THE VICTORY OF CHRIST’S RESURRECTION 1 Corinthians 15:51-58 (ESV) 51 ​ 52 B​ ehold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, i​ n a moment, in ​ the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. 53 F​ or this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. 54 W​ hen the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” 55 “​ O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” 56 T​ he sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 B​ ut thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 58 T​ herefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain. Happy Resurrection Sunday to everyone! If you have been a believer for many years now or had been a part of BCI for quite some time, for sure, you are a little bit uncomfortable celebrating the Resurrection Day of Jesus Christ at your own home. With my more than twenty plus years of being the pastor of BCI, this would be the first Resurrection Day that we didn’t have a big musical concert. Yes, we are all missing the trimmings or side dishes, but we should not be missing the main event and the main ​ ​ reason why we are uniting today to worship – To celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ! ​ Without a doubt, if there was ever a time we desperately need to be reminded about it, it would be our time today – when life is truly hard and uncertain, when people are in so much pain and heartache, and deaths are all around us. This is really the best time to remind ourselves about our great and sure hope in Christ, which is clearly demonstrated through His resurrection from the dead. When you examine the New Testament, it is quite evident that the resurrection of Jesus Christ became the most important message of the apostles. For example, on the day of Pentecost, after the Holy Spirit came and filled the early believers, Peter stood up and preached to thousands of people declaring that the crucified Christ was raised from the dead as David had prophesied in the book of Psalms (Acts 2:24-35). As a result, this preaching resulted to about three thousand people (3,000) believing in Jesus Christ, Then, you also have the apostle Paul declaring in the book of Romans that if there was something that will really prove the deity of Jesus Christ, it would be His resurrection. Romans 1:3-4 (ESV) 3 ​ 4 ​ [C]oncerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh a​ nd was declared to be ​ the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, Notice the statement in verse 4 – “declared to be the Son of God in power according to the ​ Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord.” So, in other words, if ​ there’s anyone who is wondering if Jesus is really God Himself, His resurrection totally proves it. Why? This is impossible for any human to do. Only God could do it! This leads us to the biggest resurrection chapter in the New Testament, which is 1 Corinthians 15. In here, the apostle Paul thoroughly tackled the doctrine discussing why it is so important for us to believe it. You see, during those days, there were some Christians in the church of Corinth who were denying the possibility of a bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ. Yes, they believed in life after death, but simply in a spiritual existence and not a bodily resurrection. For this reason, Paul spent a great amount of time explaining and proving it. In fact, he identified to them in verses 12 to 19, the six direct results of rejecting this doctrine. Here are they: 1. Their preaching was in vain (v.14) 2. Their faith was in vain (v.14) 3. The apostles were false witnesses (v.15) 4. The Corinthian believers were still in their sins (v.17) 5. The believers who died in Jesus have perished (v.18) 6. The Christians who placed their hope in Christ were of all people to be pitied (v.19) Obviously, this doctrine is very much the goal why Christian churches have set aside a specific time every year to celebrate this event – In order that we can continually appreciate what Jesus Christ ​ has accomplished through His resurrection. This morning, in light of our present situation, I thought it would be fitting to study together 1 Corinthians 15:51-58, emphasizing the theme - THE VICTORY OF CHRIST’S RESURRECTION. ​ ​ ​ Clearly, this is directly drawn from the words of verse 57, saying, “But thanks be to God, who gives us ​ ​ ​ the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” What kind of victory are we talking about? Allow me to ​ ​ show this revelation to you by explaining three precious doctrines tied to our victory in Jesus: I THE CULMINATION OF THE VICTORY (vv. 51-52) In these two verses of our text, first, the apostle Paul summarizes the basis of our greatest hope in the resurrection by talking about the culmination of our victory, which is the “Rapture of the Church” or ​ ​ the second coming of Jesus Christ. Of course, we don’t see the word, “rapture” in these verses. However, if you compare this ​ ​ passage with 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17, it would be noticeable that Paul was talking about the same event. 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17 (ESV) 13 ​ B​ ut we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. 14 F​ or since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. 15 F​ or this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 F​ or the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 T​ hen we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Both passages address the concern about those who “fell asleep” in Jesus. This was the common ​ ​ ​ description that Paul used to refer to believers who died believing in Jesus. Apparently, he did it to magnify the fact that it was a temporary state. Generally speaking, when someone is sleeping, they wake up after a while. The same is true for all the believers in Christ because of His victory over death. I would like us to pause and think of the tragedy of death for a second. You see, more than the ​ ​ decay the dead body will experience, death is most tragic because it brings separation between the one who died and the ones he or she has left behind. Then, if a person is not a believer in Christ, death will ultimately bring the eternal separation from God. These are all the things that Jesus Himself had taken away when He victoriously overcame death. The decomposition of the body and the separation from ​ ​ ​ loved ones and God have been removed because of Christ’s victory over death. Going back to the “rapture of the church,” Jesus has appointed this event to be the time for all ​ ​ believers to be resurrected into their glorified form. With the word “rapture,” this teaching was directly ​ ​ taken from the phrase of 1 Thessalonians 4:17, “will be caught up.” The word “rapture” is a ​ ​ transliteration of the Latin word “rapturo,” which literally means “caught up” or “take away.” So, ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ during the second coming of Jesus Christ, all of those who died in him will be resurrected and will be transformed. But, the transformation will not be limited to those who already died in Christ. This glorious change will also include those who are alive when Jesus Christ returns – “We shall not all sleep, but we ​ shall all be changed.” Now, in verse 51, Paul mentioned that this is a “mystery.” Well, in the New Testament, whenever ​ ​ this particular word is used, it is always a reference to a truth that was hidden to the Old Testament prophets, but it was revealed to the believers in the New Testament. So, the resurrection of the believers who are still alive when Jesus returns will be changed and transformed. This truth was not revealed to the great prophets like Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, and others. But it was revealed to us. Thus, we can eagerly look forward to it. I would like also to highlight the words in verse 52, “in a moment” and “in the twinkling of an ​ ​ ​ eye.” Both of these phrases suggest that our resurrection will happen quickly.