Immortality

1^st Corinthians 15:45 says, “the first man, Adam became a living soul. The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.” Aren’t you glad that you can step out of Adam into Christ? Can you imagine that the God of the universe cared so much about you and thought so highly of you that He would step down into this world and take on human flesh and go through an agonizing cross just for the possibility that you would enter eternity and live in His presence? That’s absolutely astounding! 1^st Corinthians 15:46-49 makes distinctions about what can and cannot enter heaven. Verses 50 and following conclude about our resurrection and rapture, “This, I say, Brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God.” Remember, once again, the idea of “inherit.” “Inherit” does not refer to salvation itself but refers to “a right to possess” or “a right to receive.” The natural body has no right to enter the kingdom. “…Neither does corruption inherit incorruption.” Corruption in your life will not inherit eternal reward. Sin in your life will not inherit eternal reward. But all that is incorruptible in your life will receive eternal reward.

1^st Corinthians 15:51 says, “Behold, I tell you a mystery. We shall all, not all sleep, but we shall all be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet, for the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” I refer you to 1st Thessalonians 4:13-18 for the passage on the rapture of the Church. 1^st Corinthians 15:53 says, “For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. One day we will lay down the robe of this flesh, and we will take up the robe of a resurrected body that is incorruptible. So, when this corruptible has put on incorruption and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, ‘Death is swallowed up in victory.’” Do not fear death, because if you’re a child of God, you will never taste death. Jesus said, “He who believes in me shall never die…” Those without Christ have an awful, awful chasm of eternity waiting for them. That is eternal experience of death. We should fear eternity. And once we put trust in Christ, there’s no need to fear it because eternity is a sealed matter for us. So therefore, 1^st Corinthians 15:55-56 says, “Oh death, where is your sting? Oh hell, where is your victory? The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law.” And when Christ pays for your sins and you are not under the law, but under grace, so where’s the sting and where’s the law? It’s gone. It is vanquished by Christ.

1^st Corinthians 15:58 says, “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord….” How can you be steadfast if you fear the ultimate outcome of your life? How can you be steadfast if you think that some failure on your part is going to lose the salvation that Christ died for? How can you be immovable in facing the pressures and the problems of life if you lack the assurance of your security in Christ? If the multitude of things that are preached today could cost you your salvation, you have no security. You have no assurance. You cannot be steadfast; you won’t be immovable because you’re constantly anxious and uncertain about whether you’re going to hold out to the end or not. Did I really believe strong enough or did I believe the right thing? Or what if I fall into a sin? Listen, you have already seen today as bad as you can. There is no sin, you can commit that is any worse than sins every single one of us have already committed today — evil thoughts, evil words, evil actions. They’re all equal in God’s sight. The tiniest sin, the smallest sin is just as bad as committing murder or genocide (if you want to put it on a massive scale.) How bad was Hitler? Exactly as bad as Stalin. How bad was Stalin? He was exactly as bad as Mao. 260 million people died in the 20th century, murdered by their own governments. How bad were those people? I want to tell you in honesty, without Christ, they were exactly like you and no worse before the judgment of God than you. You say, “Oh, but I’ve never done those things.” How many sins does it take? One. Romans 3:23 says, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Equally, all sin is an offense to the holiness of God. James tells us that if you violate one of the commandments, you’re guilty of breaking all of them. That ought to tell us something.

All sinners stand equally condemned before God and all believers stand equally justified by Jesus Christ. You know that God doesn’t have favorites in His family? God doesn’t have favorite believers. God will reward faithful conduct, but it doesn’t change the standing of a believer, who is totally forgiven, imputed with righteousness, in the Royal family of God. You are royalty and not only a child of the king, but ultimately will be the bride of the King!

Gene Cunningham - September 29, 2022

Each in His Own Order

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In 1st Corinthians 15:17-19, the apostle Paul picks up on a previous thread saying, "If Christ is not risen, your faith is futile. You are still in your sins. Also, those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, where of all men the most to be pitied?" 1st Corinthians 15:20 starts with a conjunction of contrast -- "But." In contrast to being the most pitiable, in contrast to having hope only in this life. "But now Christ is risen from the dead and has become the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep." He says in verse 22 four, "As in Adam, all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive." God only divides the human race into two people during this current age -- you're either in Christ or you're in Adam. 1st Corinthians 15:23 is critical. He's talking about resurrection -- the resurrection of Christ, first and foremost. But then he's also talking about the resurrection of the dead, including people all the way backin the Old Testament. God has a plan for the resurrection of every believer, from every age, from every dispensation, all the way through history. But His plan is orderly, so he says in 1Co 15:23, "But each in his own order." The word "order" in Greek is "tagma" which means to be in rank. Each in his own ranks. It pictures the formation of an army, according to battalions or according to platoons, or however you're going to break it down. Jesus Christ is first. Though there were people that were raised from the dead before His resurrection, that was resuscitation. 1Co 15:23 says, "Christ, the first fruits, afterwards, those who were Christ at His coming." His coming has two phases: 1) the rapture -- for us, 2) the 2nd advent -- for Old Testament and tribulation saints. 1st Corintians 15:23 continues, "then comes the end when He delivers the Kingdom to the Father." At the end of the kingdom age or Millennium, the thousand year reign of Christ on this earth, there has to be a resurrection. Because you have believers who are being born, people who are being born on the earth for a thousand years. The Bible tells us that an infant will die at the age of 100. People are going to enter into the kingdom from the tribulation, and live all the way through the kingdom. They're going to be people in the kingdom still in a flesh and blood body and there has to be a resurrection for them. The final resurrection comes at the end when Christ takes the kingdom and delivers the kingdom to His father. What Paul has given us in a couple of verses is an overview of resurrection. In order each in his ranks, and it fits perfectly with a dispensation approach to Scripture.

From Series: "Jesus' Roadmap for the Future"

The Olivet Discourse -- Jesus' Roadmap for the future, is one of the three major discourses (sermons) of Jesus. They include: 1. The Sermon on the Mount/Galilee Discourse (Matthew 5–7) 2. The Olivet Discourse (Matthew 24–25; Mark 13; Luke 21 3. The Upper Room Discourse (John 13–17) Each of these messages is aimed at a specific period of history, which we call a dispensation. They lay out God’s dispensational plan, like a road map, from the time of the crucifixion to the end of time. The Sermon on the Mount was directed to the generation in which Jesus lived and was His platform as King—if Israel would receive Him. Obviously, they rejected Him as their King. However, this will be the basis of Jesus’ administration during the 1,000-year Kingdom Age (Millennium). Then, the Olivet Discourse was aimed at the consequences of Israel’s rejection of Jesus as Messiah, and anticipated the destruction of the nation (70 A.D.) and the final Tribulation period. Remember that the Church Age is an intercalation—meaning an insertion, like a parenthesis, into the Age of Israel. This means that with the Rapture of the Church, the Tribulation picks up where 70 A.D. leaves off. This is why the Church Age is called a “mystery” (Rom. 11:25; 16:25; Eph. 3:1–13; Col. 1:26–27), which is a graduate course to “the principalities and powers in the heavenly places” (Eph. 3:10). Finally, the Upper Room Discourse was directed toward the Church Age, which began at Pentecost and would continue to the Rapture (1 Thess. 4:13–18). The uniqueness of this Age is summarized by Paul’s phrase “in Christ,” and all of the elements involved in what we call “positional truth”—our total union with Christ and the indwelling of His Spirit in us, which occurs nowhere else in history. With the removal of the Body of Christ, the Church, Israel would again become the focus of God’s working on this Earth (Romans 9–11; Revelation 6–19).