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Living in the Victory of Christ

March 31, 2024 Speaker: Brian Wilbur Series: Resurrection Day Sermon

Topic: Rooted in Christ Passage: 1 Corinthians 15:1–58

LIVING IN THE VICTORY OF CHRIST

An Exposition of 1 Corinthians 15

By Pastor Brian Wilbur

Date: March 31, 2024

Series: Resurrection Sunday

Note: Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Introduction: the problem of vanity

Sinful humanity is often plagued by the thought that life is ultimately meaningless. If there is no firm foundation, no steady anchor, no transcendent purpose, no secure future, then what is the point of this merry-go-round existence? If we’re just a random collection of atoms racing toward the grave, or if we’re just a complex ball of emotions without any objective truth to hold onto, or if we’re just puppets who must suffer the whims of the gods who dwell at some Olympus, or if we’re just accidents of impersonal forces who are destined to be forgotten, or if we’re just ignorant creatures who have been abandoned by the Creator, then the practical effect is all the same: no point, no purpose, no grand narrative, no glorious future. And if that’s the case, then what different does anything make?

The apostle Paul obviously had a very different perspective:

“Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.” (1 Corinthians 15:58)

Not in vain. Not meaningless. Not empty. What reality did Paul know that gave him such purpose and confidence?

Contrast those closing words from 1 Corinthians 15 with the opening words of the Book of Ecclesiastes:

“The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem. Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity. What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun?” (Ecclesiastes 1:1-3)

The Book of Ecclesiastes should be regarded as one of the greatest works of religious philosophy ever written. The author, Solomon, did not ultimately think that everything is meaningless. But what he is doing in Ecclesiastes is making an argument to show us that when we attempt to interpret life within the four walls of this present world, with no light from the outside, then we must conclude that “[all] is vanity”:

“I have seen everything thing that is done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind.” (Ecclesiastes 1:14)

Why does everything appear vain when we seek to understand life within the four walls of this present world? The answer is simple: death. Death is the great equalizer and leveler and destroyer. In Ecclesiastes 2:12-17, Solomon considers the fact that whether you are a wise person or a foolish person, everyone dies and everyone is forgotten. So what’s the point? In Ecclesiastes 2:18-23, Solomon considers the fact that even if you labor productively in this life and gain many possessions, you will eventually die and leave all of your possessions to other people, quite possibly to foolish people. So what’s the point? In Ecclesiastes 4:1-3, Solomon considers all the oppression that exists in this world. Those who are oppressed are full of tears and have no comforters, and the oppressors have the power on their side – seeing such evil is so burdensome that it is preferable to be dead or to have never existed in the first place. Can there be a point? In Ecclesiastes 4:4, Solomon reflects:

“Then I saw that all toil and all skill in work come from a man’s envy of his neighbor. This also is vanity and a striving after wind.” (Ecclesiastes 4:4)

The fact that man is so often driven by “envy of his neighbor” is seriously comical in light of the other things that Solomon has told us. Picture a group of men racing toward the cliff of death and oblivion, and some men are resolved to get their faster and with more stuff in their hands. ‘Well, at least I got more toys than you did’, says the rich guy as he falls into the void.

As Ecclesiastes continues, Solomon receives some beautiful beams of light shining down from outside the four walls of this present world, and thus he counsels us to live in view of eternity. Death, as it turns out, is not the end. “God will bring every deed into judgment” (Ecclesiastes 12:14), which means that every deed is loaded with significance. Within the four walls of this present world, future generations may forget us and our deeds. But God will forget neither us nor our deeds, and He will summon us before Him to assess the quality of our earthly life. There is a point, then – a massive point beyond death – and this takes us into the wonderful riches of 1 Corinthians 15. If the question of Ecclesiastes 1:3 is the question, “What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun?”, then 1 Corinthians 15:58 provides the answer: Man stands to gain quite a lot, when viewed in light of eternity. “[Be] steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, know that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.” Not meaningless, but full of lasting purpose. Because death is not the end. There is the reality and promise of glorious resurrection, and this changes everything.

Now let’s walk through 1 Corinthians 15, which I read earlier in the service.

The gospel powerfully saves and transforms those who believe (v. 1-11)

First, in verses 1-11, we see that the gospel powerfully saves and transforms those who believe. The core content of the gospel message is given in verses 3-5: “Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures” (v. 3), “he was buried” (v. 4), “he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures” (v. 4), and following His resurrection He appeared to many of His followers (v. 5-7). Paul received this gospel message (v. 3) and was powerfully transformed by it (v. 8-11). Paul then took this gospel message and preached it to the Corinthians (v. 1), and thus the Corinthians received it and were being powerfully transformed by it (v. 1-2).

Notice that the gospel message isn’t simply some ideas for your head. Yes, the gospel message must be understood by your mind, but there is far more going on than the rearrangement of mental furniture. Verses 1-2 show us that the gospel is a treasure to be received, held fast, prized and cherished. The gospel is a solid foundation “in which you stand” (v. 1), thus anticipating the steadfastness and immovability of verse 58. The gospel is mighty to save: “by [the gospel] you are being saved” (v. 2). The beginning of salvation brings forgiveness of sins and reconciliation with God; and salvation then continues in terms of ongoing practical sanctification and spiritual growth; and finally salvation culminates in our glorification with Christ forever.

Let it be clear on this Resurrection Sunday and on every day: Christians are not self-made. Christians are not self-help gurus. Christians are not masters of self-empowerment. Christians have not learned to awaken the giant within. The giant within is egregious sin, and we could not defeat it. The power of salvation resides in the gospel: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes” (Romans 1:16). “[The] word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” (1 Corinthians 1:18) God’s power is at work in and through the gospel, bringing salvation to those who believe. It is the gospel “by which [we] are being saved” (v. 2). Saved from what? From our sins! “Christ died for our sins” (v. 3). We were in bondage to sin. We stood in sin, and sin held us fast, and we stood condemned, with nothing to look forward to except death and the judgment to come. Christ stood in our place, bearing our sin and guilt and punishment in His own body on the tree, in order to release us from the mastery of sin and bring us into the freedom of the gospel. The gospel message is not: help yourself, and God will throw in some spare change. If you think that Christianity is people like us helping ourselves, with God above throwing in some spare change, then you don’t understand Christianity. Attaching some Christian lingo to your clever self-improvement plan is just one way among many of “[believing] in vain” (v. 2). Don’t settle for the shallow and the superficial. Don’t settle for the lingo. Don’t turn ‘church’ and ‘gospel’ and ‘spirituality’ into convenient props for your selfish agenda. True Christianity is the vicarious death and victorious resurrection of Christ, and the consequent regeneration and transformation of dead sinners in Christ. It is supernatural from start to finish.

Exhibit A: the apostle Paul. He “persecuted the church of God” (v. 9) and, as other passages tell us, he did this with great zeal. How does a violent persecutor of God’s people become a valiant proclaimer of God’s gospel? Answer: the powerful grace of God. The risen Christ appeared to Paul (v. 8), and “the grace of God” remade Paul into a new man (v. 10). “[God’s] grace toward [Paul] was not in vain” but effectively transformed Paul into a productive minister of the gospel, and it was “the grace of God” that carried him all the way through (v. 10). Paul’s experience of grace-powered Christian ministry in verse 10 also anticipates verse 58: that you also would “always [abound] in the work of the Lord”. The transformation of the Corinthians themselves into faithful Christians was the fruit of God’s gracious work in and through Paul and other gospel preachers (v. 11).

The resurrection of Christ is the backbone of the gospel message (v. 12-34)

Second, in verses 12-34, we see that the bodily resurrection of Christ from the dead is the backbone of the gospel message. Without it, there is simply no good news. Paul proclaimed the resurrection of Christ in verse 4, and now starting in verse 12 through the rest of the chapter, Paul’s clear emphasis is on the resurrection of Christ and on our future resurrection.

In verses 12-19, Paul utilizes very tight logical analysis. The bodily resurrection of the dead at the end of history and the bodily resurrection of Christ in the middle of history, are inseparably bound together. If there is no resurrection of the dead, then this would mean that Christ has not been raised and it would also mean that we will not be raised in the future:

“But if there is no resurrection of the dead [in general], then not even Christ has been raised.” (v. 13)

However, if Christ has been raised, as indeed He has been, this this guarantees that His people will also be raised from the dead at the end of history (v. 20-23). This may seem like a strange reasoning process to our individualistic ears, but our individualistic ears are just the problem. While God cares about us individually, we are part of a much larger story. We are not isolated individuals who are writing our own individual stories. We are bound up with the bigger story, and the sooner you make peace with that, the much richer your life will become. Adam brought death to all of His physical descendants: God sees Adam and his descendants as one big family who fall together. By contrast, Christ brings resurrection to all of His spiritual descendants: God sees Christ and “those who belong to Christ” (v. 23) as one big family who rise together – “But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ.” (v. 23) Christ is “the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep” (v. 20), “the firstborn from the dead” (Colossians 1:18), the first one to rise from the dead. And in due course, we shall follow Him.

Now it is in verses 14-17 where Paul communicates very clearly that the resurrection of Christ is the backbone of the gospel message:

“And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.” (v. 14-17)

Sin and death

Without the resurrection of Christ, we are all just wasting our time: if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is an exercise in futility and your faith is an exercise in futility. Why is this so? Pay close attention here, because this chain of thought is key to understanding the Christian gospel. We make a great mistake if we ever get to thinking that death is a natural part of life, or that death is the natural result of evolutionary dynamics, or that death is the natural way by which God designed the world to work. Though death seems natural, it only seems natural because we live on the other side of humanity’s fall into sin in Genesis 3. But as Christians who have received the entire biblical storyline, we know that death is the result of sin. “[By] a man came death” (v. 21), and we know that the unstated reality here is that the man who ushered in death did so by sinning: “Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin” (Romans 5:12). We don’t even need Paul to tell us this, for this is the straightforward reading of Genesis 1-5: God created humanity and the entire world “very good” (Genesis 1:31), and death entered into the picture through sin: indeed, God imposed the reality of death upon the human race because the human race, under its covenant head Adam, had gotten all enmeshed with sin. And “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23).

Atonement and the undoing of death

So here’s the deal that we need to reckon with: the only way to overcome death is to overcome sin, since sin is the root of death. In God’s economy, the only way to overcome sin is by a sacrifice of atonement. In other words, the debt incurred by sin can only be paid in blood, can only be paid by death. Now I hope you’re starting to see the connection: “Christ died for our sins”. But if Christ’s death truly satisfied the Father’s demand for a blood sacrifice, then sin would be atoned for and death would be overcome, and if death was overcome, then Christ couldn’t remain in the realm of death, but would rise forth as the great Conqueror who offers forgiveness free and full for all who trust Him. Do you see the flow of thought? “[If] Christ has not been raised” (v. 17), then death still holds Him, and if death still holds Him, then sin hasn’t been atoned for, and if sin hasn’t been atoned for, then sin is still holding onto you, and “you are still in your sins” (v. 17) with nothing to look forward to except death and the judgment to come. Everything rides on the resurrection of Christ. If all that Christianity does for you is give you a little spare change of moral wisdom to help you do life a little bit better inside the four walls of this present world before death takes us all, then you don’t get it. You might as well just go home and join the death march. But true Christianity is a glory march, a march to resurrection life in a triumphant kingdom that lasts forever.

Jesus is King over the entire universe

In fact, verses 24-28 show us that the resurrection of Christ is the backbone of the Christian message in another way, also. As I mentioned two weeks ago regarding Psalm 2, the resurrection of Jesus, followed by His ascension and exaltation to the Father’s right hand, is nothing less than the enthronement of Jesus as King over the entire universe. He is reigning now, and “he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet” (v. 25). All things are already in subjection to King Jesus in principle (that is, He has genuine authority over all things), but in actual practice God still allows enemies to stage acts of rebellion, still allows thorns and thistles to grow, still allows suffering and death to occur. Slowly but surely, all things in actual practice are being subjected to Christ. Slowly but surely, all rival forms of rule, and all authorities and powers, are being destroyed (v. 24). As King Jesus reigns from heaven, so the gospel goes forth throughout the earth, and the Holy Spirit saves sinners and establishes outposts of Christ’s kingdom – we call these outposts ‘churches’ but we could also call them embassies. Two thousand years after the resurrection of Jesus, there are embassies of Christ’s kingdom all over the world, and these embassies are declaring that Jesus is Lord and they are demonstrating it through lives of practical service.

Where is history headed?

Do you want to know where history is headed? Look no further than verses 24-28: Christ will destroy every rival power, every enemy will be subdued, and everything will be put in order under the rule of Christ. That is where history is headed, and to be ‘on the right side of history’ is simply to confess that Jesus is King and to conduct yourself in accordance with His rule. When everything has been brought into its proper place, with every saint finally at home in Christ’s kingdom and every rebel finally judged, “[the] last enemy to be destroyed is death” (v. 26). Christ has already defeated death in terms of His own resurrection, and this is why we can be confident that He will finally defeat death in terms of our resurrection. While every unbeliever will face judgment and exclusion, every believer will be raised up and glorified with Christ forever. Then, when all this grand work has come to completion, King Jesus will present the entire completed and consummated kingdom to His Father (v. 28). “No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it [the eternal city]” (Revelation 22:3), and our hearts shall burst with unspeakable joy forever.

The resurrection shapes the entire Christian life

Brothers and sisters, our entire life as Christians is framed by the resurrection – by Christ’s victorious resurrection already accomplished, and by our victorious resurrection promised and assured. And this is Paul’s point as he gets into verses 30-34. As Christians, we are called to take risks that endanger our temporary welfare (v. 30). We are called to die daily (v. 31) – to live sacrificially, to give generously, to lay down our lives for the sake of the gospel and for the good of our brothers and sisters. We are called to fight beasts (v. 32) – not animals, but beastly men (false teachers and persecutors and slanderers) and beastly demonic powers. And Paul’s point is that it makes no sense to live such a risky, endangered, sacrificial, self-denying, conflict-laden life unless we are looking forward to a final payout that far surpasses anything to be found within the four walls of this present world. “If the dead are not raised, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.”” (1 Corinthians 15:32) If there is no resurrection, then it makes no sense to go through the trouble of living a holy life, going to the mission field, defending unpopular beliefs, and giving generous amounts of resources to the work of the gospel and the ministry of the local church. If the dead are not raised, go cash your paycheck and order a plate of fried clams before death comes and snatches everything away.

But since Christ has been raised, we have a stewardship to be ‘all in’ for Him and His kingdom. The promise of resurrection is the anchor of faithful, radical, and sacrificial discipleship. Why should you deny yourself and take up your cross and follow a 1st century Jewish Rabbi who suffered and was rejected and was crucified on His own cross? Not because you happen to be drawn to His ethic of love, but because He didn’t stay dead. Why should you pour out your life in Jesus’ name by ministering to people and caring for people who can’t pay you back? Not because you think it’s a bad thing to be rewarded, but because you don’t want to settle for a temporary reward. There is a better reward – a better payout – and it shall happen at the resurrection. In the words of Jesus Himself:

“When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid. But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.” (Luke 14:12-14)

People blind to the promise of resurrection store up treasure on earth, because that is the only treasure they can see. People alive to the promise of resurrection store up treasure in heaven, because that is the only treasure that will last.

Wake up!

Pursue biblical mindedness, and hang with people who will help you pursue biblical mindedness. Don’t hang around people who pull you the wrong way: “Bad company ruins good morals.” (v. 33) “Wake up from your drunken stupor, as is right, and do not go on sinning.” (v. 34) Drunken stupor fools keep sinning because they don’t know that sin has been atoned for, death has been defeated, Christ has been exalted as King, and His kingdom is unstoppable and headed toward final victory. Wake up, the grave is empty! Wake up, for Christ is risen! Wake up, the gospel must be preached to the nations! Wake up, for earthly toys and trinkets and trophies are going to look really lame when you’re standing before Jesus – and in comparison to eternity, you will be standing before Him very soon. Maybe you walked into this sanctuary this morning clueless and spiritually lost and dead in your sin, and yet perhaps at this very moment the Holy Spirit is hovering over your heart and showing you the eternal glory that is found in Christ alone. Don’t let this holy moment be a flash in the pan. But press in and lay hold of Christ: “[If] you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9) Today is the day to walk out of the darkness and into the light.

So, the resurrection of Christ is the backbone of the gospel message, and the backbone of all Christian life and ministry.

Our future resurrection is going to be exceedingly wonderful, and our resurrection bodies will be glorious reflections of the risen Christ (v. 35-57)

Third, our future resurrection is going to be exceedingly wonderful, and our resurrection bodies will be glorious reflections of the risen Christ (v. 35-57). Let me call your attention to a few of the wonderful gems in this section.

Consider this: your current physical body is the seed of your future resurrection body. That small little acorn holds the seed that becomes an oak tree. We might like to jump directly to the oak tree, but that bypasses the patient process that God designed: “And what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare kernel, perhaps of what or of some other grain.” (v. 37) You don’t sow the final product; you don’t sow the giant oak tree; you sow the tiny seed from that small acorn. You sow the tiny seed, and in due course “God gives it a body as he has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body.” (v. 38) And Paul teaches us to think in this manner about our future resurrection bodies. We don’t sow the final product; instead we sow these fragile seeds called our current physical bodies. And our current physical bodies are characterized by weakness. In verses 42-44, Paul contrasts the seed of our current physical bodies with the glory of our future resurrection bodies:

“What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.” (1 Corinthians 15:42-44)

Paul goes on to say in verses 45-49 that in our current physical body, we bear the image of Adam, the first man, the man of dust; but in our future resurrection body, we will bear the image of the second man, the man of heaven, our Lord Jesus Christ. The first man, Adam, shows us our humble beginnings: from the dust of the earth. The second man, Jesus, shows us our spectacular destiny: imperishable, immortal, incorruptible, and unfading glory. Those who trust in Jesus will share in this never-ending joy.

Hardware and software

In order to enter into this glory, we must undergo a significant change: “I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.” (v. 50) I like to think about verse 50 in terms of hardware and software. If God has saved you, then He has given you new software, a new operating system, a new heart. But He hasn’t give you new hardware yet. You still have the same hardware, the same body, the same flesh and blood. And your hardware is perishable and unable to enter into the glories of God’s consummated kingdom. If you entered into those glories in your present body, your body would utterly fail, get fried, disintegrate. The good news is that God intends to give you new hardware at the appointed time, so that you can shine bright and stand strong in His presence forever. “[We] shall be changed” (v. 52):

“For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:

“Death is swallowed up in victory.”
“O death, where is your victory?
    O death, where is your sting?”

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Corinthians 15: 53-57)

Always abound in the work of the Lord (v. 58)

Finally, then, we return to verse 58. Since all these things are so, how should we then live? Think about it: we get to stand upon a solid foundation, we have a glorious hope concerning the future, the grace of God is transforming and empowering us now, and we get to be active participants in the work of Christ’s kingdom. We are freed from guilt, freed from futility, freed from aimless wandering, freed from the shifting fads of fickle society. We are not cogs in a machine. We are not on a death march. We are “beloved”. We’re not chasing after acceptance and approval in the world, because we have found it in our heavenly Father, through the Lord Jesus Christ. Thus we aren’t flighty or volatile, but anchored, grounded, “steadfast, immovable”. And with a clear head and a warm heart and hands ready for action and mouths ready for proclamation, we give ourselves to the Lord’s work: “always [not occasionally] abounding [not spare change but overflowing devotion] in the work of the Lord”, always devoting ourselves to those priorities and activities that advance the interests of Christ’s kingdom. And we do this, “knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.” The word that is translated “labor” means ‘laborious toil’ and it typically involves trouble, weariness, and fatigue. So the point is that in your currently perishable, moral, and weak human body, your work is often exhausting or wearying. Yes, there is joy and love and great purpose in your work, but nevertheless it is ‘laborious toil’ – it’s a lot of work, and not easy. But the ‘laborious toil’ of kingdom work is not in vain, because there is resurrection and reward and great victory at the end of the journey.

The laborious toil of preaching the gospel is not in vain. The laborious toil of making disciples is not in vain. The laborious toil of raising children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord is not in vain. The laborious toil of running a household that is a blessing not only to your own family but also to your church family and to the wider community and to people who cannot pay you back, is not in vain. The laborious toil of an honest day’s work, whether as an entrepreneur or as an employee, in which you seek to adorn the gospel with productivity and good character, is not in vain – even as Paul says to bondservants in their earthly vocations, “You are serving the Lord Christ.” (Colossians 3:24) The laborious toil of putting into practice all those peacemaking sermons – the uncomfortable conversations, the actions of confession and forgiveness and reconciliation – is not in vain. The laborious toil of serving in and through the various ministries of the church, in order to encourage the children or fortify the youth or feed the hungry or bless God’s people with music on the Lord’s Day, is not in vain.

“What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun?” In Christ, and only in Christ, the answer is unable to be calculated, for the gain is eternal gain, lasting treasure, heavenly reward. As a well-known hymn puts it:

“Let us then be true and faithful,

Trusting, serving ev’ry day;

Just one glimpse of Him in glory

Will the toils of life repay.”

(from the hymn “When We All Get to Heaven”)

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