SUMBER KRISTEN: KOTBAH BAHASA INGGRIS
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melayani jemaat dan hamba Tuhan
The passage we're studying begins with a ringing affirmation of resurrection life. First Corinthians 15:20: "But now Christ has been raised from the dead." Someone has written a great statement of that reality:
"The present age is Easter time. It begins with the resurrection of the Redeemer, and ends with the resurrection of the redeemed. Between lies the spiritual resurrection of those called into life through Christ. So we live between two Easters, and in the power of the first Easter, we go to meet the last Easter."
That last Easter is the bodily resurrection of all believers
in Christ.
In the last two messages (Discovery Papers
4535-6), we've been exploring the resurrection of Jesus Christ
as the watershed event of human history in 1 Corinthians 15. When
the man Jesus Christ shattered the barrier of death, he transformed
the existence of everyone who believes in him, surrenders to him,
and follows him in loyalty. In verses 1-11 Paul placed the resurrection
at the very center of the gospel. Our faith is grounded in the
resurrection. Paul supported its veracity with eyewitness testimony
of some of the people who had seen Jesus after his crucifixion
and resurrection. In verses 12-19 he surveyed some of the horrible
consequences there would be if the resurrection of Jesus Christ
had not happened.
Now in verses 20-34 Paul continues to reflect on the absolute
certainty of Christ's bodily resurrection on that first Easter
morning, and he shows how the future resurrection of believers
is the logical outcome of Christ's past resurrection. He also
strengthens his case by pointing out that both his own lifestyle
and the actions of the Corinthian believers themselves demonstrated
a confident certainty in the resurrection.
This section is organized around three amazing affirmations concerning
the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Verses 20-22 affirm the inclusive
nature of Christ's resurrection. We have been folded into that
resurrection reality. Verses 23-28 affirm the forceful purpose
of Christ's resurrection. There is a point to it that we can anticipate
as ultimate reality. And verses 29-34 affirm the motivating power
of Christ's resurrection. Because of the resurrection, we make
choices as Christians to live our lives differently.
TWO WAYS OUR RESURRECTION IS TIED TO CHRIST'S
The first affirmation speaks of how closely our own resurrection is tied to Christ's. Look at verses 20-22:
But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep. For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all shall be made alive.
Paul uses two Old-Testament images to show that our inclusion
in this tremendous hope of the resurrection is guaranteed. The
first image is that of the first fruits in verse 20, and the second
that of the analogy of Adam and Christ in verses 21-22.
The image of first fruits comes out of Leviticus 23. The law required
that every Israelite farmer, before he began to harvest his grain
crop every year, bring a representative sample to the temple and
give it to the priest to be offered up to the Lord in anticipation
of the full harvest offering. Paul is saying that Christ's resurrection
was the representative offering of our own resurrection from the
dead, the first part of this great resurrection harvest offering
that we will all be included in. Jesus offered himself up to the
heavenly Father in his death and resurrection. He was both the
offering and the offerer. The first-fruits not only preceded the
harvest, but they were the first installment of the full harvest
offering, the guarantee or the down payment of the rest of the
harvest offering that was going to come. So the fact that Christ
is the first fruits indicates that we will be resurrected, because
Christ's resurrection must not exist in isolation from ours. We
can count on that.
Paul goes on to argue the absolute certainty that this will happen
by comparing the two men Adam and Christ. Just as the one man
Adam brought death to the entire human race, including each of
us, because every one of us is a son (or daughter) of Adam, in
the same way, the one man Jesus Christ brought resurrection from
the dead for those of us who believe in him. Both Adam and Christ
were instruments of change. Adam disobeyed God, and he brought
disaster, death, and destruction into the world. But Christ, in
contrast, perfectly obeyed the Father, and he brought us deliverance,
righteousness, and life. So we as mortal human beings are in Adam,
and we're going to die; that's reality. But if we belong to Jesus
Christ, we have the absolute conviction of resurrection life.
Every one of us knows, if we're honest, that our physical bodies
are deteriorating. Nobody is going to get out alive, that's absolutely
certain. As you get older, you feel it more physically. But the
corresponding reality is that we get more and more confident of
the hope that we have of the resurrection. This is not the end
of all things.
Kim Fenech, our Volunteer Coordinator in Discovery Publishing,
was talking to me last week. She mentioned two of the volunteers,
our dear brothers Woody Norman and Ron Thompson. For both of them,
the outer man is fading because of serious physical problems that
face them with their own mortality. Woody has terrible heart problems,
and it's hard for him to get to church on occasion. Ron Thompson
is losing lung capacity. Yet, Kim was saying, both of these men,
the closer they come to the reality of their mortality, the more
vibrant and alive and beautiful they are becoming spiritually.
The inner man is being renewed; they are anticipating this absolute
certainty of being forever with the Lord. That confidence is what
gives them life and energizes them, even though it's more and
more difficult to live physically.
RESURRECTION EVENTS LEADING TO GOD'S VICTORY
Let's look at the second affirmation concerning Jesus' resurrection in verses 23-28. Here Paul focuses on the eternal purpose of the resurrection. Christ's resurrection has, in a sense, set in motion an inexorable chain of events that absolutely determines our present circumstances and our future, and it's a future full of hope. His victory over death promises the ultimate victory of God in all things. When God raised Christ from the dead, he took sides for the truth and against lies, for love and against hate, for life and against death. Verses 23-24 summarize what Paul calls the order of events leading to the end. Let's read verse 22 again as well:
For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all shall be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ's at His coming, then comes the end, when He delivers up the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power.
The expression in verse 23, "each in his own order,"
stresses the different times involved. Christ was made alive three
days after his death. Those of us who die belonging to him will
be made alive in our order, which will be when he comes back for
us. First Thessalonians 4:16-17 says, "For the Lord Himself
will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel,
and with the trumpet of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise
first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together
with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and thus
we shall always be with the Lord." (And we won't have to
worry about air sickness at all when that resurrection takes place!)
After that resurrection of Christians, Christ will defeat the
powers of satanic evil in the world, and he will hand over the
secured kingdom to his Father. That is the end that Paul mentions
in verse 24, the ultimate purpose that began with the resurrection
of Jesus Christ. That delivering up of the kingdom is the key
event in the end times. Sin will no longer reign in the world.
God will rule supremely. There will be no enemy, no challenge
to his authority in the world. There are many events detailed
in Scripture that are part of this process of final conquest,
but chronologies are not important to Paul here. What he really
wants us to catch is the certainty of Christ's final conquest.
That is central.
THE CENTRALITY OF CHRIST'S FINAL CONQUEST
Paul goes on to amplify that centrality in verses 25-28, where the Son delivers the kingdom back to his Father. Look at verses 25-26. It's not focused just on the future but on the present; Christ is reigning right now, as hard as that may be for us to accept at times.
For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be abolished is death.
Notice that the reign of Christ doesn't begin after his enemies
are subdued. He is reigning now, and he will continue to reign
until all demonic opposition is finally defeated. That's absolutely
central for us to grasp right here and now, because it will counter
personal discouragement, a sense of defeat, and spiritual oppression.
Jesus is in control now on the micro level in our personal lives,
and on the macro level in all the forces swirling around us in
the world at large. The death and resurrection of Jesus turned
the tide of the battle. The final outcome is certain. Christ has
been declared victorious over sin and death and hell, and that
means when we look at the world around us and we see Christ's
enemies, the evil rule and authority and power ravaging our world,
we don't have to be afraid. We do need to be prayerfully active
in working for the kingdom, of course.
Now, I'm certain there are many things we're afraid of. There's
the mess that our country is in right now. I have read pundits
who have said that in the moral vacuum right now, we will lose
credibility as a world leader, and we will be marginalized in
global affairs. There is concern about the economic forces that
might lead us into recession. There is our president and the concern
about his life. There is concern about unemployment amid much
talk about what our valley faces in the near future. Perhaps the
possibility of bankruptcy or even homelessness concerns you personally.
There are the tribal allegiances and ethnic battles on this globe
and the violence that flows from them. There is the religious
fanaticism around the world. There are floods of refugees on so
many continents on our globe. There is violence in Rwanda, Kosovo,
Indonesia. Perhaps you are fearful of jihad in the Middle East
and how that might even affect us in terms of terrorism in our
own country or our own community. Some are very fearful about
the effect of the Y2K crisis on us personally and culturally and
socially.
But the point of this passage is that we don't have to be afraid
because "...He [Jesus] must reign until He has put all His
enemies under His feet." Although the battle continues, its
outcome is absolutely certain: Christ is victor. Earlier in this
chapter (Discovery Paper 4535) we talked
about the fear of death that we all live with. At present, nobody
can resist the touch of death. But death as well will ultimately
be robbed of all its power. The promise of the resurrection is
that in the end, after Christ has finally and completely triumphed,
death will not be able to touch us.
THE CLIMAX: CHRIST HANDS THE KINGDOM OVER TO THE FATHER
Then Paul broadens the vision in verses 27-28. This is a beautiful picture of the Son, who has been given tremendous authority to reign and rule, handing all of the created order and all of redeemed humanity back to his heavenly Father.
For He has put all things in subjection under his feet. But when He says, "All things are put in subjection," it is evident that He is excepted who put all things in subjection to Him. And when all things are subjected to Him, then the Son Himself also will be subjected to the One who subjected all things to Him, that God may be all in all.
What Paul is showing us here is how God is ultimately responsible
for this whole chain of events that began with Christ's resurrection
and that culminates in the destruction of death. God the Father
has given Christ the Son unlimited sovereignty over all creation,
and there is therefore no infringement on the Father's own authority.
The climax of this process of putting all things in subjection
comes with the Son's being subject to the Father. Paul is not
saying that the Son is inferior to the Father in his essential
nature. He is speaking of the work that the Son accomplished and
will accomplish. Christ has died for men. He has been raised.
He will return again. He will continue to subdue all the enemies
of God. The climax of his whole work will come when he offers
up the kingdom to God, who is the source of everything and that
includes us. We will be tenderly, gently delivered to the Father
by the Son.
When we step back and look at verses 23-28, they call us to several
things. They call us to the same submissive spirit that Jesus
had. He was willing to serve the Father, and we are called to
subjection to our heavenly Father and to the Lord Jesus. By nature
none of us are submissive people. We don't like surrendering to
anybody, yet Jesus is a powerful example of submission.
This passage also helps us lift our vision above our own immediate
personal circumstances, the things that frighten us in our personal
world or in the larger world around us. We are part of something
cosmic. History is going somewhere. Now, there are things I struggle
with. For example, we've got three children to put through college
over the next eight or nine years. I can get very fearful about
whether I can follow through on that responsibility, whether God
is big enough. But whether I put my kids through college or not
is in a sense irrelevant. What is relevant is that God is absolutely
in control of circumstances in my life and in all of our lives
collectively, and we are in a process that he is taking us through.
And we can be absolutely convinced that the outcome, when all
things finally fit together the way they're supposed to, will
be good.
MOTIVATED TO SHARE THE GOOD NEWS
Those first two affirmations were doctrinal, but the third is very personal. Paul lays out how he views life. He says that if we're convinced of the resurrection, it ought to drastically change how we live. Verse 29 focuses on the issue of evangelism. If we're convinced of the resurrection, it ought to be an incentive for us to share the good news with other people out of concern for their salvation.
Otherwise, what will those do who are baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why then are they baptized for them?
Now, what does this verse mean? Let me say up front that I
don't know-nobody really does. I read that there are forty different
interpretive approaches to this verse (without even including
that of the Mormons, who do practice baptism for the dead). The
problem is that there is nothing in the Bible except this one
verse about being baptized for the dead. There is also nothing
mentioned in first-century extra-Biblical history about this practice.
Apparently it refers to some kind of proxy baptism or vicarious
baptism by a living person on behalf of a dead person to secure
the supposed benefits of baptism for them.
But look carefully at the personal pronouns in verse 29. Paul
doesn't include himself in this practice. He also doesn't condone
it. He doesn't say, "we who are baptized for the dead,"
or "you who are baptized for the dead." It was a practice
that some people were engaging in, and he knew the church there
would know about it. It was a misguided practice, one that was
misinformed about the nature of salvation. Those who followed
it didn't understand that we are saved by faith alone and nothing
else. But these people were concerned enough about the salvation
of their dead family members to do something about it.
Paul is not evaluating this practice of being baptized for the
dead; he only mentions it in passing. His point is that the hope
of the resurrection and concern for the salvation of loved ones
moved people to drastic action. His burden here is for our believing
in the resurrection to have a profound effect on us, to change
our lives, to motivate us to do things we wouldn't otherwise do
out of concern for the salvation of other people.
I read a wonderful story in the Mount Hermon Log (1) of
a mother who came to Christ because of a letter from her teenage
daughter. She found the letter on her pillow as she was packing
for her first Mount Hermon weekend women's conference. It was
a beautiful letter about her daughter's love for her and how much
she needed to know the love of Christ to forgive her sins. The
mother shared at the conference how God broke her heart through
that witness of her daughter, and how she came to faith that weekend
at Mount Hermon. That's the kind of extraordinary effort that
ought to be normal for us. That's Paul's challenge: What are we
willing to do for the sake of the salvation of people we love
and care about?
HOPE IN DANGER
Paul goes on in verses 30-32 to argue that it's absurd for him to undergo the dangers that he does for the sake of the gospel if there's no hope of the resurrection.
Why are we also in danger every hour? I protest, brethren, by the boasting in you, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily. If from human motives I fought with wild beasts at Ephesus, what does it profit me? If the dead are not raised, let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.
Eugene Peterson's paraphrase The Message makes these
verses much more vivid:
"And why do you think I keep risking my neck in this dangerous work? I look death in the face practically every day I live. Do you think I'd do this if I wasn't convinced of your resurrection and mine as guaranteed by the resurrected Messiah Jesus? Do you think I was just trying to act heroic when I fought the wild beasts at Ephesus, hoping it wouldn't be the end of me? Not on your life! It's resurrection, resurrection, always resurrection, that undergirds what I do and say, the way I live. If there's no resurrection, 'We eat, we drink, the next day we die,' and that's all there is to it." (2)
Paul has written openly in his letters about persecution for preaching
the gospel. We don't really know what events he is referring to
here. Perhaps he did fight wild beasts at some point. There is
no other mention of it, so we don't know if he is speaking metaphorically
or if it really happened. But the point that Paul is making is
that our belief in a God who raises the dead is tremendously motivating
when we are suffering or deprived or in danger, whether we're
being affected physically or emotionally or spiritually. Whatever
Paul went through, even fighting beasts in the arena, the hope
of the resurrection strengthened him.
About a year ago Craig Duncan and I went to Pakistan with Ron
Ritchie to do a pastors' conference in Lahore. During the day
we were in the safe confines of the church meeting with other
pastors. But every evening there was an outdoor evangelistic crusade
in an amphitheater. Five to eight thousand people came each night.
The host knew that there would be Muslims there, some of whom
were investigating the gospel, but some of whom were spying out
what the Christians were doing. They told us up front that there
was an element of danger in the whole thing. We sat on the platform
each night. The one who was really in danger was Ron Ritchie,
who stood in the center spotlight and preached the gospel each
night of that crusade. On about the third day, the host got a
telephone call, and he told us that they had been threatened with
violent disruption of the crusade that night. He said, "Brothers,
it's your call. Do you want to go through with this or not?"
We prayed with the brothers who were hosting us. We ended up saying
in essence, "What's the worst thing that could happen? We
could get killed. But God is in charge of that. And we believe
in the resurrection." So Ron stood up that night and preached
the gospel. People were saved. Nobody got killed, at least none
of us or anybody else that I knew of. But if we hadn't had that
hope, we would not have had the courage or the confidence to walk
into that arena so that Ron could preach the gospel.
MOTIVATION FOR A HOLY LIFESTYLE
In the last two verses Paul makes a strong appeal in a series of commands. In essence he says, "If you believe in the resurrection, then you will live a holy life. You will be sold out absolutely to Jesus Christ in all your values and priorities."
Do not be deceived: "Bad company corrupts good morals." Become sober-minded as you ought, and stop sinning; for some have no knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame.
Paul is quoting a line from a comedy in Greek literature.
But who is the bad company he is concerned about who might corrupt
the morals of these Corinthian Christians? From whom should they
separate themselves? The answer is in verse 34: "...Some
have no knowledge of God." Back in 15:12 Paul wrote, "...How
do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?"
The "some" who were corrupting them were those who questioned
the resurrection, and their corrupting influence wasn't just about
doctrine. What you believe about the resurrection, Paul says,
controls how you live your life, how you spend your money and
use your time, how you invest yourself. People who think wrongly
invariably behave wrongly. So just as hoping in the resurrection
is an incentive for obedience and holiness, so denying the resurrection
is an incentive for disobedience and immorality. As Paul says
in verse 32, "We might as well eat and drink, for tomorrow
we die. If death is the end, then what difference does it make
how we live our lives?" We could paraphrase this appeal in
verse 34 this way: "Those of you who do believe in the resurrection
know better, and you should be leading those who do not believe
in the resurrection into a true knowledge of God, rather than
allowing their heresy and immorality to mislead and corrupt you."
I wrestled with this last week in terms of how it challenges us.
It's a tragedy when we Christians, the people of the resurrection,
end up being influenced by the nonbelievers around us who have
embraced a material philosophy that denies resurrection life.
Now, few of our materialist friends are going to advocate a life
of sheer gluttony or drunkenness or wantonness. But they tempt
us with "the good life"-cultivating the fine arts of
dining and music and theater, even treasured friendships. Ultimately
all of that is self-centered, since it isn't concerned with any
continuing existence beyond the grave. Self-interest can even
express itself in humanitarianism, although in the final analysis
it produces nothing permanently satisfying if this life is all
that exists.
As Christians, we must have a radically different mindset. We
must recognize that a far better life awaits us than anything
we can experience here. So we can risk our lives, our well-being,
our resources for the sake of the gospel. We can do it in ways
that our material friends wouldn't even consider. In our ethical
framework, physical death cannot be the greatest tragedy or the
most powerful determinant of correct human behavior. Instead,
we must always be asking the question, "What is likely to
have the greatest spiritual advantage for the most number of people?"
We want to think like the apostle Paul.
I read a quote this week by Gordon Snyder:
"The resurrection addresses those who insist on protection and security of the individual, of institutions, and of the country. Such persons set up mechanisms of defense along economic lines, racial lines, and national lines. In sharp contrast, the life of the Spirit with its hope in the resurrection does not, indeed cannot, dwell on preservation of the flesh, of personhood or institutions or nations. Rather, the corporate life of the Christian becomes one of risk. A Christian can risk his or her life because a Christian knows this life is not the end." (3)
If we believe that Christ has now been raised from the dead, we
will stand out in the world around us. Are you convinced that
because of Christ's resurrection, your future is totally secure
and you have been included in the hope of the resurrection? Can
you live fearlessly in the midst of all the swirling currents
and forces at work in the world around you? Are your eyes set
on the goal, which is for God to ultimately reign? Finally, and
practically, is the way you make choices about your budget, discretionary
time, resources, and energy driven by passion for the resurrection
and the difference it makes?
Notes:
1. Mount Hermon Log, Volume 54, Number 3, August, 1998.
P. 2.
2. Eugene H. Peterson, The Message, © 1993, 1994 by
Eugene H. Peterson. NavPress, Colorado Springs, CO. P. 364.
3. Gordon F. Snyder, First Corinthians: A Faith Community Commentary,
© 1992 by Mercer, Macon, GA. P. 211.
Catalog No. 4537
1 Corinthians 15:20-34
30th Message
Doug Goins
September 13, 1998
The Scripture quotations in this message are all
taken from New American Standard Bible, © 1960, 1962, 1963,
1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 The Lockman Foundation.
Used by permission.
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