INTRODUCTION
1. What’s Next? After We die – What’s Next?
2. From our Study -- we know – Hell is an Awful Place!
• Hades and Hell are far worse than anything we’ve known, or experienced or could even imagine in this life.
• AND No one in Hades would ever want anyone to experience what they are experiencing. No one in Hell would ever want anyone to know what they know.
3. From Our Study – Heaven is an Awesome Place!
• Heaven is far better than anything we’ve known, experienced, loved or even could imagine in this life. This life is good – but Heaven is far better and far more!
• In this Awesome Place – What Will We Be Like? What Will we look like? What will our new bodies be like?
4. 1 Corinthians 15…a key text in understanding what we will be like…
• Get this – the Bible talks about – being Raised from the dead. A Resurrection. We die, and at some point in the future, when Jesus Christ returns again, those who have died will be raised from the dead…
5. At the time of the Apostle Paul, there were many of that day who didn’t believe it and denied it – they would say -- no one could come back from the dead.
• There were even some followers of Christ who were more influenced by Greek culture and teaching than the teachings of Jesus – who said the resurrection of the dead is impossible.
• The whole first part of I Corinthians 15, the apostle Paul debates the reality of the Resurrection from this conclusion – If Jesus Christ has Risen from the dead – there will be a resurrection of the dead.
• As we’ve said – the Resurrection of Christ changes everything! What He said; Who He is – it’s All True!
• John 5:28-30 – 28 "Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice 29 and come out — those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned.
• When Christ comes again, there will be a resurrection of the dead…
6. 1 Corinthians 15:51-52 -- 51 Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed – 52 in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.
7. Remember what Paul writes in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 – 13 Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. 14 We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.
• When the faithful die – our spirit goes to the Present Heaven… The Awesome Place where God is…
• I don’t understand fully what we will be like at that point – when we die, our souls are separated from our bodies. The part that makes us who we are – is separated from this earthly body and we are in the Presence of the Lord. but we don’t have a body.
15 According to the Lord’s own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.
• Those who are with Jesus will receive their NEW and IMPROVED bodies
17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. 18 Therefore encourage each other with these words.
• So then, in the New Heaven and New Earth we will have New resurrected bodies.
So let’s now go back into 1 Corinthians 15, and explore what the Scripture says about this Resurrection of the dead and these NEW and IMPROVED Bodies…
1 Corinthians 15:35-53 -- 35 But someone may ask, "How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come?" 36 How foolish! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. 37 When you sow, you do not plant the body that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or of something else. 38 But God gives it a body as he has determined, and to each kind of seed he gives its own body. 39 All flesh is not the same: Men have one kind of flesh, animals have another, birds another and fish another. 40 There are also heavenly bodies and there are earthly bodies; but the splendor of the heavenly bodies is one kind, and the splendor of the earthly bodies is another. 41 The sun has one kind of splendor, the moon another and the stars another; and star differs from star in splendor. 42 So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; 43 it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; 44 it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. 45 So it is written: "The first man Adam became a living being"; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. 46 The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. 47 The first man was of the dust of the earth, the second man from heaven. 48 As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the man from heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. 49 And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we bear the likeness of the man from heaven. 50 I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51 Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed – 52 in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53 For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality.
There’s a lot there… but let’s start with a seed…
• It’s an amazing picture Paul uses to help us understand the resurrection of the dead…
• Verse 36 -- What you sow does not come to life unless it dies.
• You plant a seed in the ground…the seed dies and becomes something NEW. Something DIFFERENT.
(eg) I am not a gardener and have never been a farmer. My thumbs are not green. We’ve got a group of our people that just planted our community garden on our campus by the Family Life Center. The mission -- Grow some vegetables to give away… just to Bless…
• We take all of this for granted… but look at this as if you are experiencing this, seeing this and understanding for the very first time.
• (eg) Do you know what this seed is? Corn.
o When you plant it in the ground, it dies and becomes this…
• (eg) Do you know what this seed is? Watermelon.
o When you plant it in the ground, it dies and becomes this…
• (eg) Do you know what this seed is? Tomato.
o When you plant it in the ground, it dies and becomes this…
• (eg) Do you know what this seed is? Sunflower.
o When you plant it in the ground, it dies and becomes this…
• (eg) Do you know what this seed is? Acorn.
o When you plant it in the ground, it dies and becomes this…
8. All of this comes from this tiny little seed. God’s Miraculous Power -- Everything about this plant comes from this little seed. But the only way to get this – the seed has to die and be planted.
• To help us understand the Resurrection, Our bodies are like this seed… The body has to die. The body is planted, buried… and after some time, it will be raised into something Different!
• It’s the same – but it’s different. Far Different.
• Something Better! Far Better and Far more than we can understand or imagine.
9. When we are Raised from the dead, When we get this new body – We will still be us.
• Same Person. Same Personality. Same Identity. Same Individuality. Same Uniqueness. Same Emotions. Same Ethnicity. Same Recognizability. Somehow – you will know me and I will know you. Same Experience Reference.
• There will be continuity… We will be the Same…
• You will be you in Heaven – who else would you be?
10. Will we become Angels? No -- Angels are angels and humans are humans. You are you and I am me!
• We will be Different and we may look different – But we will be the Same… we’ll still be the same person. Same but Better – Far Better. We’re Still us but we’re a NEW and IMPROVED us!
11. All we know is life as this seed…but there’s more! Far more and it’s far better!
• But to get this – the seed must die! To get the BETTER, we must die. To get the NEW, the seed must die.
12. Paul says it several times within this text – we will be CHANGED!
• What we are NOW is not what we will be LATER. What we are NOW will be radically Changed LATER…
• NOW and LATER – we will be changed! Same but different! What will we be like in Heaven? We don’t know exactly… But we know this -- There will be a change.
• 1 John 3:2-3 – 2 Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when He appears, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. 3 Everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.
• Heaven changes us! This Hope of being better Later makes us better Now!
• We will be Changed and that Promised Change is changing us today…
(42) NOW we Perish – LATER = Raised Imperishable
1. the body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable
2. This body, from the moment of conception is dying, is decaying… the longer we live, the more rapid the acceleration of deterioration…
• The older we get… the more aches, the more pains, the more groans, the more moans… We’re not getting better and better – it’s getting badder and badder…
3. (eg) Have you looked in the mirror lately? Ugh…
• Sagging, wrinkling, shifting, graying, falling, wearing out and wearing thin…
4. This body, though an incredible creation of God – fearfully and wonderfully made, this body is dying.
• There is no way to reverse the irreversible process of aging…
• We may be able to slow it down or camouflage it but we can’t stop it…
• No matter what the advertisements promise or the Infomercials sell…
• We can’t change death – but death is when we’re changed….
5. LATER – we are Raised Imperishable. Our new Bodies will never decay.
• No disease, no pains, no moans and groans… No Decay. No Death.
• These new bodies are made to last! Forever and ever!
(43) NOW = Dishonor – LATER = Raised in Glory!
1. (eg) go back to the seed… You can’t envision the glory of the plant by looking at the seed, nor can we get a glimpse of our future body by studying the present one.
• All we know – this body will be changed!
2. At death, our lifeless body is completely helpless. Our bodies are left to the care and the control of others. We have no control over our dead body…
• Just to think about it makes us feel uncomfortable… what’s done to our bodies… we have no control
• I think that’s why Paul uses the word, dishonor…it’s humiliating, it’s shameful, it’s not the way it’s supposed be…
3. Philippians 3:20-21 – 20 But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who, by the power that enables Him to bring everything under His control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like His glorious body.
4. But our bodies will be raised in Glory!
• Not raised as some deformed, decomposed corpse – NO! Nothing scary or horrifying…
• Raised in Glory! Raised in God’s Brilliance and Beauty! Raised in God’s Splendor! In God’s Excellence and Magnificence!
• This New Body will be Far Better and Far More than what we’ve ever known
(43) NOW = Weakness – LATER = Raised in Power!
1. (eg) I often find myself saying – the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak…
• Everyday – we’re faced with our weaknesses and our limitations… and it’s frustrating…
2. (eg) Last January, I was at Menards buying a 4X8 sheet of oak veneered MDF to work on a project that I’m building for JoDee. I pulled it out of the bin and then lifted it up to place it on the cart and pop – I tore the cartilage in my shoulder.
• Tests, specialists, therapy and lots of ice… I’ve avoided surgery and have strengthened my shoulder – but it still hurts and I still can’t lift what I used to be able to lift…
• I hate it! It’s taken me months to just recover to this point… and it’s still not right…
3. ??? -- (eg) And I think it really bothers me because I have Birthday coming in a few weeks and it’s one of those big numbered round ones…
• I’m wearing glasses because my sight is weakening. I wear a hearing aid because my hearing is weakening. I use a PDA because I can’t remember all of my appointments… weakness...
• And there are so many others, many of you, that are reminded daily – your body is weak and it just gets weaker and weaker...
4. Raised in Power! This word means explosive Power!
• This new body will have abilities and strengths beyond our wildest imaginations!
• Never Sick always Strong! Never Frail Always Fit! Never Weak Always Energetic!
• And I think some will appreciate it that more than others of us! Some have blinded eyes; deaf ears; inabilities to speak; confined to wheelchairs; live in constant pain...
• I want you to Hold on to this – Your Pain will NOT last forever! What hurts you now will never hurt you in Heaven! What Weakens you now will never weaken you in Heaven. What limits you now will never limit you in Heaven!
(44-50) NOW = Earthly Body – LATER = Heavenly Body
1. 1 Corinthians 15:44-50 -- 44 it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. 45 So it is written: "The first man Adam became a living being"; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. 46 The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. 47 The first man was of the dust of the earth, the second man from heaven. 48 As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the man from heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. 49 And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we bear the likeness of the man from heaven. 50 I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.
2. That just sounds better. A Heavenly Body… Heaven is an Awesome Place. We will have Awesome Bodies…
• This natural, earth suit we have right now is exactly what we need for this life – but for Heaven – we need a Spiritual, Heavenly Body that is exactly what we need for Heaven. This body must be Changed!
3. Leads to another question -- Will we be Male and Female? God created us Male and Female – why wouldn’t God raise us male and female? When Jesus was raised from the dead, He was not genderless… He was Jesus – a male…
• Male and Female – brings up another question – Will we be Married in Heaven and will we share Married Love in Heaven?
• Jesus was being tested by some of the religious leaders of His day, the Sadducees who say there is no resurrection. They set up a scenario for Jesus about a widow who had been married 7 times. Every brother she married died – so at the resurrection, which of the 7 will she be married to?
• Matthew 22:29-30 -- Jesus replied, "You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God. At the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven.
• We will be like angels – we will not be angels.
• But it sounds like, we will not be married to each other.
• Will there be Marriage – Absolutely! The Church is the Bride of Christ. Marriage in this life is but an echo of the true and ultimate marriage between Christ and His Church.
4. After Jesus was Raised from the dead, He spent 40 days still yet on this Earth with His people. Jesus wasn’t ghost-like. He had a body – a touchable, visible, real body.
• Real enough to walk on the road to Emmaus, real enough to eat breakfast with the disciples at the Sea of Galilee. Real enough to communicate. Real Enough to be present with his disciples…
• A Real Body -- Same but Different – some didn’t recognize Him at first. He was Different in that He passed through a closed door to show Thomas His hands and His side – that He was alive…
• Will we be able to walk through walls or instantaneously get from one location to another location? Chances are – we’ll be doing far more than any of that!
(53) NOW = Mortal – LATER = Raised Immortal
1. Simply put – we will have a new body that never dies!
2. (eg) I can’t imagine living in THIS body forever and ever. What if THIS body never died – continually decaying, growing older and older…
• If you were blind – you’ll be blind forever. If you are deaf – you’ll be deaf forever. If you are paralyzed – you will never be able to walk.
• All of the injustices of this world would just continue to prevail…
• The terminally ill would be ill forever but never die. Aching hearts would continue to ache and never be healed. If we couldn’t die – it would be horrible…
3. No! we need a New Body! A Body designed by God to live forever and ever…
4. (eg) in this life – everyday we are moving closer to the day we will die…
• Back to the seed – is this life or is this life? To get to the new life – the seed must die and be planted…
CONCLUSION –
Let’s come back in finish the text in 1 Corinthians 15…54 When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: "Death has been swallowed up in victory.” 55 "Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” 56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.
• Death is an Enemy! Death is a Thief! Death is a Destroyer!
• But Jesus has Overcome Death!
• Death has no Victory – Jesus Conquered Death. Jesus Conquers that which conquers us!
• Death has no Sting – Jesus took the sting, the pain, the punishment for us!
• His Victory over Death is our Victory through Death!
• 15:57 – But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
We will all die -- What’s Next? What’s NEXT is determined by What’s NOW!
• If You choose to Live FOR Jesus Now – you will Live WITH Jesus Then! Live for Jesus NOW and Live With Jesus LATER…
• What’s Next is Determined by What’s Now!
But know this as well – What’s NOW is determined by What’s NEXT!
Heaven and the thought of Heaven should change everything for us TODAY!
• Listen to the very last verse of 1 Corinthians 15:58 -- Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.
• There is more to this life than this life… This life is just a dot; snap; a seed…
• Think Eternity! Think Forever! Think Heaven!
With every ache and pain, with every look in the mirror – we are getting closer to what will be new. Forever! This body is just a seed to be planted… we will be changed… the seed must die and then we are changed…
Many of you are familiar with the Chronicles of Narnia… In the last book of the series entitled, The Last Battle, CS Lewis describes Heaven but never uses the word… listen to what He writes…
• Lucy said, “we’re so afraid of being sent away, Aslan. And you have sent us back into our world so often.”
• “No fear of that,” said Aslan. “have you not guessed?”
• Their hearts leaped and a wild hope rose within them.
• “There was a real railway accident,” said Aslan softly. “Your father and mother and all of you are – as you used to call it in the Shadowlands – dead. The term is over: the holidays have begun. The dream is ended: this is the morning.”
• And as he spoke He no longer looked to them like a lion; but the things that began to happen after that, were so great and beautiful that I cannot write them. And for us, this is the end of all the stories, and we can most truly say that they all live happily ever after. But for them it was only the beginning of the real story.
"All their life in this world had only been the cover and the title page.
And now, at last, they were beginning chapter one of the great story which no one on earth has read, which goes on forever, in which every chapter is better than the one before."
