The subject of death will become, at some point in life, the preoccupation of every living human being. For some the awareness of their impending death comes at a young age while they are still healthy and full of life. For others an acute awareness comes after the years have piled up, the energy has faded, the joints have stiffened, and they’ve attended the funerals of too many of their friends. For still others, the realization of their own death comes when they’ve been given news they prayed would never come. Paul Azinger was in the prime of his professional golf career when at the age of 33 he was diagnosed with cancer. He said,
A genuine feeling of fear came over me–I could die from cancer. But then another reality hit me even harder: I'm going to die eventually anyway, whether from cancer or something else. I am definitely going to die. It's just a question of when. But everything I had accomplished in golf became meaningless to me. All I wanted to do was live." (Links Newsletter, vol. 15, no. 1 1995).
The realization will come, eventually, for every human being. There’s just no escaping it. We are all going to die. We don’t know how, we have no idea as to when, but we know that death is coming for each of us as well as for those we love.It strikes me as kind of strange that we are constantly confronted with reminders of death each and every day, but avoid the thought at all costs. We are met by a funeral procession as we drive down the road, we see little memorial markers on the side of the road with crosses and plastic flowers, we drive by graveyards, funeral homes, and hospitals each and every day. Yet, in our society we do everything possible, for as long as possible, to avoid thinking about our too-soon-coming-death.I was reminded of this just last weekend. Many of you just ran in the OKC Marathon, which is officially called, “Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon–Run to Remember.” What is it we are memorializing? What is it that we are remembering each year? It is the lives and deaths of 168 men, women, and children who died on that tragic day on April 19,1995. I remember that day so well. It was on April 19 that I was home writing my sermon for Sunday. Connie heard about what had happened and came and told me. When we turned on the TV someone said, “If you are a pastor or a counselor could you please come downtown and help?” I went downtown. I ended up spending the next two weeks downtown. My first night was spent in the makeshift morgue they had put together at First United Methodist Church. My job was to check on, listen to, and pray for those who were bringing in the bodies of those who had died and those who were tending the bodies. I spent three days working with the rescuers before I was asked to be one of three Coordinators at the family center at First Christian Church where hundreds of family members waited and waited for news that their loved one had been found. No good news came, but God’s presence filled that church in such a powerful way as people were comforted and strengthened by the fellowship of the utterly broken and grieving. It was there, among those who were grieving, that I learned the truth of Ecclesiastes 7:2, which says,
2 Better to spend your time at funerals than at parties. After all, everyone dies-- so the living should take this to heart. (Ecclesiastes 7:2 NLT)
There is a finality to death that is jolting to our senses. This is not just true for the people of our day, but it has been true since death entered the human experience. Last week I shared with you two quotes from William Provine and Richard Dawkins who speak so matter of factly about their belief that there is nothing more to this life than life, and that once you die, you are dead. And yet, God’s Word tells us that “God has set eternity in the heart of man…” (Ecclesiastes 3:11). And you can see it, you can hear it…if you will just pay attention. You can learn it from the ancient civilizations that have gone before us. The Egyptians built pyramids as monuments to the dead. Those pyramids are filled with hieroglyphics which for the longest time no one could decipher. Then the Rosetta Stone was found and helped finally unlock the message of the hieroglyphics. What were they writing about? How the Cairo Cowboys won the championship over the Luxor Phoenix? What a disaster the latest Pharaoh had been? Not hardly. You know what they learned from the hieroglyphics? The Egyptians wrote about life and death and the life to come. You can find evidence of this same hope, this same longing, in other cultures from the Chaldeans of Abraham, to the Greek soldier’s tombs filled with weapons and jewelry, to the burial mounds of the Native Americans where the warrior was buried with his bow and arrow. God has set eternity, a sense that there has to be more to life than simply life, a longing for life beyond the grave, in the hearts of people. Paul has been addressing this with the people of Corinth throughout the entire 15th chapter of his letter to the church in Corinth. There were some there who believed in some kind of existence after death, but it was more in line with the thinking of Greek philosophy, even though Plato, Socrates, and Aristotle didn’t agree on what the afterlife looked like. Was life in the afterlife for disembodied souls, a precursor to reincarnation, or a union with the universal mind? For Paul, none of those ideas would do. The resurrection of Jesus was the model for the afterlife for all of Jesus’ followers. Resurrection was so vitally important that he could not compromise, so he continued to teach. Let’s look at our Scripture for today found in 1 Corinthians 15:35-49.
35 But someone will ask, "How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come?" 36 How foolish! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. 37 When you sow, you do not plant the body that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or of something else. 38 But God gives it a body as he has determined, and to each kind of seed he gives its own body. 39 Not all flesh is the same: People have one kind of flesh, animals have another, birds another and fish another. 40 There are also heavenly bodies and there are earthly bodies; but the splendor of the heavenly bodies is one kind, and the splendor of the earthly bodies is another. 41 The sun has one kind of splendor, the moon another and the stars another; and star differs from star in splendor. 42 So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; 43 it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; 44 it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. 45 So it is written: "The first man Adam became a living being"; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. 46 The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. 47 The first man was of the dust of the earth; the second man is of heaven. 48 As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the heavenly man, so also are those who are of heaven. 49 And just as we have borne the image of the earthly man, so shall we bear the image of the heavenly man. (1 Corinthians 15:35-49 NIV)
As I mentioned last week, the resurrection is the keystone of the Christian faith, remove it and the whole story of Jesus and our story changes from one of hope and assurance to hopelessness. This is why Paul has spent all of this time in 1 Corinthians 15 laying out a convincing argument for the doctrine of the resurrection. He has crafted his argument along three lines: First, in verses 1-4, he layed out the argument from the authority of Scripture. Second, in verses 5-11, Paul presented the evidence from eyewitnesses who had seen, not heard about, but seen Jesus resurrected from the grave. Last of all, in verses 12-19, Paul presented his argument from the standpoint of logic. He presented seven truths, or consequences, that follow if the resurrection did not take place. And in the rest of the chapter, Paul shares why the resurrection matters for the lives of all of Jesus’ followers. Paul begins the section of 1 Corinthians 15 that we are looking at this morning by addressing two questions: “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come?” We don’t know if these were two questions that had come to Paul from the church while he was ministering in Ephesus or if Paul assumed these were questions being asked and so he addressed them. The people of Corinth understood death. Francesca Caruso is an ancient Roman history expert and she says the average life expectancy in the Roman Empire was about 35 years. Nearly 50% of all children died before they reached the age of 10. They were well acquainted with death, but they had no idea what resurrection looked like and neither do we. We’ve never seen one ourselves. The great Bible teacher John Calvin wrote,
There is nothing that is more at variance with human reason than this article of faith. For who but God alone could persuade us that bodies, which are now liable to corruption, will, after having rotted away, or after they have been consumed by fire, or torn in pieces by wild beasts, will not merely be restored entire, but in a greatly better condition. Do not all our apprehensions of things straightway reject this as a thing fabulous, nay, most absurd? (John Calvin)
Something that is so absurd to the human mind was so integral and empowering to Paul and the other followers of Jesus. Why? Because they had seen Jesus, they had touched Him, spoken with Him, and received instructions from Him as He sent them into the world to share the Good News. In verses 36-41, Paul uses three analogies to show what our future bodies will be like in the resurrection. He uses the illustration of seeds, flesh, and celestial bodies. Let’s look at the illustration of the seed. Paul writes,
36 How foolish! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. 37 When you sow, you do not plant the body that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or of something else. 38 But God gives it a body as he has determined, and to each kind of seed he gives its own body. (1 Corinthians 15:36-38 NIV)
Paul calls those who are asking the questions “foolish” because they were surrounded by illustrations of how God brings forth life from death every day. One illustration is the seed and plant. When a seed is planted in the ground the seed “dies,” figuratively speaking. It does decompose as a seed in order for the plant to emerge. If you were to look at a kernal of corn, or an acorn, or a watermelon seed, you could never imagine what would emerge from that tiny seed. The seed is so different from the plant or tree which will emerge.At the same time, there is continuity between the seed and the plant or tree that will form. If you plant a watermelon seed you will never get wheat and if you plant an acorn you can hope and pray for wheat, but you’ll only get an oak tree. Alan Johson writes,
The seed corresponds to our perishable, rotting body that must die first, whereas the embodied life that emerges from death represents our resurrection body. The perishable body that is laid in the ground in death is not the same body that emerges in new life, but the seed image strongly implies continuity of identity. Somehow we will know ourselves to be ourselves in the new body, and we will know others in their new bodies as the same persons we knew in their perishable bodies. (Johnson, Alan. 1 Corinthians. pg. 302)
We are so familiar with the process, I should say the miracle of how a tiny seed becomes a plant that we don’t give it any thought at all. Yet, if you had never seen the process before you would never believe that from a tiny seed a plant or tree could emerge. You can put a pork chop bone in the ground and you’ll never get a hog. My mom used to ask me, “Do you think I have a money tree in the backyard?” How do you get those? Do you plant a quarter? No, you can plant all the money you want and never get a money tree, but God has so designed plant life that we see miracles happen and never give them a thought.Let me point out one more important thing which is easily missed in this section of Scripture. Look at verse 36 with me once more. Paul writes,
36 …What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. (1 Corinthians 15:36 NIV)
See the phrase, “come to life?” In the Greek New Testament it is the word, ???????? (z??opoie?) which means, “make alive, give life to.” It is a passive verb which means the thing that is sown is not doing the coming to life on its own, it is being made alive by an outside Source. How is a dead body brought to life? Only by an outside Source acting upon it and that outside Source is God Himself, the One who raised Jesus from the grave. Resurrection is an act of pure grace! Only God can bring to life that which is dead. Let me show you some other places where this Greek word appears in our Bible. Turn with me to John 5:21 and let’s read together.
21 For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it. (John 5:21 NIV)
How about one more? Turn with me to Romans 8:11.
11 And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you. (Romans 8:11 NIV)
You can see in each of these examples that it is God alone who gives life to our mortal bodies, it is God alone who has the power to raise the dead and give them life. Next, Paul turns to the varieties of flesh which God has given to His creation and the difference between earthly bodies and heavenly bodies. Let’s read beginning in 1 Corinthians 39.
39 Not all flesh is the same: People have one kind of flesh, animals have another, birds another and fish another. 40 There are also heavenly bodies and there are earthly bodies; but the splendor of the heavenly bodies is one kind, and the splendor of the earthly bodies is another. 41 The sun has one kind of splendor, the moon another and the stars another; and star differs from star in splendor. (1 Corinthians 15:39-41 NIV)
The point Paul is trying to make is that we have been given earthly, mortal bodies that differ from the “flesh” of animals, birds, and fish. Just as God has given us our body which differs from theirs, so will God give us a resurrection body that differs from this present body that we’ve been given. There are also heavenly bodies, or celestial bodies, as the King James Version says, and they differ from one another as well. If God is so creative in making all of these different kinds of bodies that fill the heavens and the earth, then why can He not create a resurrected body that is even more glorious?! In the next section of Scripture, verses 42-44, Paul lays out five contrasts of our present earthly bodies with the resurrected body that Jesus possesses and that all of His followers will one day experience. Paul writes: Present Body Resurrection BodyPerishable ImperishableDishonorable GloriousWeak PowerfulNatural SpiritualEarthly HeavenlyMurphy-O’Connor writes, “The resurrection body is a mirror image of the present body; everything is reversed.” Unlike the Greeks who believed the body was the last thing we wanted to hold onto in the afterlife, Paul emphasized that those who are in Christ will absolutely have a body, but a resurrection body that is everything we are not now in this present body. Now, in this body, we have a shelf life, that's what Paul means when he writes that our present body is perishable. Each and every one of us has an expiration date. We have no idea what it is, but we have one and the day of expiration will come as surely as the sun rose in the east this morning. Our bodies are weak. We may try and disguise our weaknesses, but they are there and we know they are there. One day, what is will be transformed into the same resurrected body Jesus possesses right now. Where did Paul and the other followers of Jesus come up with this idea? They didn’t base it on the philosopher’s musings, but on Jesus’ own resurrection. Let me give you an example from Scripture. Turn with me to Luke 24:36 and let’s read together what the disciples experienced after the resurrection of Jesus.
36 And as they were saying these things, He Himself stood among them. He said to them, "Peace to you!" 37 But they were startled and terrified and thought they were seeing a ghost. 38 "Why are you troubled?" He asked them. "And why do doubts arise in your hearts? 39 Look at My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself! Touch Me and see, because a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you can see I have." 40 Having said this, He showed them His hands and feet. 41 But while they still were amazed and unbelieving because of their joy, He asked them, "Do you have anything here to eat?" 42 So they gave Him a piece of a broiled fish, 43 and He took it and ate in their presence. (Luke 24:36-43 CSB)
They thought they were seeing a ghost, not because Jesus looked like He had stepped out of a Ghostbusters movie, but because they had never dreamed what they were seeing could be true. Did you notice what Jesus did? He said, “Look at my hands and feet…Touch me and see.” Then they shared a meal with Him. He was a physical presence, not an ethereal spirit. And just as Jesus’ earthly body was transformed so shall yours be transformed if you belong to Jesus. Paul wrote, in Philippians 3:20-21,
20 But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body. (Philippians 3:20-21 NIV)
And in the last section of our Scripture for today we see how Paul contrasts those who are “in Adam” with those who are “in Christ.” Let’s read 1 Corinthians 15:45-49.
45 So it is written: "The first man Adam became a living being"; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. 46 The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. 47 The first man was of the dust of the earth; the second man is of heaven. 48 As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the heavenly man, so also are those who are of heaven. 49 And just as we have borne the image of the earthly man, so shall we bear the image of the heavenly man. (1 Corinthians 15:45-49 NIV)
Our natural identity is in Adam. He is the common ancestor of us all. Adam was formed of the dust of the earth and “became a living being.” God breathed into Adam the breath of life. Paul is drawing from Genesis 2:7 which tells us the same story. Adam had fellowship with God in the Garden, but when Adam sinned everything changed. Death became Adam’s future and the future for all of those in Adam’s family tree who would come after him. Paul writes, “Just as we have borne the image of the earthly man (Adam), so shall we (those who through grace have been redeemed and reconciled to God the Father through Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection,) bear the image of the heavenly man (Jesus).” Alan Johnson writes,
Only when the natural with all its limitations and qualifications has been laid down in death can the Spirit fully transform our body and allow us to give full expression to the indwelling Spirit of Christ. (Johnson, Alan. 1 Corinthians. pg. 305)
Someone here this morning may be thinking, “Why all of this time talking about nebulous, ethereal things like the possibility of what comes after death when we have so many problems to deal with in this present life?” My answer would be that you and I have no bigger problem than death itself. Just over one year ago there was an article about how the richest people in the world are giving millions of dollars to try and “cheat death.” Sam Shead writes,
All things must die, according to the poet Alfred Lord Tennyson, but that could be about to change. A growing number of tech billionaires have decided they want to use their enormous wealth to try to help humans “cheat death.” (Shead, Sam, September 21, 2021 Silicon Valley’s quest to live forever could benefit humanity as a whole–here’s why. CNBC)
The article goes on to point out that Jeff Bezos, Peter Thiel, Larry Elison, Sergey Brin, and Larry Page are some of those who are investing billions of dollars trying to figure out how to cheat death. Sigmund Freud, the famous psychologist, the father of psychoanalysis, may have figured out the riddle of the human mind, but he said, “And finally there is the painful riddle of death, for which no remedy at all has yet been found, nor probably ever will be.” Job, after he had lost everything, sat in an ash heap and asked the question, “If a man dies, will he live again?” That is the most important question because life is our most important possession. The answer to the question is “Yes! Yes! Absolutely Yes for those who belong to Jesus! Do you belong to Jesus? Do you recognize that He loves you so much that He willingly gave His life for your redemption, so you could be reconciled to God the Father, and spend eternity, not in this body of weakness and limitations, but in a resurrected body like His own? I want to invite you to say “Yes” to Jesus this morning. Mike HaysBritton Christian ChurchMay 1, 2022