The Resurrection: The Linchpin of the Gospel Message

Join Reagan as he explores the importance of Jesus' resurrection and its significance for our faith. Drawing from 1 Corinthians 15 and the Gospels, Reagan reveals how the resurrection is the linchpin that holds the gospel together. Discover the power of Jesus' resurrection to transform death into life, the necessity of personal spiritual death for eternal life, and the profound impact of this event on our understanding of Christian faith. This lesson also includes reflections on the Lord's Supper and what it means to proclaim Jesus' death and resurrection until He comes again.

00:00 Introduction and Opening Prayer
00:05 The Importance of Jesus' Resurrection
00:50 The Linchpin Analogy
03:09 Preaching on Jesus
04:51 Paul's Argument on Resurrection
08:51 The Resurrection Story in the Gospels
12:40 Mary Magdalene's Encounter
18:45 The Disciples on the Road to Emmaus
23:01 Jesus Appears to the Disciples
24:17 Doubting Thomas
26:35 Jesus Appears to Thomas
28:00 Jesus Teaches About Belief
28:54 Jesus Appears at the Sea of Tiberius
31:06 Jesus Questions Peter's Love
34:23 The Resurrection's Impact on Death
38:08 The Resurrection Requires Death for Greater Life
41:59 The Memorial of Death Becomes a Proclamation of Life
47:10 Final Reflections and Call to Action

Transcript

Hallelujah. Praise God. Christ arose. If you have your Bible with you, will you take it out please and turn to one Corinthians chapter 15, one Corinthians chapter 15, a chapter that is all about Jesus' resurrection. And ours as well. First Corinthians chapter 15. We're grateful for the presence of all, especially those who are visiting with us this morning.

So grateful you've come our way, and if you'll make the effort to turn in your Bible or in one of the Bibles that are, that is provided for you there in the pew. To one Corinthians chapter 15. We're gonna spend almost all of our time in either one Corinthians 15 or in one of the four Gospels. Matthew, mark, Luke, and John at the beginning of the New Testament for our lesson this morning.

But if you're in one Corinthians chapter 15, you're ready for us to get started today. Have a little show and tell to start today. This is a linchpin a lynchpin is. An amazing, effective and simple invention. And it's used to hold something that is larger more visible and heavier, those sorts of things in place.

And this particular linchpin is from my trailer hitch. Don't worry, I don't have a trailer on the back right now. And it's amazing to think that with all the weight of that trailer. And everything that might be on it. And then the force of that trailer as you're moving down the interstate at 70 miles an hour, that if you remove this one little piece of metal, everything's not gonna work properly.

And before too long, that trailer is no longer going to be attached to your truck. Now, most notably, lynchpins were used and have been used for centuries and centuries and centuries since the ancient world to keep wheels. From sliding off an axle to show you just how long ago this was the case, this is an Egyptian depiction of a linchpin.

You can see it right there. It's actually decorative, supposedly that's the face of a lion. And then you've got the lynchpin here on this chariot wheel. Now, archeologists have dated this particular depiction which was found in ancient Egypt or found in Egypt from ancient times. To the 13th century BC Now, it's really kind of difficult when you're looking that far back to know exactly when this was from, but suffice it to say that as long as there have been wheels, there have been lynch pins that have kept those wheels in place.

If you don't have that, the wheels gonna come off and nothing is gonna function the way it was intended or designed. A linchpin. It's so commonly known and has been so commonly used throughout history that it has become an idiom a way of referring to something else, albeit one that is easily understood across many cultures and a linchpin we have come to describe as something that is vitally important to a greater whole.

So with that in mind I had someone tell me, and this is somebody that I trust, somebody that I admire, somebody that I'll listen to in regard to my preaching and what my preaching ought to be. I had someone tell me recently, Reagan, you need to preach on Jesus more. Preach on Jesus more. And I was a little offended by that, I have to admit to start out with, because I'm like, I preach about Jesus.

Every sermon, I mean, every sermon I'm gonna talk about Jesus, at some point every week we're gonna talk about Jesus. But there is some truth. There is some truth in reality to that idea because we can't preach on Jesus enough. And, and I don't just mean Jesus adjacent things or everything coming back to Jesus.

And if you've listened to my, my sermons for any period of time, you know that I believe everything comes back to Jesus That is good and true, but actually on the heart of Jesus's life and death and resurrection, we can't talk about that enough. And while it would be difficult to try and distinguish which of those things is life.

His death, his resurrection his ascension, his sending the Holy Spirit, and so on and so forth, to try and say which of those things is most important would be difficult. I would suggest that this idea that he is risen, the resurrection is the lynchpin of the gospel. It is the thing that holds everything else together.

And without that one thing, without the resurrection of Jesus Christ, everything else would fall apart. If you're there in one Corinthians chapter 15, I believe that is exactly the argument that the Apostle Paul makes to the church in Corinth. And he needed to make that argument because there were some, even some claiming to be Christians who were denying that Jesus raised from the dead.

And so Jesus raising from the dead is central. Paul says to everything that we are, everything that we believe as those who believe in Jesus Christ. So listen to what Paul says to this ancient church beginning in verse one of one Corinthians chapter 15. Listen closely. Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel, which I preach to you, which you also received, and in which you stand by, which also you are saved if you hold fast.

That word, which I preach to you, unless you believed in vain. For I deliver to you first of all, that which I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures that he was buried and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures, and that he was seen by fuss and then by the 12 and that he was seen by over 500 brethren at once of whom the greater part remain present, but some have fallen asleep.

After that, he was seen by James and then by all the apostles. Then last of all, he was seen by me also as by one, born out of due time. Now drop down to verse 12. That's the reality. Paul says, this is what happened. What are the implications of that? Verse 12. Now, if Christ is preached that he has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?

But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith also is empty. Now, we might think that this is just an issue for those churches back then, but, but let me tell you that there are many believers today, believers in the sense of, I say I'm a Christian.

I believe in Jesus who deny the resurrection. And deny that our resurrection is gonna take place in the future. And so Paul brings a conclusion to all of those sorts of things in that manner of, of thinking when he says in verse 32, if in the manner of men I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, he says, all of the things that I've been through because I'm a Christian, what advantage is it to me?

If the dead do not rise, let us eat and drink for tomorrow, we die. There is no resurrection. Paul says, let's give up on this Christianity thing. Let's, let's get while, let's get, while the getting's good, because there is no hope beyond the very things that we're living in right now. The resurrection Paul says, is the lynchpin of the gospel message.

It is what holds everything else together and looking backwards from Jesus' resurrection. It makes Jesus' perfect life. His excruciating death, meaningful and looking forwards from the resurrection. It makes his ascension to the right hand of God to send the Holy Spirit possible. So this morning we've mixed up the order of the service just a little bit.

We still wanna do things decently in an order. We've mixed up the order just a little bit to think about the resurrection. Ultimately make application to what we will do as we partake of the Lord's Supper here in just a moment. So let's examine Jesus's resurrection this morning on the day where we commemorated every week, the first day of the week when he rose from the dead.

And then we'll make some applications for all of us. So, if you're willing to turn back in the gospels, we're gonna trace. The story of the resurrection through the gospels, and then make three applications this morning. So turn to Matthew chapter 27 to start with Matthew chapter 27. If you'd like to mark one Corinthians 15, we'll come back there for some of our application, but let's start Matthew 27 beginning in verse 62, Matthew 27 and verse 62.

So after Jesus' death and burial on the next day, which followed the day of preparation, the chief priest and Pharisees gathered together to Pilate saying, sir, we remember while he, Jesus was still alive, how that deceiver said, after three days, I will rise, therefore. Command that the tomb be made secure until the third day, lest his disciples come by night and steal him away and say to the people he has risen from the dead.

So the last deception will be worse than the first. Pilate said to them, you have a guard. Go your way. Make it as secure as you know how. So they went and made the tomb secure, sealing the stone and setting the guard. So Jesus is confirmed by as dead, by Roman soldiers who knew what death looked like. His body is buried nearby in a place and in a tomb that everybody sees, that everybody knows about.

And this tomb was close enough to the place of his crucifixion, that the traditional place of crucifixion and burial are now under the same roof of a very long church building in ancient Jerusalem. It is a tomb that no one had ever been buried in. And a very large stone, which would've weighed between half a ton and two tons, depending on how large the stone was, was rolled into place in front of that tomb, and then it was sealed and a guard was set.

And this stone would've been so big and yet arranged in such a way that two people could close the tomb. But it would take many, many more in order to open a tomb like this. Mary Magdalene and other women observe all of this and see the place where Jesus was buried and all is quiet until Sunday morning, just as the dawn is breaking and suddenly there was a great earthquake.

An angel of the Lord whose countenance was like lightning and his clothing was white as snow descends from heaven and rolls back the stone. The guards who had been placed there by the scribes and Pharisees and Jewish rulers, they shake for fear of this angel and, and the text says they become like dead men.

So women come to the tomb. Apparently Mary Magdalene comes first and finds the tomb empty. And then she runs and she tells Peter and John, they have taken the Lord out of the tomb and we do not know where they have put him. So John and Peter run to the tomb and John records that he's faster than Peter, and he gets there first, and he looks in and he sees the burial cloth and the linen.

The cloth that was around Jesus' head is folded neatly at the, at the top of where he was laying. Peter catches up to John and barges into the tomb and they believe, but don't fully understand what is happening, so they return to their homes. But Mary stays. I want you to turn to John chapter 20 and we'll pick up the account there.

Mary Magdalene stays there in this garden where the tomb was. And in verse 11 of John chapter 20, this is what John tells us.

Mary stood outside by the tomb weeping. As she wept, she stooped down and looked into the tomb and she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and the other at the feet where the body of Jesus had laid. And when they said to her Woman, why are you weeping? She said to them, because they have taken away my Lord and I do not know where they have laid him.

Now, when she said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there and did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking? She supposing him to be a gardener. Said to him, sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him and I will take him away.

Jesus said to her one word, her name, Mary. She turned and said to him, rabbi, an eye, which is to say, teacher. Jesus said to her, do not clinging to me for I have not yet ascended to my father, but go to my brethren and say to them, I am ascending to my Father and your Father, and to my God and your God. And that's exactly what Mary Magdalene does.

By this time, other women, including Mary, the mother of James and SLO, have come to the tomb with spices as well, and we see their interaction in Luke chapter 24. So go back to Luke chapter 24,

beginning in verse two. So this other group of women, more women come to the tomb, and in Luke chapter 24, beginning in verse two, Luke chapter 24, beginning in verse two, but they found the stone rolled away from the tomb. They went in and did not find the body of the Lord Jesus, and it happened as they were greatly perplexed about this, that behold, two men stood by them in shining garments.

Then as they were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth, they said to them, why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here but is risen. Remember? He spoke to you when he was still in Galilee saying, the son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified. And the third day rise again.

And they remembered his words. Now on their way back, Jesus appears to, to other women who report back to the 11 that they have seen the Lord. But the words of these women seem to the disciples like idol talk. What are these women talking about? Jesus is alive again. The women aren't the only ones who are reporting on these events.

If you turn to Matthew chapter 28, Matthew chapter 28, beginning in verse 11, and the gospel accounts record different aspects of the resurrection for different purposes. And what I'm trying to do is just put them in order this morning so you can see the story as it lays out in chronological order in Matthew chapter 28, beginning in verse 11.

Now while they were going, those women, going back to tell the disciples, some of the guard came into the city and reported to the chief priests all the things that had happened. When they assembled with the elders and consulted together, they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers, the very ones who had been guarding the tomb saying.

Tell them his disciples came at night and stole him away while we slept. And if this comes to the governor's ears, we will appease him and make you secure. So they took the money. Keep in mind, these are the very people who saw the angels and the, the stone rolled away all those things. They took the money as they were instructed, and this saying is commonly reported among the Jews.

Until this day, I, I can't help but be reminded of Luke chapter 16. Where the rich man who is in torments pleads with Abraham, and he says, send back Lazarus to tell my brothers so that they don't come to this place. And Abraham says, well, your brothers have Moses in the prophets. Let them listen to them.

But the rich man, he protests and he says, if one rises from the dead, they'll listen. But Abraham replies. If they don't hear Moses in the prophets, neither will they be persuaded. The one rise from the dead. And I've always read that and I've thought to myself, especially when I was a brand new baby Christian, I'm like, come on man.

If somebody I knew died and then came back from the dead, surely I would listen to that person. That was not the case among so many. Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead after he'd been dead four days, and many people didn't listen even though they knew it. Jesus is raised from the dead. It is reported by their very own guards to the scribes and Pharisees, and what do they do?

They don't try and convince them that, no, you didn't really see what you think you saw. They paid them off to say something different. Loved ones. Belief in Jesus is and always has been a matter of the heart. There is plenty of evidence to believe, do I want to know God and do God's will or not, is what it comes down to.

Do I want to see him? Do I want to hear him? And if I do, I will. And if I don't, I won't. And so I pray that God will soften our hearts to see the truth that is right in front of us and accept it. Later that afternoon, two of the disciples are walking from Jerusalem to a little town called Emmaus. They're talking of everything that had happened and the reports of the women, and Jesus himself draws near and he starts walking with them.

Turn to Luke chapter 24.

So this is Sunday afternoon now, and all of these things have already happened. That we've read so far, and in Luke chapter 24, beginning in verse 17, Jesus catches up to these disciples, these two disciples, and he said to them, what kind of conversation is this that you have with one another as you walk and are sad?

Then one whose name was Cleopas, answered and said to him, are you the only stranger in Jerusalem? Have you not known the things which happened there in these days? And he said to them, what things? So they said to him the things concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet, mighty deed and word before God and all the people and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered him to be condemned to death and crucified him.

But we were hoping that it was he who was going to redeem Israel. Indeed. Besides all this, today is the third day since these things happened. Yes. And certain women of our company who arrived at the tomb early astonished us when they did not find his body, they came saying that they had also seen a vision of angels who said he was alive, and certain of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but him, they did not see that he, Jesus said to them.

Oh foolish ones and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken. Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things. To enter into his glory and beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded to them and all the scriptures, the things concerning himself. And so Jesus talks to them on this whole journey to Emmaus.

And when they get there, they say, Hey, spend the evening with us. And Jesus agrees. And so he eats with them and then their eyes are opened and they, they see it's Jesus. But when they see it, he vanishes from their sight. And so in verse 32. And they said to one another, did not our heart burn within us while he talked with us on the road and while he opened the scriptures to us.

So they rose up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem and found the 11 and those who were gathered together saying The Lord has risen indeed and has appeared to Simon. And they told about the things that happened on the road and how he was known to them. In the breaking of the bread when they sat down to eat together.

Now, what caused their hearts to burn within them? It was not the where that caused this burning on a dusty road there in Israel, but who they were with, and even more what they were doing. They said our hearts burned within us. When he expounded from the scriptures, the things concerning himself. Raise your hand if you would like to see Jesus loved ones.

You can. He showed himself to these people, though they didn't see him physically, they didn't realize it was him. They didn't see him physically. He showed them himself through the scriptures and their hearts burned within them long before they realized who he was. Your heart can burn within you wherever the word of God is here in these pews, in the quiet or the chaos of your own home.

If you come to Jesus where he has revealed himself through the Holy Spirit in his word, your heart can burn within you.

Then finally, explicitly, Jesus appears that evening, Sunday evening in Luke chapter 24. Keep reading in verse 36. Now, as they said these things, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them and said to them, peace to you. But they were terrified and frightened and suppose they had seen a spirit, a ghost, and he said to them, why are you troubled?

Why do you doubts arise in your heart? Hold my hands and my feet that did his eye myself, handle me and see for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see. I have, when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet, but. While they still did not believe for joy and marveled, he said to them, have you any food here?

So they gave him a piece of boiled fish and some honeycomb, and he took it and he ate in their presence. As Paul talked about in one Corinthians chapter 15, he actually really rose from the dead. This was not just some vision. This was not just some spirit before them. No. He was actually physically there eating and drinking.

They could touch and feel him. And the disciples were overjoyed to have seen Jesus, but we remember one of them was not with him. Which one? Thomas Forever known as Doubting Thomas because when the other disciples came to tell him they'd seen Jesus, he replies, look, unless I see the nail marks in his hands, unless I put my fingers where those nails were and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.

Now, apparently, you know, we kinda run all of that together. Apparently, Jesus didn't appear again for another week. So Sunday he appears he doesn't appear for another week. And again, we see this emphasis on the first day of the week. Imagine the anticipation of the disciples. Can you imagine that Jesus has appeared to you and he ate with you, and he says, I'm, I'm coming again.

I'm here. I'm back. And then you don't see him for a week. Every voice was that Jesus, every sound, is he here? Is it Jesus again? And I've thought a lot about that and I, I wonder what it would be like if we could live with the same kind of anticipation that every loud sound that sounds a little bit like a trumpet, we could say was that, is Jesus coming again with the same kind of joy?

The same kind of desire to say, as John says, at the end of his life, even, so come Lord Jesus.

So a week passes, and I don't think it's by coincidence, it's from Sunday to the next Sunday, and Jesus appears again as we now worship every first day of the week and remind ourselves of his coming. Imagine not just the anticipation of those disciples, but imagine the doubting of Thomas. I told you he didn't really come.

A week is packed. Where is he? If he came back, where is he for a week? Everyone tells him they've seen him for a week. He says, hauh, no you didn't for a week. He doesn't believe. And then if you turn to John's gospel in John chapter 20.

We'll read a few verses out of the end of John's gospel and then we'll make some applications. John, chapter 20. I'm so excited. I'm over here in Romans for some reason. Okay, John chapter 20 and verse 26 beginning.

Jesus does appear and he calls Thomas out. He says, okay, Thomas. If you didn't believe, well put your hands here in my hands and see the nail prints and put your hand here in my side where it was struck through with the spear. Verse 26, and after eight days, his disciples were again inside and Thomas with them, Jesus came the doors being shut and stood in the midst and said, peace to you.

He said to Thomas, reach your finger here and look at my hands. Reach your hand here and put into my side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing. And Thomas answered and said to him, my Lord and my God. How do you think Thomas said that? You know, we sing a song sometimes called Thomas's song, and at the end of that song it says, I say with brazen cry, my Lord and my God.

But after a week of denying it to everybody, he didn't really come. How do you think Thomas really said that? We don't know. There's no inflection, but I think he probably said with his tail tuck between his legs, my Lord and my God,

I believe now, and what does Jesus do? What he always does, he uses it as a teaching moment. Jesus said to him, Thomas. Because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believed. Who is Jesus saying is more greatly blessed here? Well, if you believe in Jesus, raise your hand.

Jesus is talking about you and me that we are blessed because we have not seen him in the flesh like Thomas did, and yet we believe that he was indeed raised. From the dead. What a blessing from Jesus it is to us. Those who believe without having seen who believe, only having heard Jesus says are more greatly blessed.

And again, Jesus doesn't appear for days or perhaps even weeks. Until the events of John Chapter 21, beginning in verse one. So again, these last few verses in John, and then we'll make our application. So a week goes by, he appears to Thomas and the rest he's there on a Sunday. And then at least probably another week goes by what happens in verse 21?

In verse or chapter 21 in verse one. After these things, Jesus showed himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberius. In this way, he showed himself. Simon Peter Thomas called the twin Nathaniel of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee. We know him as James, John, and two others of his disciples were together.

Simon Peter said to them, I'm going fishing. Well, it says I am going fishing, but I think Peter probably said, I'm going fishing. They said to him, we are going with you also. They went out and immediately got into the boat, and that night they caught nothing. When morning had come, Jesus stood on the shore.

Yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Then Jesus said to them, children, have you any food? They answered, no. He said to them, cast the net on the right side of the boat that's over here, right side of the boat, and you will find some. So they cast and now they were not able to draw it in because of the multitude of fish.

Therefore, that disciple whom Jesus loved, said to Peter, it's the Lord. Now when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment in respect and modesty for he had moved it and he plunged into the sea. That's Peter, right? And he swam to the seashore so that he could see Jesus. And they had all of these fish that they had caught and Jesus says, you bring them over here.

Come and eat some breakfast with me. Verse 12. Yet none of the disciples dared ask him, who are you knowing? He was the Lord. Jesus then came and took the bread and gave it to them, and likewise the fish. Now, this is the third time Jesus showed himself to the disciples after he was raised from the dead. So again, we read between the lines.

The first Sunday he's raised a week later, another Sunday, likely a third time, the third Sunday since his crucifixion, verse 15. This is one of my favorite passages in all of scripture. So when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus. Said to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me more than these? Peter, the one who had betrayed him three times, he asked, do you love me more than these?

He said to him, yes, Lord, you know that I love you. He said to him, feed my lambs. Now, we're not told in the text what the these are. Do you love me more than these? Maybe it was, do you love me more than these? Physical things, you know, the boat and the fish and your livelihood, all those sorts of things. Are you more important?

Am I more important to you than the things by which you make your living? Maybe he's saying, do you love me more than these other people, these other disciples who are here, your physical companions? Am I the most important person in your life? Maybe he's asking, do you love me more than these disciples love me?

You remember what Peter had arrogantly said in Matthew 26 33. Even if everybody else is made to stumble, I will never stumble on account of you. And Jesus reminds Peter of his shortcoming and his lack of love for others. And Peter more humbly, responds, learning his lesson. Yes, I love you, but I I see now I don't love you more than these, these sorts of comparisons.

Do no one any good. Do what you were called to do, Peter, and that's what Jesus explicitly tells him in John 21, in verse 22, whichever it is, each one is important in our confession as they emphasize Christ's rightful place in our lives that we cannot have divided loyalty, but more powerfully than this idea.

Do you love me more than these? Is how many times Jesus asks the question, do you love me more than these? He said to him, yes, Lord, you know that I love you. He said, 10 my sheep. Verse 17, he said to him, the third time, Simon, son of Jonah, do you love? Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, do you love me?

And he said to him, Lord, you know all things. You know that I love you. Jesus said to him, feed my sheep. Most assuredly I say to you, when you were younger, you girded yourself and walked where you wished, but when you were old, you will stretch out your hands and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish this.

He spoke signifying what? Death he would glorify God three times. Peter denied him three times. Jesus asked, do you love me three times? Peter says, yes. Jesus makes a full restoration of Peter and Jesus hand will restore us too. But it takes coming back as far as we left that we must return and repent and confess all the way of everything so that we might be who Jesus calls us to be.

And so Jesus gives final instructions to his apostles to make disciples. And shortly thereafter, he leads them out to Bethany and ascends into heaven. They worship him and return to Jerusalem with great joy. So by way of application this morning, what does this resurrection teach us? Well, three things very quickly.

Number one, the resurrection can change death to life. I mean, that's obvious, isn't it? But what does that mean? It means that despair is changed to hope. Defeat is changed to victory. It changes Jesus from a failure to the greatest shining success in history. And the simple way of saying it, it just comes down to this, the resurrection can change death to life.

It changes this harsh reality of death, an enemy that we will all face the certainty of death into the certainty of everlasting eternal life. That's what it can do for us. Jesus's resurrection. His death means that our death does not have to be the end for us either. God proves that he has the power to raise us from the dead.

And Jesus talked about this very thing in John chapter five. He raised, he heals a lame man and he goes on to say, I'm gonna do greater things than this. He hints at his own resurrection and he says, the day is coming when all who are in the graves will hear my voice and will rise. Either to a resurrection of life or a resurrection of death based on their relationship with me.

The day is coming when all who are he in the graves will hear his voice and all of that is proved based on this reality of Jesus's resurrection. I told you that we're gonna go back to one Corinthians 15, so turn back there for the end of our lesson one Corinthians chapter 15. We will read a few other verses that we did not read the first time.

One Corinthians chapter 15.

Look there in verse 50.

Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does corruption poured on incorruption. Behold, I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed in a moment. In the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised incorruptible and we shall be changed.

For this corruptible must put on incorruption and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible is put on incorruption and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass. The saying that is written, death is swallowed up in victory. Oh, death. Where is your sting? Oh, Hades.

Where is your victory? We can taunt death saying Yes, death is coming from me, but it has no sting. It has no power over me because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, because the sting of death is sin. Verse 56, and the strength of sin is the law, but thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. Why? Because of the resurrection. It was a T to death, and this is a powerful and simplistic reality. There is more to the story and more that is required of you and I because the resurrection changes death to life.

But number two, the resurrection requires death to give greater life. It's not like Jesus' death was some cosmic accident. Even as some who believe in Jesus would suggest Jesus intended and purpose to die on that cross because death was what was required to give life. And so too for us, death is required for us to receive greater life in at least two ways.

A physical death for an eternal life. That's exactly Paul's point. In one Corinthians chapter 15, go back to verse 35 through 38. But someone will say, how are the dead raised up and with what body do they come? Foolish one. What you sow is not made alive unless it dies. And what you sow, you do not sow that body that shall be but mere grain, perhaps wheat or some other grain.

A seed is the image he uses, but God gives it a body as he pleases and to itch seed its own body. Drop down to verse 42. So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sewn in corruption. It is raised in incorruption. It is sewn in disorder. It is raised in glory. It is sewn in weakness. It is raised in power.

It is sown a natural body. That's what we are in now. It has raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body and there is a spiritual body. And a Christian should not fear death because we realize it is a means to a greater life. And that is one of the great themes of Christianity, transformation. A, a seed must die, as it were, to become a plant.

A caterpillar must die and be buried, as it were to become. A butterfly and we are to be transformed. So what seed are we sowing in our physical bodies to see to it that we are raised in our spiritual body? Well, that's the second thing. There must be a figurative death for a spiritual life. And Luke chapter nine, Jesus talks about counting the costs and he says, if you want to gain your life, you have to lose it.

And that's. That's weird. It's tough. You have to lose your life in order to gain your life. Yes, he says you have to lose your physical life. If you want to gain a spiritual life, we have to give up what we want, my life, my decisions, my will for what Christ wants, and repentance a change of life that starts with a change of heart.

As Galatians five and verse 24 says, and those who are Christs have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. As Paul says earlier in the same book in chapter two and verse 20, I have been crucified with Christ. I put to death who I was. And all of us must do that if we are to be raised to be with him.

And when does that start? Well, Colossians chapter two makes it clear to us. Turn back to Colossians chapter two. Colossians chapter two and verse 12,

buried with him in baptism in which you were also raised with him. Through faith in the working of God who raised him from the dead, were buried in a watery grave to rise from the dead because we have faith in the one who raised him from the dead. When I'm baptized, what I'm saying is I believe that the same God who raised Jesus from the dead physically will raise me from the dead spiritually.

If I'm willing to crucify who I was, be buried, he will raise me from the dead. So it requires that death to give greater life. And then finally, number three, the resurrection transforms a memorial of death. Of which we're about to partake into a proclamation of life. Do you have the emblems? If you don't have the emblems, raise your hand and somebody will bring those to you.

If you have the emblems we're gonna partake of these as a reminder that Jesus put in place for all of us.

One Corinthians 11 says, by doing this, we proclaim his death until he comes. Until he comes. This doesn't just look back at his death. It looks forward to his resurrection. As we have sung about this morning, his resurrection looks forward to our ultimate resurrection In the final day, Matthew 26 says, for this is my blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.

But I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine from now until the day when I drink it with you. New in my father's kingdom. We are proclaiming not just that Jesus died, lots of people died by crucifixion. We are proclaiming that that death means something because he also raised from the dead.

And while we partake of this memorial while on earth and the war between sin and death, and Satan rages around us daily, we are reminded that Jesus has already won the war. Whatever battles we're fighting, Jesus has won the war. That I can go through my life with no fear of physical death because I have died.

I have died to sin, and Jesus has raised me to that new spiritual life. And so we come together as best we can and quietness and awe to reflect and remember Jesus, our risen Lord, who has dealt that decisive final blow. Sin and death and Satan. And so as we protect of these emblems of his body and his blood, remember his death, but also remember that this death means something because of his resurrection.

Will you bow with me please?

Dear God, our father in heaven, we know we have fellowship with you in this memorial meal to remember what, what Christ has done for us. I pray as we partake of this bread, which represents his body, we would remember that he did indeed rise from the dead. The nail scarred hands were there, that the, the place in his side was there.

And then so doing so and so doing you, and he conquered death for everyone who was willing to come to him. I pray that we would partake in a manner that is pleasing in your sight, and it's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

I will just pray again for the fruit of the vine.

And a light man or father, we come before you. Grateful for this remembrance of Christ's blood that he willingly shed on that cross in dealing the decisive blow against sin and death and Satan, and making that perfect sacrifice for our sin. And though that blood must be shed and was shed on our behalf, we are so grateful that that was not the end of the story.

That we see Christ raised and look forward to our resurrection as well. It's in Jesus' name. We pray these things. Amen.

You know what we have done together. We have proclaimed the Lord's death and we have proclaimed his life and what it means to all of us, and we will continue to do that. Christians will continue to do that until he comes again and all are raised from the dead. And I hope the things that we've talked about this morning have caused you to think seriously about what Christ has done, what God has done.

The resurrection, the linchpin to the gospel message. And if you're here this morning and you realize you've not been living like you should, like Peter, you can be renewed and restored if you've denied him in times past, whether by word or by deed. Like Peter, we are asked by Jesus, do you love me more than these?

And every first day of the week, Jesus sits down to eat with us. Reminds us of what he has done for us and asks us, do you love me? Do you really love me? Do you love him this morning? No show of hands. But in your heart, are you living in love for him? And maybe you've never submitted yourself totally to God's way.

Now is the time. Like Jesus, you must die and be buried and rise again. And maybe like Peter, you're already a disciple. But you've denied Jesus by your life. You've turned your back on his will and his way to follow after your own. Make it right, restore fellowship with him. Don't eat and drink damnation upon yourself and what we have done this morning.

But instead, may this eating and drinking be a foretaste of what we will have with him in eternity. Eat and drink hope of a resurrection of yours. Of all those who love him and follow after his name. If you need Christ this morning in any way, come now. But together we stand and while we,

oh.