Hello, my ‘Walking with Jesus’ friends on this first Monday of October,
Certain people in history are remembered by famous things they said. The American President Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg address, for instance. For the apostle Paul there could be many famous statements, but today let’s look at one which is certainly one of Paul’s most powerful and significant. We find it as we continue looking at the 15th chapter of Paul’s first letter to his Christian friends in Corinth, Greece, about 2000 years ago.
Paul was answering several questions many people were asking about the hard to believe claim that Jesus Christ was resurrected after His horrible crucifixion death on that famous Passover/Easter weekend. Let’s join Paul as he dictates with careful selection of every word: “Jesus Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes through a man. For in Adam all die, so in Jesus Christ all will be made alive…” (1 Cor. 15:20-22)
Oh my, what a powerful, profound and significant statement. I wonder what you see as the vital, dramatic statements which should bring both clarity and hope to every person in the world? Here’s what I see:
First... without any doubt or question Jesus Christ is not dead! Jesus is fully and verifiably raised from the dead!
Yesterday we looked at Paul’s declaration that the Risen Jesus was seen by many people over the course of 40 days, and those people, for the rest of their lives, told their eyewitness stories of seeing and talking with and even having meals with the resurrected Jesus! (Acts 1:1-9) Paul himself is among those who had a personal encounter with the resurrected Jesus, and that encounter changed Paul’s life!
Second, what Jesus experienced in His resurrection is God’s design for EVERY human being who has or ever will live!
Just as Jesus’ dead body was resurrected and healed and reunited with His soul & spirit, so every person’s dead body will be resurrected to perfection and reunited with their soul & spirit! That’s why Jesus is called the ‘first fruits’. He is the first to experience this miracle and all humanity will follow, each in their own turn. Now, are you sure you’ve got that, my friends, it’s vitally important!
Third, every human being will die and that is part of our sin nature humanity inherited from Adam. And every human being will be resurrected by God and that is part of our being made in the image of God with an immortal soul & spirit. And our resurrection will be very similar to what Jesus experienced.
For those who trust in Jesus, our resurrection will be to eternal life in heaven with God, as it was for Jesus! For those who do not trust in Jesus, their resurrection will be to eternal life in hell, separated from God! Again, did you get that my friends? It’s vitally important!
Now let’s watch as Paul continues his remarkable explanation of this extremely important truth about our life, our death and our life after death…for every human being: “But each will be resurrected in their own turn: Jesus Christ, the first fruits, then when He comes, those who belong to Him. Then the end will come when He hands over the kingdom to God the Father after He has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. For Jesus must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death.” (1 Cor. 15:23-26)
Once again can we specify each distinctive claim Paul is making here?
First, Jesus Christ is coming back to earth, according to the statement of the angels at His ascension, recorded in Acts 1:11. And when He does Jesus will resurrect ALL those people, from the beginning of time, who had believed in God (Old Testament era) or trusted in Jesus as their Savior.
Paul gives us more details of that in 1 Thess. 4:13-18. This will be a remarkable, global event with hundreds of millions of believers being raised from the dead, all in one moment, and EACH resurrected person being reunited with their soul & spirit and joining together with Jesus, their Savior and Lord! It’s important I ask this of all of us… who in your extended family are you confident will be part of this First Resurrection?
Second, Jesus will return to earth again and will defeat all evil.
Jesus will bind Satan, along with the Antichrist and others who have deceived humanity and send them forever into the lake of burning sulfur, hell. (Rev. 20:14) Jesus will then resurrect all other human beings who have NOT believed in God, and they will be judged (Rev. 20:11-13) for their refusal to see Jesus as their God provided Savior, and they will be sent to that same lake of burning sulfur. Revelation 20 gives us more details of these events.
Third, Jesus will destroy Satan’s entire evil kingdom and send all Satan’s demons to that lake of burning sulfur.
These are represented by Paul’s words “He has destroyed all dominion, authority and power.”
Fourth, the final thing victorious King Jesus will destroy is DEATH!
Finally, death will no longer be part of the human journey or the new future under the reign of King Jesus! Rev. 20:14 says it this way: “Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death.” By that phrase the apostle John meant there is neither escape from nor annihilation in the lake of fire. It is eternal torment.
And fifth, do you see Paul’s statement of certainty that King Jesus will reign in all His glory, His holiness, His superiority for all time future, forever and ever!?
Paul wrote it this way: “For Jesus must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death.” The final chapter of the Bible, Revelation 21, gives us a glorious glimpse into what that never ending future, with Jesus as King, will be like!
Now my dear “Walking with Jesus” friends, I want to urge you to do something special today. Go back through what I’ve given you today and write down in your journal or on a piece of paper which you can keep in your Bible, the 8 specific, major events that are forthcoming which Paul proclaims in these few verses in 1 Corinthians 15.
They are vital, for every being God has ever created are shown their eternal future in these few verses: every human being, every angelic being both holy and evil, Satan and even death itself and Hades, the place of awaiting judgment where the unsaved deceased people are from the time of their death until their judgment before Jesus! (Rev. 20:13-15) Do you see why I claim these verses may be among the most important that Paul ever spoke or wrote?
I hope as you ponder them deeply you will find great hope and certainty about where YOU are in those verses. Let’s thank Jesus right now for these very important truths and here’s a great song to help us understand it all!
Today’s Scripture is 1 Cor. 15:20-26.
Choose below to read or listen.
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.
Pastor Doug Anderson
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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