1 CORINTHIANS 15:50-58 YOUR RESURRECTION IS FOR ETERNITY2020 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: 1 Corinthians 15:50-58 Your Resurrection Is For Eternity

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2020. Well, as we work our way through these verses this morning here in 1 Corinthians chapter 15, I've titled the message, Your Resurrection is for Eternity.

The whole chapter of 15 of 1 Corinthians is really focused on resurrection, and Paul is covering the doctrine in great depth because there was error in the church. There was problems going on, and people were saying there was no resurrection, even though the gospel includes the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And

And Paul makes a great case for the reality of resurrection. Your resurrection, my resurrection as believers in Jesus is inseparable from the resurrection of Jesus. So we can have great confidence in this reality because Jesus rose from the dead, you and I will rise from the dead.

Well, as we look at these final verses talking about resurrection, really the focus is on eternity. And I would like to remind you this morning, your resurrection is for eternity. And there's three points we'll consider in regards to that, the eternality of the resurrection that God has planned for you. The first thing to consider is found in verses 50 through 53. And that is, you will be given an eternal body.

You will be given an eternal body. In verse 50, he says, As Paul is talking about resurrection and eternity, he begins here in this verse to say, look, there is a kingdom of God that is coming, a new reality that will exist, and

that we cannot enter into with these bodies, with flesh and blood. And he's really pointing out the reality of a body being fashioned for a particular environment. Now, maybe I'm a little bit delusional, but in my head, if I imagine an encounter with a shark, I'm pretty confident that I can outrun it.

I couldn't out swim a shark, but if I encountered a shark on land, no problem, I can outrun it, right? In the water, I'm on his turf, he could out swim me for sure. But on land, I can outrun the shark. That's because my body has been fashioned and formed for that very purpose of outrunning sharks and predators on land, right? And in the water, well, his body, the shark has been fashioned and formed for that environment, right?

And what Paul has been illustrating here in a variety of ways in the verses leading up to this is that the bodies that we have are very similar to that. That we have a body right now that is intended for this environment, for this atmosphere, to breathe this air, for this amount of pressure, air pressure upon our bodies, and to deal with even these kind of temperatures that we're dealing with, right? Our body is fashioned for this.

But this body cannot inherit what is to come, the kingdom of God. And so there is a need for a change. And so Paul says flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. Not only because of the physical composition of this body, but he says corruption cannot inherit incorruption. I'm sorry, corruption.

incorruption cannot yeah no i yeah i said it right the first time corruption cannot inherit incorruption that is our bodies are corrupt and and we're not talking about you know politically corrupt or morally corrupt we're talking about physically these bodies decay they break down over time they they are falling apart and and you don't want to live in this body for eternity a body that's falling apart and constantly need in need of repair and

No, when we talk about resurrection, we're talking about the Lord transforming this body into something that is prepared for eternity. Something that doesn't break down, something that doesn't wear out, something that doesn't have the aches and pains and problems that this body currently has. And so we're looking forward to eternity and we understand that in the resurrection, which you must believe, we talked about that on Wednesday, we

You must believe in resurrection. When we talk about resurrection, we're talking about a bodily resurrection. That there is, yes, we have a spirit, we have a soul, but there is a body resurrection that is in store for us, that is for eternity. Now, Paul goes on to say,

allude to the rapture of the church in the next couple verses to talk about this resurrection for those who have not died. In verse 51 he says, behold I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep but we shall all be changed. We're not all going to sleep and that's a common way in the scriptures to talk about a believer who dies. And so we understand someone who dies as a believer in Jesus is

They have this promise of being in the presence of the Lord and they have this promise of a resurrected body. But Paul is saying here, there's going to be a group, there's going to be a generation that is alive at the time when Jesus returns for the church. So they won't have the experience of death and yet they're still going to experience a resurrection. It's going to be a resurrection by rapture where we are caught up to meet the Lord in the air.

Paul says it's going to happen in verse 52, 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. It's going to happen in a moment, in a flash. This word moment, in the Greek, it's the word atomos.

which is where we get the word Adam from. It goes back to the philosopher who first theorized that there was such a thing as an Adam. And in his mind, he pictured it as, okay, you take a rock, you divide it in two, and then you take that piece that's divided, you divide that in two and divide that in two. Eventually, you come to the point where it can't be divided anymore. And so he called that Adam. That is, it's something that is not able to be divided anymore.

And so when Paul says in a moment, he's talking about a moment of time that is so small it can't be divided. Now, time can be divided to great degree. In, you know, typical programming stuff, you're working with milliseconds. And so you have to, you know, and there's even...

portions of time smaller than that, but that's just the one that I have to work with a lot in JavaScript. That there is this millisecond of time that is taking place, and everything's measured by milliseconds. It's a thousandth of a second, and yet it can still be divided further. And Paul is saying, look, that's how fast this is going to take place. When the Lord returns, it's going to be instantaneous. In an amount of time that's not divisible. As the Lord returns, he says...

There will be the sound of the trumpet. And that's going to be my entrance from now on, okay? The sound of the trumpet will take place and we will be changed, Paul says. The dead will be raised incorruptible. So the resurrection will take place for the dead. And then he says, we shall be changed. Those who are alive at that time.

will have that transformation, have that resurrection take place without going through the process of death. Instead, that resurrection will take place on the way up to meet the Lord in the air. And Paul talks about this in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. The Lord descending with a shout, with the voice of an archangel and the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. And then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.

And thus we shall always be with the Lord. And so we are going to be changed because we will always be with the Lord from there on out. And corruption, that is this body, cannot inherit incorruption. And so there will be a transformation, a change. We will have an eternal body as we are caught up to meet with the Lord or as we die on this earth and are in the presence of the Lord. We have this promise of a new body, eternal.

without aches, without pains that will last for eternity as we enjoy the presence of the Lord. And so he says in verse 53, for this corruptible must put on incorruption and this mortal must put on immortality. Your resurrection, it's for eternity. This mortal must put on immortality. And so you will be given an eternal body.

Well, moving on to verses 54 through 57, we get the second point this morning, and that is you will have eternal victory. I just want you to think at any moment, it might be the rapture of the church, right? You might hear that trumpet sound. It will be caught up to meet the Lord. And you will have eternal victory. Verse 54 says,

So when this corruptible has 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. When this happens, Paul says, that instant, that moment where we hear the trumpet, we're caught up to be with the Lord. The corruptible puts on incorruption. And at that time, he says, this scripture is going to be fulfilled. Death is swallowed up.

This is a quotation from the book of Isaiah chapter 25 verse 8 where it talks about the Lord swallowing up death forever and how God will come and wipe away all the tears from faces and the rebuke of his people will be taken away from the earth. All of the difficulties, all of the afflictions, all of the troubles, all of the hurts will be washed away and resolved in the resurrection.

And death will be swallowed up in victory. And I think the timing of this is important to note because there in the middle of verse 54, it says, then it shall be brought to pass the saying that it is written, death is swallowed up in victory. We have the promise of eternal life right now, right? We have the taste of eternal life right now. We have the understanding that death has been conquered, but the real fulfillment of the victory over death is,

is found in the resurrection. We have the promise of it now and faith is living according to that promise. Faith is living according to this promise that we will be resurrected, that we have that guaranteed place in eternity and that death will be swallowed up and we will have victory over it. He goes on in verse 55 to say, "'O death, where is your sting? "'O Hades, where is your victory?'

This verse also seems to be a quotation, although it's not entirely clear what Paul is quoting from. It's possible he's quoting from the book of Hosea chapter 13. There's some similar parallels, but it's not an exact reference. Maybe it's a passage that we don't have access to any longer, or it could have been a common saying for them. But the saying is important. Oh death, where is your sting?

Where is the sting of death? Oh, Hades, that is the grave, where is your victory? Through all history, death and the grave had victory, it would seem. But when Jesus died upon the cross, he conquered death, he conquered the grave, proven by his resurrection,

And in that day, when we are resurrected, then all of this will be abundantly clear and we'll be able to say, oh death, where is your sting? As those who live in this life right now, we're familiar with death and it stings. It burns, it hurts, it aches. Our own death, we're faced with it. Those that we love, we're faced with it. There's a sting that takes place.

My phone right now is reminding me of photos from this time in previous years. And so I'm getting a lot of photos from two years ago when we were in the hospital with my grandfather. And it took a couple days for it to dawn on me because I kept seeing all these photos and remembering, you know, where it was and even knowing the timing and understanding the timing. The anniversary of his death is coming up on Thursday.

But I didn't quite recognize it until yesterday and I suddenly realized it's showing me all these because it was right now, it was during this time. We were in that hospital room two years ago and having those conversations and experiencing that and walking through that and I see the photos and the things that it's reminding me about and it stings. I'm happy to see them. I'm glad to be reminded of those times and yet at the same time it stings. There's a burn that happens sometimes.

And every one of us are familiar with that. There is the sting of death right now. But in the resurrection, we'll say, death, where is your sting? Where is it? You seemed so ominous and looming and powerful before, but now where is your sting? You don't have the bite that you used to have. Death has been swallowed up in victory. Paul goes on to say in verse 56, the sting of death is sin and the strength of sin is the law.

The sting of death is sin. Death occurs because of sin and it stings because of sin. Because of the sin that we engage in, the sinful nature that we have, the judgment that is deserved for sin, sin brings about this sting, this death that is around us and that we are confronted with.

And he goes on to say that the strength of sin is the law. So he's building this domino chain here. Death stings because of sin. And it has strength to do that because of the law. Because every one of us and all of humanity does not measure up to the law, well then sin has strength and it brings the sting of death. But that's a temporary condition.

Because of what Christ has done for us. In verse 57, he says, but thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. There is this sting, there is this strength, there is the law, but thanks be to God. Because although there is this law, although we all fall short of the glory of God, although we all are condemned by the law, we have redemption, victory through Jesus Christ.

And that's the truth. That's the reality. Now, in this side of eternity, we see the victory limited. We believe the victory. We understand it. We're told about it. But then in the resurrection, we will see it in totality. We'll see it fulfilled. And so you will have eternal victory. You will have eternal victory over sin, over death, over the law. You will have victory for eternity in the resurrection.

And so again, your resurrection is for eternity. Well, that brings us now to verse 58 for the third point to consider this morning. And that is, you will receive eternal reward. Are we still here? Man, that one wasn't the rapture. Okay. I'm pretty sure that's exactly how the trumpet's going to sound because I worked really hard in audacity last night to put that trumpet sound together. But maybe not. We'll see.

You will receive eternal reward. 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. You need to remember your resurrection, it's for eternity, which means you will have an eternal body. You will have eternal victory and you will receive eternal reward.

It's so important. And this chapter is really good for us because it refocuses our mind on the things that are to come. And it's so easy to get caught up with and distracted by this life because it's right in front of us. It's what we see and taste and feel. But there's so much more in eternity. And as we focus on eternity and live for eternity, well, God promises reward for that. He promises reward for our service unto him.

in this life that will have eternal value and be rewarded for all of eternity. And so he says in verse 58, therefore, my beloved brethren, and this really kind of wraps up the whole chapter, the whole subject of resurrection, understanding the doctrine of resurrection, understanding that Jesus' resurrection guarantees your resurrection as a believer in Jesus, understanding there will be this victory, understanding all of these things. Therefore, he says, be steadfast and immovable.

be steadfast and immovable. This applied right directly to the Corinthians as they were wavering from the gospel and seeking to discount the doctrine and the understanding of resurrection. They were considering changing the gospel. And so Paul is saying, no, be steadfast and immovable concerning the gospel. Don't change the gospel. Be steadfast and immovable concerning doctrine. Be steadfast and immovable concerning your walk with God.

don't change, don't move, no matter what happens in this life, hold fast to the truth and the promises that God has given. But don't just stand there holding fast. He goes on to say, always abounding in the work of the Lord. And he gives us a good reason why. Abound in the work of the Lord because you know that the labor you do for the Lord will not be in vain. The labor that you do for the Lord will not be in vain. Now,

If you've ever labored in vain, you know that it's pretty rough. As we were working on our kitchen in the first part of the year and learning how to do everything step by step, I'm pretty confident everything I did in the kitchen, building-wise and putting things together, everything I did in the kitchen, I had to do at least three times.

I get it all put together, it's wrong. Take it all apart. Put it all together, oh, it's wrong. Take it all apart. We did that completely wrong. Throw that away. Go buy a new one. Try again, right? And there was this doing things. It felt in vain. Now,

In reality, I learned things along the way so that when I, you know, bought it again and tried it again, hopefully I didn't mess it up again, right? But it wasn't completely in vain because I was learning things, but boy, did it feel like it was in vain. It's like I put in all this work and then we just have to tear it down and destroy it. And there are, there is a lot of things in this life that we can invest in, that we can spend our time and our energy and focus on that in the end are just in vain, right?

And that's a horrible thing to feel, to experience. For you to invest your whole life into, you know, something that doesn't have eternal value, that doesn't give eternal reward, something that will not last and will just be torn down in the end. Paul says, always abound in the work of the Lord because you know that's not going to happen in your work for the Lord. Your work for the Lord will last forever.

It has eternal value and eternal reward. Now, Paul was talking to the Corinthians about this earlier as well. In 1 Corinthians 3, he talks about on that day as we stand before the Lord that our works will be tested by fire and it will be revealed what kind of works we did, if we were truly laboring for the Lord or not. And he says, if your labor, if your work that you built on your life endures, you will receive reward.

God promises reward for the labor that we do unto him. And so your resurrection is for eternity. There's an eternal reward, an eternal victory, and an eternal body that God has in store for you. Paul said, therefore, my beloved brethren, understanding all of this, here's what you're to do. Abound in the work of the Lord. And I wanted to just

take a moment and consider this abounding in the work of the Lord. As we consider this idea, you know, sometimes laboring for the Lord, we think in very limited terms. We think about, you know, things that we could do at a church service, and that's laboring for the Lord. But laboring for the Lord is not limited to the context of this property or these certain times during the week.

Sometimes also when we think about laboring for the Lord, we think about only the big things. Like you might think about like a mission trip or like a full-fledged, you know, severe commitment to some ministry. And you might think about that in labor to the Lord. But this morning, I would encourage you to think about it in different terms and just think about today. What can I do today that would please the Lord?

It doesn't have to be, you know, some crazy big commitment. You can just look at today and say, Lord, what can I do today to please you, to labor for you? The author of Hebrews in Hebrews chapter 11, verse six tells us that without faith, it's impossible to please God. Whoever comes to God must believe that he is and that he's a rewarder of those who diligently seek him. God promises reward for those who diligently seek him.

Can you diligently seek God today? You can. You have the opportunity and you have the promise. It won't be in vain. If you diligently seek the Lord, it will have value. If today you will be looking to please God and looking to know God, looking to walk with God, it will have value and there will be reward. He's a rewarder of those who diligently seek him. And so abound in your labor for the Lord and diligently seek him.

Or I was thinking about Micah chapter 6 verse 8. He has shown you, O man, what is good and what does the Lord require of you? But to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God. These are things that you can look at today and say, Lord, I'm going to do justly today. I'm going to do what's right because I want to please you. I want to honor you. I want to live for you. And so I'm going to do the right thing today. I'm going to do justly.

And I'm going to love showing mercy. I'm going to be gentle to people and have compassion and be kind to the people around me. In your name, Lord, for your glory. And we can please the Lord. This is what he desires from us, to walk humbly with our God, abound in pleasing God. We can also abound in obedience. When Saul thought he was doing a good thing by offering a sacrifice, even though he had been disobedient to the Lord,

Samuel the prophet rebuked him and corrected him in 1 Samuel 15 22 and said has the Lord as great delight in burnt offering and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord you think he has great delight in burnt offerings no he has great delight in obedience and today you have the opportunity to abound in the work of the Lord by just looking at ways that you can be obedient to what God has called you to and what God has said in his word

I was also thinking about King David. In 1 Kings 8, verse 18, as Solomon is recounting David's desire to build the temple, the Lord told David, David, you're not the one to build the temple, but the fact that it was on your heart to build the temple, you did well that it was on your heart.

Even when we're not able to necessarily execute or carry out the thing that we want to do on behalf of the Lord, God says, hey, you know what? That's pleasing to me. You did a good job in just wanting to do something for me. And so Paul says, always be abounding in the work of the Lord. Don't think of that only in the terms of some big commitment or some huge life change.

But think about today. Lord, how can I please you today? And let's fill our lives with those kinds of decisions and choices. We can labor in them with great confidence, knowing it's not in vain. It will return eternal reward. Your resurrection is for eternity. You'll be given an eternal body. You'll have eternal victory and you'll receive eternal reward. Let's pray.

Lord, we thank you for your word and these great promises to us. I pray that you would help us to take them to heart. And God, I pray that you would fill our minds with clear ways that we can take steps that are pleasing to you. Help us to diligently seek you, to do what's right and show mercy, to walk with you in humility. God, I pray that you would put upon our hearts ways that we can serve you and honor you. Lord, because you are worthy.

And you have done so much for us. And so, Lord, we look forward to eternity. Help us, Lord, to then abound in this life with honor, with praise, with worship to you in the way that we live. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of his word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.