Well, Luella accuses me of not finishing stories that I tell when I'm speaking. The accusation is accurate. I'll begin a story for a particular purpose in a sermon or at a conference, and I don't tell the end of the story. I leave people hanging; they greet me at the break, pleading with me to tell the end of the story. Well, I don't want to do this as we think about the Gospel and hope. We've spent the whole fall looking at what the Bible has to say about hope, and we want to consider, this evening, the end of the story, because without the end of the story, there is no such thing as hope.
I Corinthians 15
You can look in your "Order of Worship" or in your Bibles there on page 961, if you want to look there, to this passage in I Corinthians 15. Paul is essentially going to argue, (I'll give you the end of the story first here.) that Christianity, the Gospel makes no sense without the resurrection. If Christ isn't raised, there's no such thing as eternity for us. And if there's no such thing as eternity for us, then there is no such thing as hope. Think about this: Hope, to be hope, must rectify all the reasons for hopelessness.
Hope to be hope must end all the things that get in the way of hope, all the guilt, all the fear, all the shame, all the disappointment, all the suffering, all the brokenness. All of that must finally end. If it doesn't do that, then what is the hope worth? And so, this is a very tightly wound, tightly argued passage, but very, very helpful. There were people in Corinth who argued that there was no such thing as resurrection from the dead. And so, Paul wants to trace that out. What would that mean for our faith?
If there's no such thing as resurrection at all, then Christ is not raised. Now, let me stop right here and get you to think with me. We do not have a faith that is rooted first in emotional, spiritual experiences. We don't have a faith that's first rooted in logical syllogisms. It's not first rooted in a certain perception about life. Hear this. Our faith is rooted in actual historical acts of redemption. And if those acts didn't take place in time and history, there is no such thing as Christianity.
It's over, game done. What a radical thought. And so Paul wants to force you to encounter the absolute necessity for the historicity of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, an actual physical resurrection and a physical time and place. If that didn't happen, well, here are the implications. Here is the first one. What I'm doing right now, and what you're doing right now is a marvelous waste of time. Stay home and watch the Eagles. Don't get up on Sunday morning; it's a waste of time; it's just a sham.
It's just religious game playing. Forget it! Wander down to Starbucks, buy the New York Times, get a bagel, a latte', and enjoy yourself, because it's all just a philosophical mind game. It's just tricking yourself into believing things that didn't actually happen. Brothers and sisters, don't let anyone ever convince you that you can accept the Gospel without accepting the historical claims of the Gospel. You can't! This is not just a nice way of thinking about life and a good way of living. It's got to be based on actual things that God did in space and time to accomplish our redemption, or it's over.
Now, that's a pretty strong statement, but he goes on. It means that any of us who offer Gospel hope, based on the actual work of God in Christ, have misrepresented God, and we're just a bunch of liars. If there isn't a physical resurrection, then we Christians, who have taught that, are people not to be trusted. Pretty strong stuff! But he's not done yet. If Christ is not raised, then he would say, "You are still in your sin." Now, here is what this means: The clear statement in place and time of God's acceptance of the sacrifice of Christ for our sins, that this offering of Himself to God was accepted by God, accomplishing our forgiveness and our acceptance with Him, the ultimate statement of acceptance of that sacrifice was the resurrection.
Christ Conquers Sin and Death
On the cross, Christ conquers sin; the resurrection, He conquers death. And so, that means, (Let's bring it to here and now.) there is no help for you in your struggle with sin. There's no help for the guilt and shame that you feel; there's no help for your weakness; there's no help for your foolishness; there is no forgiveness; there's no deliverance. Now, why is that so significant when we think about hope? Here's why it's significant, because what you really want is to grab a hold of a hope that will help you deal with your deepest, darkest, most abiding problem.
Why would you want hope that doesn't help you with your biggest difficulty? That wouldn't be hope. And what the Bible clearly teaches us, humbling as it is, is that your biggest personal difficulty doesn't exist outside of you; it's not the situations and locations of life in this fallen world. Those are difficult because this world is broken, but your biggest, darkest difficulty exists inside of you. The Bible names it, "sin." You carry around with you your own personal Judas that will betray you again and again.
Paul says, "Even in moments of your best intention, you will do the thing that you didn't want to do." You know that's true. You're a father, and you are heading on vacation; you tell yourself you're going to be a patient, kind father this time. Seven-tenths of a mile, you've already begun to be irritated. You tell yourself you don't want to be jealous of other people, you tell yourself you're going to do better in this personal area of struggle with sin; you know, if you're all able to be honest, how deeply you need help.
You need help with you! And if Jesus isn't raised, (Hear this.) that help doesn't exist. There is no help, no strength for those moments when you're weak, no wisdom for those moments when you're foolish, no loving arms of acceptance when it feels like the world rejects you, no forgiveness when you've blown it once again. It's gone; it's over! You're left with your deepest, darkest need, untouched. It feels hopeless, doesn't it? Well, he goes on and argues that all the saints who have already gone on have perished too because what they gave their lives for, what they've hoped in was a sham.
And then he ends with this powerful statement, "If...in this life only, (verse 19) we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied," because we've embraced help and hope that doesn't exist. Here is what this passage is teaching you about hope: If the record of the historical acts of redemption is not true, there is no hope. It's over! You're left with nothing but your wisdom, your strength, your ability to gut it out and to get through. You're left in the middle of this broken world with all of its disappointing experiences.
You're left with sin inside and temptation without. You're left with those experiences you face of rejection and disloyalty. You're left with physical suffering and suffering of other kinds. You're left with all of that, and there is nowhere to cry; there's nowhere to reach; all you have is you. Game over! What a devastating argument! There's no neutral ground, brothers and sisters. None! Christ is, and His work is real, and there is reason for pressing on; or it's not, and all I've got is me, and there's nowhere to run, there's nowhere to hide, there's nowhere to reach.
The Firstfruits
Wow! But then Paul says, "But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead." That resurrection actually did take place, and he wants to lay out what that means: "...the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, (verse 20 and 21) by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ shall all be made alive." Now, here's the theology: Adam, as our representative, failed the test, and with Adam came death. Now, what Paul would mean by that is not just physical death, not just spiritual death, but all the things that are included in that, all of the sin, all of the suffering, all of the weakness, all the guilt, all the shame, all of that horrible mess that came flooding into the world as the result of the disobedience of Adam, all those things that are the very things that crush and rob us of hope.
But God would not allow that to continue, so God sent a Second Adam, the Lord Jesus Christ. This Adam passed the test, and as our representative, went to the cross, took on Himself our sin so that we could have acceptance with the Father, and He brought with Him life. Surely, Paul is meaning eternal life, but he means all the things that are included in that term 'life,' all the forgiveness, and all the wisdom, and all the deliverance, and all the strength, all of the promises of God, all of His presence, all of the peace and love and grace that we need in order to be what we're supposed to be and to do what we are supposed to do.
What a picture! Jesus came as a Second Adam in space and time, stood in our place. Everything He did was substitutionary; it was for us, in our place, so that we could have life and, with life, reason for hope. Now, notice what he is going to say next, "But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ." Notice the metaphor here, that Christ's resurrection was a firstfruit resurrection. If you like to garden or you have fruit trees, you know what this means.
When that peach tree in your backyard bears its first succulent peach, that is a prediction that there are more peaches to come, and you get excited because you see the buds, and you know there's going to be a harvest of peaches. Jesus is the firstfruit, and what His resurrection guarantees is that we will be lifted out of this place where hope has been so damaged. We will be lifted out, and we will live in a place where there's no more sin, and there's no more sorrow, and there's no more suffering, and there's no more temptation, and there's no more weakness, and there's no more rejection, and there's no more disappointment, and there's no more discouragement; there's no more fear; there's no more guilt; there's no more shame; it will be over.
Everything that tempts you to be hopeless, everything that causes you to doubt, everything that makes you wonder whether you will make it will end forever. Now, if you don't have that guarantee, you don't have hope because what hope hopes for is that the things that make me hopeless would forever end. Isn't that true? And that's what the resurrection of Jesus means; Jesus is the firstfruit, and we will be raised as well. Now, that begs the question: What is Jesus doing between His resurrection and our resurrection?
Well, we know that He is sitting at the right hand of the Father, but I would like to propose to you that He is not having a cup of tea. He's active because He's a satisfied Redeemer. Do you know what it says? Notice what it says next, "Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. For He must reign until He has put all his enemies under his feet." What is Christ doing now? He's reigning; He is accomplishing the results of His victory in the cross and the resurrection.
Jesus is actually putting enemies under His feet, and the last enemy is death, and when He steps on death, putting death to death, He will offer up the kingdom to the Father. Now, what is hope about? Hope is about getting up in the morning, no matter what you're facing in your situations and relationships, no matter how deep your own personal struggle with sin is, no matter how much you've disappointed you or others, no matter what you're suffering, no matter the chaos of your relationships, no matter what is going on in the locations where you live; you get up, and you press on, because you really do believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and you really do believe in the present reign of Jesus Christ, and for that reason, it's worth pressing on.
Stop Riding the Roller Coaster
Your hope is not rooted in how people respond to you; you've got to stop riding that roller coaster. Other than when people are biblically confronting you, it really doesn't make any difference what people think about you. You have to quit riding the roller coaster of the unexpected experiences that come your way. You are not in control of your life; there's very little that you can control; you will be dealing with the unexpected until you cross over the other side. You can't attach your inner well-being to your appearance because it's not going to get better.
I would say that I give empirical evidence of that. You can't attach it to your successes. You do not have enough sovereignty to guarantee that you will always be successful at what you're attempting to do. You just don't. Hope is based on these two things: I believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and I believe what that means for me in terms of my sin and in terms of my relationship to this broken world. And I believe in the reign of Christ that He is reigning for my sake, putting enemies under His feet.
And when He finally puts death under His feet, He will offer up the kingdom to the Father. Now, I can't resist but to take you to the last verse of I Corinthians 15. You're going to have to get out a church Bible to do that. After this discussion, this is where Paul goes, "Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable." Don't let go of your hope. Don't let the way somebody responds to you rob you of your hope. Don't let circumstances rob you of your hope; stand on the foundation of the resurrection of Christ and the present reign of Christ, and get up, and stand.
What does it take for you to be moved, to begin to question God's goodness, to begin to wonder, to begin to doubt? "Be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord." If the resurrection is the guarantee of our resurrection, if Jesus is reigning, then get up and love that person again, and again, and again, and again; be gentle; be kind; be patient; be faithful; be good; carefully obey. Give yourself to God's work, because if the resurrection is true, and the reign of Christ is true, it's impossible for anything you do in God's name to ever be in vain.
I would ask you this evening, be honest. "Are you that sturdy, and are you that motivated?" What I am asking is, "Do you have hope?" Hope is not rooted in people; hope is not rooted in circumstances; hope is not rooted in physical experiences and physical possessions. Hope is rooted in the work of Christ, hope in the risen Christ, in the reigning Christ. And it yanks you up in the morning, and it gives you reason to persevere even though life around you is hard. May God help us to embrace the end of the story, because the end of the story says that all that gets in the way of hope will finally and forever be conquered.
"Be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, for you know that your labor is never in vain in the Lord." This is hope you can't earn; this is hope you don't deserve; this is hope you can't purchase or deserve. It is only given by grace, through faith. Put your faith in the risen, reigning Christ, and have hope. Let's pray: Lord, thank you for this wonderful, wonderful passage of Scripture. Thank you that our faith isn't based in some metaphysical meanderings, but rooted in historical acts of redemption and rooted in the reality of the reign of the Lord Jesus Christ. May we have hope that's sturdy and hope that's active. In Jesus name, Amen.
