Thankful for Christ’s Victory

He is Risen – He is Risen indeed

Today we celebrate a victory unlike any other. When we look at the victories throughout history, is it not the most unlikely ones that are etched upon our hearts and our minds. When all seems lost, it can feel like only a miracle could save us from a loss. Then again, I don’t think we view miracles quite the way we should these days.

One “miracle” close to my sports heart – it was 2018, My beloved Vikings had been winning all game, but the Saints came back from 17 points down to take the lead with only 25 sec left. Now with only 10 sec left, third down at their own 39 yard line, no time outs – well outside Hail Mary Range – the only option was to try and get close enough for a field goal. Case Keenum drops back, throws the pass a little high, Stephon Diggs leaps to catch it and the defender misses on the tackle, hitting his own player instead and now Diggs had a clear route to the end zone and the victory…

Miracle – that’s what they call it…Victory, yes, for that week - they got shellacked by the Eagles the next week restoring Minnesota sports misery –

We think too little of miracles

Another example – last weekend, since I had a little more time than usual due to being ill, but not so ill that I could watch some sports…It was Masters weekend - and for those who watch golf, watching the Masters at Augusta National can be captivating. For many who watched last weekend though it was all about watching Tiger Woods who had not played competitive golf in 17 months and only 14 months since a horrible car crash that nearly took his leg – and as he played well, not by his standards, but let’s not forget, not even the best golfer in this room could come close. I listened to the announcers declaring it a miracle that he was playing – don’t get me wrong, impressive yes…miracle – no…and certainly not a victory…we will touch more on that later.

Jesus was not just facing the clock running out or even the most improbable golf shot from a pristinely manicured place on earth.

No – Jesus had been falsely tried and convicted of crimes he did not commit for which he was unjustly and brutally crucified on a Roman Cross, He was verified dead by the experts at killing people and his body was sealed in a tomb, witnessed by those closest to him. To his disciples – they had lost. The gospels tell us that the Women had watched him be sealed in a tomb and gone to prepare the spices and perfumes. When they returned to the tomb on the first day of the week, they brought the items with them to complete the burial process, to seal the defeat – but what they found instead was victory…

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Luke 24:1-6 describes what happened

On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. 2 They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3 but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4 While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. 5 In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? 6 He is not here; he has risen! - Luke 24:1-6

Death had appeared to be the victor – but not for our Lord – Jesus did not fear death because He trusted His Father that it was the path to His greatest victory and today as we celebrate that Victory, we are going to look at what Jesus’s death burial and resurrection, his victory over death, means for you and me. Because remember – The angel did not roll the stone away from the tomb to let Jesus out, but to let the disciples in so that we can celebrate His victory.

Our church’s theme this year is Growing in Gospel Gratitude. As we give thanks for Christ’s Victory, we are going to step away from Philippians for just this week to see how Paul teaches specifically on the death burial and resurrection and the meaning of Christ’s victory for his followers.

To find these truths, I will ask you to open with me to 1 Cor 15 on page 138 of the back section in the Bibles in your chair. 1 Corinthians is believed to have been written about 6 years before the letter to the Philippians while Paul was on his third missionary journey.

The tone of the letter to Corinth is different than to Philippi. The church in Philippi wasn’t perfect, but they were healthy and headed in the right direction. The church in Corinth on the other hand, at least at this point, was not. They were spiritually immature and messed up in ways that were dividing the church. Paul addressed some significant issues early in the letter but after rebuke and correction, Paul brought the letter to a close focusing on the Victory of Jesus Christ for the church by teaching on the truth of the resurrection and the meaning of his victory for the church in Corinth and also for you and me today.

It is interesting that the letter that began with a tone of rebuke ends with the most extensive discussion of the resurrection found in the NT. That fact alone should fill us with hope for two reasons:

• Even a people where were spiritually immature and messed up can grasp, understand and believe in the truths of the resurrection.

• And apparently, this truth, properly understood and appreciated can have practical and changing impacts on the people of God

In other words – this isn’t just a true story to be believed, but it is a life-giving truth that can help God’s people to change.

I recommend reading the whole chapter, but for this morning, Let’s read together just the last 8 verses with a goal of becoming more Thankful for Christ’s Victory

READ 1 Cor 15:50-58

As we look to grow in gospel gratitude and become more thankful for Christ’s Victory, we will dig into these verses to find

3 Reasons to Praise and worship Jesus on Resurrection Sunday

As we find from the rest of the Bible, our greatest problem is our sin, all the ways that we choose to live that are not pleasing to God. Romans 3:23 tells us that we all have sinned and that the just penalty for our sin is death. If we stop there – the victory would belong to death. Every one of us has to acknowledge that death has impacted us and death will overcome these physical bodies. Even prior to death, we have to acknowledge that sin is impacting our physical bodies

But we can praise and worship Jesus today as we grow to

I. Understand the Deficiencies of Your Physical Body

This passage teaches us principles that give us a balanced understanding of the topic of death, particularly when we understand it in the context of all of God's teaching. thankfully Paul had given us more on this right in this same letter, because if we focused only on this passage and we're not careful about our understanding we might fall into the trap of Greek duelists believing that only the spirit is good and the physical is bad. That could lead to all kinds of misapplications of God word.

Remember for example:

1 Corinthians 6:18–20 - Flee immorality. Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.

It was through Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross leading to victory that He paid that price – and here we are called to glorify him in this body. There’s a difference between saying that there are deficiencies in our bodies and saying that our bodies are inherently evil and therefore unable to be redeemedwere to be useful in God service.

That's why Paul also had already told the Corinthians

1 Corinthians 10:31 - Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

I told you I would come back to the Masters – Scott Scheffler amazed all who were watching with the perfection of some of his shots as well as the ways that he responded when his shots that looked more like mine got him in trouble. But ultimately it was not about his golf swing or even that he finished with the lowest score – listen to how he describes a conversation he had with his wife before the final round.

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“The reason why I play golf is I’m trying to glorify God and all that He’s done in my life,” he said. “So for me, my identity isn’t a golf score. Like Meredith told me this morning, ‘If you win this golf tournament today, if you lose this golf tournament by 10 shots, if you never win another golf tournament again,’ she goes, ‘I’m still going to love you, you’re still going to be the same person, Jesus loves you and nothing changes.’ All I’m trying to do is glorify God and that’s why I’m here and that’s why I’m in this position.”

It is not my intention to place Scott Scheffler on a pedestal, but I can appreciate the way in which he celebrates a victory. Scott Scheffler’s victory was amazing and something that none of us could do, but he views his own victory as nothing when compared to what was won for him. He knows that the greatest miracle, the greatest victory didn’t come at a pristinely groomed golf course, but rather in a dark tomb carved out of rock just outside Jerusalem.

We are all given a physical body with which to glorify God in this life, but we also have to acknowledge what Scripture says very clearly –

A. It cannot inherit the kingdom of God.

- 1 Corinthians 15:50 - Now I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.

In other words our bodies have been tainted by sin, they are decaying away.

Anybody want to dispute that – I expect the older you are, the heartier of an Amen that I am getting from you. It is because of the sin in the world, and sometimes directly from our own sin that these bodies are falling apart. But fact that these perishable bodies cannot enter the kingdom is not simply because we are wearing last year’s model, it is the sinful nature of this body that creates the need for our resurrection bodies. Earlier in this same chapter, Paul describes this

1 Corinthians 15:42-44 So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown Perishable body, it is raised and imperishable body; It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; It is so natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.

See here our current status: Perishable, in dishonor, in weakness, natural.

The perishable cannot inherit the imperishable. The Bible sometime vividly and even humorously describes these things…

Ecclesiastes 12:1–8 - Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near when you will say, “I have no delight in them; before the sun and the light, the moon and the stars are darkened, and clouds return after the rain; in the day that the watchmen of the house tremble [your arms and hands become weak] , and mighty men stoop [your legs aren’t as strong] , the grinding ones stand idle because they are few [what’s that talking about – your teeth], and those who look through windows grow dim [there’s the need for my glasses]; and the doors on the street are shut [your lips don’t have much to say] as the sound of the grinding mill is low [you lose your appetite], and one will arise at the sound of the bird [you don’t sleep as well], and all the daughters of song will sing softly [your hearing is going]. Furthermore, men are afraid of a high place and of terrors on the road [you’re less confident and certain]; the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper drags himself along, and the caperberry is ineffective. For man goes to his eternal home while mourners go about in the street. [the funeral is near] Remember Him before the silver cord is broken and the golden bowl is crushed [some believe this is speaking about the spinal cord and the brain], the pitcher by the well is shattered and the wheel at the cistern is crushed; then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it. “Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher, “all is vanity!”

All of this is telling us an important truth about our bodies and that the imperishable cannot enter the kingdom.

As a practical reminder for this life – we are called to see these bodies as a gift and we are called to steward them well, but even the person in the best health today knows today that it is cursed by sin and cannot enter the kingdom,

But we can praise and worship Jesus today because He will not leave us this way.

Scripture affirms that this body

B. It has to be replaced with something imperishable.

- 1 Corinthians 15:53 - For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality.

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Remember our current state: Perishable, in dishonor, in weakness, natural.

- in other words, you can’t get to heaven with your body…

- because it is cursed by sin, it is not welcome in God’s heaven…

- God says that the perishable body…must be clothed…clothes have to be changed…and new clothes put on…

…For those of us who have ever been with a loved one as they go through suffering and death…you know the pain of the perishable body…there is no pomp and pageantry as someone dies, as much as the movies try to portray it. Those suffering near their death often cannot dress themselves…they don’t have the power nor the strength…so maybe you can remember those moments like I can where you have to lift their bodies…you have to change them and put on that horrid hospital gown…a reminder of death’s power…then the sting of death happens…and those in the funeral homes putting on a nice suit or dress…But there is the body…dead.

The point of all this should remind us we don’t have the power to put on the imperishable as perishable people…For those of you who minister and serve interact regularly seeing the brokenness of the body...nurses, doctors, caregivers, family members, as you experience the decay of sin...and you are changing them and putting on the clothes or dressing the wounds again and again ...allow the power of Christ's resurrection to preach to your heart...he alone has the power to change this once and for all...

By God’s loving hand – we will find ourselves clothed in the imperishable, in glory, in power, in a body like Christ’s resurrected Body. To be clothed in a resurrected body like Christ is something to celebrate.

With this understanding of the perishable and the imperishable, this leads us to our need to

II. Adopt a Biblical View of Death

Though our natural tendency is to see death as an end, something to be feared, leaving us to wonder what is beyond…

Christianity both offers and requires an entirely different way of thinking about death…

There is a very real sense in which if you believe what these verses of Scripture just affirmed, that death becomes your friend…

I realize, that even in raising such a notion, there may be some here who are fresh off of the death of a loved one or a friend…I just returned from a funeral last week…so I have prayed that none of this sounds insensitive…at the same time, ignoring the subject is not loving or helpful…

Two books I might recommend if you wanted to spend time studying what God’s Word says about death.

Matthew McCollough has written a very helpful book entitled Remember Death…

And Erwin Lutzer wrote another called One Minute after You Die

McCullough describes culture’s avoidance of the topic saying, “Death has not just become invisible, swept away into the alien world of hospitals, nursing homes, and assisted living facilities. Death has become unmentionable.” (McCollough, page 45)

We all tend to shy away – consider what we say when we seek to comfort someone at a funeral…my condolences or I am sorry for your loss.

But to acknowledge death is a natural part of life, and understanding death based on God’s Word, Christians can begin to see the grim reaper differently – as a friend and not the enemy.

- so, what does it look like to have a biblical view of death…rejoice, because…

A. God will swallow it up.

1 Corinthians 15:54 - But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, “Death is swallowed up in victory.

Unlike my sports analogies earlier – Christ’s Victory over death is complete. We are not watching to see if Jesus can repeat as champion over death at next year’s tournament. He doesn’t have to play the next opponent hoping to repeat his miracle again.

No Christ’s Victory on the Cross at Calvary is so powerful it not only defeats death, swallowing it up, but it also redeems the effects of death on our past, the perishable puts on the imperishable…

Commentator RCH Lenski said, Death is not merely destroyed so that it cannot do further harm while all of the harm which it has wrought on God’s children remains. The tornado is not merely checked so that no additional homes are wrecked while those that were wrecked still lie in ruin.… Death and all of its apparent victories are undone for God’s children. What looks like a victory for death and like a defeat for us when our bodies die and decay shall be utterly reversed so that death dies in absolute defeat and our bodies live again in absolute victory (R.C.H Lenski, The Interpretation of St. Paul’s First and Second Epistles to the Corinthians [Minneapolis: Augsburg, 1963], pp. 744–45).

As Christians, we do not have to ignore the subject of death, we don’t have to sugar coat it to avoid the things we don’t like. We can face death with confidence and strength.

By having a Biblical View of Death it can help us to live for Christ’s victory rather than trying to live for our own perishable lives.

By Remembering Death, as McCullough describes , doing so will help us to avoid sepnding out lives seeking victories that won’t stand the test of time. Why devote your life to the perishable things of this world.

Unless you hope to be like George

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Or why even invest your life in attempting to make a name for yourself, especially if it would mean compromising your testimony…McCullough said it well

Even if your life plays out in precisely the way you imagine for yourself in your wildest dreams, death will steal away everything you have and destroy everything you accomplish. As long as we’re consumed by the quest for more out of this life, Jesus’s promise will always seem otherworldly to us. He doesn’t offer more of what death will only steal from us in the end. He offers us righteousness, adoption, God honoring purpose, eternal life—things that taste sweet to us only when death is a regular companion” (Matthew McCullough, Remember Death, p. 25)

See, you don’t have to ignore death if your Savior stands ready to swallow it up…

Let me share an example of men who faced death as a friend…

Two that come to mind are a pair of men that we affectionally began calling the two Jeff’s…Jeff Baker and Jeff Griggs…

These men were both facing terminal cancer…

In both cases, especially Jeff Baker’s, there was a significant amount of time between their diagnosis and when they died…There was also a fair amount of pain and discomfort that came with the disease…

I appreciate that they weren’t glib or inauthentic about what was occurring…there was much about what was transpiring that was hard…and it’s hard for their widows even to this day…

but this picture was of them spending their final days faithfully and joyfully serving at our Northend Community Center…do you know what we were observing?...death was being swallowed up in victory….

McCollough said - The gospel offers a liberating, life-giving alternative to denial and despair. There is no need for denial: death’s implications for who we are provide the crucial backdrop for the work of Christ. And there is no need for despair: union with Christ radically transforms who we are. (McCollough, page 74)

- why is that?...the passage couldn’t be clearer…

B. Its sting has been removed

- 1 Corinthians 15:56 - The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law;

As I’ve spent time this week, and I hope you have too – reviewing some of the horrible details regarding the physical crucifixion of Jesus on the cross, even watching the Passion of Christ…the torture and multiple beatings are hideous and hard to even contemplate…when I was younger, it was this aspect that brought me to tears each year

but it’s very important to remember that by far the worst aspect of Christ’s death was what was taking place spiritually…

His death was substitutionary…even the OT prophets predicted as much…

- Isaiah 53:6 - All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him.

Ecclesiastes 3:11

The worst aspect of Christ’s death also occurred on the cross, but not at the hands of the Romans.

Romans 2:14–15

Remember what we said earlier from Romans 3:23 – We all have sinned and the wages of sin is death. Every human being since the beginning of time has sinned against God and is deserving of the penalty for our sin.

Our Heavenly Father is perfectly loving and perfectly just. And in his perfect justice, He cannot simply look past our sin calling that love, in fact that would be the most unloving thing to do because we would continue to sin. In perfect justice, there must be a payment, a payment that exceeds our ability to pay.

- that’s why the substitutionary death of Christ is such a delicious and liberating doctrine…

- 2 Corinthians 5:21 - He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

Steve mentioned this quote from CH Spurgeon at the Good Friday service but it bears repeating…

CH Spurgeon – You stand before God as if you were Christ, because Christ stood before God as if He were you.

- we should be profoundly thankful people this morning because in Christ, the sting of death has been removed…

- that’s why you can…

III. Celebrate Your Victory in Christ

- 1 Corinthians 15:57–58 - but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.

Folks – Jesus Christ is the resurrection and the life and we can know that we have victory over death through Him.

The tomb is empty – that is an undisputed fact and it is also the ultimate proof that death has been swallowed up in victory…

So how can we all be a part of this celebration

A. By being sure that you have accepted the gospel

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We cannot defeat death on our own which is why we need to understand and accept the gospel. It begins by asking the question how perfect do you have to be to enter into heaven the answer, quite simply: as perfect as God. But we know but that's not even possible on our own, but God made it possible at the cross. When Jesus took God's wrath upon the cross, God accepted it as it payment for all who would believe. Oh what a grace that is.

But perhaps you think that you've sinned too much to receive such a gift, I want you to know that God is able to save great sinners, criminals in fact. the amount of our sins is not a barrier to God's mercy and grace.

So what was must we do to receive the gift of righteousness so that we might be clothed in the imperishable and enter into the Kingdom of God? The answer is to admit our helplessness to acknowledge that we're dependent on God's mercy to clothe us… then we must transfer all of our trust to Christ that is the one to pay for my sin and believe in him as the one who did everything necessary then I might stand in God's holy presence. if you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. there is no question, no uncertainty left in the outcome because God has swallowed up death

Oh, death where is your victory, Oh death where is your sting?

We also celebrate the victory

B. By being sure you are investing yourself in pursuits that will stand the test of time

- 1 Corinthians 15:58 - Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.

The reality of death helps us consider where we’re investing our time and our talents and our treasure…

I want to be abounding…in the work of the Lord…don’t you?...

Yes, Christ paid it all for you and me, but we also need to know that our time before death matters

This is why Paul also told the Corinthians to live in light of their pending judgement…

Not a judgement for their sin, but a judgement of how we lived today in light of the eternal

1 Corinthians 3:11–15 - For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each man’s work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man’s work. If any man’s work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.

I am so very thankful that I cannot lose my salvation, yet I need this reminder of the temporary nature of our physical bodies motivate me to invest my time and talents and treasures on matters that can stand the test of time…

Lastly, I celebrate

C. By letting Christ’s victory motivate and empower your growth

Easter gives each one of us an opportunity to consider whether we are living in light of the victory that has been secured for us at the cross…

and if not, what a great day to adjust our path while we still have the opportunity to do so…

And we can all join in the celebration

knowing

• That God will take these perishable bodies and change them so that we can enter the kingdom

• That death has been defeated and when we see it through a biblical lens, it is no longer to be feared, but a friend that ushers us into something far greater

• That the Victory is complete, and we can all be a part of the celebration

for

He is Risen…He is Risen Indeed.