We turn to 1 Corinthians 15. We'll be especially looking at the first question and answer. What comfort does the resurrection of the body afford you? That not only my soul, after this life, shall immediately be taken up to Christ its head, but also that this my body, raised by the power of Christ, shall again be united with my soul and made like unto the glorious body of Christ. What comfort do you derive from the article of the life everlasting? that since I now feel in my heart the beginning of eternal joy, after this life I shall possess perfect bliss, such as I has not seen nor ear heard, neither has entered into the heart of man, therein to praise God forever." Turning to God's Word, 1 Corinthians chapter 15, We'll read just verses 1 through 23. Our text will be those last four verses. Let's hear God's holy word. Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also you received, and wherein you stand. by which also you are saved, if you keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless you have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you, first of all, that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he was seen of Cephas then of the twelve. After that he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep. After that, he was seen of James, then of all the apostles. And last of all, he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time. For I am the least of the apostles, and that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain, but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. Therefore, whether it were I or they, so we preach, and so you believed. Now if Christ be preached that He rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen. And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ, who he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not. For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised. And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain. You are yet in your sins. Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. Here begins our text. But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order, Christ the firstfruits. Afterward, they that are Christ's at his coming. congregation dearly loved by our Lord Jesus Christ. The resurrection of the body, the resurrection of the dead, is one of the events that will occur at Christ's second coming. When Jesus Christ comes to earth, the believers shall be raptured from this earth, and there shall be a resurrection then And then following the resurrection and the rapture of the believers with those who are resurrected, then shall be the final judgment and then the new heavens and the new earth. A number of events all surrounding Christ's coming. It's like when you have a family relative come over to visit you from a long ways away. And you prepare for that event. It's not just that they appear at your door, and you see each other, and you say goodbye, but you plan on events to do together. Like perhaps having a supper out somewhere, or a stroll through town, or maybe a trip to Niagara Falls. And so also when Christ comes, our beloved whom we long for but have not yet seen, we shall meet him in the air and he is planning a number of things. And among these events is the resurrection. And so these things lie in our future. But how much do we believe it will happen? It is such a startling teaching. It brings forward in our minds something that is so far out from our present way of life and from the order of this world. Can such a thing be? We might believe it, but do we hold to it with such confidence and certainty that we live in light of it? At the end of this chapter, Paul, having established the resurrection of the body, he says, verse 58, 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. Therefore, because the resurrection is coming, be steadfast and movable, abounding in the work of the Lord." There are practical implications for our life that arise out of believing such a radical doctrine. Do you believe it? If you believe it, does it impact your life? Well, what we are looking at today Are the reasons we should not simply say, I believe in the resurrection of the body. But reason to say that with certainty, with assurance. Reason to hold on to this doctrine tenaciously. These reasons the Corinthians needed to have laid before them. And may these reasons help us too. We look first at the resurrection's certainty. The resurrection's certainty. Paul says in verse 20, but now Christ is risen from the dead. Looking at the beginning of this chapter, and then further along after these verses, it would appear that the focus is not simply on Christ's resurrection, but on ours. But the reason why Paul must say this is because people in the Corinthian congregation were saying that there is no resurrection of the dead. Verse 12. There are these within the covenant assembly of God, these within the Christian church, the church of Jesus Christ, saying there is no resurrection of the dead, that we will not rise from the grave unto glory. Paul makes it clear that to believe that, to believe there's no resurrection, to have doubts concerning it, you also have to conclude that Christ did not rise from the dead. If you're not going to believe that we will rise from the dead, then Christ did not rise from the dead either. And Paul says that's not the Gospel we preached. That's not the gospel. I received from Jesus Christ that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures and rose again the third day according to the scriptures and was witnessed by many, by more than 500 people. This is the gospel they believed. The Corinthians believed, he says in verse 11, but now they are turning from it. It's a different thing. This is not a development that these Corinthians were embracing. This is not maturity. A proper reflection. But this is a turning from the gospel, another gospel. To no longer believe in the resurrection of the body. to young people. Do you remember another group of people in those times who also did not believe in the resurrection? The Sadducees, right? The Sadducees. Why did they not believe it either? It is because such a doctrine requires faith in the power of God to do that which would otherwise never happen. We'd never see happen. It's something that can only be accredited to God, to the power of God working immediately, directly. It runs against science. The scriptures affirm it, but it goes against the order of things in this world, against the natural order of things. It is a true miracle. To affirm it, one must believe in a God who transcends this earth and has power over the natural order and has the ability to even work apart from and against the natural order. The Athenians, you remember, rejected it when Paul preached it on Mars Hill. Everything was acceptable until he mentioned the resurrection. And then they said, we'll hear from you another time. Many left at that point and would not come. And in this last century, liberalism also has rejected it. Such supernaturalism requires faith. But that does not mean it's illogical. No, because if Christ did not rise from the dead, then the message of the Gospel is a sham. Christ is still in the grave. There is no atonement for sin. We are still in our sin, and we have believed in vain. And Christ is a hoax. He's nothing else. But Paul says, now Christ is risen. Christ is risen. These devastating considerations are thankfully invalid. Since Christ has risen from the dead, there shall be a resurrection of the dead. Paul is making clear that there is an inseparable connection between Christ rising from the dead and something that must happen at the end of this age, our resurrection. You see how closely connected those two things are. Paul takes it for granted that we understand that what happens to Christ will happen to us. Paul says Christ is the first fruits. in the farming culture of the Old Testament Jews. They were required to bring an offering to the Lord of the first of their crops. They would go and with their farming instruments, they would cut down a couple sheaths and they would bring them, they'd bring that or a couple bushels of their vegetables or of their calves. They'd bring it up to the tabernacle or to the temple. And they would eat it there before the Lord, the Levites. And after that, they would go home and bring in the full harvest. Thus, the first fruits Or that which looked forward to, or in anticipation of the whole harvest. It came first. But it also looked forward to. It was a certainty that there would be the rest of the harvest, a full harvest. And thus the first fruits of Christ's resurrection. It's not just the first off the fields, but it's an indication of what the rest of the crop will be. He would bring these crops to the temple with the confidence that God would give them a great harvest. And so also then, Christ has risen. And there will then be a resurrection. There will then be a resurrection of the dead. There will then be a resurrection of our bodies. Christ has risen from the grave, not just spiritually, but He's risen in His body. People saw Him. People felt Him. People touched Him. Thomas put his hands in His side, and his fingers in His hands. Jesus, or sorry, Mary saw Jesus. She turned and saw him and recognized him, Rabbi. Christ has risen bodily. And surely then there will be more that will rise from the dead because Christ has. But not just some. This won't be an experiment where you get partial success. But all who are Christ's will rise from the dead. There will be a rich harvest. Christ has brought the firstfruits up to heaven to his heavenly Father, and he is going to come back for the full harvest. Paul says he's the first harvest of those who have fallen asleep. Sleeping is Scripture's way of assuring us, speaking of those who are dead, It's an expression for those who are dead, but it's Scripture's way of assuring us that though our bodies are dead, though they lie motionless and lifeless in the grave and rotting away there, yet they shall live again. They shall rise again. Just as a sleeping person will awake, so also those who have died shall come to life again. They shall awake and see many more people rising. It changes the way, directs the way that we think of those who have died. They are gone from us for a while. Their bodies, which are a part of them, are in the grave. Yes. And we can't interact with their bodies anymore. The curse of death has fully taken hold of their bodies. but not in a way which they shall never be delivered from it. Christ shall deliver even their bodies from the grip of death, from the curse of death as well. And we shall live with them, body and soul, one day. Thus, then, there is Christ the firstfruits and a great harvest that will yet come, which tells us then that the earth is like a field of a billion acres, out of which there will be a rich harvest of bodies of God's sons and daughters that shall rise out of the ground unto life. And strange then it might sound, as it might go against the course of our thinking, against the course of nature, it shall be Christ has risen. Therefore, we shall also rise in our bodies. Although scientists and rationalists reject it, and people today might say, well, go ahead and interpret the Bible that way, construe history as you wish. We choose a different way. This is God's Word. It does not come from our minds. This is truth and these are the facts of future history. And therefore we must reject any presentation of Christianity that diminishes the reality of the effect of the resurrection. Or diminishes any fact of salvation. We hold to it tenaciously. Because Scripture, God brings it to us with certainty. It is certain because Christ our Lord has risen. But what is this connection between Christ and us that results in our resurrection? That's our second point. The resurrection's connection Paul delves into this connection between Christ and us. He says in verse 21 and 22, For since by man came death, by man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. Notice here, he references Adam. He points to Adam, Adam from the Garden of Eden, the first man that was ever made to show the connection between Christ and us. Why would he do that? Well, it's because there's a similar relationship between Adam and us and Christ and us. Through that man, Adam, came death. For since by man, since by this Adam, came death. Through Adam came death. He activated the state of death into which not only creation, but also the crown of creation, all people were plunged. And it's not just an abstract idea of death. But through Adam, we now face the whole experience of death. We do not walk in perfect holiness and righteousness before God. We do not have perfect fellowship with God. It affects us spiritually before God. Death is in all of us. Death affects how we relate to God in Adam. But the focus is not just on spiritual death, especially here, it is on physical death. And Paul brings a connection to what really happens in our lives. Verse 22, for as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. This state of death results in those in Adam dying. Adam. God said, dying you shall die. Immediately, there was a change. Spiritually, and how Adam and Eve related to one another and the Lord, but physically as well. Through much affliction, Eve would bring forth life. The ground was cursed for Adam's sake. and to dust they would return. They died because of what happened. Adam died and as a result, as an immediate result of that, a direct result of that, our lives, almost every minute of our lives are affected by Adam dying. Adam bringing death into this world. We have scraped knees. We have headaches. We have arthritis. We have diabetes. We have joint trouble. We have a thousand diseases. Every ache, every pain is a little death that says, that screams Adam. And it screams sin. How so? The reason for the connection between Adam and us, between Adam's death and the death that we also have, is because God made a covenant with Adam in the Garden of Eden, which Adam broke. Adam was in covenant with God, and he broke that covenant, and he ate of the tree. God commanded him not to eat of. And since Adam was in covenant with God, the effects of what Adam did have come upon all whom he represented. Who did he represent? All who came from him, all his children. all His grandchildren, all His great-great-grandchildren, His great-great-great-grandchildren, you and me. These, we have received a human nature likened to Adam. It's plagued with death. You see how the effects of a man who lived thousands of years ago affect every minute of your life now. Adam was our covenant head. But, Paul is saying, there's another Adam. Jesus Christ. Another covenant head. Jesus Christ. Who also will bring immediate results for those who know Him. God made a covenant with Jesus Christ even before the one that was made with Adam. By man came death, but by this man comes the resurrection of the dead. He reverses what came through Adam. He reverses what is now in the order of things, this fallen world. He reverses it. God's covenant with Christ, which He made before the foundation of the world, means that what Christ does before the face of God, In His life here, it is for us. It is for all those whom He represents. You see, it's hard for people to understand, to believe that what one man has done 2,000 years ago on a cross would have any effect for you and me now. Once we understand that Adam is our covenant head, That we are represented in Adam before God. That God has placed Adam in that position. That He also has placed Jesus Christ in that position. And that through Him comes life. Through Him comes righteousness. Through Him comes salvation. He lived for us. He died for us. He rises for us. He ascends to His Father's throne from us. And thus Paul says, in Christ all. All who are in Christ shall be made alive. He's not saying every single person, but he's stressing the fact that not one shall be left out, that just as with Adam, not one is left out. In terms of his children receiving death, Cain and Abel, they experienced death, and they died. And indeed, there were some that were like Enoch, who were delivered from the final stage of death. But they still had to struggle with sin. And they still had aches and pains and miseries of sin in this life. They did not live in glorified bodies among those of this earth. It would be testified to in God's word if it were true. In Christ all, everyone, just as in Adam, everyone who is in Christ shall be made alive. You see the connection. God has so united you in covenant to Jesus Christ that what He did, you do also. And what He has done that you have not yet experienced, well, you shall, without doubt. Our catechism says, therefore, that not only our soul after this life shall be taken up to Christ's head, but this body shall be raised as well. And you then shall receive a glorious, resurrected nature, like unto Christ's glorified body, because you are in him. Made like unto the glorious body of Christ. Praise God for these covenants. You do not stand in yourself. You are represented. You are placed under another. Therefore, our faith must be in the Lord Jesus Christ. We must believe in this one who comes with life or we will stand in Adam. We are united by faith to Christ and we are then to abide in him. Either you are under the covenant head, Adam, and you will experience the full doom of death with all its indignities and hopelessness, with its sorrows, with its terrors, with its eternity, if it's judgment from God or you. Looking not to yourself, but placing your hope in the Lord Jesus Christ. You are united to him and you are so connected to him that your lot is entirely taken up with him. Your name is written along with his name. And he then is set in motion for you a glorious future. Do you believe in him? Just think of such a day that that you will bring. The body that decayed in the tomb shall in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, be united to your soul. And. You will be whole, complete and perfect. You will walk and you'll talk, you'll move, you'll think freely without sin, without death. That's a future we look forward to as God's people in Christ Jesus. The future we look forward to, we anticipate, we should have in our minds concerning those who have gone before us and have passed away. They're waiting for the resurrection, as we as well wait. Well, thirdly, consider the resurrection's chronology that Paul brings before us in this last verse. The order. Paul says in verse 23, each one, but each one in his own order. Christ, the first fruits, afterward those who are Christ's at his coming. There is an order. Christ has come. And Christ has risen. But the chapter is not finished. Isn't Paul writing this? Because the doubts in our minds or the forgetfulness of the resurrection often comes because of the wait. It has not happened. Is it really going to happen? Paul says, There's an order to these things. But the order, the fact that one thing happens after another, does not diminish the certainty of it. It shall happen. But we must, with patience, with contentment in this world, contentment in looking to Christ, and contentment in the stage of God's plan, we must wait. And we look forward to it. But yet we know it's certain. God has a date fixed. It's not delayed. It's not taking God by surprise, certain events in history, and so he's had to delay our resurrection. No, the day and the hour are determined in the mind of God. Paul in this chapter is bringing a major component of God's master plan before us. In the verses that follow, he shows us that this God is bringing all things under His control and reign, so that His glory, His righteousness, His grace, which will shine through it all, all His enemies, therefore, are being subdued right into the very last enemy, which is death, being put under Christ Jesus, under His feet. And a triune God, therefore, will manifest His power in our resurrection, and in the finished work. So that, as Paul says in verse 28, He is all in all. And so there's an order to these things. God has chosen that the last enemy will be death. That which came upon Adam in the garden. And because of that, the very end of things, we will rise from the dead. And then there shall be this life everlasting, perfect bliss, fullness of life. This is what comes through the resurrection. We are risen up not just to drift about with our bodies, to live in a world that's yet full of sin and sorrow and darkness, to live in incomplete fellowship with God, No, we shall enter into happiness, complete happiness and joy, where there shall be no more sin, and neither sin's effect, which is death. When the Creator shines in resplendence through His creature, then we will be full in God's fullness, and our bodies shall shine with the power of God, with the very image of Christ. These are things that eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor ever entered into the heart of man. Do you eagerly wait for this? Or because of the wait, have you simply given up hope? Have you fallen to despair? We do not just believe this. We cling to this. And we do our work then without hopelessness, without despair. Indeed, things are breaking down here in this world and in our lives. And we often feel defeated by the challenges that are before us. Parenting is full of troubles and disappointments. There's many frustrating troubles. Schoolwork has frustrations for us. We sometimes fail. Our employee-employer relationships are often encumbered. Our marriages have distrust at times and are unnecessarily complicated. Our grandchildren disappoint us and will disappoint us in our hearts. We have much sin to battle. But the resurrection is coming. It is certain because of this connection between Christ and us, and it is coming in its time, in its order. And that means there lies before us a glorious eternity. It's around the corner. If it were not so, we might as well give up. Why labor on? Why continue on? We do because our lives shall continue on in the life to come. There's a future of all that's good and right in this life, but with a deliverance from death and from sin. And what a change that will come over us when we walk through that lush grass of the new creation and we walk into the Lamb's city. And so that's reason to put away all despair, to fill your heart with hope, to look in faith to Christ, your head, and to labor on with hope. Amen. O Lord our God, we cannot imagine the things that you've laid up for us in heaven. But Christ is even now preparing mansions for us, laying out for us this new glorious kingdom. But Lord, we know it shall be. You have spoken, said it in your word. We confess, Lord, that we have much forgetfulness, much laziness, Many times despair, distrust, and unbelief. But we know, Heavenly Father, that what you have spoken is true. And Lord, we thank you then for this glorious hope that lies before us, that fills our lives, that fills the activities of our day with meaning, with purpose. Lord, in the callings that you give to us, There is reason for these things, reason that stretches beyond just the day, reason that stretches even into eternity. Lord, we pray then that we might do our work with joy, might take up the duties, Lord, with confidence in you. Knowing, Lord, that there comes the judgment, resurrection, the resurrection, the judgment, and a life everlasting. Lord, we pray then that we would look in faith to our Lord Jesus Christ to be found in him and that we with him would go from victory to victory. We pray this in his name. Amen.