“Pastor, I think that I have more hope now than I’ve ever had.” That was her words. Strange words in a way. The lady was filled with hope, but not for the reasons that you might expect. She wasn’t filled with hope because she had a great marriage, actually she had recently lost her marriage. She wasn’t filled with hope because of her children; she feared losing them as well. She wasn’t filled with hope because she had a great home; that had evaporated as well. She wasn’t filled with hope because she was surrounded by a great circle of friends. Due to the vicious lies that had been spoken about her, many of those friends had forsaken her also. Indeed, after years of deceit and vengeance, her husband was robbing her of those things. Yet, she had hope.
It is important to understand, that kind of hope, so sturdy, so deep, so vibrant, that it could face such loss and still live, that kind of hope is only found at the empty tomb of Christ. I Corinthians 15 is probably the New Testament’s longest and most detailed narrative on the resurrection of our Lord. Paul is arguing against those in Corinth who said there was no such thing as a resurrection.
In this passage, Paul asks two questions. First, what if Christ is not raised? Paul would follow that out logically. What would that mean for our faith? And then he would turn the argument around to the other side, and say, what if Christ israised? Notice what he says in verses 14 through 19; he states that if Christ is not raised, then there’s a cascading set of implications that flow out of that. Paul says,
“And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not. For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised: And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.”
I Corinthians 15:14-19
Paul is saying that all of the past, present, and future hopes of Christianity, all of the plan of God, all of the principles, all of the commands, all of the teachings, balance on this one point: the bodily resurrection of Christ.
If Christ is not raised, if that actual historical event did not happen, it all comes crashing down like a house of cards. If Christ isn’t raised, what an empty message we have, because there is no defeat of sin; there is no victory over death; there is no hope that all the evil things we face, all the struggles, all the difficulties, all the disease and suffering and death will end. If Christ is not raised, there is no hope.
And then Paul says something very powerful. He says, “If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.” Your faith must be connected to eternity. Faith that goes no further than the grave makes no sense. It has no lasting benefit. Your faith cries for an eternity. You can’t live in this world where terrible things happen; you can’t be serious about your own struggles; you can’t live with the moments where you’re sinned against, and you face injustice, and a lack of mercy, and pain, and suffering, and disease, and not deep in your heart to cry out, “When will this stop?”
You can’t be honest as the Bible is honest and not cry out for an end to all that sin has brought into the world. It’s not enough to have a few principles to live by. It’s not enough to have some comforting Psalms and some good theology. We long, we cry for eternity to make things right. And that person that weeps at the loss of a loved one, that person may not know it, but they weep for eternity. That person who has stumbled again and is so discouraged because they’ve surrendered again, that guilt they feel is a cry for eternity. That person who has been sinned against and is so hurt inside, that hurt is a cry for eternity. That broken marriage, and that person that’s facing that divorce, all that pain deep in their heart, is a cry for eternity. Racism is a cry for eternity. Corruption of government is a cry for eternity. Disease is a cry for eternity to finally set things right.
And what Paul does is he makes a direct connectivity between the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the hope of eternity. In verse 20 he says, Christ became the “first fruits.” So, if Jesus was raised, then sin has been defeated; death has been conquered; there is hope that we will be raised out of this broken world to a world where there is no suffering; there is no sin; there is no disease; there is no sorrow; there is no death. A world that finally makes sense of it all!
If you’re satisfied with the world the way it is, there’s just something wrong with you. It is right to be dissatisfied with what is going on in the world. And you should hope for eternity. But then Paul turns the argument around the other way in verses 20 through 28. After talking about Christ being the first fruit, he gives this sort of redemptive historical equation:
“For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.”
And then notice what he says in verse 24:
“Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.”
Now, notice what Paul is saying. Not only is there a connection between the resurrection and eternity, and a connection between the resurrection and your future hope, but there is also a connection between the resurrection and your present-day rest and security. Paul teaches us that the risen Christ is reigning right now, and He will continue His reign until the last enemy is finally placed under His feet. He’s in the process of conquering those enemies, collecting the spoils of the victory of the cross and the grave. And when the final enemy is defeated, death, He will offer up the kingdom to His Father.
Now, here’s what that means: You do not live in a world of chaotic luck, fate, and chance. You live in a world that’s under rule. I know the devil is the god of this world, but you are not of the world. Your world is ruled by the risen Lord. You will never enter a situation; you will never enter a location; you will never enter a relationship; you will never be anywhere that isn’t ruled by the risen Lord. Now, our Lord may not always make your circumstances understandable to you, and it can be very tempting to think that life is not under the rule of anything. But that is precisely why you must trust that your life is under the reign and rule of the One who has conquered it all. And, no, you will never have control over every situation and relationship, but your Saviour does; your King does; the risen Christ who is your hope does.
The physical, bodily, historical resurrection of Jesus is directly connected to your future hope. But it is also directly connected to your present security and rest. You can have rest now, and you can have hope for then because, the stone in front of the tomb could not hold Him!
Direct connectivity between the resurrection of Jesus and our future hope, direct connectivity between the resurrection of Jesus and our present rest and security. This is hope that can stand in the middle of the deepest difficulties of life; hope that won’t fade in the face of disappointment and discouragement; hope that doesn’t die in the face of pain and loss, and it is only found at the empty tomb of the Lord Jesus Christ. There we find our future hope; there we find our present rest; He is our future; He is our King; He is risen, and His name is Jesus.
Jesus is defeating one enemy after another right now. He is empowering you to defeat every enemy that comes against you…but, He is saving the enemy of death for last. Why? Because death poses no real threat for you and I. It has no sting. The grave has no victory. We want Jesus to destroy that enemy now, but in His wisdom, He knows you have bigger enemies than death to overcome.
That’s why…. death…can wait.
Dr. Worthington has been in the ministry for over forty-five years and serves as President of Pathway Ministries and Christian Bible College.