteousness. Wicked people pervert the purpose of their bodies and live for their own pleasure. The righteous may be frustrated that their bodies have limitations because they would do even more to serve God. The wicked may be frustrated because they cannot enjoy themselves without some limitations.

The resurrection body will be perfectly designed for the righteous in that we will have the power to serve the Lord and be in His presence without any of the hindrances of mortality. The resurrection body will serve us perfectly as we serve God according to our desires. Part of the power of the resurrection body will no doubt be somehow connected to our authority over the New Creation. The world in which we live is not under our power and is actually dangerous to our bodies. But this will not be the case in the New Creation. Our bodies and the environment itself will all be subject to us! But as we consider the limitations of our mortal bodies we must also learn to depend on the power of the Holy Spirit, who dwells in our mortal bodies, and helps us to put to death the sin in our members and use even our mortal bodies to serve God. The Holy Spirit is helping us to get ready to inhabit our new bodies!

Natural vs. Spiritual

The final comparison between our mortal bodies and the resurrection body is that of the natural versus the spiritual. This comparison will continue to be important as Paul’s argument continues to be developed. There is a natural body and there will be a spiritual body. This comparison may be more difficult to grasp than the previous ones. To understand these terms we must think of them as two different orders or worlds. The natural order is everything associated with this creation. The spiritual is a different order. Our bodies belong to this world and are therefore part of the natural. The resurrection body will be of a different order. Note that there is such a thing as a spiritual body. Most people think of something spiritual as being immaterial or without a physical body. But Paul puts the two things together: a spiritual body. We are not looking forward to being bodiless spirits. We will have bodies, but these bodies will be of a spiritual order. The point that Paul is making is that the resurrection body will be far superior to the natural body. The spiritual order is superior to the natural order.

Two Different Humanities

The First Man and His Legacy

Up to this point Paul has been comparing and contrasting two different kinds of bodies: the mortal bodies we have now and the spiritual bodies we will have at the resurrection of the dead. Paul will continue to make a comparison between two different orders or sources: Adam and Christ. The natural bodies we now have come from the order of Adam, the Father of the Human Race. (Eve is included because she and Adam were one flesh.) The spiritual bodies we will have at the Resurrection can be traced to Jesus Christ.

So there are two different humanities: the humanity that sprang from Adam and the new humanity that comes from Christ. (To see the foundation of Paul’s argument here in Corinthians it is wise to be familiar with Romans 5.12-21.) Every person came from Adam and so we all are like Adam. Adam fell because of transgression and became a sinner. We have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Adam died. All of us will eventually die. We cannot rise above Adam because we are his children and we all are made in his likeness. This included having a natural body that will eventually die. God made Adam from the earth. After he had sinned God told Adam that he would return to the earth from whence he came. In other words, his body would die and then decay back into its essential elements. All of us will follow in the footsteps of our father Adam. There is no possibility that anyone who belongs to Adam’s race will be something other than what Adam was. We possess all of the characteristics of Adam. This is what it means to be human. Essentially the Bible is teaching us that to be human means to be under the sentence of death. Every human being is born to die. There is no way to escape this destiny. Adam’s legacy is death.

Now we must remember that it was God Himself who imposed this sentence of death. Adam was not created to die. The sentence of death has been imposed on Adam and his children. Actually, all of creation is under the sentence of death. How will this curse of death be lifted from humanity? Is there any hope?

The Second Man and His Legacy

Jesus is the Second Man, or the last Adam. In other words, God started over in Christ. Adam brought death into the world. Christ brought eternal life and the hope of the resurrection of the dead. The resurrection of Jesus Himself from the dead is the proof that He is the source of this eternal life. As Jesus is so shall we be. Now it is important to remember that Paul is really indicating that every person who has died will be raised at the end of time. Both believers and unbelievers will be raised with immortal resurrection bodies. The wicked will be cast into Hell in these bodies, bodies that can never die, be destroyed, or give them any form of pleasure. But that is not Paul’s focus here. Paul’s focus is on the glorious destiny of the children of God.

Every believer in Christ has been like Adam. We have all sinned and our natural bodies are subject to death. But when we were born again there was an inner, spiritual transformation. Unfortunately, our bodies were not transformed. Christians still carry this old, dying, body we got from Adam. The good news is that these bodies will eventually be redeemed just like our inner selves have already been regenerated. Christ saved our souls and He will eventually save our bodies too! When our redeemed spirits are linked up to our redeemed bodies there will be a glorious wholeness and freedom that we struggle to even comprehend. We were saved in order to one day move into that heavenly, spiritual body that is waiting for us (See 2 Cor. 5.1-5).

When Jesus rose from the dead He defeated death for every man. The whole human race will rise from the dead. But only the believer in Christ will truly be prepared for what this resurrection will mean. Let’s get ready for that day!

We are Image-bearers

We have all been like Adam. This point has already been established. It is interesting here that Paul does not make any reference to man being made in the image of God. Instead, he says we are in the image of Adam. While the image of God in man has not been erased, sin has certainly caused man to fall short of the perfection of God’s image. We are much closer to Adam’s image than to God’s image. In fact, the very thing that Adam’s children are lacking is the Divine life. We have a natural, or biological life, but we do not have eternal, or Divine-kind of life. Natural life is under the curse of death and is always in the process of decay and corruption. Natural life simply runs out, like a battery that gradually loses its charge and power. But spiritual life, or the Divine life, is eternal and never runs out or becomes weaker. When Adam sinned and the way to the Tree of Life was blocked, this Divine source of life was removed from man and he became mortal. The only way back to the Tree of Life, or the source of a Divine, eternal kind of life, is Christ.

Jesus is Himself the source of life from God. To have Christ is to have the very life of God infused into our own souls so that we become a new kind of creature. This new creature is created after the image of Christ Himself. Instead of reflecting the image of Adam we now come to bear the image of Christ. It should be noted here that God’s purpose is not simply to restore what was lost in Adam. God’s purpose is for us to become part of an entirely new order, or new creation, in Christ. Christ is the first of a new creation, a new race of men. And Jesus had a body. So if we are being made into the likeness of Jesus we can expect to have bodies also, bodies that are like Christ’s glorious resurrection body (See Phil. 3.20-21). We get just a few glimpses of the nature of Christ’s resurrection body.

There are two important episodes in the New Testament that teach us a little about the resurrection body by the example of Christ Himself. The first episode is the Ascension of Christ. It is significant that after His resurrection Jesus ascended into heaven and did not remain on the earth. It is as if Christ no longer belonged in this world. He had to go back to heaven because He now belonged to another world. The fact that His disciples even saw Him at all is something of a miracle and required a kind of Divine revelation. With His resurrection body Christ was able to ascend into heaven and be received into the very presence of God, something that these mortal bodies could never endure. The second scene is John on the Isle of Patmos in the book of Revelation. When John sees Christ the vision is so glorious that John can hardly stand it. This is Jesus in all of His glory in heaven as He reigns over this world. The days of Christ’s humility in an earthly body are over. The next time the world sees Jesus He will be coming in power and great glory. The saints are going to be raised from the dead to share in Christ’s glory and to reign with Him over the New Creation.

The Future of the Human Race

Christ in His glorious resurrection and ascension is a little glimpse of the future of the human race. Adam’s race will come to an end. Only those who belong to the New Humanity in Christ will have a future at all. This is why it is essential that everyone should be in Christ. Only Christ’s people have a future. We have all belonged to Adam but we must belong to Christ or we will perish along with the rest of Adam’s race, which is perishing already. The only hope for the human race is Christ. To be saved we must become something more than human. Salvation is really about the sharing of the Divine life with man. If we get close enough to Christ, and if we are spiritually united with Him, He will infuse us with His own, Divine, eternal life. Even though our mortal bodies are running out of life, there will be a part of us that can never die. Jesus said “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die” (John 11:25-26). Those in Christ have this hope: even though our bodies will die we can never really die but will rise again!

Conclusion

Our Hope is not in this World

The reality of death should make us think about the implications of the fact that our lives here are not permanent. If this life is not permanent then we should not think that this life is the most important part of our existence. While we certainly have to live and there are certain things that we need in order to subsist, we should not think that those things that keep our lives in this world going are themselves the main point of life. We may need food to eat in order to live, but is anyone willing to argue that eating food is the reason we live? We may need to work in order to live, but should we think that our work is the reason why we are alive? Confusing the substance of life with the reason for life is such a common human problem that Jesus addressed it directly: “Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matthew 6:31-33). Why should we spend all of our time, energy, and thought on a body and a life that is eventually going to run down and pass away? This certainly does not mean that life is without meaning.

But, oddly enough, the meaning of life is not found in the things that sustain that life but in something outside of it and beyond it completely. Even if we were to get everything we could want eventually our lives will end and all of those things that we had amassed would be left behind. But the human race continues to ignore this simply truth. Because of death our hope can never be connected to this world. Our hope must come from outside. We live in a generation that has no hope outside of this life. This is not because there is no hope. It is because where there is no faith there can be no hope. Christians are not to live like the pagans who have no hope. We live in hope that there will be a resurrection and we die in that hope as well. The best this world has to offer is nothing but dust blowing away with the wind.

The Illusion of the Good Life

The world simply fails to come to terms with certain realities of life. Most people live under a kind of half-conscious dream or illusion. In fact, we even have something called the “American Dream.” What is that? It is the belief that we can make our lives better and better by amassing possessions, economic security, and a good job, and then enjoying ourselves with what we have gained. For most people in our culture, and in many other places in the world, this is what gives life meaning. And when these things cannot be had, or when these things are taken away, then life ceases to have meaning.

There is not only a political dimension to the pursuit of the good life, there is also a religious version of this illusion. The religious version may be harder to debunk. People are told that God wants us to be happy and to have a good life. We think we already know what happiness means and what the good life is, so we certainly want to enlist the help of a powerful Deity who will grant us all our wishes. In its more obvious forms it is called the Prosperity Gospel or Health & Wealth. But that is not its only form. It is also in the form of this misguided patriotism that sees the United States as a nation favored by God. And if we will just enact the right policies then God will bless us and give us what we want. The illusion of the good life is found in Christian clothes in the form of the perfect family life and domestic tranquility.

All of these things are like a mirage in the Sahara which can disappear as quickly as it appears. These things that we want seem to be real and what life is all about. But having all our hopes set on these earthly things is bound to disappoint. The world cannot deliver what we are really seeking. Real life comes from God.

Series: The Resurrection of the Dead (1 Corinthians 15)

The Nature of the Resurrection Body (Part 1)

1 Cor. 15.35-41

Paul knew there were people in the Church at Corinth who did not believe in the resurrection of the body. So Paul argues that if this were true, then Christ Himself has not been raised. This means that the whole of the Christian faith and the preaching of the Gospel is a giant lie. But the fact that Christ Himself was raised means that all of the dead will eventually be raised. This will happen when Christ comes again from heaven where He is now reigning. Everything has been made subject to Christ, including death itself. So Christians live in hope. If there is no hope of the resurrection then living as a Christian, which includes suffering for Christ and denying sinful pleasures, makes no sense.

If there is no resurrection then we might as well just live for the pleasures of this life. Some of the Christians at Corinth were doing that because they were ignorant. Paul would not tolerate this situation at Corinth.

The next section of Paul’s argument will get to the heart of this hope of the resurrection. Believers in Christ can look forward to having new bodies. (Actually, all of the dead will be raised in new bodies but Paul is discussing the hope of believers not the fate of unbelievers.) So Paul will now discuss the details of the resurrection body and continue to answer some of the objections those at Corinth might have had to this doctrine. Paul will also touch on what will happen at the end to those who are alive when Christ comes.

Paul’s first concern is to answer those who had questions and objections about what kind of body will be given to those who are raised. Apparently there had been some misunderstanding. The confusion about the precise nature of the resurrection body seems to have given an opportunity for some to scoff at the idea. So to explain the nature of the resurrection body Paul will use a series of analogies from nature. Paul is making a comparison and contrast here between the bodies we have now and the resurrection bodies we will have then. Paul does not want there to be any confusion about this matter because this can create an opportunity for unbelief and a corresponding loss of hope.

Paul was given a lot of revelation concerning the resurrection of the dead and the resurrection body. These details had not previously been revealed. The Jews did have the hope of the resurrection at the end of time. But it was the resurrection of Jesus that brought life and immortality to light (2 Tim. 1.10). The surprising thing about the Gospel for the Jews was that the resurrection of the dead had commenced with the resurrection of Jesus. But the Gentiles had no hope of the resurrection at all. I think this is why Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles, was given some special insight into the resurrection of the dead. To be ignorant of the resurrection of the dead is to have no hope beyond this life.

Paul mentions the resurrection of the dead in his letter to the Thessalonians (See 1 Thess. 4.13-18). But that was not a full treatment of the subject as in this letter to the Corinthians. This is because the situation was different in Corinth and it called for a more thorough treatment of the subject. But in both contexts the concern that Paul had was that believers should have hope beyond this life. We can’t live without hope.

We are living in a generation that has lost hope. Most people live for the here and now as if there is nothing beyond this life and this world. Most people live for pleasure which is just a cover for a deep fear and despair.

People dive into sin because they do not believe that they will be held accountable for it. In the Church there is a lot of ignorance about the resurrection of the dead. Most teaching about eschatology and the coming of the Lord focuses on peripheral issues like the coming of the Antichrist. What is often generated in the Church is not hope but fear of the future, which is completely antithetical to the Gospel and to Paul’s purpose in expounding this doctrine.

The Gospel is designed to give us hope so that we will live correctly in this world. Doctrine always impacts living. Refusing to believe the Gospel is the beginning of a downward spiral into sin and, ultimately, despair.

A Foolish Question

Our text seems like an innocent question, which I believe was not innocent at all: “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?” It is usually difficult to hear the tone of a question in print. But Paul’s response to this question should tip us off: “You foolish person!” People today might think Paul is being rude here. But he is taking on this problem in Corinth head-on. This question was asked in unbelief with even a mocking and arrogant attitude.

We must remember that Paul is addressing people INSIDE the Church at Corinth, not the secular unbeliever. We might excuse this kind of foolish question from someone on the outside. Paul got a similar response when he preached the resurrection to the philosophers on Mars Hill in Athens. But to encounter this kind of unbelief in the Church is another matter and Paul does not let this go.

Paul was very direct with these skeptics in the Church at Corinth because this kind of unbelief is completely inappropriate for people who claim to be Christians. Christians are called “Believers” in the New Testament. Faith should be the first response of Believers. I do not mean to imply that having faith means having a perfect understanding of all things. It is possible to believe something without full understanding. If this were not the case I don’t think anyone could even be a Christian at all since there are many aspects of the Faith that elude perfect understanding yet we believe to be true. But a refusal to accept the truth is completely wrong. When we hear the truth we must accept it. The Gospel is a report that is to be believed and accepted.

Jesus rebuked His disciples when they did not believe that He had been raised from the dead. They had heard the report of His resurrection from the women who had first seen Him. Then there was Thomas who refused to take anyone’s word for it but had to experience seeing the resurrected Christ Himself. But Thomas was not blessed by the Lord for his skepticism. Those who believe without seeing are blessed (See John 20.29).

Jesus also rebuked the Sadducees when they came to him with a question about the resurrection of the dead (Matt. 22.23-32). But the Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection! They were not asking because they wanted to know the truth. They were asking in unbelief in order to try to catch Jesus in his words. And Jesus told them “you know neither the Scripture nor the power of God.” Jesus’ answer to their question then revealed just how ignorant and unbelieving the Sadducees really were. And nobody wanted to ask Jesus any more foolish questions!

Now some people would contend that a little doubt and skepticism can be healthy. After all, we don’t want to just believe everything we hear. Discernment is a necessary thing. But just as we can’t believe everything we hear, neither should we be skeptical of everything. At some point we have to doubt our doubts and believe. The person who persists in doubt after having heard the truth is unstable and double-minded (James 1.6-8). That person will not receive anything good from the Lord.

Others might contend that there must be some freedom of opinion in the Church. Some Christians believe a particular doctrine but another group might have a different interpretation. Should we not be free to have different interpretations and still be Christians? But let’s not confuse those disputable matters on which we are free to maintain a good conscience and those matters which are the pillars of the Christian Faith. There are some truths that are not open to interpretation but must be believed. The resurrection is perhaps the most important pillar of the Faith. There can be no group of Christians who are free to reject or reinterpret the resurrection. That would be tantamount to overthrowing the Faith. Those who reject the Foundation are not building the same thing that Christ is building.

So some foolish questions can come from skepticism or unbelief. There are also foolish questions that come from spiritual slackness or laziness. Jesus and the Apostles were probably not as patient as some people think. Jesus expected His disciples to believe and understand and He rebuked them when they were “slow of heart.” Understanding is traced to the heart, not the intellect. If the heart is set right the mind will follow.

But most of us manage to do what we want to do. If someone really wants to understand the things of God, there is nothing in heaven or on earth that can ultimately stop that from happening. We are limited only by our affections. Some people do not understand the Scriptures because they are not really trying to understand. Paul clearly expected more from the Corinthians.

A Profound Answer

In spite of the skepticism and spiritual lethargy of the Christians at Corinth, Paul is giving them an answer to their questions. This does speak to the patience of the Spirit of God. The Church at Corinth had not yet been written off. Paul is going to answer this question: “With what kind of body do they come?” That is, what will the resurrection body be like?

What may have been in the mind of some of the Corinthians was that Paul was teaching that these same mortal bodies would be raised back to life, along with all our weaknesses and infirmities. Perhaps some might even picture a kind of living death in which we are trapped in bodies that are subject to corruption. Why would we want these mortal bodies to be raised to life again?

Remember that the Greeks thought of the body as a liability that needed to be removed so that the immortal soul could be free from its prison. Without any other revelation to consider, this view does seem logical. Why would we want to live forever in these mortal coils? That is a legitimate concern and question. And Paul will address that concern directly in this text.

To do so Paul utilizes several analogies to objects in nature. Nature can teach us something about the resurrection.

The Power of the Creator seen in Creation

The created order declares the glory of God. That is, nature has the fingerprints of God all over it. By what is created men should know that there is a Creator. Creation has been cursed by the Creator and subjected to the futility of corruption and death, yet it still is evidence of the Divine Power (Rom 1.18-23).

The revelation of the glory of God in creation is inferior to the special revelation in Scripture and especially in the Gospel. But if creation does show God’s glory we would expect it to be consistent with everything else God has revealed in His written Word. The natural world can teach us spiritual principles, or laws, about how the Kingdom of God operates. The natural is a window into the spiritual and this creation anticipates the New Creation, which is already being born. If God can turn a caterpillar into a butterfly then He can make us into new creatures (2 Cor. 5.17)!

The created world tells us something about the power of God. Creation itself is powerful. When Job thought he could question God’s rule, God challenged Job to first try to figure out and manage the mysteries of the natural world (See Job 38-39). If Mother Nature is powerful and mysterious, what does that teach us about her Creator? Consider the power of the wind, which Scripture uses to teach us about the power of the Spirit of God. Consider the sheer size of the universe and see if you don’t feel insignificant! “When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him” (Psalm 8:3-4)? And what kind of God could create a Great White Shark? Creation is so powerful that we are easily overcome by it when it is pitted against us. We do not rule this creation. And if creation is powerful, so powerful we cannot control it, how much more powerful is the Divine Power that put that power in the natural world? If God has this kind of power, is it too hard to believe that He can raise the dead and give them new bodies?

Those who doubted the resurrection of the dead were doubting the power of the God who created everything and upholds it by the Word of His Power. Is anything too hard for the Lord? We live in a universe that is filled with the glory of God. And in this universe anything is possible, even the raising of the dead. In fact, God seems to especially enjoy surprising us with His power and doing what is impossible for men to do.

A Lesson from Seeds

The illustration that Paul chooses is from the cultivation of seeds, like that of wheat or some other type of grain. The planting of a seed and the growth of that seed is a picture of the resurrection of the body. (The cultivation of a seed happens within the normal course and framework of nature. Even in a cursed world seeds will sprout and grow, given the right circumstances. But this is not true of the resurrection of the dead. Resurrection is not a part of the normal course of nature. In a cursed world people die and they are not resurrected. The resurrection of Jesus was a Divine interruption in the normal course of nature and a glimpse of what is to come.)

When a seed is planted in the ground it has to die first before anything can come from it. Our mortal bodies are going to pass away. Unless we are alive when the Lord comes, our bodies must die and then pass away through corruption and decay. When that seed is planted it is gone for good.

When our bodies die that physical form is gone for good. It must pass away just like the heavens and earth must also pass away. This entire created order must pass away. That includes our physical bodies that we now have. The seed that is planted in the ground dies and passes away in the process of becoming something else.

The whole concept of Christian burial is based on this metaphor of the sowing of a seed. The Jews also buried the bodies of the dead. When a farmer sows a seed he always does so in hope of the harvest. Likewise, Christians bury their dead in the hope of a resurrection. The practice of cremation was originally a pagan one where there was no hope.

The seed that is sown in the ground is not what comes up. The body that dies and is buried in the ground is not the body that will rise at the resurrection. The seed passes away and something new and different emerges. The thing that comes from the seed is quite different from the seed itself. The seed is rather unimpressive compared to what comes from it when it dies. The seed from which a rose emerges is so unlike the beauty of the flower that it may be impossible to convince a skeptic that what you now have in your hand is actually the beginnings of a rose. In some strange and mysterious act of creative power God put the blueprint of a rose inside its seed. But when the rose emerges the original form of the seed has passed away.

What Paul is trying to clarify is that this mortal body is not going to be raised again with all of its weaknesses. Consider how frail we are! We are wonderfully made. But how easy it is for these mortal bodies to get sick, injured, or die. Some people worship the human body. But it is really quite weak and unimpressive, even if you are Mr. Universe or Miss USA! Not only do we worship the body, we also worship youth. But our bodies are subject to corruption, which is the aging process. What looks good now may be sagging in a few years! Thank God this body is not going to be raised at the resurrection of the dead!

So what body will come up at the resurrection? It is hard to tell just by looking at a seed what might come up, unless you happen to know what the seed is. God has already determined that certain kinds of seeds produce certain kinds of plants. If you plant a pumpkin seed you will not get a turnip! God has already determined its kind. The same is true of the resurrection body. God has already determined what our new bodies will be. We don’t know what we will be. We do know that we will be like Christ (Phil. 3.19-21).

I don’t think we have to worry about being something weird, like being reincarnated as an animal. Christians do not believe in reincarnation. Resurrection means there will be some continuity. When Jesus was raised He was still a man, but He was a glorified man. Jesus had a body when He was raised and we will also have bodies. That is the promise of God in the Gospel. That is the hope of full redemption (Rom. 8.23). We are currently groaning with anticipation for these new bodies and I know that whatever God gives us will perfectly satisfy the desires of the New Man.

Our mortal bodies are like tents in which we are waiting until we can make a move into our mansions that He has already made for us and that are waiting for us in heaven!

A Valuable Elaboration

The idea that God can raise the dead and give them new bodies should not surprise us who believe in and know the power of God. All we have to do is look at creation with all of its majesty and we are reminded of what God can do.

We may not know the exact nature of the resurrection body, but we do know that God has already prepared it for us. And we also know for certain that these mortal bodies that we now inhabit, with all of their weakness, sickness, and corruptibility will pass away. We don’t have to worry about these bodies coming back to hinder us again at the resurrection!

The fact of the resurrection does imply having a body. This hope that we have is not purely spiritual. Man was made with a body and God means to redeem the body. Our bodies are part of who we are. When Jesus died He not only purchased these poor, lowly, mortal bodies for Himself, He also secured for us a resurrection body.

But that resurrection body will not be like these bodies we now inhabit. The resurrection body is a different kind of body. Paul reminds us that there are different kinds of bodies even in nature. Animals have one kind of body. Some of them move on the land. Some swim in the sea. And others can even fly through the air in their bodies that God gave them. So God can make different kinds of bodies. There are also heavenly bodies like planets and stars. These heavenly bodies are entirely different from earthly bodies and have a greater glory. But God made them and so it should not surprise us that God can make new and different bodies for His children.

When the Scriptures use the word “new” it does not just mean that something has been reissued in its same form or simply improved. No. “New” means it is of an entirely different order. The New Man is not just a reformed or improved self. The New Man is a whole New Creation. In Christ we become a new KIND of person, not just an improved person. The same is true of the new bodies we will receive at the resurrection of the dead. We should probably not become overly concerned with what these bodies will LOOK like. There are other considerations.

We should remember that a body is not just for looks but for utility. Our bodies get us around and enable us to interact with this world. Our bodies were made to accomplish things. And God made our bodies to inhabit the world that He created. It is a good thing our bodies breathe oxygen, for example. If our lungs required something else we could not live on earth. So God made our bodies to inhabit the earth. God did not make us to fly or to live in the sea, though man has invented artificial means of doing those things. God’s original intention was for man to rule creation. This purpose has been interrupted by sin and the curse of death.

But man was made in the image of God, which means he was made to be God’s representative on earth and rule it as God’s steward. For this job God gave man a suitable body. This world is going to pass away and there will be a new heavens and a new earth. If God gave man a suitable body for this creation then we have every reason to believe that our new bodies will be perfectly suited to that New Creation. To be sure, we will have REAL bodies in which we will live in a REAL world. There is nothing completely spiritual or ethereal about the new heavens and earth or the new body. But perhaps the most important reason for the new body will be to match the New Man. Right now we are frustrated by having a New Creation in an old body. This causes all kinds of frustration and conflict and requires the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit. But these new bodies will be perfectly suited for the life of the New Man as well as life in a New World.

When God makes something new it is always superior to what is old. Perhaps the reason we have these bodies now is just to introduce us to what is to come. This world is the front porch of eternity. God has a way of preparing for what is to come. God gave the Law before He sent Christ and the New Covenant, which is a greater glory. What God has in store for us is so great it required some kind of introduction and preparation. This is just the first stage of salvation. Whatever kind of struggle and suffering we have to pass through to get to the next phase will be worth it. “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us” (Romans 8:18). A large part of that future glory will be the resurrection body.

Special Message

“The Saints are Elect according to the 

Foreknowledge of God and 

Sanctification of the Spirit”

1 Peter 1:2

Earlier in their history the people of Israel had been judged by God and sent into exile in Babylon. They learned how to live as exiles in a land that was not their home. The Apostle Peter was writing to the “elect exiles of the Dispersion.” Some translations say strangers or aliens instead of exiles. Christians are exiles and sojourners in the world (2.11). Everything that Peter writes is designed for the edification of exiles.

Peter wanted these believers to understand more fully what salvation is all about and what it meant for their lives in the world (1.3-9). Peter wanted them to see that their salvation was part of God’s eternal purpose and is therefore something certain on which they could build their lives and their hope.

These are things that exiles need to know in order to have confidence and assurance. No matter how the world treats you, you need to know that God has saved and accepted you through faith in Jesus Christ.

Peter uses three key words in this text: 1. Elect, 2. Foreknowledge, and 3. Sanctification. All three of these words are aspects of salvation.

The first two words immediately raise us up to the lofty heights of God’s eternal purpose. This is the soaring overview of salvation and sometimes the altitude can make us dizzy. But the third word, “sanctification,” may be the most practical part of the text.

Election and Foreknowledge Clarify the Source of Salvation

Both election and foreknowledge help clarify that God is the source of salvation. Salvation is from God. It did not originate with man. Salvation was conceived in the eternal mind and purpose of God, even from before the foundation of the world, and it is all to glorify Him or make Him known. Salvation is not just God responding to our needs, as if we are the center of the universe. God is the central character and principle Mover in salvation. If you are saved it is of God and all the credit must go to Him. Peter is building our faith by taking us back to the source of everything (1.21).

Election is the Sovereign Choice of God

Our faith and hope are in God. It is God who elects to save people. To elect simply means to make a choice. God made a choice to save those who believe the Gospel of Christ. This choice was actually made by God before the foundation of the world (Eph. 1.4). Jesus told His disciples that “you did not choose me, but I chose you” (John 15.16).

Election is illustrated consistently throughout Scripture. But God chose and called Abram in what may be the most important example of election in Scripture. This anticipates God’s covenant with the nation of Israel at Sinai, choosing them from out of every other nation.

“You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself. Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Exodus 19:4-6).

God’s election of Israel was connected to His salvation of Israel from slavery in Egypt. He saved them because He had chosen them. Peter uses this same language in his epistle and applies it to believers in Christ:

“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy” (1 Peter 2:9-10).

Notice the connection of election and the mercy of God. In writing about election Paul also make this same connection between God’s election and God’s mercy: “So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy” (Romans 9:16).

For some people the idea that God would have favorites is not fair. Doesn’t God love everyone the same? If God were to choose certain people and reject others then God would not be fair. My response to that is to ask: do you really want God to ONLY be fair? God doesn’t have to reveal Himself to us at all. He doesn’t have to elect anyone. The fact that God elects ANYONE is not fair, it is grace. Election is an opportunity for God to be gracious because He owes us nothing. The doctrine of election is developed so believers could praise God for His amazing grace (Eph. 2.8-10). Without that grace no one could be saved at all.

Someone has said that the Gospel is like a door with a sign that reads “Whosoever will may come.” But when you enter that door there is another sign on the inside that reads “Elect.” This is an insider’s view of salvation. There are aspects of the Gospel that are unpacked for believers only. And the inside view is much bigger than the outside view. Believers need to hear the Gospel. Scientists say that the universe is expanding and that we have not yet seen the end of it. Maybe God has made the universe as a kind of spiritual parallel to His Kingdom and salvation. It just keeps getting larger and we have not yet seen the end.

Election is offensive to modern people who think they are in control of their own destinies. We believe in free will. But part of becoming a Christian is acknowledging that everything comes from God and we are not the center of the universe.

The grace of God is especially hard for religious people to accept because we are on a work-for-pay program. We are like the elder brother in the parable of the Prodigal Son who complained that his father was gracious. We are like those workers in the vineyard who worked all day and then complained that they were paid the same as those who only worked for an hour. The election of grace can be hard to accept.

Foreknowledge is the Kind Intention of God

The foreknowledge of God is almost always misinterpreted. This is usually understood to mean that God knew what I would do and what I would choose before I actually did it. Now God certainly does have that kind of foreknowledge. But God’s foreknowledge here does not mean God knew what WE would do before we did it, it means that God knew what HE would do. To be more precise, it means that God knew us before we knew Him, before we were even born, and before the foundations of the world were made. But surely this means more than that God knew about us, as if He simply had some information. Of course God knows all things and all people. But the kind of foreknowledge Peter is talking about is much better than God simply knowing about us.

In Scripture the word “know” is almost always used to refer to an intimate, personal knowledge. It is a relational term. God knows about all things and He knows about all people, but God does not KNOW everyone in the sense of an intimate, personal relationship. This almost seems backwards. We usually talk about us knowing God. But actually it is much more important that God knows us. God knowing us is God’s recognition and acceptance. It means He is pleased with us and loves us.
So when we think about God’s foreknowledge we are really considering the kind intentions or plan that God had for us before we were born or even before the world was made. God determined that He would recognize and accept us into an intimate relationship with Himself through Jesus Christ (Eph. 1.4-6). So while God knows about all people, He certainly does not recognize or accept all people. But He does for those in Christ. And He planned to do this before He spoke the world into existence.

God said to Israel through the Prophet Amos: “You only have I known of all the families of the earth” (Amos 3:2). Surely God knows about all the other nations. But He had an intimate, covenant relationship with the people of Israel. He knew them like a husband knows His wife. We know that before God had actually called Abraham and created the nation of Israel He already knew He was going to do that. He had already planned that. God is operating according to an eternal purpose and is not just reacting to human circumstances. God had already planned to create a people who would belong to Him.

This includes not only the descendants of Abraham, but all those Gentiles who believe in Christ. God was even planning on taking from the Gentiles a people for His Name (Acts 15.14). Formerly the Gentiles were not “known” or recognized by God (Eph. 2.11-12; 1 Pet. 2.10).

Peter also says that Christ Himself was foreknown by God (1 Pet 1.20). Does that mean God knew about His Son? Or that God knew what Jesus would choose to do? This means that Jesus was known intimately by the Father and was chosen for a specific purpose in the plan of salvation. In much the same way God knew you before the world began and He planned to make you His own through Jesus Christ.

Foreknowledge is covenant language and it teaches us about what God desired for His people. God wants an intimate knowledge or relationship with His people that can be compared to marriage, which is the closest human relationship. The husband and wife become one flesh. But those who are joined to the Lord become one spirit with Him (1 Cor. 6.17). Marriage is really a metaphor of the intimacy between Christ and His Bride, the Church (Eph. 5.32). This intimate union with the Lord is what God had planned for us from before the foundation of the world.

Before time began God had determined to have a People who worshiped Him alone, who were intimately involved with Him, and who loved Him with all their hearts. This is what the Gospel produces because this is what God determined from before the foundations of the earth. Where there are people who know God, live in intimate union with Him, and are in agreement with His will that is the fruit of the Gospel and evidence of God’s eternal purpose in salvation being realized.

Sanctification Clarifies the Purpose of Salvation

God has a specific purpose for the people He has elected and foreknown. We now turn to the meaning of sanctification. Election and foreknowledge clarify the SOURCE of salvation. Sanctification clarifies WHY God has saved people and WHAT He wants to do with them and through them.

In my opinion, it is sanctification that is usually skipped over by the Church. The Church talks about getting saved and going to heaven someday, but it leaves out that aspect of salvation that comes between conversion and heaven. That is sanctification. God does not just immediately take us up to heaven when we are saved. He has a purpose for us while we are still in the body and in the world. He has sanctified us for this purpose and we need to know what it is.

The Necessity of Sanctification

Those who are saved are also sanctified, or set apart, for God’s special use. Sanctification is closely related to holiness, which means to be separate. God Himself is holy. Holiness is the word most often used in Scripture to describe the nature and character of God. Holiness is the summation of all of God’s attributes. God is separate, unique, and different from everyone and everything else. This is why it is always wrong to represent God with an image. God is too holy to be represented by any created thing. When God took Israel for His People, He sanctified them, or set them apart, from every other nation on earth.

God demanded that Israel be holy because He is holy. The people of God had to be like God. “For I am the LORD who brought you up out of the land of Egypt to be your God. You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy” (Leviticus 11:45). The entire Law was a lesson in holiness and sanctification. God was teaching Israel about Himself and what it would take for them to be His people. The ultimate goal was for God to dwell in the midst of His people. God’s presence could not dwell in the midst of unholy people. To be in the presence of a holy God was a scary experience because God’s nature is to oppose anything or anyone that is not like Him. No Israelite was casual about the presence of God.

Great care had to be taken so that God would not curse the people when they sinned and offended Him, which happened on several occasions. God’s wrath was like a fire that would break out and consume the people. So the Law warned the people to stay back. There was a separation between God and the people which was symbolized by the veil that covered the Holy of Holies where God’s presence came down to rest. One of the recurring themes in the Law was God putting up barriers of separation between Himself and the people because they were not holy. Otherwise, His wrath would flare up and break out against the people (Exodus 19:21-24).

If you want to meet with God and survive you must be holy like He is. But we are not holy. And God’s nature has not changed. God cannot compromise His holiness to accept unholy people. The people of God have to be made holy if they want to belong to God and be in His presence. No exceptions! The good news is that God has made provisions for His people to be holy. The Gospel proclaims that you can be made holy and acceptable to God. Every believer in Christ is sanctified, or made holy.

The Effects of Sanctification

The Holy Spirit has a role to play in sanctification. The Gospel promises the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit to every believer. It is the Spirit who then sanctifies us. God has cleansed us so that His Spirit can dwell in us, but the continuing presence of the Spirit is what sanctifies us. The fact that the Spirit of God is living in you sanctifies you or sets you apart for God to use. You are a sanctified vessel for the service of God in the world. The Spirit is not in you just for show or for your own private edification. The Spirit dwells in you because God wants to use you to do something. Now that He has cleansed you and made you a New Creation you are ready for God’s use. That is sanctification by the Spirit.

And if the Spirit of God is dwelling in you and if He has sanctified you then you can be sure that there will be some evidence of His presence.

Remember that Peter is writing to people who are exiles in the world. This is one of the effects of the Spirit dwelling in us. The very presence of the Spirit in our lives will make us exiles in the world. We will simply not fit in with the world because we are being driven by a different Power. Satan is the spirit at work in the disobedient (Eph. 2.2). The Holy Spirit is at work in the believer. This makes us at variance with the Spirit of the Age. When we feel this conflict with the world we should rejoice because it is evidence that we are God’s people.

The World is more than just what we call culture or society. The World has a certain spiritual quality. It is an organized system of rebellion against God that is animated by Satan, who is the ruler of this World. The World has certain values and goals, all of which are opposed to God (See 1 Jn. 2.15-17).

I think Christians get confused about what the world really is and how we should be separate from it. If the world is nothing more than culture than all we have to do to be separate from it is to just be weird. If culture zigs then we zag. We just buck the trends and we are automatically sanctified. And there is almost always some period of time that was more holy than the present and we must go back to that holy time when everything was Christian. This is all superficial. True sanctification must go beyond such shallow and external issues.

Sanctification must go into our desires, affections, thoughts, goals, and values (Col. 3.1-2). Otherwise we will end up legalists. Almost every holiness movement in the Church has ended up in legalism.

Another way the Church gets this wrong is to define holiness as physical distance. This is the mistake the Church made in the first few centuries. But many Christians still adopt this way of thinking. If we keep our physical distance from the rest of the world then we will not be able to fulfill God’s purpose in this world. Jesus said His disciples are like salt in the world and salt must be applied and be present in order to work.

You notice that sanctification is almost always defined negatively as to what we must avoid. But the goal of sanctification is not to just get away from the world. The goal is to get close to God and be used by Him IN the world.

Having said all that, sanctification does mean being separate from sin. A person who is not separate from sin has no reason to believe that he or she is even saved. How can we be saved from sin if it still dominates our lives? We know we are the children of God if we are being led by His Spirit to put to death the deeds of the Flesh (Rom. 8.12-14).

Do you want assurance that you are saved and a child of God? Are you putting to death the deeds of the Flesh? Are you ruling over your body and using it to serve God instead of serving sinful desires? If you are doing this then you are being led by the Spirit and you are a child of God who has been sanctified.

Remember that the whole point of putting sin to death is so that we can live for God. Sin is no longer our master and we are now using our physical bodies to serve the Lord (Rom. 6.22).

The Reason for Sanctification

We have the Holy Spirit living in us and this makes us different. But the Holy Spirit wants to do something in us while we are in the world. The Holy Spirit wants to make us instruments and vessels for the Lord to use. The Holy Spirit actually dwells in our bodies because God wants to use our mortal bodies in this world. Our bodies belong to the Lord because He has purchased even our bodies and then sent His Spirit to dwell in our bodies, giving life to what was once dead in trespasses and sins. The believer has no right to live for himself in the world. We have been set free from serving sin so that we can serve God. You have spent enough time in the world gratifying your own desires (1 Pet. 4.2-3).

Being saved and sanctified means we now belong to the Lord and we offer our bodies to Him as living sacrifices (Rom. 12.1-2). There is more to being saved than just going to heaven when we die. There is something for us to do now in these mortal coils.

We have to learn to live in the world as exiles as we wait for Jesus to come from heaven and bring the fullness of salvation. Living as exiles means living a different kind of life, one that is in harmony with our true homeland, and also being willing to endure suffering while in this world. As exiles we should not be surprised that we do not fit in with the rest of the world and we should not be surprised that the world treats us unkindly because we are different. Instead of adapting to the world, God’s people are to live as exiles, maintaining our distinction from the world around us, even when the people of this world reject us (4.3-4). Suffering is a part of sanctification in a world hostile to God.

We are not to do this with hostility but with gentleness and respect so that the people of the world will listen to our witness for Christ and the hope that we have in Him (3.15).

We are not to live in the world as rebels or troublemakers but are to submit to all earthly authorities so that no one will have a reason to talk against us (2.13-17). We are to be aware that the world is watching how we live. So we are to always do what is right and good, even if we suffer as a result, so that the world will have no basis for any accusation against us (2.12, 19-23). In so doing we will be living according to the example of Christ Himself, who selflessly and silently endured unjust suffering from evil men (3.16-17; 4.1, 12-16). As we live in this world as exiles we have to entrust ourselves to God, who will care for His people even as they suffer the world’s rejection (4.19).

There is more to sanctification than just the negative aspect of refraining from sin and worldliness. There is a positive aspect. The people of God should not just be known for what we don’t do but for what we do! Saints should be known for doing what is good.

We should be known for good works because this is why we were saved (Eph. 2.8-10). Letting our Light shine means doing good works so that other people can see that we are serving the Lord (Matt. 5.16). We are not to do our good works to be praised by men, but so that men might praise the God we are serving. That is the difference between good works done by the saints and the good works done by the people of the world. The people of the world don’t do their good works for the glory of God.

The objective is for Saints to live such good lives in the midst of an evil world that even the pagans have nothing bad to say about us, even if they think our faith is foolishness. This is a major theme of Peter’s epistle (1 Pet. 2.13-3.17). We should live such exceptional lives that unbelievers notice the difference and ask us why we live like we do. Our lifestyle should complement and not contradict the Gospel. We should adorn the doctrine with our lives (Titus 2.10).

Right now this is a major crisis for the Church. When the lifestyles of professed Christians does not adorn the Gospel we will have no moral capital or integrity in the world. The Church wants to have a place in the public debate, especially when it comes to moral issues. And yet the world can easily point to all of the public, moral failures of the Church, often among its leaders, and refuse to listen to what we have to say. The Church lacks integrity and moral power because it is not living a sanctified life.

It has become very popular in the Church to emphasize doing good works. But there is another part of God’s purpose for the Church that is often minimized. We have been sanctified to say something to the world. Sanctification involves both showing something to the world and saying something to the world.

We are to declare the praises of Him who called us out of darkness into His marvelous light (1 Pet. 2.9). God’s people are to be speakers who tell the world what God has done to save us. Every believer is a witness who has a testimony to tell the world.

Every believer ought to be able to talk about his faith intelligently to any unbeliever who is willing to listen. Collectively the Church has been sanctified for the purpose of declaring God’s message to the world. We should not expect the world to like what we have to say. But we have to say it anyway. We do not have the option of silence or compromise with the World.

It is our job to speak the truth of the Gospel. It is not our job to produce results. This is God’s purpose and He is responsible for it. He is also responsible for the care of His servants. Nothing is more exciting and satisfying than being a part of what God is doing and putting ourselves in God’s hands during our days of sojourning. When the world rejects and persecutes us we should not be surprised. We should rejoice because then we know for sure that we belong to Jesus.