Rev. David Holwick ZK
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey
November 11, 1990
1 Corinthians 15
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I. Fear of death.
A. Comment by old man in hospital [Stephen Stefanic:]
"I feel like a pebble about to be dropped into the ocean."
B. Cyrogenics and frozen heads in California.
Thomas Donaldson, 46, of California, has cancer.
But he doesn't want to die.
He thinks that someday science will make it possible to
live forever.
Since he can't be cured in time for this, he has asked
that his body be frozen, and his head severed.
(Heads are cheaper than bodies: $35,000 vs. $100,000.)
When a cure is discovered, he wants his head thawed and
grafted onto a new body.
There is only one hitch - Donaldson wanted to be frozen
before he the cancer ruins him.
-He wants to be frozen alive, which will kill him. #1357
C. Movement to turn back aging, live forever.
1) Current research says we are destined to die around 85.
2) But many people feel death is unnatural and some way must
be found to conquer it.
3) The Bible agrees!
II. Death is an evil. #1355
A. When God created the world, everything he created was good.
1) Death was not part of creation.
B. Only after mankind's sin did death become "natural." Gen 3:19
1) Death is a consequence of evil, a punishment of evil.
2) Death is never a good thing.
3) It is our enemy. 1 Cor 15:26
C. It is appropriate to hate death, fear it, be angry at it.
1) Jesus wept at Lazarus' tomb. John 11:35
2) He wept at his own death. Matt 26:36-39 [cf Heb 5:7]
III. The answer of the Bible.
A. Death may be unnatural, and the result of our rebellion, but
it is not God's last word.
B. Resurrection is God's last word.
1) Jesus is the firstfruits. (layaway deposit) 15:20
2) Believers will one day follow.
C. Resurrection is a promise of the Bible.
1) Without the resurrection, Christianity falls apart.
a) Our faith is pointless. 15:14b
b) The Bible is false. 15:15
c) The dead are gone for good. 15:18
d) Christians are pitiable. 15:19
2) With resurrection, we have hope of a real existence.
IV. What resurrection entails.
A. It is a consistent biblical theme.
1) Daniel 12:1-3.
a) Resurrection of both just and unjust, after Tribulation.
2) John 5:28-29.
a) Just and unjust, based on faith in Jesus.
B. Flesh cannot live eternally. 15:50
1) Curse of Adam? Contrast with Eden.
2) Flesh must be changed.
C. Resurrected bodies can live eternally. 15:42
1) Points of contact with our present body.
Specialists have learned how to project what faces of young
children will look like in future.
They use computers and an understanding of facial growth
patterns.
Cathy and Debbi Hicks were abducted by their father 10 years
ago.
They were identified overnight after reconstructed photos of
their faces were shown on TV.
Christians do not know exactly what we will look like in
heaven, but we can project from what we know from Bible.
Like Jesus, not just warmed over corpse. #638
2) Also changes, similar to Jesus' resurrection body.
a) Transition between dimensions.
b) Appear in locked rooms.
D. Through the resurrection of Jesus, death has been transformed.
1) Death is a beginning rather than an ending. 15:20
2) Death and pain no long a fear.
V. When the resurrection will occur.
A. Associated with Second Coming of Jesus. 15:52 (trump)
1) Perhaps in our lifetime.
B. Resurrection of the just:
1) Dead Christians - "dead raised imperishable" 15:52
2) Living Christians - "we will be changed" 15:52
a) Commonly known as the RAPTURE.
b) Happens in a moment.
c) Bodies are changed/resurrected.
C. Resurrection of the unjust.
1) Daniel 12.
2) Revelation and Great White Throne Judgment. Rev. 20:11-14
VI. Despair and Hope.
A. Worldly attitude of despair.
1) "Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die." 15:32
2) Similar to motto on cap of Larry Mount,
"Ride hard. Die Hard."
He was drunk when he drove into a school bus of church
kids, killing 27 of them. #221
B. Christian attitude of hope.
1) We have hope for eternity. 15:19,20
2) Jesus has something real waiting for us.
VII. How to have a part in the resurrection.
A. Accept Jesus as Savior.
B. We have victory in this life. 15:57
1) Note how the disciples were changed. 15:8-10
2) Resurrection is a present (spiritual reality)
a) Jesus told Mary her brother Lazarus would be raised.
She agreed, pointing to resurrection. of last days.
Jesus said he would live right now. John 11:23-26
C. No one else can take this promise away from us.
Copyright © 2024 by Rev. David Holwick
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