His Resurrection, Our Faith

(I Cor. 15: 20-28)

 

INTRODUCTION: Before Columbus discovered America, Spanish coins had stamped upon them the outline of the Straits of Gibraltar.  underneath was the Latin inscription NE PLUS ULTRA-no more beyond.  But when the great explorer returned from his voyage, new coins were issued which read, PLUS ULTRA-more beyond.

  

 Likewise, when Christ went through the narrow passage of death, some thought He would never come back.  But 3 days later He arose victorious and promised a fuller life in eternity for all who put their trust in Him.  His resurrection provides a sure hope for the believer that the best is yet to come.

 

THESIS  Because of Jesus Christ’s resurrection, our resurrection is certain.

 

This is what is implied in the phrase “the first fruits of those who are asleep.”

 

TEXT

  • Paul has dealt with the logical consequences which followed from a denial of the fact of the  bodily resurrection of Christ (vv. 12-19). 
  • 1 Cor. 15:17-19 - and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins. [18] Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. [19] If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied.
  • In the verses before us (Verses 20-28) the Apostle expounds the destiny of believers who trust in the fact of Christ’s resurrection.
  • In Verse 20 Paul summarizes the destiny of believers by calling Christ’s resurrection “The First Fruits of those who sleep.”
  • The Feast of First Fruits was an Old Testament holiday which predicted the victory of Christ’s Resurrection.  

 

QUESTION:   How is the resurrection of Jesus like the Feast of First Fruits?

 

FIRST, the Feast of First Fruits was part of an array of Old Testament Prophecy and types of Christ’s Resurrection

·        Isaiah 53:10 But the Lord was pleased  To crush Him, putting Him to grief;        If He would render Himself as a guilt offering, He will see His offspring,        He will prolong His days, And the good pleasure of the Lord will prosper in His hand.

·        Psalm 16:10  For Thou wilt not abandon my soul to Sheol;  Neither wilt Thou allow Thy Holy One to undergo decay.

·        Matthew 16:21 From that time Jesus Christ began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day.

 

APPLICATION:  The Old Testament is in harmony with the Old Testament about the Lord’s suffering and death and resurrection.  One Bible with one theme…Christ Jesus, Lord of Salvation and Life…

 

Remarkable that a book written over a period of 1,400 years by over 40 different people should have one focus, one point of climax, it is the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ…

 

The skeptic historian H. G. Wells comments, “Now it is interesting and significant, isn’t it, that an historian, seting forth in that spirit (skepticism) without any theological bias whatsoever should find that he simply cannot portray the progress of humanity honestly without giving the foremost place to a penniless teacher from Nazereth (in Kennedy’s Skeptics Answered). 

 

Jesus the Lord of History – even his enemies must admit, the central focus of history…The appeal to the ancient feast of First Fruits shows us this…”

 

SECONDLY, the Feast of First Fruits took place on the day of Christ’s Resurrection

·        The Old Testament declared that this feast was to take place on the first day of the week after the Passover (Lev 23).

·        Jesus was resurrected on that exact day!  . Steadman - "Paul is referring here to the ritual that was given to Israel in the 23rd chapter of the book of Leviticus, where on the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which followed the Passover, on the morrow after the Sabbath, there would be the offering of the first fruits of the barley harvest. The Jews were commanded to bring a sheaf of grain, the first of the harvest, to the priest, who would wave it before the Lord. “

·        TODAY IS THE DAY OF THE FIRST FRUITS – THIS IS WHAT WE CALL “THE LORD’S DAY”  

·        CHRISTIANS HAVE BEEN WORSHIPPING ON THE FIRST DAY OF THE WEEK AFTER THE SABBATH EVER SINCE…

·        WE HAVE ENTERED INTO THE BEGINNNG OF A NEW ERA (WEEK) OF SALVATION AND GRACE.

·        They were commanded to come before the Lord with a stalk of barley grain in thanksgiving and praise…

·        Jesus was the first human being ever to be resurrected from the dead.

·        Steadman - Resurrection brings us to a quality and a dimension of life we have never lived before. It is not simply a return to existence as we know it now; it is a lifting to a higher, more free, more marvelous dimension of existence than we have ever known. Jesus was the first one

 

APPLICATION:  Have you come before your Great High Priest today to offer him your praise and thanksgiving for his victory over death…for your finished salvation!   Do you know him today by faith? 

 

THIRDLY,  the Feast of the First Fruits signified that the harvest was on its way

·        At the Feast of First Fruits, people recognized the CERTAINTY that a greater harvest was coming…

·        The Best is Yet to come for Us! 

·        THE HOLY SPIRIT IS A PART OF THIS…Romans 8:23 And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body.

·        THOSE WHO COME TO CHRIST NOW ARE A FORETASTE OF A COMING HARVEST OF SOULS - 1 Cor. 16:15 Now I urge you, brethren (you know the household of Stephanas, that they were the first fruits of Achaia, and that they have devoted themselves for ministry to the saints),

·        Romans 16:5 - Likewise greet the church that is in their house. Salute my wellbeloved Epaenetus, who is the firstfruits of Achaia unto Christ.

·        IN THE PASSAGE BEFORE US…A Great Harvest Is Coming…The  Resurrection of Christ makes this certain

·        Death is certain because of Adam’s Sin….Resurrection is certain by the Resurrection of Christ…

Epitaph written on a tombstone once that said:

Remember, friend, as you pass by,
As you are now, so once was I.
As I am now, soon you will be,
Prepare for death, and follow me.

1 Thes. 4:16-17 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 17Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

 

We shall live on in eternity…We shall be resurrected

 

CONCLUSION:

 

Because of Jesus Christ’s resurrection, our resurrection is as certain.

 

A little boy and his father were driving down a country road on a beautiful spring afternoon. Suddenly out of nowhere a bumblebee flew in the car window. Since the little boy was deathly allergic to bee stings, be became petrified. But the father quickly reached out, grabbed the bee, squeezed it in his hand, and then released it. But as soon as he let it go, the young son became frantic once again as it buzzed by the little boy. His father saw his pain-stricken face. Once again the father reached out his hand, but this time he pointed to his hand. There still stuck in his skin was the stinger of the bee. “Do you see this?” he said. “You don’t need to be afraid anymore. I’ve taken the sting for you.” And this is the message of Easter. We don’t need to be afraid of death anymore. Christ faced death for us. And by His victory, we are saved from sin.  Because of Jesus Christ’s resurrection, our resurrection is as certain.