Our Resurrection Hope - 1 Corinthians 15:20-49

Well, in August of 2010, the San Jose Coppermine in northern Chile collapsed, burying 33 men over 2000 feet underground. 700,000 tons of rock on top of them. And so rescue cruise, they hurried around. They drilled frantically, but every attempt failed. So families gathered to hold vigils and weep and gather around their families, making funeral arrangements. The whole world declared with certainty that there is no sound. There is no signal, there's no tapping below, no heartbeats. But, on the 17th day, A drill broke through. Not from the top down. But from the bottom up, and a note was passed through the hole. And the note said, we are all well in the shelter. All 33 of us. So despair turns into celebration, right? Like all the joy breaks loose. Sadness turns to joy, the engineers of the surface. They design this narrow, like escape apparatus that they called the phoenix, that they could lower down into the, into the, uh, pit. And one by one, each man was pulled from up from that capsule, out of the darkness, into the light, into the arms of their families. But what I want you to notice, is that it was that 1st man. That 1st survivor who came up, that was the moment that despair was broken. It wasn't when the note passed. It was when that 1st man emerged from the ground, that despair was gone. The 1st one up was the guarantee that the rescue mission would not stop until every last man came up through that pit. Now, I tell you that story? Because that's the image that Paul wants us to understand in this passage of 1st Corinthians chapter 15 this morning. We're continuing on in our series of 1st Corinthians. We're in verses 20 through 49, 29 verses this morning. We're going to move quickly because we got a lot to cover. But the apostle Paul is going to tell us about this rescue operation that's far greater than anything that we could ever imagine. Far greater than anything the world has ever seen. And he wants to tell us that the rescue has already begun. This rescue operation has already started. Now, I want us to recap, just real quickly from last week. Paul has just taken the Corinthians through a grim thought experiment, okay? So some in the church were questioning whether there was even such a thing as a resurrection from the dead. And so Paul says, all right, let's just follow that logic out for a minute, right? Like, if there's no resurrection, then Christ hasn't been raised. And if Christ hasn't been raised, then our preaching is empty. Our faith is empty. We're still in our sins, like we're still dead. And on top of that, all of all the people in the world, Christians are then the most to be pitied. Like we're the most to be looked down upon, if that's true. Everything crumbles if there's no resurrection. But then, in our passage, everything turns in verse 20, look at it with me. We'll have it on the screen as well. But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead. So this isn't just something that just, uh, they imagined or like they cooked up, the disciples cooked up in the back room. That's not what happens. Paul's already established in verses one through 11 that there's 6 different groups of witnesses to the resurrection. At one point, over 500 people saw him at once, and many were still alive at the time of his writing this letter, which meant that Paul was perfectly fine with everyone checking his sources. Because a lot of these people are still alive when Paul's writing 1st Corinthians. So he's totally fine. He's like, check them out. And because Jesus rose from the dead, everything has just turned around. Everything goes from a doomsday scenario to want of great joy and celebration. So our preaching's not in vain, our faith is not in vain. We really have forgiveness of sins and reconciliation with God. He successfully paid it all. When we sing that, it's true. He rose from the dead, and now because of that, we are a blessed people. That was last week. And I know for some of us, uh, man, we're going through hardships. You might be going through a season of life where You're just exhausted. You're in despair. But I want us to not lose sight of the fact that we are a forgiven people. We have been reconciled to God. Because of Christ, even on your worst days. You are a son or a daughter of God. So Paul goes on to say in verse 20, Christ has been raised from the dead as the 1st fruits of those who have fallen asleep. First fruits, what is that? It's not a word that we typically use a lot. So 1st fruits is a concept that is rooted in the Jewish harvest. All right? So a lot of us, we're not in an agricultural society, we're not farmers, maybe didn't grow up on a ranch. So when the initial crops come in, they were actually given to God as a sign of worship as a sign of gratitude. So they gave their 1st fruits to God and worship because God was the one that had given them all the crops anyways. So they give their very best, the very first. But the offering of the 1st fruit also carried a promise. And that promise is that there's more to come, right? before harvest, there's great uncertainty. We don't know if this is going to turn out, we have enough rain. Is it warm enough? Do we have enough sunshine, will life spring up from the ground? And when it does, when the 1st fruits finally arrive, you threw a party, like the farmers are so excited. There's this big celebration, because the 1st fruits have broken through. There's a guarantee that the rest is on the way, the whole harvest will follow. So just like that 1st man who was 1st pulled from the pit 2000 feet below, the moment he emerged alive, everyone knew the rest is coming. So every year, I don't know about you. I plant grass seed in my front lawn, and in my back lawn, and I throw the seed out, and then I get like this cultivator thing, which like roughs up all the dirt, because you can't just throw seed on the ground. We know that from Jesus, right? It's just like gonna wilt and the sun's gonna kill it. So you got to like bury it a little bit. So I rough up the dirt, get it under there, and then I water it, and I water it. And you've got a water tall fescue like 5 or 6 times a day. Okay? So you set it up on a timer, or you try to hand water it if you're there. And for the 1st few days, for the 1st few weeks, I'm watering dirt. Just like, I don't know what I'm doing here, right? I hope this pays off. I'm looking at a bunch of mud right now. But then about 2 weeks in, what do I see? That 1st blade of grass pierces the dirt. And I'm like, yes, The 1st fruits? Like, it's pierced through, it's coming. I see it that next morning. The 1st tiny blade of grass comes through the soil. The harvest is on its way, and that's what Jesus' resurrection is. He is the 1st blade of grass that's breaking through the ground. So when Paul says, Jesus is the 1st fruits. He's saying Jesus is the initial offering to God, but there's still more to come. So just as Jesus is risen, he says, we will also be resurrected. That's his guarantee. That's his promise. And then look at verse 22. He gives us this pledge. It says, for as an Adam, all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. So 2 men, 2 stories, 2 lines of humanity, In Adam, death. In Christ, life. Now, we're gonna develop the contrast more. Paul's going to develop it for us in verse 45, but let's think about this a little bit now because everything in this passage flows from these 2 men. And what I love about this is that it means Jesus didn't just happen to beat death. Like, he didn't just get something done. He didn't just do something. He started something. Jesus' resurrection, starts a chain of events. He didn't just walk out of the grave. He set things in motion that are going to continue. It doesn't just end in the resurrection and the ascension. He said in a series of events that will bring life from the grave for all those who trust in Jesus. Now look at the word in verse 23. It's the word order. Each in his own order. Now, the original, the original words are written in Greek, not modern Greek, but coin A Greek, ancient language. And so this is a military word. It has military implications, right? And so Paul's trying to convey that this isn't just about timing. It's not just about 1st timing. It's also about 1st in rank. So it's a military word. Jesus is the first not merely in sequence, but also in authority. So he's the commander who rises 1st and then leads his people into the resurrection. But I want us to pause and just feel the weight of that for a second. Like, what's at stake here? Because if everything ends in death, everybody dies, the world eventually is destroyed, then the end of it all, Death wins. Like, if you play that thing out, Death runs the table. Then death is Lord. And when God sees that, he says no. That's not how this will all end. The whole universe doesn't just end in death. Death took Jesus, but death couldn't hold him. And even then, even if it's just like, only Jesus, maybe Jesus rose, but that all of us, we're just gonna die, and we're just gonna always stay in the grave. If he's the only one that escapes, well, then death still holds everyone else. And God's not okay with that. God says, I created a good world. It's beautiful, but it's broken. And we feel that. Sin has corrupted it. Death is taking it. But he says, I sent my son to punch a hole into death. Not just for himself, but for all those who are gonna trust in him, because death will not be Lord, Christ will be Lord. Death will not be the end. Life in Jesus will be the end. That's what he says. So there was a movie in 2011 called The Gray. Has anyone seen this movie? starring Liam Neeson. A few of y'all? Okay. It's not a movie I recommend. It's got a lot of gore and violence. I think it's rated R for all of the blood, but Leah Neeson and 7 other guys survive a plane crash in the Alaskan wilderness. The whole movie, they're on the run from wolves. These are like evil demented wolves of some kind. They're on they're like trying out to get them. So one after another, the group of survivors just dwindles until it's only Leon Neeson. And as it builds, as the movie builds, I'm like, Liam's gonna make it, right? Like, he's gonna survive, and for 2 hours, we're watching him make his moves, like, he's dodging wolves, and the wolves are getting everyone else. It's epic. And then at the very end, he finds himself in the den of death. He is in the pit of despair. There are bones and rotting corpses, and there's the alpha wolf staring him down right in front of him. And it's this epic moment. He's got a huge knife in one hand and broken bottles in the other taped to his knuckles so that he doesn't lose them. Okay? And it's like the final epic moment in the film, and I'm thinking, this is gonna be awesome. And then it cuts to black. And you're like, what? No. Like, what just happened? No fighting? No vanquishing the enemy? Like, no conquering death. It's a really satisfying ending, y'all. Uh, The Bible tells a better story. It says death does not take from us. It says life has come. And his name is Jesus. And then all of our struggles are now shot through with meaning and purpose. Because in the end, death does not win, Jesus wins. And the idea of kingship is developed further in verses 24 through 28. Paul says, then comes the end. When Jesus, he, when he delivers the kingdom of God the Father, after destroying every rule and every authority and power. This is the endgame. Right? Jesus will conquer everything. And he will take everything, and it says he will deliver the kingdom of God to the Father, who will be in all and overall. It reminds me of this great movie, Robin Hood. The only one that really matters, the one with Kevin Costner, right? Uh, the sheriff of Nottingham rules over the people, and he takes, and he takes, and he takes from them. And then Robin Hood comes home and he sees that this is wrong and he says, I refuse to be under this guy's dominion. I serve the true king, and I'm waiting for his return. And so Robin Hood rebels against the sheriff, and it's dangerous. It's crazy. People are dying, but Mr. Hood, he's like wily and crazy, and he shoots a bow and arrow real good, right? And so he gets together, his merry men, and they make a great time in the forest, building a pretty cool life out there. And then there's this moment where Christian Slater, who's opposite Kevin Costner. He asks Robin Hood. Will you finish what you started? Are you gonna finish what you started? Because you may you may have escaped the sheriff, Mr. Robin Hood. You may have brought some people with you, but the sheriff still rules this place. And he takes and he takes and he takes. So did you just set you free, or are you gonna set this whole place free? Are you gonna liberate everything and bring it back to the king whom it belongs? And so Kevin Costner, he gets in that like catapult next to Morgan Freeman, and they get launched over the castle walls to have this epic battle, and they take out the sheriff. They take the kingdom back. And when Robin Hood gets it, he delivers the kingdom into the hands of the true king. Which, if you remember, is Sean Connery, right? kind of weird. But that's how the movie ends. And that's what Paul's getting at here. Verse 25, he says, for he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. And then verse 26 tells us that the last enemy, the last enemy to be destroyed, is death itself. Death will not run the world. He says death will not win. Life through Jesus is going to win. And then in verse 27, he clarifies that when all things are put in subject under Christ, of course, God the Father himself, he's not included in that subjection, all right? So in verse 28, it gives us this glorious conclusion, he says, when all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself, Jesus will be subjected to the Father, that God will be, maybe all in all. So think back to Adam. He has given, he was given stewardship, of this world. He's like the chief of staff to God. He's the guy who's in charge of stewarding the kingdom, all of creation, to bring glory to God. But then Adam lost it in the garden of Eden. He listened to that serpent. He fell into sin. The kingdom was lost. But the work of Jesus, John writes later, is to come and destroy the works of the devil. to restore all the kingdom and bring it back to God the Father. So here's the crucial point. The resurrection of God's people is not anchored in the fact that we're a good people. It's not anchored in the fact that we earned it. It's not anchored in the fact that, oh, you're just smart enough. You're just enlightened enough. Humanity just has to be educated enough to figure it out. It's nothing that we observed or deserved. nothing that we've done to earn it. It's anchored in God's unyielding commitment to glorifying himself. Jesus has to reign over everything including death. So he has to defeat death. There has to be the resurrection of his people because that is God's endgame. So our hope is anchored in something rock solid, and it's not us. Praise God. It's anchored in God's commitment to his own glory, and that is really, really good news. Because if it was anchored in us, we would have lost it a long time ago. So having established this glorious hope, Paul then turns to verse 29 through 34 to this practical impact of believing in the resurrection. He mentions in verse 29, those who are baptized on behalf of the dead. What does that mean? Baptized on behalf of the dead? We've never heard that before. Well, to be honest, scholars don't really know. It's really the only time that that phrasing shows up, there's something like 200 interpretations over what baptism of the dead means, I read about the top 40 of them, and none of them are really satisfying. So ultimately, scholars kind of all agree that we don't really know what that means, but the good thing is, it doesn't really affect his argument. Regardless of what Paul's referring to, which we can talk later about that, if y'all have questions. His broader argument is unmistakable. His argument is that the belief in the resurrection makes a genuine difference in how we live our lives. It affects our every day. You might think, well, this is gonna happen way after I'm long gone, a future generation, or maybe way later on in my life, but he says it affects everything. It certainly motivated Paul himself. I mean, look at look at the next verse. He says, why are we in danger every hour? I die every day. Paul was willing to face persecution, danger, suffering, pain on a daily basis. He says, if there's no resurrection, then Paul says, let's just eat and drink and die tomorrow. If there is nothing beyond this, then by all means live it up. Y'all remember like 10, 15 years ago when FOMO and YOLO were a thing, right? Like everyone was saying like, YOLO, you only live once. FOMO, fear missing out. And it wasn't like in a Christian context, it was in a worldly one, like, live it up, right? Like make all the bad decisions now because you only live once. And if there's fear missing out, just go to the thing. Live it all up. Seize the day, indulge in everything, because this is all that life is. But then Paul warns us in verse 33. He says do not be deceived. Bad company ruins good morals. It's interesting because this is actually a quote from a secular Greek comedy, but Paul quotes it because there's truth in it. And so he's using this quote to say, if we if you associate with the wrong people, they're going to give you bad theology. They're going to fill your head with nonsense. They're gonna give you bad morals. They're gonna corrupt an otherwise smart person. Bad theology affects the way we live. And so Paul says, hey, wake up from your drunken super, as is right. And do not go on sinning. For some have no knowledge of God, and I say this to your shame. Then Paul anticipates a question in verse 35. He says, how are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come? This is a maybe a common question that's happening in Corinth, or maybe he's anticipating a hypothetical question that they may ask after this. And so he responds sharply. You foolish person. What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. And notice Paul reaches for an agricultural example, which I just love, just like Jesus did so often in his parables. So he's Paul's imitating Jesus, not just in character, but in his teaching method, which is really cool. So he gives them this picture from the field. If we want a plant to grow, you've got to plant a seed. But that seed doesn't become something new unless it 1st breaks down in the soil. The seed actually has to die. So Paul is saying, hey, we're all concerned about dying here. as if it's some sort of barrier for God, but he says, look at nature. Death is not just a problem. It's a process. God does this every day all around us, and we never question it. So he says, why would we question him now? Verse 37. He says, and what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare kernel. So I was thinking this week about a mustard seed. We've got an image of one on the screen. You can hardly see that mustard seed. It's one of the smallest seeds on the planet. And that tree behind it is a very small mustard tree. These things grow huge. I was thinking about it because Paul is using this example, an agricultural example. He's talking about a seed, and Jesus talked about this often as well. So the resurrection body, he's saying the point he's making is that it's going to be very different from our current body. God has no problem with variety. He does it all the time. It doesn't have to look the same. It doesn't have to function the same. And so to drive this home, Paul moves beyond the plant kingdom. In verse 39, it says not all flesh is the same, one kind for humans, another for animals, another for birds, another for fish. And then if we're still not convinced, he says, look up to the sky. Verse 40, look at the sky, the sun has one glory. The moon, another glory, and stars differ from stars. There's tons of variety. And I think there's something fascinating here. I was thinking this week, in the 1970s, the scientific community codified what they called dark matter. All right? So if some of y'all, maybe you took astronomy class at one point, or you learned this in high school, or maybe for your major 1970s. And we got a picture of it on the screen, uh, it looks like a neural network. This is dark matter, but it's this invisible matter that cannot be detected through traditional telescopes. You have to use very specific equipment. And NASA calls it, quote, the invisible glue that holds galaxies together. Scientists know it exists because of the gravitational effects that it exerts on invisible matter. But they say that no one can actually observe it directly. Now, I'm not saying that this is what Paul is referring to. But it's interesting that even the scientific community, even scientific research, says that there is matter that's a completely different kind than anything that we see on Earth, anything that we can see in the cosmos, there's something completely different, and it actually makes up 95% of our universe. Not 5% of what we know of the matter here on Earth is apart from dark matter. So if God has already woven invisible substances into the fabric of the cosmos, is it really so hard to believe that he can fashion resurrection bodies from something entirely new? So, How different is this resurrection body going to be? Right? sometimes we see this for the 1st time. like, this is crazy talk. Like, we're gonna have separate bodies. After Jesus comes back, we're gonna have this resurrected body. What's it going to look like? How's it gonna function? What's going to happen? Verse 42? He says, so is it with the resurrection of the dead. And then Paul gives us 4 characteristics of this hypothetical future resurrected body. First, he says, what is sown is perishable? What is raised is imperishable. So it's imperishable. Second, verse 43. It is sown in dishonor, but raised in glory. So it's glorious. Third, it is sown in weakness, but raised in power, so it's powerful. So Paul says these new bodies will be imperishable, glorious, powerful, and the 4th one spiritual. Verse 44. It is sown a natural body, that's what we have now, but raise a spiritual body. Now, what's that word spiritual mean? Because sometimes we can have connotations of what spiritual means in our own context and our own lives. But what Paul is referring to here, he probably doesn't mean like an immaterial or ethereal or like a ghostly body, that's not what he's talking about here. Something that you can't see or touch. Because we know that Jesus, after his resurrection, had a physical body. People could see it. He ate food. The disciples served him food. His disciples touched him. Remember Thomas puts his hand in his side, he feels his side. There were marks on his side. There were nails in his hands or holes in his hands. He had a real physical body. And so the best way to understand this word spiritual, the word that Paul uses Numa, meaning spirit or life, here is to think of it as a supernatural body, not an immaterial or ethereal, but supernatural. So it's a body, as far as we can tell, that's made of a totally different substance. totally different source. It's not powered by food or oxygen. He says it's powered by the very spirit of God, that dwells in us now. And so this brings us to the peak of Paul's argument, the moment that the whole passage has been building toward, verse 45. He says, thus it is written. The 1st man, Adam became a living being. And the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. So Adam became a living being. That's Genesis chapter two, when Adam comes to life, formed out of the dust and the dirt and the mud, and he breathed into him. Numa, he gave him a spirit. God gave David life, the spirit, breath. And what did he do with it when Adam received it? Well, he sinned. He sinned against God. He disobeyed God in the Garden of Eden. And because of Adam, the Bible says, we have all inherited sin from him. Because he was the chief of staff. He's the steward over God's kingdom. And so we are sinners by choice and by nature. The Bible says, we have all inherited this sin. We're sinners by nature because Adam's sin passes to us. And we're sinners by choice. We choose to rebel. And so Adam was given the gift of life, and he squandered it, right? And when he did, he took all humanity down with him. Every funeral you've ever attended. Every hospital bed that you've ever sat beside. Every tear you've ever shed over someone you've lost. That's a result of Adam's legacy. that comes from his fall, and it passes through time to us. But, the last atom, Jesus Christ did not receive life. He lived it perfectly. He was tempted at all points as we are, we are. It says without sin. So we're Adam disobeyed, Jesus obeys. Where Adam fell, says Jesus stood. Adam brought a curse, but Jesus brings eternal blessing. And having lived and died, been buried, risen again, Jesus became something that Adam never was and never could be. Verse 45. Paul calls Jesus a life-giving spirit. So Adam transfers death to us. But Jesus transfers life. to all who are going to believe in him. It's a free gift. It's a free offering. You can reject it. You could say no thanks, don't like it, don't want it. Or you could say, that's what I'm made for. That's what I'm designed for. That's what I've been hoping for. That's where all my despair will die in the arms of Christ. And so verse 45, Paul calls in this life-giving spirit. And then in verse 47, it says the 1st man was from the earth, a man of dust. The 2nd man, that's Jesus, is from heaven. So we're made of dust. Uh, the material that makes up our bodies today is from the earth. It's made up of oxygen and nitrogen and carbon, minerals. It's temporary, it's fragile. It's breaking down with each passing year. Especially if you're probably around over 30, okay? It's kind of all downhill from 30 guys. You got a lot to look forward to. But the new body, the resurrection body, is not from the earth. It's not made of the same substance. Paul says it's from the spirit of God. The same life that he breathed into Adam, he breathed into us through Jesus. That's why in the gospels at one point. It says Jesus breathes on the disciples. He's like, ah, and you're like, this is weird. Why is Jesus breathing on people? He's bringing it full circle. He's bringing the Spirit of God back into his people. And he's saying, in the end, you will have a new body empowered by the spirit of God. It's made of a substance we have never encountered. A material from another realm entirely, fashioned by God himself for all eternity. And that means we don't have to worry about what happens to this current body, not ultimately. Whether it's buried or cremated. Uh, whether disease has ravaged it or age has worn it out. none of that limits what God can do. He's not going to recycle old material. He's building something entirely new. He's going to create something brand new. And then in verse 49, uh, as we close this out, Paul delivers this breathtaking promise. Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, remember, that's Adam, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven. So right now, when you look at me, You see a perishable body, right? It is weak. I'm over 30, so it's going downhill every year. I'm just fighting the dad bod as long as I can, okay? But it's all going down. Slowly, it's breaking down. Because I bear the image of Adam in my bones. But on the day of the resurrection. When Christ descends from heaven. And when that trumpet sounds, I will bear the image of Christ. And so will all of us who are in him, those who are found in him. What started through Adam is gonna be reversed through Christ. He's gonna turn it around. So real quick, what difference does this make for us today? I've got 2 points for us. First is a word of stewardship. A word of stewardship. So Paul told us back in chapter 6 that our bodies are actually a temple till the Holy Spirit. So not what he's not telling us here is just to neglect the body, you know, it's going to end one day, it's going to go in the grave, or you're going to be cremated. It's not even going to be recycled. It's going to be a whole new body. So forget this body today. That's not what he's getting at. And sometimes as Christians, we can think about that. Like, the whole world's gonna burn, so let's not care about it. Or this body is gonna end in the grave. So why exercise? Why eat right? Why do you care about it at all? But how we treat our body is a reflection of how we treat the spirit that dwells in us as Christians. And although our bodies are perishable, while we have them, they still belong to God. Your body's a gift. It doesn't belong to you. Belongs to God. And your body's a temple, chapter 6. So that means that we don't idolize our bodies. We don't make them ultimate, but we also don't neglect or mistreat them. So we should eat well, we should exercise regularly, we should take care of the body that God has given us, not because it's ultimate, but because it's a gift that God has entrusted to us, and you only have one. You only get one body. And Paul himself says that that bodily discipline is of some value. He doesn't neglect it. So don't let the hope of this future resurrection give you grounds to mistreat this temporary mortal body. I think Paul wants us, God wants us to steward what he has given us with gratitude and care, even as we look forward to this glorious upgrade that we have to come. Second, after a word of stewardship, a word of challenge. Paul said in verse 32, if the dead are not raised, let us eat and drink for tomorrow, we die. And I think this is tempting. Uh, it's tempting, and I think it's become a mantra for many, um, people in general, but but I think for Christians as well. We get comfortable. We serve in safety for the most part. And slowly that this mindset kind of creeps into the Christian life that I just kind of live it up now, pursue my career. I want to be a good steward in my career, uh, accumulate a bunch of stuff. I got Amazon so I can just like order things constantly. But the truth is that the, that big promotion at work. It's gonna pass away. That title that you've been wanting. Vice president or director, professor, CEO. It's gonna be gone. It will pass away. The awards on the shelf, the fame, the notoriety, the applause of man, it's all gonna pass away. Paul knew that what lay ahead of him was infinitely better. It's infinite infinitely more than what he gave up behind him. The Bible says that we are either in Adam or we are in Christ, and in Adam, we all die. We are sinners and we cannot save ourselves, but in Christ, we are made alive. He takes, he brings the spirit and he breathes it upon us, giving us new life when we trust in him. So as we wrap up. I've got this kid's book. Some of y'all might recognize, goodbye to goodbyes. Does anyone have this book? No one has this book? Oh, man, if you got kids, you gotta get this book. It's a great book. And I read this to my kids. I've read it several times to them. I probably need to read it again because it's been a while. But it's this whole premise about how Jesus is going to ultimately bring goodbyes to all of our goodbyes. that goodbyes are hard. My kids, uh, they don't have any grandparents that live locally. They've got grandparents in Africa, and then they've got grandparents in Colorado. So they don't get to see their grandparents a whole lot. They don't get to see aunts and uncles. We don't have any family that live in Kansas City. Cousins, they just get to see them a few times a year, if that. Sometimes we go several years without seeing cousins or grandparents or aunts and uncles. And so goodbyes are hard. There's a lot of tears. There's days of despair. And so I read this to my kids to give them hope. that one day, Jesus is gonna bring all goodbyes. He's going to say goodbye to all goodbyes. And so I want to read the end of this book. It's already, it goes through the how Lazarus is raised from the dead, and then it gets to Jesus' resurrection. And it says, after the resurrection, Jesus had to go to Jerusalem. where he would be the one to say goodbye and die. So I guess he hasn't he hasn't died yet, he hasn't resurrected. And then like Jesus, like Lazarus, Jesus is going to walk out of that tomb alive. And after that, Jesus said goodbye again because he was going back to heaven. It was sad for Jesus' friends to say goodbye. But they would see him again. And the land that lay after they're dying, in the land where there are no more goodbyes, not ever. We all have to say goodbye sometimes. Some of them are short goodbyes, some are long, sometimes a friend of Jesus, who we love gets sick, and we're sad. Sometimes they die. We have to say goodbye. It feels like a forever goodbye. Jesus knows it's sad to say goodbye. So Jesus came to end all goodbyes. And one day, Jesus and all his friends will say goodbye to goodbyes forever. The resurrection isn't complicated. It's real simple. The hope of the resurrection isn't complicated. Jesus came out of the grave, and one day, so will we. 33 men were buried in the earth. The world had given up hope, but then that 1st man came out alive. Everyone knew the rescue would not stop until every man, all 33 came out of that grave. So church, the 1st man is already out of the grave. That's good news. Every last one of his people will follow him into the light. death will die. And we will be delivered to the Father in victory. That's the promise of King Jesus. Do you know him? Do you love him? All our hope rests in him. So if you believe in Jesus, if you believe that Jesus rose from the dead, then your faith is solid, your sins are forgiven, and your future is secure. Let's pray together. Lord, we thank you that you've gathered us here to this time and this place. to worship you, to read your word, to be encouraged and challenged, to be in fellowship with one another, the body of Christ. And Lord, we thank you that you've encouraged us and taught us something this morning. We thank you for your word. It's not an old and dusty book. It's an eternal book that speaks life into us. And though we have the image of Adam and sin in our bones. We are being made renewed and alive day by day by your spirit. And even this mortal body is falling apart. You are breathing life into our spiritual body. You bring our soul to life in Christ. So, Lord, we look forward to that day. that will be caught up into the clouds with you, that you will bring the resurrection for all of your people. You'll restore the kingdom for good. And you will be with your people. So, Lord, help us to live in this temporary moment. This fleeting moment with all of our worries, and of all of our cares and all of our desires, all of our ambitions, all the things we want, the things we're praying for, the pains that we have, the hurt that we have, help us to live rightly in our moment, that we wouldn't neglect our bodies, but we also wouldn't idolize them. And that we would look forward to the resurrection. We would look forward to your coming in anticipation of all that you will do. Lord, help us to walk in obedience to your word. We pray all these things in Christ's name. Amen.