EASTER SUNDAY
DEATH IS DESTROYED FOREVER!
I Corinthians 15:1-7, 51-58
Let me now remind you, dear brothers and sisters, of the Good News I preached to you before. You welcomed it then, and you still stand firm in it. It is this Good News that saves you if you continue to believe the message I told you—unless, of course, you believed something that was never true in the first place.
I passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me. Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said. He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the Scriptures said. He was seen by Peter and then by the Twelve. After that, he was seen by more than 500 of his followers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died. Then he was seen by James and later by all the apostles.
But let me reveal to you a wonderful secret. We will not all die, but we will all be transformed! It will happen in a moment, in the blink of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For when the trumpet sounds, those who have died will be raised to live forever. And we who are living will also be transformed. For our dying bodies must be transformed into bodies that will never die; our mortal bodies must be transformed into immortal bodies.
Then, when our dying bodies have been transformed into bodies that will never die, this Scripture will be fulfilled:
“Death is swallowed up in victory.
O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?”
For sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power. But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ.
So, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and immovable. Always work enthusiastically for the Lord, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless.
Some Thoughts
Paul reminded us elsewhere in this chapter that if Christ did not actually rise from the dead, then Christianity is a fraud and we have been sinisterly fooled. BUT (what a great three letter word), that is not the case. Jesus Christ was raised from the dead. Sin lost its grip and was crushed to an eternally fatal death this Resurrection day. The Lord has risen indeed, and life is changed forever. Forever means that chronological clock as we know it moves us into a different dimension. Death is the departure from this world to the heavenly world for which we were created, there to live eternally in the presence of our glorious Lord. For the Christian, to be absent from the body is to be in the presence the Lord. “No longer will there be a curse upon anything. For the throne of God and of the Lamb will be there, and his servants will worship him. And they will see his face, and his name will be written on their foreheads. And there will be no night there—no need for lamps or sun—for the Lord God will shine on them. And they will reign forever and ever” (Rev. 22:3-5).
Adam is the father of our earthly death. Jesus is our brother of heavenly life. Christ did what no one is able to do despite all human’s failed efforts to overcome death. You can easily recall article after article of human’s attempts to extend life, even though an endless life is still out of the question. Rather than trying to extend this earthly life in some way, Jesus killed death, and ushered in eternal life! Death no longer has power over people who put their trust in Jesus for their salvation. In Jesus, we have also defeated death! Though our physical bodies will at some point expire, the part that is “us” doesn’t actually die, we just change addresses. Christians go home, to the home they were made for.
Have you ever thought how worthless and pointless life would be if there was nothing after death? I had a neighbor who believed when your earthly life ends, there is nothing more. Next step oblivion or annihilation or some grand merger into nothingness. If that were true, all the suffering, war, persecution, hunger, pain, and disease would be for nothing. That kind of cruelty makes no sense. There would never be any justice for evil. If our hope in Christ only has benefits in this life, and sometimes Jesus doesn’t solve or relieve every trouble we face from our perspective, what is the point of putting trust in him? True, he gives grace to deal with difficulties, but in the end, we still die and not everything in this earthly life is fixed or comes out right as we see it. If this is the case, Jesus is nothing more than a medicine to ease the pain of a depressing life. But God has a bigger plan and purpose for the Christian’s life than this world alone. No, there is judgment, there are rewards, and there is eternal life for everyone. There is ultimate justice after all, if not in this life, there is in the next, either in the presence of God or apart from God.
There is so much more than this earthly life. No, life is not worthless or pointless. By the grace of God, we know that the most glorious Savior, the Lamb of God, the one who is of greatest worth to God and to all the world, is worthy of all glory and honor, especially to those who put their trust in him.
Music “Worthy Is the Lamb and Amen Chorus” Voces8
Prayer
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who in his great mercy gave us new birth into a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Praise be to Jesus the Son, the Lamb of God, who has taken on himself all the sin of the whole world and has risen this day to everlasting life and glory. Praise be to God the Holy Spirit, who raises us to new life with Christ. Praise and thanks and blessing be to God the King and Savior of all creation on this day of victory and light. Glory be to Thee, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, one God, world without end. Amen.