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.

Series: The Resurrection of the Dead (1 Cor. 15)

“All Things in Subjection to God”1 Cor. 15.27-34

For “God has put all things in subjection under his feet.” But when it says, “all things are put in subjection,” it is plain that he is excepted who put all things in subjection under him. When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him that God may be all in all. Otherwise, what do people mean by being baptized on behalf of the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized on their behalf? Why are we in danger every hour? I protest, brothers, by my pride in you, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die every day! What do I gain if, humanly speaking, I fought with beasts at Ephesus? If the dead are not raised, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.” Do not be deceived: “bad company ruins good morals.” Wake up from your drunken stupor, as is right, and do not go on sinning. For some have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame.

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Christ is the first-fruits of the dead. He was the first to rise from the dead, but is not the last who will rise. Eventually all the dead will be raised, both the righteous believer and the wicked unbeliever (See Jn. 5.28-29). Paul’s focus is on the hope of believers and the glory of the resurrection body. When Jesus comes again death itself will die and then the dead will rise, never to die again. Until the time of the End Jesus is reigning in heaven with the Father and waiting for the consummation of His kingdom.

But there were some in Corinth who did not believe in the resurrection. Paul is anticipating their objections and questions. A possible objection/question might have been something like, “if Christ has been raised then why not the rest of the dead?” Paul’s answer: “At the end death will be destroyed and the rest of the dead will be raised.” Another possible question/objection: “But how could death be destroyed?” Paul’s answer: “All things have been made subject to Christ and He will destroy death.”

At this point in his argument, Paul inserts a kind of parenthetical explanation or clarification: all things put under Christ does not mean God is subject to Christ. Actually, Christ is subject to the Father. Everything that is put under the Son will therefore be under the Father because the Son is under the Father. Jesus is not in competition with God but is working in total unity and harmony with God and His purpose. 

But why is this clarification needed here? This text is an example of the importance of the doctrine of the Trinity. Clearly the Holy Spirit, who was inspiring Paul to write, thought this was an important clarification to make between God the Father and God the Son. There needs to be a distinction made between the members of the Godhead. 

Each member is a distinct personality and should be recognized and distinguished as they are revealed in Scripture. The members of the Godhead have different roles in our redemption, yet they remain perfectly united in purpose. The three are one.

We are being drawn into this same unity, love, and purpose. This is what Jesus prayed concerning the unity of the Church (See John 17.21-23). As we are being drawn into this Divine Fellowship we will suddenly find that we also have fellowship with one another. All other institutional, man-made attempts at Church unity must fail. At the center of all things is a loving relationship between the Godhead and we are being drawn into that Divine fellowship, like the joining of hands in a great, cosmic, eternal dance (C.S. Lewis). This is eternal life (John 17.3).

All of Creation, including mankind, was originally in perfect unity and harmony with God. (This is the idea behind the Hebrew word shalom or peace. Peace is being in harmony with God.) But sin was like a discordant note in a symphony. Now the world is like a cacophony of competing notes and voices. In fact, there is a note of rebellion and hostility in the world toward God. The world can see the symptoms of this disunity and they sometimes try to fix it, always unsuccessfully. The Tower of Babel is a memorial to all of man’s attempts at unity apart from God (Gen. 11). God will always curse such efforts, including all the modern attempts to rebuild the Tower of Babel.

But God has His own plan to restore unity and harmony to all things. This plan is not being kept a secret but has been revealed by God in the Gospel of Christ. The Plan of God is not finished yet and we must get on board before the end comes. Otherwise we will be excluded from God’s purpose for all things. 

God’s Purpose for All Things

A Crucial Concept

The key word that is oft-repeated in the text is “subjection.” That’s not a strange concept to us. To be in subjection means to be under authority, to be in submission, and to serve someone else’s agenda. Actually, everyone is in subjection to something. At our jobs we have a supervisor. As members of a society we must submit to its laws. Subjection can be brought about either by a voluntary surrender or by an act of brute force. Those who choose to rebel may find themselves forcibly put down in submission. 

For this reason the idea of being in subjection is usually viewed negatively by our anti-authoritarian culture. Most people in Western culture look with suspicion at authority and exalt the freedom and rights of the individual, at least to a certain point. Only radicals would envision a true anarchy in which everyone gets to do anything they want. 

A voluntary submission to a benevolent authority is a positive thing. Scripture teaches this kind of submission. The Church is in submission to Christ, as her Head, as the wife is to be to her husband (Eph. 5.22-24). The one who is in authority does not have to be cruel and oppressive but can be loving, kind, and benevolent. Parents are in authority over their children but also should care for them, even when discipline is being applied. An employer must have authority over employees, but should also provide for their well-being. Of course, this is the ideal. In our fallen world authority is often abused because men and women are naturally selfish and greedy. But Earthly authorities do not rule with impunity. 

There are situations in the world where people must be made to submit. When evil men, such as criminals or corrupt States, are forced into subjection we look at this as the restoration of peace and order. It is a GOOD thing! But obviously, might does not make right. An authority is good when it rules for the good of those under its care and it is evil when it exploits for its own selfish ends. 

Now the authority of God is always good and benevolent. But it is necessary for us to submit to God’s authority. We can’t rebel against God and expect anything good to result. That is the enduring lesson of Eden and the Fall of Man. God cannot tolerate rebellion in His world because there can be no challenge to His authority as God. If a rebellion against God could succeed then God would not be God. We already know of a rebellion in Heaven itself that was unsuccessful. Satan and his angels fell and await final judgment without any opportunity for redemption. And these Powers have infected the world with their rebellion. 

We should never assume that just because a rebellion against God is not immediately crushed that this means it is successful or that God is tolerant of evil. In a poem called “Retribution” Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote:

“Though the mills of God grind slowly;

Yet they grind exceedingly small;

Though with patience He stands waiting,

With exactness grinds He all.”

The delay in God’s retribution is God’s patience in which He may be offering mercy and reconciliation. In our case “He wants none to perish but all to come to repentance” (2 Pet. 3.9). For this reason we should not despise His kindness and mercy, which brings us to repentance, nor should we presume upon His patience (Rom. 2.4).

God’s Authority is Absolute

There has never been a time when God’s sovereignty has ever been in question or under a serious threat. God has always ruled and always will. Certain men in Scripture have seen visions of God in heaven and in these visions God is always seen on His throne (See Isa. 6.1; Ez. 1.26; Dan. 7.9; Rev. 4.2). The throne of God has never been vacant! Nothing is out of control. 

This is a great source of comfort for believers. Heaven is the control room for the earth. It is like the cockpit of an airliner or the bridge of a ship. God is steering the course of human history for His own purpose. If God were not on His throne, not only would everything spin out of control and revert back into the primordial chaos and darkness, but God would not be God. The throne of God is therefore the central fact of all Biblical revelation and we build our lives upon this reality. To not do so is to live a life filled with uncertainty and anxiety. 

At the center of all reality is the throne of God. God is the unchanging foundation upon which everything else is built. “In Him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17.28). When we lose sight of this reality, or choose to ignore God, everything else becomes unclear and uncertain. The world has often chosen to ignore the knowledge of God and has always paid the consequences for this deliberate act of defiance (See Rom. 1.18-32). We are beginning to see these consequences in our own society.

The Kingdom of God has come and is coming

So when the Bible says the Kingdom of God has “come” this does not imply there was ever a time when God did not rule. Both John the Baptist and Jesus preached that the Kingdom of God had come near (Matt. 3.2; 4.17). Jesus taught His disciples to pray for the Kingdom to come (Matt. 6.10). 

But if God has always ruled, what does it mean for the Kingdom to “come?” 

•No one should think that he/she is AUTOMATICALLY a part of God’s Kingdom by virtue of nationality, racial heritage, religion, or moral accomplishment. We must all ENTER the Kingdom, which implies we were not in it already. This is meant to undercut human pride and all forms of self-righteousness.

•The Kingdom coming implies that there are personalities who are in rebellion against God. God is publicly serving notice to these personalities that their rebellion will not be tolerated. This is a warning to sinners. We must repent!

•On the other hand, there is also a gracious offer from God. The preaching of the Kingdom is Gospel (See Matt. 4.23). God’s intention toward us is to bless, not to curse or condemn.

•The announcement of the Kingdom coming means that there is a Divine initiative. God is doing something in our midst right now and we need to pay attention to it!

•The fact that the Kingdom is coming means that there is more to come than what we have seen to this point, which gives us hope for the future.

God’s purpose does not depend on man’s timing and we are not going to know when these things will be fulfilled (Acts 1.7). Jesus told a whole series of parables about the nature of the Kingdom of God, mostly to people who were not really interested in it but wanted to have their own kingdom. For this reason, the truth was hidden from them in parables, but the meaning was revealed to the disciples. 

So Jesus taught the following principles about the coming of the Kingdom:

Mostly due to competing interests, not everyone who hears the message of the Kingdom coming will actually enter it (Matt. 13.1-8; 18-23).

The Kingdom will be a mixture of good and evil until the end when there will be a permanent separation. It is too early to make this separation ourselves because the harvest is not yet ripe (Matt. 13.24-30; 36-43; 47-50).

The Kingdom starts out small and seems insignificant but it will actually be large in the end and will have a powerful and growing influence in the world (Matt. 13.31-33).

Entering the Kingdom will require some kind of personal cost in this world and only those willing to pay the price will have it (Matt. 13.44-45). 

When the end comes we will lose our opportunity to enter the Kingdom (Matt. 24-25). But the end will seem long in coming and we don’t know when it will be. So we must be ready!

Everything Brought Together under God’s Rule

The ultimate goal or purpose of God is to bring everything together under His rule. This purpose of God is a mystery that has been made known to us in the Gospel. In another epistle Paul states this purpose as “the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth” (Ephesians 1:9-10). It is a mystery made known only through revelation not through human wisdom (1 Cor. 1.21; 2.7). This is so no one can boast. Instead we have to submit to the Gospel. 

The mystery of God’s purpose has been made known so that we can be a part of it and get ready for the end when the fullness of His Kingdom comes. If we are not ready for it we will be excluded from it. 

Everything will be summed up with God being “all in all.” There is no possibility that this will not happen. But what does it mean for God to be “all in all?” There is nothing currently missing in God Himself. God does not change and there is nothing that can be added to His essential character or person. This phrase “all in all” has to do with God’s supremacy and authority being publically revealed and acknowledged by other personalities. 

This will happen on the Day of Judgment when everything will be revealed and God will be justified, or shown to be right, in all things that He has ever said or done. Everyone will have to acknowledge that God is God. And this does not mean that every personality will be blessed by this revelation of God’s glory. For many this will be the ultimate horror. Imagine having to face the very God whom you have fought against and ignored your entire life! But every person is on a collision course with this God. 

All those who have submitted themselves to God and who have been seeking His glory will be rewarded and shown to be in the right. When God is glorified the saints are also glorified because His glory is what they were seeking all along (Rom. 2.6-7). Everything is for His glory. He is the central theme of life and the reason for all things. Eventually this will be made known in a way that will either bring inexpressible joy or unimaginable shame to every person who has ever lived.

How God is Accomplishing His Purpose

The Son is Subject to the Father

Remember that the idea Paul wants to clarify in the text is that the Son is working in complete harmony with the Father. There is a single objective which the Father and the Son are working together to achieve. But to be even more precise, the Son is working for the Father in a submissive role. Jesus is God’s Executive. An organization needs someone to make things happen and carry out the objectives of the organization. So there is usually a leader appointed to make sure things get done. In government this may be a president or prime minister. In business it is the chief executive officer. In the Kingdom of God Jesus has been appointed by God the Father as the Executive officer. This is actually the meaning behind the title “Christ.” This literally means “anointed one” and refers to someone who is chosen for a special purpose, usually that of a king. 

In modern vernacular we would say that Jesus is the chosen agent of God. God has given Christ authority, actually all authority in heaven and on earth, in order to accomplish a certain agenda or objective that has already been determined by God. So Jesus does not just work on His own doing His own thing like some kind of maverick. Jesus is completely devoted to God’s agenda and to accomplishing His Father’s will. 

The idea that God has an objective and is actually working to accomplish something may be a new thought to many people today. People tend to think of God as an inactive watcher of men’s affairs as if God has nothing else to do but exist. The very idea of God SITTING on a throne up in heaven seems to encourage this idea of an inactive Deity. But this is far from the truth. God has always been active since the creation of the world. Jesus is also working, doing what He sees His Father doing (See John 5.17, 19-20). When Jesus came into the world as a man He humbled Himself and came as a servant (See Phil. 2.5-8). But Jesus was not our servant, He was the servant of God. Jesus came to demonstrate that submission to the will of God is absolutely essential. God exalted Jesus because of His submission. When we humble ourselves before God He will exalt us too.

Even when the end comes Christ will still be subject to the Father. This is a permanent arrangement so that He can be our Redeemer. Jesus will never cease to be a glorified man or return to His former, pre-incarnate state. There is a beautiful hymn called “Ivory Palaces” written by Henry Barraclough that attempts to capture the great distance Christ had to come to be our Savior:

“Out of the ivory palaces,

  Into a world of woe,

  Only His great eternal love

  Made my Savior go.”

He had to leave the “ivory palaces” of heaven and come to earth in order to save us, which was the will of His Father. The submission of the Son was necessary to execute the will of God on earth. By putting Himself under God, Christ was then able to bring everything else under God. This submission of the Son to the Father in no way implies inferiority, as if Christ is a created being like us, or a lesser deity. All the fullness of deity dwells in Him in bodily form (Col. 1.19; 2.9). The Word was with God and was God, but He then became flesh in order to dwell with us (John 1.1, 14). 

The submission of the Son to the Father had to be worked out in experience and demonstrated in the earth. The Son had to submit to the Father as a human being because it was man who had sinned and who was going to be redeemed (See Heb. 2.5-18). So a body was prepared for Him in which He could come into the world to do the will of God (See Psalm 40.6-8; Heb. 10.5-7). 

He had to suffer being tempted while a man and actually pass that test. Unlike the first Adam, the second Adam actually did the will of God and this is what has qualified Him to be our Redeemer (See Heb. 5.7-10). We should not think that the Son’s submission to the Father had to be coerced. The Son’s submission to the Father was voluntary. While God can certainly make us submit to Him, a coerced humiliation does not lead to a blessing. Eventually every knee will have to bow and acknowledge that Jesus is Lord (Phil. 2.10-11), but that does not mean that all who bow on that day will be saved. We must voluntarily submit to the Lordship of Christ.

Christ’s voluntary submission to the Father was seen in His prayer in Gethsemane: “Not my will, but yours be done” (Matt. 26.39). This submission to the will of God involved Christ having to drink the bitter cup of God’s wrath while bearing our sins on the Cross. Christ’s submission to God involved suffering. In fact, this suffering had to be experienced by Jesus BEFORE He could be exalted. The Cross had to come before the Crown.

Having submitted to the death of the Cross, Christ has effectively reconciled all things to God the Father (2 Cor. 5.17-21; Col. 1.18-20). He has satisfied the righteousness of God and completely paid for sin. Obviously, this reconciliation must be applied or appropriated by us. We must be reconciled through Christ and be at peace with God. Otherwise we will still be enemies of God. But when we believe in Jesus we are in harmony with God and His purpose!

God has Made Everything Subject to His Son

Having done the will of God on earth, Jesus has been exalted and received into Heaven. In Heaven He now shares the Throne of God and is ruling the world, administering the Kingdom of God until the time of the end (Rev. 5.5-7; Dan. 7.13-14). God has put the Kingdom into the capable hands of His Son. Jesus will accomplish everything the Father gave Him to do. And if Christ is trusted by the Father, there should be nothing for which we cannot trust Christ! 

Jesus has been made both Lord and Christ (Acts 2.36). He is Lord even though there are people who don’t know it, and He is Lord even over those who refuse to acknowledge Him. When He appears this fact will be seen by all, including His enemies. It is better to bow the knee to Him now! The enemies of Christ cannot prosper. God simply laughs at all the attempts of the world to fight against Him and His enthroned King (Psalm 2). God will eventually destroy everyone who does not submit to Christ (2 Thess. 1.7-9). 

We should never envy the temporary prosperity and apparent success of the wicked because their feet are indeed set in slippery places (Psa. 73.18-19). Human history will end before the Throne of God and everyone will be gathered there for judgement (Rev. 20.11-15). We must all appear before the Judgment Seat of Christ to give an account of our deeds in this world (2 Cor. 5.10). Will you be ready for that Day? 

Before that final day there is a day of salvation (2 Cor. 6.2). God has given some time for us to repent and prepare for the end (2 Pet. 3.9). It is God’s desire that people repent and be saved (1 Tim. 2.4). God does not take pleasure in the death of the wicked (Ezek. 18.23; 33.11). Neither should we. The Church is to announce the Gospel of reconciliation (2 Cor. 5.19-20). God has extended an offer of peace to a rebellious world. But this offer will not last forever. The wrath of God is coming on this present, evil world. The idea that God will not really judge the world and condemn those in rebellion against Him is an idol created by men (Acts 17.30-31).

As We Await the End of God’s Purpose

We Suffer for Christ in an Evil Age

Paul is using himself as an example here of what it means to live in this present, evil Age with the hope of the resurrection of the dead. This present Age is an evil Age because God has not yet put down all the enemies of Christ. Christ is reigning now, in Heaven, in the midst of His enemies, until the End comes when these enemies will be made His footstool and completely destroyed (See Psalm 110.1-2). 

Until this happens Christians should expect the hatred of this present, evil Age, which also hates God and His Christ (See Psalm 2; Acts 4.23-31; Jn. 15.18-25). While He was in the world Jesus suffered being rejected by His own people and He left us an example. If we follow Him there are some sufferings reserved for us (Col. 1.24). The world can’t get at Jesus now since He is in Heaven, so they persecute the followers of Jesus. If we belonged to this present Age, it would love us and we would not suffer. But this is not our Age. We belong to another Age. If the Church is not suffering then it has compromised with the world.

The final part of this text has confused many people. Paul is not referring here to literal water baptism for people who have physically died. (The Mormons believe you can actually be baptized for people who have died.) That is to miss the point of the figurative language of the text. Paul was someone who had experience suffering for Jesus. He had personally died with Christ to this present, evil world (Gal. 6.14). He had personally, like the Lord, experience a baptism of suffering for Christ (Mk. 10.38; Lk. 12.50; Phil. 3.10). Paul taught and lived out the truth that suffering with and for Christ precedes enjoying the glory of the resurrection of the dead. We must first die with Christ, suffer with Him in this world, and THEN be raised in conformity to His glorious resurrection (See Rom. 6.1-5). If we have not died with Christ to the world, and if we are not suffering with Him, then we do not have the hope of sharing in His resurrection glory. It is God’s purpose to conform us to the image of His Son (Rom. 8.28-31), which includes suffering like Christ in this world. Since he was already dead to the world, Paul did not avoid suffering for Christ (See 2 Cor. 11.23-27). 

But if there were no hope of the resurrection of the dead, then Paul would not have had any reason to lose his life in this world. If this world and this life is all there is, then it would make no sense to give it up. But it was his belief in the resurrection of the dead that made Paul willing to continue to die to the world each and every day. Likewise, the believer must be willing to die to the world in hope of a better life at the resurrection of the dead (Heb. 11.35). This may even mean literally giving up our lives in martyrdom. We cannot keep this life anyway. What would we gain if we had the whole world, yet we lost the one part of us that will outlive the world (Matt. 16.26)? It is certainly true that Christians are giving up what we cannot keep in order to gain what we cannot lose.

We Deny Sinful Desires and Associations

If there is no hope of the Resurrection of the dead, then we would be better off becoming hedonists, or people who just live for pleasure. Just enjoy the life you have while it lasts! Why suffer at all for Christ if this life is all there is? But this life is not all there is. And one implication of the resurrection of the dead is the reality of the Day of Judgment when we will give an account of our lives to God (Rev. 20.11-15). Our own generation lives as if there is no resurrection, as if this life is all there is, and as if there is no accountability to God. Anyone who dives into sin and worldliness is either ignorant of God or has rejected the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead. Anyone who makes friends with this world, which is in rebellion against God, is making himself an enemy of God (James 4.4). 

Some of the Corinthians had rejected the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead and had fallen into sin and worldliness. Rejecting the truth will eventually translate into sinful and foolish living. We really do live what we believe. Many people fail to make these critical connections, never stopping to examine what they actually believe and the implications of those beliefs. Being ignorant of God and the truth of the Gospel is always a liability. This is because we do not live in a vacuum. 

We must avoid close communion or fellowship with those who have rejected the truth and have aligned themselves with this world. (I say close fellowship because we cannot literally avoid all contact with worldly people or we would have to either leave the world altogether and live on another planet or physically separate ourselves from society. Neither of these are real options for the believer.) There are people who teach doctrines of demons (1 Tim. 4.1). Corrupt religious people must especially be avoided because they are all the more dangerous, often coming disguised (2 Cor. 11.14). 

Some reject sound doctrine because they want to justify sin using the grace of God as a license (Rom. 6.1; Rev. 2.14-15, 20). Those who dive into sin and worldliness are like men who get drunk. The world has a stupefying effect on our minds. Christians are to be sober, or clear-headed, in this world (Rom. 13.11-14). If we are thinking clearly, the knowledge of God and our accountability to Him should keep us far away from the world and from sin. It is our fear of God that should cause us to perfect holiness (2 Cor. 7.1).

The world poses a real danger to the believer. We are in enemy territory. There are certain doctrines that teach some kind of automatic or unconditional security for the believer which are dangerously misleading and disarming. We must remember that we are fighting against spiritual Powers of Darkness (Eph. 6.10-13) which are much more powerful than we are and certainly much wiser. If we don’t put on the spiritual armor that the Lord provides we will not be safe in this world. The world is not friendly, morally neutral, or lovingly tolerant. It is always pressuring us to conform to its pattern of rebellion against God (Rom. 12.1-2). The world wants to press us into its mold so we come out looking like everyone else who is ignorant of God. Motivating this pressure from the world is Satan, who is the god of this world, and who wants us to serve him instead of God (2 Cor. 4.4). We must be continually resisting the Devil and the pressure from the world. Living in this world is like swimming upstream, against the current.

We disconnect from the world in our hearts and minds, through getting new affections and desires, not through physical separation (1 John 2.15-17). (Of course there are people and places we should literally avoid, but we still can’t just leave the world.) But the world will continue to woo us, like a seductive ex-lover. The world does have some lingering attraction for our Flesh. We can still be tempted by the world. But when we are tempted we must remember that this world is cursed and is temporal. God has promised us eternal life, which is something the world can never give.

The Resurrection of the Dead (1 Cor. 15)

The Death of Death

1 Cor. 15.20-34

Death entered the world through the very first man and spread to every other member of the Race (See also Rom. 5.12-21). Adam spread death to the human race, but in the resurrection of Christ the entire race will be raised from the dead. This general resurrection of the dead will happen at the end of time when Jesus returns. Jesus was the first to be raised from the dead. But everyone who has died will be raised, both believers in Christ and unbelievers. (Paul’s focus is on the resurrection of believers.) All will be raised, but not all will inherit the Kingdom of God (See Jn. 5.28-29).

Christ has been raised, but death is still ruling the human race. Everyone still dies. So in what sense has Jesus defeated death? What good does the resurrection of Christ do if we still die? In his letter to the Corinthians Paul writes about the death of Death. Jesus is reigning, having already defeated death. At the end of time Jesus will destroy death and put it away completely. Christ is reigning in heaven, but there are still hostile powers on earth, including death.

The final destruction of these hostile Powers is still to come. But it will happen. When Jesus comes the End will come and the Kingdom of God will come in all its glorious fullness. There are aspects of the Kingdom of God for which we are still waiting in hope (See Rom. 8.18-25). And as long as the Church is still in the world she will continue to pray “Thy Kingdom come!” Now the world is like a field in which there are growing both Wheat and Weeds (See Matt. 13.24-30; 36-43). But the Harvest is coming!

This means that believers must patiently endure the trials and suffering of this Age. We belong to another world. But we are still in this world. Our mortal bodies are a constant reminder that we are not yet fully redeemed. The Kingdom of God has come. But it should be obvious that the Kingdom has not come in fullness. There is more to come.

He Must Reign Until the End

 

The Now and the Not Yet

Even though the Kingdom of God has come, and we can enter it now, we see all the evidence of the old order hanging around. This can be confusing. In what sense has the Kingdom of God come if there is still evil and death? If Jesus is reigning then why do all of these things seem to contradict His reign? Are Christians out of touch with reality? Some think that is the case. Here we are preaching that Jesus is King, yet there is little in this world that seems to be under His control. Furthermore, Christians themselves are still subject to these evil Powers. For example, Christians still get sick and die. And there are still millions of people who have not acknowledged the reign of Christ. Sometimes the world even rises up against Christians and kills them. How are we to believe that the Kingdom of God has come to a world that would even kill those who claim to serve that very Kingdom? It doesn’t look like the Kingdom has really come.

But there is much more to come. That is Paul’s message to the Corinthians, especially those who did not believe in a resurrection. Christians have hope. Jesus is reigning and He will come again to consummate His Kingdom, bringing all inimical Powers to their knees in final and permanent destruction.

Believers in Christ must live with the End in mind. We are foolish not to. It is foolish to live only for this present Age as if this life is the only thing we will experience. Christians have to live with this hope in mind and not get caught up in the futility of this present, evil Age. In fact, we are to live as if the Kingdom of God HAS come, which is what makes us strangers and aliens in the world. We are citizens of another Kingdom even as we go about our lives in the world. We must think about how we will fit in with the coming Age. Many will not be prepared for it because they are not preparing for it now.

We are not to worry about the future, but we are to prepare for the future. When the Lord tells us not to worry about the future He was talking about our lives in this world (See Matt. 6.25-34). We are not to have anxiety about those things. Instead we are to seek the Kingdom of God.

If we lose sight of this future hope we will be caught up in the corruption of this present Age and will be excluded from the Kingdom of God. So we must not become caught up in an Age that will not last.

 

The End will come

This present Age will come to an end. The singular event that will bring about the End is the coming of Christ. The dead will be raised when He comes. Everything important that is coming in the future hinges on Christ’s coming, or His appearing. It is important to notice that for Paul the key event that we are waiting for is the coming of Christ. Everything else that will happen at the End will happen when He comes. (This is not the emphasis of modern Eschatological teaching. Most people are waiting for some kind of event, like the rise of the Anti-Christ, instead of the coming of Christ Himself!) But the End of this present Age will come when Christ comes. His coming is the blessed hope of the Church. So we are waiting for a Person, not just an eschatological event or series of events. Our hope is in Christ.

God is governing time and human history. It has been said that history is really HIS STORY. God is working out His purpose in the world and that is the only reason for the world. The Bible has a linear view of human history: God began the world and God will end the world when His purposes are complete. This is different from a pagan view of history, which has always been cyclical. A pagan view of history is that everything is just going around and around again in pointless circles. The pagan view of history is one of futility and despair. The Biblical view of history is one of hope. We believe there is meaning and purpose in human life because God has a purpose. Our own society is filled with despair because people have rejected God and therefore life has lost its meaning.

Most people today believe that the world will end but only in some meaningless cataclysm. The Hollywood movies depict some kind of natural disaster, usually caused by mankind, which will bring the human race to an end. Scripture is clear about the fact that the present world order will come to an end. But it will not end because of natural calamities or a man-made ecological disaster. God will bring this present world to an end.

Those who reject the Bible also refuse to believe that there was a time when God brought the world to an end in a great flood (2 Peter 3:3-7). God promised never to destroy the world with water. But when Christ comes God will destroy this present world with fire as He once destroyed the world with water.

Everything in this world is going to pass away. It is important for us to remember this simple truth. This is why Jesus told us not to store up our treasures on earth (Matt. 6.19). This is why we are not to love the world (1 Jn. 2.15).

In case we forget the temporal nature of this world, God has given us a built-in reminder: death. Death reminds us that the things of this world, including our own bodies, are not going to last forever. There is something that will last forever and we are to seek and invest in that Order rather than in what is temporal.

 

Christ is Reigning Now

But the End has not come yet. What is happening in the meantime? Christ has risen and has ascended into heaven. Now what? Nothing seems to have changed in the world. We must understand the significance of Christ’s ascension. This truth has been neglected by the Church. In fact, some people don’t even teach that Jesus is reigning NOW but that He WILL reign only in the future when He comes again. But this is not what the New Testament teaches.

Christ IS reigning now, but His current reign is from heaven not upon the earth. But modern people miss the significance of Christ’s current reign in heaven. The Bible teaches that heaven, not earth, is the main place. The whole book of Daniel emphasizes the fact that Heaven rules the earth. Heaven is the Throne of God. Heaven is like the control room for the earth. So when Jesus ascended into heaven and sat at the Father’s right hand, that is another way of saying that Jesus is ruling the world from heaven.

The Apostle John saw the heavenly Throne Room and Christ reigning there (See Revelation 4-5). The book of Revelation is really the revelation of Christ’s current reign in heaven. What happens on earth is the result of Christ’s reign in heaven. This truth is pictured in apocalyptic symbolism as the Lamb taking a sealed scroll from the hand of the One seated on the Throne and then breaking and opening its seals (See Revelation 5.1-8.5).

In heaven there is no disputing Christ’s reign. But the view down here on the earth looks different. How can Christ be reigning when the whole world seems to be in direct opposition to His reign? All the nations are raging in opposition to the Lord and His Anointed One (See Psalm 2).

At the present time Christ is reigning IN THE MIDST OF HIS ENEMIES. This is exactly what the Scriptures predicted:

The LORD says to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.” The LORD sends forth from Zion your mighty scepter. Rule in the midst of your enemies (Psalm 110:1-2)!

Paul is commenting on this prophetic/messianic Psalm in our text. We are waiting for all of Christ’s enemies to be made His footstool. Down here on earth we see that the enemies of Christ are still running loose! We are reminded of this truth constantly as we see the world raging against Christ. This perfectly describes the times in which we live, although this is nothing new but has been the state of the world since Christ ascended back into heaven and even before that.

So the New Testament teaches that Christ is already reigning, but He is in heaven not on earth. When Christ comes again He is not coming to BEGIN to reign, He is coming to CONSUMMATE His reign. That is what Paul is teaching in our text. The coming of Christ will only REVEAL His reign publicly for every eye to see, even those who have opposed His reign. Every eye will see Him reigning because all the dead will be raised. At that time all of the enemies of Christ, including death itself, will be completely and permanently destroyed. The Devil Himself will be thrown into the Lake of Fire, along with all of his allies (See Rev. 20). When all of the remaining enemies of Christ are put away that will be the end of the world that we know and the beginning of the New Creation.

As I am writing this, it is the day before we remember D-Day, which was June 6^th, 1944. That was the day during the Second World War that the Allies invaded Nazi-controlled Europe by hitting the beaches at Normandy, France. The objective of this invasion was to establish a beachhead from which the Allies could eventually invade Germany itself. Historians all agree that when the Normandy invasion began it was the beginning of the end of the War and of Hitler’s Nazi party in Germany. There was a tremendous amount of fighting after the Allies took the beaches at Normandy, but it all began with that initial invasion on D-Day. When Jesus came into the world this is what He did for the Kingdom of God on earth. The Kingdom of God had invaded and established a beachhead! That is why Jesus preached that the Kingdom of God had come. That was the beginning of the end for Satan’s Kingdom of darkness. Jesus defeated Satan and even came back from the dead, defeating death. Jesus has already won the decisive victory. The War still rages all around us. But the outcome of this War is certain and we know what the future holds. All the enemies will be finished when He comes, including Death.

The Last Enemy to be Defeated is Death

 

Death is Still Reigning over Humanity

The Gospel proclaims that death has been defeated in a world that is still dominated by death. Not only that, but the Gospel also proclaims that Jesus is reigning when there seems to be little evidence in this world that this is true. Obviously, we are still waiting in hope for something that has not come yet.

What is obvious is that death is still having its way with the human race. In spite of all the changes that have taken place in our modern world, this one reality has remained constant: death comes to all men everywhere. Death is a universal constant.

Death makes no distinction between the rich and the poor, the powerful and the oppressed, the wise and the foolish, the young and the old. Death is the Grim Reaper going through the world with his ghastly sickle, cutting down the people and taking them away. Some of those who die are the very young. Even infants are taken away by Death.

We continue to extend our life expectancy through science and medical research, but there is no cure for death. There is simply no guarantee that anyone will live to a ripe, old age. (According to the World Health Organization the life expectancy of an American male is 76 and a female 81. But in the nation of Kenya the life expectancy for a man is only 59 and a woman 62.)

Considering death does not have to make us morbid and despairing. It is supposed to make us consider certain realities. We should think about our accountability to God and the fact that we are not ultimately in control of our lives but live at the pleasure of the Almighty. Death is how God has imposed a limit on the pride and wickedness of the human race.

As I sat writing these words I was looking out the window of a coffee shop across a busy street into a graveyard. As people come and go about their business there is right under their noses a reminder of their destiny, though they drive and walk by it without much thought. No matter where we go or what we do in life, we will all end up in the same place. Death is the terrifying reality lurking underneath the surface of human life, waiting to rise up and claim us at any moment, like a poisonous snake hiding in the grass by our feet. We have many ways of ignoring the reality and presence of death. We stay busy. We entertain ourselves. We simply refuse to talk about death, even when it is staring us in the face.

Human wickedness is either directly or indirectly responsible for the untimely demise of most of the members of the human race. But even if we were left alone the normal course of nature would eventually result in our physical bodies simply failing. Sometimes we read about someone who was quite elderly dying of “natural causes.” Sometimes we say that someone just died “of old age.” But most people die of something other than natural causes or old age. Human folly is a leading cause of death. And men will have to give an account for wasting their lives or taking the lives of others.

Whatever the cause of our death, we must all come to accept the reality of death. First we must accept our own mortality. Then we must also accept the fact that all of our loved ones will die. This realization will actually make us wise. One of the foolish qualities of youth is their stubborn belief in their invincibility. The sooner we come to terms with our weakness and our mortality the better off we will be. Christians are not people who detach from reality. It is the business of Christians to prepare for death and for what comes after death. And we want to be influential in preparing others for their death as well.

The Church today is much more interested in this world and this life. Churches say they want to be “relevant.” But what is more relevant than preparing for death? We all have to take that final voyage and it is better to be ready than to not be ready.

Christians should make it their goal to die well and to also face the death of our beloved brethren with hope rather than despair. If our faith is relevant at a particular moment it is when we are staring directly into the face of death.

 

Death is an Enemy

It is popular even in Christian circles to speak of death as a merciful release. When someone is suffering we may secretly long for death to take them so that they do not have to continue suffering and we don’t have to suffer with them as we watch their pain. If we are able to live a long time the body eventually reaches a point where it becomes almost impossible to enjoy life. When the so-called quality of life is gone, we may prefer death to life.

So from one perspective death might be called our friend. I often hear Christians speak as if they prefer to die so they can be with the Lord. Even Paul spoke that way (See Phil. 1.23). It is better to be with the Lord and death is the thing that will usher us into His presence. “To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.” So death is our friend who brings to an end our pilgrimage through this veil of tears and transports us into our heavenly home.

I do not want to take any comfort away from the saints. But I also feel that in order to provide comfort for ourselves and for others we might ignore what Scripture says. Sometimes the greatest comfort is found, not in ignoring the painful reality, but embracing it fully and then applying the Gospel. Paul does not call death a friend in our text.

Death is an enemy. God did not create man to die but to live. Death was not an original inhabitant of the world God created. Death is an invader. God imposed the sentence of death on creation because of sin (See Rom. 5.12; 8.20). Apart from God we die. Death is alienation from God. That is why death is an enemy.

And it is not just our enemy it is the enemy of Christ. That is the point in our text. Christ is going to defeat all of His enemies, including Death. Death is the enemy of Christ because it is in opposition to the salvation that He came to bring. He came to bring us eternal life and that means He had to defeat death. To defeat death Christ Himself had to taste death (Heb. 2.9). Until Death is put away for good the Saved cannot enter fully into eternal life. The Gospel declares that death is a temporary condition and will not always have the dominion. We know this is true because we see Jesus raised and exalted (Heb. 2.5-9).

 

Death is Subject to Christ

There is no Power in heaven or on earth that is not subject to Christ, including Death itself. Death is not yet subject to the saints. We still die. But we have hope through the resurrection of Christ. When Jesus comes again He will make death irrelevant and we will be raised, never to die again. We will enter into eternal life in the presence of God and reign with Christ in His Kingdom. This glorious destiny is why we have been saved. We are being prepared for this world to come.

Hope is the child of faith. We put our faith in the One who has already been raised so that when that One speaks about the future we can have hope. Our hope for the future is based on what Christ has already done in the past. The glorified Christ is holding the keys of Death and of Hades (Rev. 1.18).

This is why we must be constantly looking at Christ as we continue our pilgrimage through this world of sin and death. Fix your eyes on Jesus (Heb. 12.2)! If we look around at the world we can become discouraged. But Christ is reigning over this world and has overcome it!

Our most natural feeling about death is fear. The fear of death is the mother of all fears. This is why the first words spoken by the resurrected Christ was “do not be afraid!” That is the Gospel! He has destroyed death and brought life and immortality to light (2 Tim. 1.10). And if death is subject to Him then we have nothing more to fear. So do not be afraid. Death cannot hurt you if you are in Christ.