Not Death But Life

Today, we remember Jesus’ resurrection. Today, we remember that His resurrection affects us deeply. It is because of His resurrection that we can hope for lives that actually work. It is His resurrection and only His resurrection that makes that possible.

This morning’s text comes from Paul’s familiar treatment of the resurrection in 1 Corinthians 15. One of his key thoughts here is that because Jesus was raised from the dead you can enjoy victory over Death. That is, because Jesus was raised from the dead you can enjoy Life. My goal for this sermon is simple. I want to move all of that talk about Life and Death further away from the category of church words so that it all makes more sense, and it all makes a difference. It is my hope that as you understand these things better you will be able to enjoy them more.

Before I start let me tell you my plan for the sermon. First, I want to answer some questions. What does the Bible mean by Death? What does the Bible mean by Life? And then, we’re going to look at the grammar of what Paul wrote, specifically the tenses of two verbs. Then, I’m going to draw some conclusions that I want you to think about, believe and enjoy.

Please listen as I read 1 Corinthians 15.50-57.

So, our first question: What does the Bible mean by Death? I suspect that many people allow biology to explain this Bible word Death. If your heart is beating, then you’re alive. If it isn’t, you’re dead. To be sure, there is truth there. But thinking of Death primarily in this way interferes with your being able to really get what the Bible is talking about. There is so much more that is included. So, consider this example. In the beginning of the book of Genesis God speaks to Adam and Eve about the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. He tells them not to eat its fruit, and then He warns them. ‘In the day that you eat of it you shall surely die’. But what is the first thought of so many when they first read what happened after they did eat? ‘They didn’t die. They’re still walking and talking. They’re not dead. Their hearts are still beating.’ That’s what I thought. I’m guessing that many of you did also. There are those who try to fix this by saying that they died spiritually. But what does that mean? It’s another church word. When the Bible talks about Death it’s talking about something more than hearts that no longer beat.

Let me offer an alternative. Instead of understanding the Bible’s idea of Death in terms of biology, it needs to be understood in terms of God. Once someone sees that, he can read what happened to Adam and Eve and then say, ‘They really did experience Death’. He can say that because he sees the evidence of Death in that chapter in Genesis. What happened to Adam and Eve after they ate? Everything changed. Let’s start by looking at their marriage. Before all of this, theirs was an honest and an open love for each other. But after they ate the first thing that they do is hide from each other. Their nakedness was an expression of their openness. There was nothing to hide of body or soul. But now they make clothing. Now, they have secrets. The walls go up. Then, there are their callings. These were also dramatically changed. God gave Adam a role to fulfill. He called Adam to work the ground so that he and his family could enjoy all the different kinds of food. This calling was to be a way for him to be creative, to feel satisfied and to be fulfilled. But once they ate that is no longer the case. Now, it’s thorns and thistles, and weariness and frustration. Adam’s calling is sabotaged. Eve’s situation is no better. She was called to be a wife and a mother. Her work as mother is twisted up and filled with pain. Her calling to help her husband is turned on its head. She was supposed to be part of the team with her husband, contributing her abilities as they work for the same goal. But that isn’t going to happen. Now, as God tells Eve, ‘Your desire shall be for your husband’. She will want to dominate him and in response, he will try to dominate her. Out of that comes conflict instead of teamwork.

As bad as all of that is, it’s what lies behind these things that is most important. Because they disobeyed and ate, God kicks them both out of the Garden. And why is that so bad? Remember that the Garden was the place of God’s presence. It was the place where Adam and Eve could enjoy God to the full. It is where they took walks together in the cool of the day. But, no longer. They are removed from God’s presence. When they were near to God their lives worked. God made sure that they did. In fact, here is a basic principle: lives can work only when God is close and makes sure that they work. But now, God has excommunicated them from His presence. They are exiled from the Garden. God is no longer near. And as a result, their lives no longer work.

That’s what the Bible is talking about when it mentions Death: being far from God. And when people are far from God, it’s not that just one or two parts of their lives don’t work as well as they might. No, when people are far from God, it’s all broken. Secrets. Frustration. Weariness. Pain. Conflict. When people are far from God, their lives just don’t work. That’s Death.

Let me develop this a little bit more. Now, you can see that once they ate, Adam and Eve came under the curse of Death. That Death came to immediately. But it didn’t come fully; not right then. You need to see that the experience of Death grows. So, it’s not just that relationships can no longer flourish as well as they might. It gets worse. And Cain killed Abel. And it continues downhill from there. And this Death does affect biology. Adam lived to be 900 plus years. But as one generation leads to the next, that gets shorter and shorter so that by the time we get to Moses we read, ‘The years of our life are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty; yet their span is but toil and trouble; they are soon gone, and we fly away.’ But it doesn’t even stop with that. After a person’s seventy or eighty years there is the ultimate experience of Death: Hell. That’s as far from God as you can get. A person’s experience of Death grows. I’m not even sure that it stops growing in Hell. That gives you an idea of what the Bible means by Death.

Now on to my second question. What does the Bible mean by Life? The answer to this is easy. It’s the opposite of Death. Remember what Adam and Eve lost in Death: relationships that were completely open and free and with no secrets; the ability to pursue what God had called them to in such a way that it would be so satisfying; and most fundamentally, that sense of God that feels so good because He is so near. What Adam and Eve lost was Life. Life is all about the beauty of being in the Garden before the ugliness of Death shows up. Life is all about being near to God so that you can enjoy His blessings. Life is about people’s lives working, not just partially working but completely. So, every time you read about Life in your Bible this is what it’s talking about. Since God is near and blessing, everything else is working perfectly.

I want this to be as clear as I can make it. So, a question: What might this Life that the Bible is all about feel like? Let me offer one or two answers. You can take them home and develop them over lunch. Here’s my first answer: No more boredom. It’s just a fact that many of the people you know are just bored. That doesn’t mean that they sit around and do nothing. Boredom is not first about the body. Boredom is about the soul. The soul is meant to be engaged as it interacts with God’s creation. Too many folk just don’t have their souls engaged. They’re bored. That explains some of the busyness. People feel the boredom. They may not use that label, but they feel it. Every day begins pretty much the same as all the others and ends pretty much the same as all the others. They work jobs that are more or less monotonous. They check things off their to-do lists, glad to get things done but not really satisfied by what they do. And so, there is this desire for something more, something that will engage their souls, something that will deal with souls that are bored. So, they try this and then that. They fill up their lives but it doesn’t work. They may be busy, but they are still bored. The things that they add to their lives don’t affect the boredom of their souls; not really. But Life is the opposite of boredom. Things are happening. And it’s not just things that keep the body busy. The soul is also involved. It is engaged. Each day has its own interests, and it’s own satisfactions. There is something to look forward to. Life! And the reason for this is not that this person has a better to-do list. God is near. He makes life work.

Here’s another answer to that question: Where there is Life there is no conflict. And that’s more than just the lack of people having disagreements with each other. It’s much more than that. No conflict means no issues within yourself: no more doubts, no more confusion, no more accusations. No conflict within. That also includes no conflict with God. Instead there is complete and immediate submission to Him because of complete and immediate trust. Where there is Life there is no conflict.

One more example. Where there is Life there are no disappointments. Consider how many times a promise has been made and then broken. And it’s not just promises broken. It’s also dreams that never become reality. These dreams seemed certain, things that would surely happen sooner or later. But they didn’t. Death. But Life is about promises kept and dreams come true. God keeps His promises and fulfills dreams.

That’s what Life is about. Remember what is key. At the heart of Life is being close to God. When He is close, things are good. When God is close He makes sure that it all works. He makes sure that it all comes together – perfectly. That’s Life. Life, real Life, without the nearness of God is impossible. That’s trying to live as if there were no God. That’s the definition of Death. Life is all about being near to God and enjoying that nearness.

I’ve answered those two questions. What does the Bible mean by Death? What does the Bible mean by Life? Now, I hope, you are able to understand Paul’s thoughts in our text a little better. Jesus died for our sins. But He didn’t stay dead. He was resurrected. In doing all of this, Jesus dealt with Death. Now, remember don’t think about biology when I mention Death. Think about God and being far from Him. Think about a person falling apart, enduring an existence that just doesn’t work anywhere close to the way it’s supposed to. Jesus dealt with that. Jesus dealt with Death. Now, instead of Death there is Life. That’s the Gospel. And that is something worth celebrating.

But that, of course, raises questions. If Death has been dealt with, why do we still see its evil? And it’s not just that we see its evil in others. We still see it, we still feel it, in our own lives as well. Our lives don’t work as well as they might. We feel that every day. Why is this the case, if Jesus has dealt with Death? These are the right questions to ask. And our text gives us the answers. There are two things to notice. Listen again to what Paul wrote and notice the grammar of the verbs. ‘When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”’ When is Death swallowed up in victory? Note the tense of the verb: ‘then shall come to pass’. It is something that is yet future. It will happen when the mortal puts on immortality. It will happen when Jesus returns, and we also will have resurrected bodies. Death will be swallowed up, completely conquered, but that is something that is yet future. Death is still around.

That would be very discouraging if it were not for something else in our text. ‘But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.’ What is the tense of the key verb here? God ‘gives us the victory’. It’s not future. It’s present tense. Something is happening, and it’s happening now in the present. Because of what God is doing now, we are increasingly enjoying the benefits of Jesus victory over Death. Or to flip it around, because of what God is doing now we are increasingly enjoying Life. So, the young Christian gets a taste of Life when he is converted. But that experience of Life is added to by the Spirit. That young Christian becomes a more mature Christian, and at the heart of that is his greater experience of the Life that Jesus gained at the His resurrection. And on it goes, year after year. God is giving us more and more Life right now.

Now, let’s put this all together.

What I have said helps to explain your life and helps you to do a better job of living that life. You were conceived in sin and dead to God. Death. But by faith in Jesus, you have passed from Death into Life. You still feel the some of the effects of Death: boredom, disappointment, conflict and more. But there has been a decisive break with Death. Because of Jesus you are able to taste Life, real Life. You do not experience this Life fully now. Sometimes you taste more of it and sometimes less. But you do experience it. God is near, and He is making your life work.

There is coming a day that will be like no other day. It will start like all the others, but it will end so very differently. That is the day when Jesus returns. Existence for all of creation will be different by the time that day ends. And you will no longer be experiencing mere tastes of Life. Because of Jesus, because you have entrusted your lives into His hands, you will have Life in its fullness. No More Death. At all! Ever again!! It’s back to the Garden. Creativity. Satisfaction. Happiness. And all because of the nearness of God. He makes Life work.

This is what Jesus has done. By His death on that Cross and His resurrection from the tomb He has defeated Death and brought Life to you. That’s the Gospel.

Now, I want you to take all of that and believe it. What will help is telling yourself two things. Here’s the first thing. When you’re in the middle if tasting lots of Death and it’s just hard, tell yourself, ‘God is in the process of giving me more of the victory’. Your experience of Life is small, but the promise of the Gospel is that it will grow – in the present. God promises you that when you get old your experience of this Life will be far beyond what you can imagine now. He promises to give you more of this Life – now. This is His promise to you. But remember, this will not be automatic. It will be yours as you follow Jesus. Or to say that in another way, it will be yours by ongoing repentance and faith. That is not easy; many of you know that already. But it is worth it! And many of you know that too.

Here’s the other thing you need to tell yourself. ‘One day I will experience Life perfectly without even a hint of Death.’ I tried earlier to give you some idea of what that will be like, but honestly, we have no idea what it will be like. It will be something too beautiful to imagine. But it will most certainly be ours. This Life is not some sweet fairy tale. It is real. And it will be yours. But again, gaining that will not be automatic. It will be yours as you follow Jesus now. It will be yours by continuing to repent and believe the Gospel until that day arrives or until you end your journey here.

Doing these kind of things – talking to yourself – takes the hope of the resurrection that people talk about and makes it real to you. Jesus really has conquered Death. He has given you Life. All I want is for you to enjoy that Life so that you will live as becomes the followers of Christ.