James 4.8 says, Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Almost a year ago, I was uncertain. I began to wonder and question things about God. Where was I headed when I died? Now I understand that He allowed me to doubt so He could lead me to the truth. To find answers, I started actually listening to what the pastor preached at church and reading books about how other believers came to know Jesus. Eventually, I decided to read the Bible myself to see what it had to say. Through scripture, I came face to face with my own heart. Romans 3.23 clearly showed me, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. I realized that I wasn't headed for heaven because I had sinned against a perfectly holy God. I saw that my entire life, even the good things I did were really just to please other people or gain praise. I discovered that sin wasn't just outward actions, but also sinful thoughts and motives. On my own, I could never be good enough to save myself. Even though I've grown up in church hearing about God my whole life, I understood clearly for the first time who Jesus Christ truly is, God in human flesh, perfect and sinless, and why he came to earth. John 3.16 says, for God so loved the world that he gave his only son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. I realized the reason Jesus died on the cross was to bear the punishment I deserved for my sins, and that he rose again, conquering sin and death, to offer me new life. Ephesians 2, 8-9 clearly says, For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing. It is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. Understanding this incredible mercy, I finally placed my trust completely in Jesus alone as my personal Savior. I prayed, asking God to forgive my sins and save me, fully trusting in Jesus' sacrifice on my behalf. At that moment, I knew with absolute certainty that I was forgiven, not because of my efforts, but because of Christ's finished work on the cross. Romans 10, 9 assures us, 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. I experienced overwhelming joy and peace knowing God had forgiven me and adopted me as his own. Since then I have experienced God changing my heart and the motives behind my actions. I've begun to see and love others the way God sees and loves them. knowing that I can only truly love because he first loved me." 1 John 4, 19. After reading Acts 2, 38, repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. I realized that being baptized was the next step of obedience and following Christ. Alright, so scoot all the way forward. There you go. Candies. Well, based on Evie's clear testimony of faith in Christ and our understanding, it's my privilege to baptize her in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. We'll now have Hallie Van Camp come and share her testimony. My name is Hallie Van Camp and I'm 15 years old. I am blessed to have been born into a Christian family with kind parents who have spent time teaching me God's word and taking me to church. Learning about God and honoring him through our thoughts, words, and actions is a sincere part of our everyday life. Around the age of seven, I came to trust in the truth of the gospel. My eyes were open to the fact that I was a sinner in desperate need of a savior. I can never in my own strength save myself. I knew that it was only through Jesus's death on the cross and his resurrection that we can be saved. which is what we are here to celebrate today. Just as he died and rose again, so I am dead to my sin and have risen to become a new creation. This realization occurred to me one night as I lay down in my bed. The Lord convicted my heart and I quickly went to my parents to tell them that I wanted to accept Jesus into my heart. My loving parents then sat down and prayed with me, and I became a believer. As I went back to my room that night, my heart was overflowing with true joy, knowing that I had been saved and been given the gift of eternal life. Though I was rescued from my sin young, I still have a lot of room to grow in my faith and mature in Christ. I am humbled by how God has been so diligently working in my life already, and I rest in the confidence that He will continue to do so until the end of my days. One way God has been working in my life is in one of my biggest struggles, worry. In Philippians 4, 6 through 7, God's word says, do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your heart and your minds in Christ Jesus. I often get overwhelmed with schoolwork and other things as they pile up. but this verse reminds me that worrying does not honor God. I know I should worry less and pray more. So I take a deep breath and try to keep a good attitude, and just as the verse says, the peace of the Lord fills my heart and my worries fade away. Another verse that comforts me when I worry is Psalms 46.10, be still and know that I am God. It reminds me that whatever the circumstances are in life, God remains in control and I can place my complete trust in him. Another way God has been working in my life is in giving me a servant's heart. He is teaching me to put others' needs above my own and to love others just as Jesus loves us. I am a servant to others when helping my family with chores, watching younger kids, or praying for a family in need. I am also learning how to honor the Lord in all that I do as it states in Colossians 3, 23-24. Whatever you do, work heartily as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ. To obey this command is to keep a good attitude, be patient, and remain humble. Though I am not perfect at this, I hope to grow better each day. I have learned that God always looks to the heart, and I pray that my heart will remain soft and kind so that I might continue to obey and to honor the Lord. My life is continually growing to reflect Christ. As I read his word at home, study in youth group, and listen to sermons on Sundays, I gain more and more wisdom and understanding. I have some scripture hidden in my heart and the Holy Spirit guiding me and keeping me on the narrow path. I am a Christian. I am saved by faith and grace alone. I hope to proclaim that today as I get baptized in the name of Jesus, my Savior, just as he commanded it to all believers. As I grow up, I hope to see the purpose that God has for my life. He states this wonderful truth in the book of Esther, chapter four, verse 14. Perhaps you were chosen for such a time as this. God has a plan and purpose for me as he has for you. I hope that those of you who don't know Christ would one day have your heart softened to the truth and see God's plan for your life. As for me, I will stand firm in the love and power of Jesus. Well, thankful for Hallie and the clear testament of faith, not only the Lord saving her but the Lord's work continuing in her life. And based on that, it's my privilege to baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. We'll first hear from Kelly what God has done in her heart and in her life. My name is Kelly Altman and I'm 30 years old. Born and raised in Omaha, I grew up in a Christian household and was very much your textbook church kid. We went to church every Sunday, Awana and youth group on Wednesdays, vacation Bible school in the summer. My parents faithfully shared the gospel with me and my sisters at home. But while I had a surface level knowledge of God and the Bible, I didn't have a true faith or dependence on the Lord. I could tell you I was a sinner who fell short of God's perfect standard, that Jesus had died on the cross for my sins and rose from the grave to conquer sin and death, but it didn't resonate in my heart. I wrestled with passages like Ephesians 2, 8, and 9 and wondered, if salvation is by grace through faith and not by anything I could do on my own, how do you bridge that gap from knowledge to belief? Verses about predestination were especially confusing. Maybe God didn't elect me to save, so it's hopeless anyway. I wanted to be a Christian. I wanted to appease my parents and not lose my friends who were professing believers, as I could tell we were slowly drifting apart through the years. I'd find myself in tears with the youth group leader and pray the prayer on retreats, not to mention all the times I prayed in silence in my room. I'd wake up the next day disheartened to find that nothing felt different. The problem was this desire all stemmed from a fear of man. I didn't truly fear the God who made me or recognize the weight of my sinfulness. I just wanted to fit in. A turning point came when I was a junior in college, studying abroad for a semester in Peru. It was my first time away from home and away from that expectation of going to church every Sunday. Despite my dad connecting with a pastor and finding me a church to attend in Lima, I certainly didn't make any effort to visit, let alone have a desire to sit through a Spanish service I could barely understand. That trip gave me a glimpse of life outside of my parents' control, and I liked it. Before I knew it, it became my new normal not to attend church at all, save for the occasional Christmas Eve or Easter service. I started to think of my knowledge of the gospel as my get-out-of-jail-free card. I might as well live life however I wanted, since I wasn't a Christian anyway. But I could always change my mind and believe in Jesus real quick to avoid going to hell. Underneath the seemingly innocent facade and quiet persona, my early 20s became a time I was deeply blinded by my own sin. I sought the world's approval by any means necessary. I put myself in situations I knew were wrong, yet continued to spiral down a path of pride, jealousy, dishonesty, and sexual immorality. Then in 2019, I'd meet my husband, Drew, and we got married in 2022. The search for a wedding officiant and our premarital counseling were some of the first times the thought of church began to circle in my mind again. Our son, Otto, was born the following year. Gripped in the throes of postpartum, I struggled with the cyclical monotony of my new reality as a stay-at-home mom. Despite the joy of having a baby, I felt on edge and angry more often than not. Motherhood, even more so than marriage, made my selfishness and my inherent sinfulness painfully clear. So as I rocked my crying newborn in the dark one night, I just started to pray. I prayed for God to soften my heart that had long rejected his kindness, mercy, and grace. I prayed for forgiveness of my darkest, most vile sins. I started reading the Bible again, finding solace in the words of Psalms, Proverbs, and the New Testament. Later, I also prayed for wisdom in seeking a church. God would answer that prayer almost immediately when I was out grabbing coffee and happened to run into one of my former youth group leaders, Aaron Rasmussen. It was the first time we had seen each other in 10 years. Not even knowing my story, she later messaged me to invite my husband and I to Providence if we were ever interested. You can imagine her surprise when I said we'd be there the very next day. I had heard hundreds of sermons throughout my life, but that first Sunday at Providence truly felt like I was hearing the word for the first time. The service ended with a familiar psalm that finally rang true. Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your heart. By God's grace, I've seen my desires shift over the past several months since trusting in the Lord, and he's been faithful to sustain me through one of the hardest, yet most rewarding years of my life. As it says in Galatians 2.20, it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. In the life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loves me and gave himself for me. I now desire to be baptized in obedience to God's command to repent and be baptized. Well thank you Kelly, privileged to hear of the Lord's work in your life over the years, and thankful now and privileged to baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Josh Dahl will now come and give his testimony. Good morning, Providence. Before I came to truly know Christ, I grew up as a Lutheran in Scribner, Nebraska. From what I can remember, my family went to church pretty frequently. As a young kid, I didn't retain much when it came to my faith outside of knowing that Jesus loved me. As I got into junior high and high school, my church attendance got less and less. When I was in high school in 2003, my parents divorced and I completely stopped going to church. In 2005, I was living the college life, hanging out with friends, partying, and drinking. As time went on, I was feeling more and more empty because of my sinful ways. I felt like my life had no purpose. I was a lost sheep without a shepherd. As Psalm 119, 176 says, I have gone astray like a lost sheep. Seek your servant, for I do not forget your commandments. From 2005 until the time I met Alana, I had no desire of getting into the Bible, nor did I know what having a personal relationship with God was. Then I met my wife, Alana, in 2010, and I found out pretty quick that she liked to read and understand the Bible. For the longest time, she tried to convince me to go to church and purchase a Bible. I was so against it because I felt like I could never get to the level she was at in her spiritual journey, so why even try? Watching Alana's walk with God was so new to me. Having a personal relationship seemed so daunting. I couldn't help but think that guys my age don't read the Bible. When Alana and I started planning our wedding in 2017, we started going to premarital counseling with our pastor in Fremont. Our pastor encouraged us to get baptized, but at the time, I was doing this out of my love for Alana. Also in my heart, I was just going through the motions, not knowing what I was doing. During this time, I still had no idea what having a personal relationship with God meant. Thankfully, Alana kept encouraging me to try to understand God's love for me on an intimate level. She would constantly send me articles, videos, and books. Any kind of material she could find, she would send my way. I'm so thankful that she never gave up on me. Now, I'm not sure on the date of my conversion to Christ, but I do know that according to Romans 10 verse 9, that if you confess with your mouth, Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. In 2020, Alana and I found a small little church in Millard for us to attend. The members at this church were helpful in showing me how important the Bible and your personal relationship with God really is. We attended frequently, and I would sometimes attend their Tuesday afternoon Bible study. Over time, we saw how unorganized and unprofessional the church was ran, so we stopped attending in 2022. Then in 2024, Alana was looking for a church that teaches the Bible expositionally for us to attend. We then came upon Providence Bible Church here in Gretna and never looked back. Coming to this church has ignited a fire in me to get into my Bible and to increase my faith. Romans 10.17 says, faith comes from hearing and hearing by the word of Christ. Coming to Providence has helped me get a clear understanding of God's word. Within the first month I purchased a John MacArthur study Bible and it has helped me so much to get a better understanding of scripture. As I conclude my testimony, I'd like to thank Todd Tyler for inviting me to his Saturday morning Bible study and for breaking down the gospel for me. He also has helped me to understand 2 Corinthians 5.21. He made him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf so that we might become the righteousness of God in him. Todd, I can't thank you enough for being such a great mentor, brother, and friend to me. I'd also like to thank you, the church. You guys have made Alana and I feel like family since we've joined. And finally, I'd like to thank my wife Alana. Without your prayers and the Holy Spirit moving in me, I wouldn't be the growing Christian I am today. Well, Josh, it's encouraging to hear of your testimony and just how the Lord worked over the years and brought you to this place and your confession publicly to the church. And so it's my privilege to baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Well, what a great Sunday it's already been to combine both testimonies of God's grace from Kelly and Josh and from Evie and from Hallie, but also just to hear the little ones sing. Many of them maybe don't know all those words, the meaning of what they're singing and what they're declaring, but our prayer is that they would grow into a knowledge, a saving knowledge of Christ. I know Friday, as we celebrated Good Friday, and often it's, You know, ask what's so good about the crucifixion of our Lord, because that's not a good thing, but it's good if you're the one who needs to be forgiven. And so, I'd say Friday we stood in the shadow of the cross, but I'm excited this morning because we're going to be back in 1 Corinthians 15 and no longer in the shadows. but into the sunshine of the risen Christ. So let me pray and let's look at 1 Corinthians 15 again this morning. Father, we do thank you and come before you humble and grateful, celebrating what we understand as far greater a victory perhaps than we could ever know. the greatest enemy for those of us who are simply mortal is death. And we know that in the resurrection, we celebrate the death of death and that Christ was raised as a first fruit. And so let us, this morning, not simply be inspired by the resurrection, but to be transformed by it. May your spirit just enable our understanding, our worship, our obedience, that the risen Christ might be magnified in our lives and in this church. We just pray this in his name. Amen. Imagine for a moment that you woke up Monday, tomorrow, and you're scrolling through the newsfeed, and the first thing you see is, world-class researcher finds a cure for all cancer. That'd be pretty amazing. It'd be pretty amazing even if you didn't have cancer, but you knew someone that you loved, and you said, we have a cure. But how much more if you were the one who did? You had cancer, and you found out, based on this, I can be cured and I can live without that fear, that shadow overcoming me day in and day out. The unknown has become known. When we look towards Resurrection Sunday, we look to the resurrection of Christ, that's what has happened, but even greater. Because although we may not all die or may not all die from cancer, we all are going to die someday. And so we looked at on Friday, 1 Corinthians 15, and we saw how the death of Christ, just like any death, brings things into reality. It clarifies what's most important. And so we again want to come to our text. We went through the first three verses and looking at the death of death and to live in light of resurrection. Death is the greatest enemy humanity has ever known. And so its defeat is not just a small no, this is massive. And so again, the shadow of Friday is overshadowed by the rising sun of the resurrection of Christ. And so we no longer have to be in this sadness, in this fear, but rather we can rejoice. And even in 1 Corinthians 15, he's going to look towards them because there are those who are saying, it's prompting somewhat his answer in 15 that, Some among you, how do you say that there is no resurrection of the dead in verse 12? He's answering the question to say, this is so pivotal that if this is not true, then nothing is. And all of Christianity falls. The unity that they're seeking that Paul wants in the Corinthian church isn't possible apart from death, the resurrection of Christ. If He didn't rise, nothing changes, but if He did rise as the only one to have ever risen from the dead, then everything changes. And so it brings us to this reality this morning, this idea that we're going to look at in 1 Corinthians 15, that Christ's resurrection announces the death of death itself, securing our eternal hope. and empowering us to true life. You could say, as Jesus says in the Gospel of John, life, life abundant. That is, because the tomb is empty, our hope is not. We're gonna look here, just briefly here, at three realities that we get from the truth of the resurrection, three truths, the first of which is simply that the resurrection is presented here as a historical fact, the resurrection as reality. Now, 1 Corinthians is a whole book that has a lot to do with a lot of problems. And we saw a little bit more of that on Friday. And if you weren't with us, maybe you know a little bit about the Corinthian church and mostly they had problems. What prompted Paul to write this letter was the answer and to address those problems. It's a little interesting that he addresses the problems and uses a lot of body language just throughout. He deals with sins in the body. A lot of the sexual immorality that he deals with, five through seven. He deals with different issues through eight through 14, all while dealing with, for example, spiritual gifts, using the analogy, the metaphor of the church as the body of Christ. That is where many parts, and you need every different part. You can't simply have one hand doing one thing and the other doing the opposite. You'll never be able to get anything done. And yet then he comes here in chapter 15, and he deals with the good news of the gospel again, of which in 1 Corinthians 2, he says, I would have known nothing but accept the gospel of Christ. And so he comes here, you could look back at chapter 14, 39, and he deals with the ideas of prophecy and not forbidding speaking and tongues then when those gifts are functional and that all things must be done in proper order. But he comes now, and it feels almost disconnected that we're gonna talk about the resurrection of Christ, except for he roots their unity in the gospel of Christ, that there is no other gospel, that it isn't Paul's gospel and Apollos' gospel, rather his gospel is from God. And he creates this as a foundation for Christian unity in the church, but really even saying the resurrection means everything. that without it, you have no Christianity at all. And so he recounts for them what they have already known. He says, verse one, that I make known to you, brothers, the gospel, which I proclaimed as good news to you. And it's worded a little strange there, but it's to say, I made known to you before, and I want to recount again what you've received, that you also stand in, that you are saved in, if you hold fast the word which I proclaim to you, the good news, which gospel simply means good news. That this, verse three, is of first importance. And that's what we looked at Friday, that Christ died for our sins, according to the scriptures. But that's half of an equation. And you need both halves to have salvation, you need both halves to have forgiveness, because he needs to not stay dead, he needs to defeat death. And so verse four, it says, not only did he die for our sins, which is important, he's gonna come back to that, according to the scriptures, he also was buried in that he then was raised on the third day, according to the Scriptures. And he's gonna say there weren't just a few witnesses, there were 500 witnesses, verse 5, that he appeared to Cephas then, to the twelve And after that, he appeared to more than 500 brothers at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep, which is his way of saying, most of them are there and you can check with them. Most of the apostles are still alive, you can ask them. He appeared to Peter, Peter's alive, you can ask him. He appeared to the 12, many of them, not all, but many of them are alive, you can ask them. You can ask the 500 in Jerusalem and they can testify they saw the risen Lord. This is not just something Paul has made up. And it comes from that question in verse 12 that some are saying among you that there is no resurrection of the dead. And he's saying, of course there is. Christ was raised. And he is, as we'll see, the first fruit that he has been raised. And he says, not just because of what Paul is saying or because Paul wants Christ to be raised, but because he's saying the scriptures not only prophesized his death, that is, there would be a suffering servant, but also that he would be raised from the grave. Isaiah 53. Just looking at where does the scripture talk about such things, here's a few, just the suffering servant. It says, but Yahweh was pleased to crush him, putting him to grief. This is talking about in the context of the suffering servant that would come, the Messiah. putting him to grief, and if you would place his soul as a guilt offering, he will see his seed, he will prolong his days, and the good pleasure of Yahweh will succeed in his hands. And as a result of the anguish of his soul, that is the suffering one, that is, when you understand the Messiah, that is Christ, he will see it and he will be satisfied. That is, God the Father will see the Son suffer for the iniquities, for the sins, of his people, and he will be satisfied. By his knowledge, the righteous one, my servant, will justify, that is, make right the many, he will bear their iniquities. And therefore, this is where you get to the resurrection. Not only will the suffering servant, the Messiah, bear the iniquities or the sins, the faults, but he will also then, because of that, God says, therefore I will divide for him a portion with the many, and he will divide the spoiled with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors, even though he's not a transgressor, he's numbered with them, yet he himself bore the sin of many and interceded for the transgressors. That is you and I, that is sinners, he interceded, he was a substitute on our behalf, and Paul is saying, listen, this isn't just something new-new, We call it the New Testament, but it's not new, no, he's saying this is fulfilled prophecy according to the scripture. And it was confirmed by these eyewitnesses. Jesus' resurrection was fulfillment of what was promised. And so he provides this evidence and says, you can even go and see them and talk to them to this very day. But the resurrection doesn't just confirm historical fact, it also confirms the gospel's power over death. And we know from Romans 3, 22 that the wages of sin is death. We know that you deserve death, eternal separation from God, because sin isn't just a mistake, it is biblically a rebellion against God. The penalty is severe, eternal, yes, but appropriate, because God is perfect, and just, and holy, and righteous. The good news, that's the bad news, that's the good Friday, that's the, he died for sin, but the good news is Jesus, truly God, and truly man, is the perfect sacrifice, the perfect one, lived the life we could not live, and willingly dies in our place, the cross bearing our punishment. But he can't stay there, right? He's got to conquer death, and so therefore, God approves, just as we see here in Isaiah 3, what was prophesied, and he is raised from the dead, that he satisfies the justice of God, not partially, but absolutely fully. What that means is, the good news that Paul's preaching is anyone who believes that truth, that he turned from their sin, Places their trust in Christ alone is immediately forgiven and granted eternal life as we heard the testimonies here this morning. The resurrection is foundational to the very truth of the gospel. And so the resurrection is a reality, but also, as we'll see here, it is what Paul is going to argue, it is absolutely necessary for Christianity to work, or it's not really hopeful. It sits out as simply a good example to follow. Oh, Jesus was sacrificial, he sacrificed, that's wonderful. But it doesn't take care of the cancer of sin. But if he's raised, Everything changes. So the resurrection is going to be not just something incidental, but it is something that is absolutely necessary to the Christian faith. A few years back, over the really last few years, I feel like we've had a number of bridges collapse and no one saw that coming. Remember the one in Minnesota, some from the flood here in Nebraska, and they looked like they were strong. And no one could see the cracks in the infrastructure, right? And so when those things came tumbling down, no one expected it to, but if the foundation is weak, one day it just crumbles. He's saying the resurrection is a pillar. In fact, Paul will say in 1 Timothy, this pillar of truth, this is one of those pillars of truth of the gospel that everything else must stand upon. It's absolutely foundational to Christian faith. And of course, in the context of 1 Corinthians, foundational to unity. He goes on here. after saying his own arguments that he is the least of the apostles. He's saying I'm not worthy to be called, verse 9, an apostle because I persecuted the church of God, because he was untimely born, because he was after. But he says, but by the grace of God, I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove in vain, but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me, whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believe, which is part of what he's going back to in chapters really three and four in this unity of this gospel message. And what they preached was Christ crucified. And so he goes on in verse 12 to say, now, if Christ is preached, but you have to preach a crucified Christ, you must also preach a risen. Christ. So now Christ preached that he has been raised from the dead. How do some of you among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain. That is to say, it's empty, meaningless, and perhaps more personally, your faith also is vain. He's saying, well, if my message is vain, then Guess what? Your faith is vain, and you don't have confidence over your fear, confidence in life after. In fact, moreover, he says, we are even found to be false witnesses of God. That is, if we're lying to you, there's consequences all over the board here, because we bore witness against God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise, if in fact the dead are not raised. So it gets a little bit where you're going, boom, boom, boom. But the summary is, he's saying, but Christ is. raised. 4 verse 16, if the dead are not raised not even Christ has been raised and if Christ has been raised, so he has, you're Or if he's not been raised, then your faith is worthless. You're still in your sins, which goes back to the first part of the dying for sin. How do we know that we're forgiven? It's because of the reality, the truth of the resurrection. It is absolutely necessary. And then those also, he's saying, the friends that you know and that you have who've fallen asleep, that have died in Christ, have perished. If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are all, of all men, most to be pitied. And so he's saying the resurrection, Christ being raised from the dead, isn't something just auxiliary, isn't something just to the side that, you know, we need or we'd like to believe it. It has to be true or there is no hope in the gospel. There is no hope. There's no reason to spend Sunday morning here. There's no reason to gather as the church. In fact, you should be living for yourself because this is all there is. And he's saying, no, because this isn't all there is, then it changes the way that you live, because the resurrection is true. It's the ultimate, you could say, receipt, marking Christ's sacrifice as fully acceptable to God the Father. Without it, we're still trapped in sin, we're spiritually bankrupt, separated from God. and has tragic consequences, not just for us, but he's saying also those who have fallen asleep in Christ. They were wrong, you're wrong. But death does not have the final word. Rather, the resurrection is the final word. And he's saying it is absolutely necessary that we believe this truth, that this truth not just be believed, but that it would be true to have any hope in the life after. So for us, it's to boldly cling to that truth and to find hope in it, because that's where he moves then from it not only being necessary, but that it being a absolute guaranteed hope for you. If you are in Christ, if you have turned from your sin, look to Christ to say you can have the hope. Not a wishful hope, but a guaranteed hope. Because Christ was raised, you will be raised as well. The issue, and the way it's phrased, let's say, in the book of Revelation, is it doesn't talk about just death, it talks about a second death. And so, what John does there in Revelation is talking that there is not only a natural death, but there is a spiritual death. There's a second death. We're all going to die. but are we going to live after is the question. And Revelation is clear that there is a second death which you want to avoid at all costs. The only way to do that is to deal with your sin, and you can't, so someone has to deal with your sin. The only one who can is Christ. This is the exact image we're going to see given here. In 20 and 21, that Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep, for since by man came death, by man also came the resurrection of the dead. He uses this language of first fruits to say, just as Israel would bring, say, the first fruits of the offering, it wasn't just an offering, but it was a specific offering. And what was specific about it is they're giving the first fruits to the Lord, and there's an act of trust that that's not it. The first fruits come with a trust that the harvest will come as well. And so we're in spring. It's not an accident that we celebrate here. I think in the spring, you see the picture of new life all around us. And I can look and I can see my peach trees and I can see there are flowers budding and assuming we don't get a frost in the next four weeks, it will turn into a harvest. That will equal flowers, pollinated will equal fruit. Jesus raised from the dead will be a first fruit and you can take it to the bank that there'll be a full harvest. If he's not, then he's saying all is vain, but he is. Therefore you can trust and believe that the rest of the harvest is coming, that is your own resurrection is coming. He goes on to say, why? Because Christ is not just truly man, or truly God, he is also truly man in that he is representative in that way which Adam, it says in verse 22, as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. Verse 21, why? For since man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. That is, Paul's going all the way back to Genesis to say, There in the beginning is one who sins and pass that sin nature on to us that we are separated from God, but through Christ we are reconciled to him. Paul reminds us of the bad news, which is we are attached to Adam and his sin. That is, sin, wages of sin is death. But also, on the good news, if you're in Christ, you're attached to Christ, just as we saw in the waters of baptism, you're united with Christ both in death and into life. That's the message that's consistent throughout scripture. In fact, he's even gonna go on that it's just not about this victory over death, but he's gonna continue to build, this is cosmic, this is a restoration of all creation, but all marred from the beginning will be restored. We don't need to go there, but it is a thing where in the Greek culture and the low view of the body, he's saying no. There actually is a high view of the body in Scripture and it will be raised. And we are souls, but we are united, not in a fallen mortal body, but one day to an eternal body. But that's good, if you're in Christ, because it means your lives aren't defined by that which is temporal, that which is fleeting, that which is simply here and gone and the next, but it is framed by eternal perspective and being anchored in Christ. because this reality is that if we see here and we understand and we even think every Sunday you meet is the first day of the week because it's in memory. We don't meet on the Sabbath, but we meet on the first day because it's when Christ was raised that way, which every Sunday is resurrection Sunday. And we're reminded because the tomb is empty, our hope is not. That's the hope we have. A couple months ago, I was invited to do a men's conference in Lamars, Iowa. Some of you guys know, Joshua Lee's music is from Lamars, Iowa, and his church invited me to do a men's conference. I'd never been to Lamars. I don't have anything personal against Iowa, but never been to Lamars. And, you know, the Husker fan in me was a little bit iffy. But I will say, I learned some things. And I remember when I got there after I taught the first night and I drove to my hotel. And what it reminded me of was the city I grew up in, which is Grand Island. And Grand Island had a lot of industry, a lot of industry plants. And I'm driving around the Mars and right in the center of everything are these industry plants. And in Grand Island, it was more meatpacking. So Monfort was the big plant. And I can remember thinking you drove certain ways and the wind blew a certain direction and you could smell Monfort and it smelled terrible, right? It's a slaughterhouse. It smells awful. And so I'm thinking, what are all these plants here? And I even thought maybe it's something similar. which thankfully I was wrong. And the next day, Josh's parents took me around and gave me a tour of the town. And I knew a little bit about Lamar's as far as they're known as the ice cream capital of the world. And I just thought it was so interesting that his mom explained that there, all those large plants are full of ice cream. Three stories high, ice cream, Blue Bunny based out of there. They still make it. They have the ice cream parlor, the big sign, ice cream capital of the world. But she said this, that on certain days, When the wind hits just right, you can smell the waffle cones." And I thought, that is the exact opposite of my childhood. And although the analogy would be better if they were doing something that would bring life rather than something sweet, I did think of that as a picture by which you go meatpacking, death, decay, smells terrible, as opposed to kind of coming out of Good Friday to the resurrection, something that is wonderful and sweet. They look the same, but everything's different. because what is being made there is so different. And what is different post Christ being raised is because of what he has accomplished. And in that way, again, it is beautiful and it is sweet and it is good. Resurrection is even greater news. Going back to a cure of cancer, as good as that would be, if it only cures you for this life and not for the next. It's vain. If it doesn't cure the fact that one day you will die and that there is a judgment, then it doesn't do enough good. Only through Christ and dealing with judgment, that is Christ as a substitution for us, Can you deal with that? And so the resurrection proves beyond any doubt that that sacrifice, that substitute is fully accepted by God. And yet it also, as we see in scripture, demands a personal response. So we saw multiple people come and they said, it's not just knowing, it's not just knowledge, but it is a response to repent from their own sin and trust fully in Christ. To not just know facts, but to personally respond in turn. And to have the hope, as I can think it was Josh who read, if we confess our sins, he's faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. And the comfort comes then because death is defeated, we no longer need to live in fear or conflict. And beyond that, if you want to look really in the context of this Corinthian church, then relationships could be, if you're unified with the Lord, then you could be unified with one another. That is vertically and horizontally. Christ's resurrection signals the definitive answer that there is a death to death. It is the death of death. The tomb is empty, and so our hope is not. Lord, we thank you for the time to reflect on your word, for the testimonies of faith this morning. We thank you that your word comforts us, reminds us, that there are those here who wonder as the Corinthians, that maybe there is no resurrection. that Paul is so clear. There is evidence, but even more so, it is necessary for us to have any hope and that the death itself has been defeated through the resurrection of your son. Help us to live every day in the confidence of this truth that sin has lost its power. As Paul will go on to say, death has no sting. Death has no victory. It's lost its power, it's lost its sting. Renew our minds, direct our steps, that we might live lives that reflect you, that honor you in the way that you designed from the beginning, that we'd walk in the footsteps of Christ, not the footsteps of Adam. We just pray this in the risen Savior's name. Amen.