Jesus Our Conquering King - Living for a Greater Future - 1 Corinthians 15:20-28

Outline:

1. Jesus is the true and better Adam, come to restore humanity to its rightful place.

2. Jesus is the promised Davidic King, come to conquer all God's enemies.

3. We are called to live so that God may be our all in all

1. Life with an eternal perspective

2. Hope in the midst of pain and trials

3. A deep seriousness towards sin

4. Courage and peace in the face of monsters.

Scriptures:

• 1 Corinthians 15:20-28

• Psalm 8:3-6

• Eph. 6:12

• Ps. 2:7-9

• Philippians 2:5-11

• 2 Cor. 16-18

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What does the future hold?

The panic and anxiety of the covid era has given rise to the term "doomscrolling" - we are more informed than ever and we are more aware than ever of the terrible atrocities that take place in the world.

The war in ukraine has brought the pain and suffering much closer to many of us than before. We see death, destruction and pain.

And where is it all headed??

On the other hand we have some interesting and troubling developments in technology that really make us question the future of humanity.

Artificial intelligence, machines and robots pose questions that humans have never had to seriously ask.

What if robots got so intelligent they mirrored human emotion and consciousness? Would we treat them as people?

Can we use technology to transcend death? Is it possible to upload our mind to the digital space and escape the limits of our bodies?

We are in a mini series in our study of 1 Corinthians on the subject of the resurrection. The corinthian church had some serious misunderstanding about the future. They seemed to have adopted some of the ideas of their greco roman world that after we die we enter a spiritual existence that is separate from the body or physical creation.

Paul reminds the Corinthians that there future is tied to Christ's future. Because Jesus rose physically from the grave so too will all who believe in him.

One of Pauls core ideas in this text is to show that the physical resurrection of believers is an essential part of their thinking about both the future and the present.

In this next section, Paul sketches for us a comprehensive picture of the future of Christ's reign. Here he is giving us the WHY of resurrection. We saw that the resurrection of Jesus himself is essential to the message of the gospel.

But WHY is it that the resurrection of believers is so important?

The answer comes back to the question we asked earlier - where is this world headed? What is the future of all things?

Paul is saying, "Guyssssssss - God is doing something SO MUCH BIGGER than you even realize in the world. The cross and the empty tomb are KEY turning points in an epic plan that includes - not only your whole soul and body - but the entire cosmos - the WHOLE CREATION - nations, oceans, galaxies, angels, demons - EVERYTHING."

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1. Jesus is the true and better Adam, come to restore humanity to its rightful place.

One of the big questions up in the air today is, "what does it mean to be human?" What if machines became as complex as us, do we treat them with the same rights?

For us to fully grasp Paul's whole picture here, we need to also understand the BACKGROUND of Paul's thinking about the world and about humanity.

IN this text Paul is making it clear to us that he is pulling in major plot lines from the OT to explain our current problem in the world - and our need.

Human beings are UTTERLY unique. We are created as something sacred, as the crowning point of all creation - because we are created in the IMAGE OF GOD.

That means God designed us with the unique capacity and calling to live in covenant bond with our God - to live in love and obedience to him - and to be representatives of his power and presence in the world.

Kings and Queens over creation - displaying and exercising God's glorious work and power.

Adam was our representative in this.

Adam was the gatekeeper of the garden - and the garden was the gate to the whole world. Satan, demons, sin and death had no place in this world as long as Adam stood guard and walked in obedience to God.

--->> Parenthesis on the calling of men. Preston Prey's example.

Paul is picking up on this theme here, it forms the background of the whole conversation.

He speaks of Adam's role as representative head of all humanity, and he quotes Psalm 8 in verse 27 - which is a Psalm about the glory of creation, and the important status that God has given human beings.

Psalm 8:3-6

3 When I observe your heavens,

the work of your fingers,

the moon and the stars,

which you set in place,

4 what is a human being that you remember him,

a son of man that you look after him?

5 You made him little less than God

and crowned him with glory and honor.

6 You made him ruler over the works of your hands;

you put everything under his feet:

But Adam chose to rebel against God and go his own way - and in doing this he did something unthinkably terrible - he opened the door to sin, death and evil to fill the world.

"for since death came through a man...just as in Adam all die..."

After Adam, all people are born into spiritual death. We are born as humans, as image bearers who are dead to God - our hearts do not desire God, our minds thing in selfish ways, our cravings lead us to things we know are forbidden.

The consequence of this is a beautiful world, and a glorious humanity - but it is infected with sin, death and evil. As human beings we are marred by sin - and we are destined for death - the ugliest thing of all.

And yet thats not all - the world around us is fallen. It is a world that is filled with evil and darkness - a world filled with villains and monsters.

Satan and his demons are real. They occupy the world as a spiritual reality that controls, manipulates and energizes pain and suffering in the world.

Eph. 6:12

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this darkness, against evil, spiritual forces in the heavens.

Is this the world that you live in?

This is the world in which Paul has Jesus entering.

20 But as it is, Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead also comes through a man.

22 For just as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.

Just as death came through a man, so the resurrection comes through a man.

Jesus enters the world, not just as any other man. He enters the world as the second man - the one who has come with a mission to restore what Adam lost.

In his sin, Adam brought death. In his victory over sin, Jesus brings the undoing of death - of resurrection.

Very often we have a very narrow understanding of what the gospel is meant to do to us. "God comes to give forgiveness. To get rid of guilt. To make us happy and more healthy."

Paul says Jesus' goal is to restore us to our rightful place as human beings. That means completely renewing us to live with him in God's love and walk in his ways.

At the heart of that is victory over death. We were not created to die. A human being is not a disposable item. Those of us who have witnessed death firsthand can attest to that. Death is the ultimate contradiction to our existence.

Zombies movies and books are all the hype these days. Why??

I don't know. but maybe because there is a sense in which we know there is something in us that is deeply broken and that can take us down to become monsters.

This is exactly what the bible says. Without God we are spiritual zombies - we are walking dead. Our heart beats and we live in Gods world but we have no purpose, no direction, no meaning without HIM!

We cannot love him. We cannot enjoy his grace and his truth. We hide from the light. And we are headed for eternal death.

Paul says Jesus comes to lead us home. He has come to restore our humanity. He has come to resurrect our hearts to new life in him - to know and love God.

And he has come to free our physical bodies from the chains of death, disease and pain.

He is the first-fruits of those who have fallen asleep - a common reference to death.

He is the first few bits of a harvest that is about to come in. He is the down payment.

Paul says there is an order here.

23 But each in his own order:

Christ, the firstfruits;

afterward, at his coming, those who belong to Christ.

in the resurrection of Jesus, this process has been set in motion - his resurrection power is at work in the world - leading up to a moment very soon in history when that resurrection will renew all those who belong to him.

2. Jesus is the promised Davidic King, come to conquer all God's enemies.

But he doesn't stop there.

The resurrection is just the beginning of the end.

24 Then comes the end, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father, when he abolishes all rule and all authority and power. 25 For he must reign until he puts all his enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy to be abolished is death.

One of the resounding promises throughout all the old testament is that God will establish a King from the family of David - and his kingdom will be perfect - it will have no end, and it will heal the fracture between heaven and earth.

This king will conquer God's enemies and this king will reign in perfect harmony with God's word and Gods ways.

Ps. 2:7-9

7 I will declare the Lord’s decree.

He said to me, “You are my Son;

today I have become your Father.

8 Ask of me,

and I will make the nations your inheritance

and the ends of the earth your possession.

9 You will break them with an iron scepter;

you will shatter them like pottery.”

Once again this major theme in the Bible taps into an essential part of the human soul.

There is a deep universal hunger for justice to reign and for evil to be destroyed.

I think that politics in our world have gotten especially dark and many today are perhaps more cynical and skeptical than ever before about the existence of real world leaders that tell the truth and do good.

Paul tells us that all of history is headed for a moment when all that will be undone.

The resurrection of beleivers is just the first step of God's glorious finish.

24 Then comes the end,

when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father,

when he abolishes all rule and all authority and power.

Lets break this down a bit.

The death and resurrection of Jesus, elevated Jesus to a unique role as the conquering Lord over the universe.

Philippians 2:5-11

5 Adopt the same attitude as that of Christ Jesus,

6 who, existing in the form of God,

did not consider equality with God

as something to be exploited.

7 Instead he emptied himself

by assuming the form of a servant,

taking on the likeness of humanity.

And when he had come as a man,

8 he humbled himself by becoming obedient

to the point of death—

even to death on a cross.

9 For this reason God highly exalted him

and gave him the name

that is above every name,

10 so that at the name of Jesus

every knee will bow—

in heaven and on earth

and under the earth—

11 and every tongue will confess

that Jesus Christ is Lord,

to the glory of God the Father.

throughout the story of the Bible we see to needs that seem to be impossible to resolve.

First - we need God. We need to know God. We are created to experience his presence and his love. And yet, our sin makes that impossible.

Second, we need a perfect man to lead us. All throughout the OT, God is promising his people that he will establish a kingdom on earth that will last forever. There will be some final point when all evil, all the enemies of God are finally destroyed.

If we want peace on earth, it has to be done through people. The problem is that there is never any person good enough, wise enough or powerful enough.

The best leaders in Scripture fail and fall FAR too short.

But that all changes in Jesus. Being God he doesn't grasp to his heavenly glory - he humbles himself by taking on human nature and becoming one of us.

And after Jesus suffers in our place and rises from the dead - Jesus now holds the keys to the universe - not JUST as God, but as the perfect man, the perfect leader, the perfect King who has gone to war for his people - and has conquered the greatest enemy.

Jesus reigns today as the perfect King, not just as God, but as the perfect man who has the power to restore the world and establish God's kingdom.

He reigns today, working the power of the gospel in all the world, undoing sin and death - building the church - and the gates of hell have no power over it.

But its all leading to an epic finish as well - when he returns, when all his poeple rise with him, and when he puts an end to all evil and all darkness forever.

"when he abolishes all rule and all power and all authority"

these are common terms paul often uses for demonic spiritual evil that fills the world.

25 For he must reign until he puts all his enemies under his feet.

There is a dramatic moment in almost every super hero movie when the hero seems overcome by the greatest enemy force and all seems lost - and then against all hope the hero bursts out of the belly of the beast and stands victorious over his conquered foe.

This is the moment when the tide turns, when all the evil minions realize they are lost and they must run - and he gets to work on finishing off all his enemies one by one.

This is what Paul is telling us about Jesus and the resurrection.

The resurrection was his first and most important victory over death.

At the resurrection of Jesus all evil everywhere screamed in horror because they had thought they won.

and yet now that Jesus lives it means that its only a matter of time before they are all destroyed.

We live today in the glorious intermediate moment - between the resurrection and the return.

Jesus reigns today and lives through his church. And his reign today is a guarantee of the end of all evil very soon

• all sin, all rebellion against God

• all personal evil done against people - murder, lying, stealing, trauma

• all internal and physical evil - pain, diseases, suffering

• and finally even death itself.

"the final enemy to be destroyed is death..."

Its not that death is a person. But death is a looming reality over all the world that shows the the world is not right and the the world is separated from its glorious and holy and amazing Creator - the giver and sustainer of life.

Gordon Fee writes:

"Death is the final enemy. At its destruction true meaningfulness is given to life itself. As long as people die, God’s own sovereign purposes are not yet fully realized.

Nothing lies outside God’s redemptive purposes in Christ, in whom all things finally will be “united” (Eph. 1:9–10). Therefore, at the death of death the final rupture in the universe will be healed and God alone will rule over all beings, banishing those who have rejected the divine offer of life and lovingly governing all those who by grace have entered into God’s “rest.”"

When death is killed - God can dwell forever with man again in the renewed world.

"then comes the end, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father...so that God may be all in all..."

3. We are called to live so that God may be our all in all

This is all very grand and theological. How does this truth meet us today?

with what eyes do you look at the world toady?

With what eyes do you look at the struggle and pain in your own life today?

Where is it all headed?

Jesus reigns today. The power of his victory over death is evidenced in the continued existence of the church despite the most fierce opposition.

And as King he is coming back to judge the living and the dead.

how does that impact us?

• Life with an eternal perspective

The early christians lived boldly because they were convinced that Jesus was coming back to restore the world in their lifetimes.

This burned in them the conviction that this life is NOT all there is. There is SO MUCH MORE.

Do you know this? Do you live as if there is more? Look at where you time goes. Look at where your money goes. Look at your screen time count.

These will be sure indicators to tell you if you live as if Jesus is not coming back and that life beyond the grave is real.

Do you know this King and do you live as if he is real?

His doors are open to all today.

• Hope in the midst of pain and trials

Our lives are surrounded by pain and suffering.

Are you tempted to look at your suffering and think that this is all there is?

Jesus wants you to look to him, to his resurrection body - to his promise of the life he is saving up for you.

2 Cor. 16-18

Even though our outer person is being destroyed, our inner person is being renewed day by day. 17 For our momentary light affliction is producing for us an absolutely incomparable eternal weight of glory. 18 So we do not focus on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

"Everything sad is going to come untrue and it will somehow be greater for having once been broken and lost." keller

• A deep seriousness towards sin

There are no little sins.

Sin and death are inseparable. God is coming to destroy both.

Are you tempted to make light of sin?

No one will know. Its just a little look. Its just a little gossip. Its just a little anger that i will allow to fester in my heart.

Yes God hates the sin but not the sinner. Yes God does not desire nor delight in the punishment of any single image bearer. But the tragedy is that even though the light of God's love enters the world - the people love the darkness rather than the light.

King Jesus is a glorious King. But at the end for all who rejected his grace, He will be a just judge.

Sin is NO JOKE. Where is your heart today in relationship to the darkness, the very same darkness that Jesus wages war on?

• Courage and peace in the face of monsters.

Nathan asks me, "what do you do when you have bad dreams?"

I tell him, "i think about the fact that Jesus is my King, he is my Savior and my protector. And every monster and every dark thing in the universe is scared to death of him."

I talk to him. I thank him for his love. I think him that he is my rock, even though I will never deserve it.

There is so much scary stuff we gotta face in life.

For those who trust in Christ, there are the ones submitted to his kingdom, they are the ones who know his resurrection life - they are the ones who even now get to live in the beginning stages of this life that Paul describes - that God may be all in all.

Do you realize what a gift it is that God gives himself to us today, to be our all in all? That we can know his presence? That he listens to your prayers? That he guides every detail of your life? That he helps you walk in his ways? That he delights to share with you his joy?

He is our peace. He is our joy.

What else do we need?

What else do we fear?