"The resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting."
Recite the Apostles Creed
"I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth.
And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; he descended to the dead. On the Third day he rose again; he ascended into heaven, is seated at the right hand of the Father, and will come again to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.”
Review
We are at the final week in The Apostles’ Creed. We’ve prayed through this creed for a few months and have arrived at the hope of Christianity - resurrection.
Let’s look at 1 Corinthians 15:20-58 from The Message (It’s a long passage, so have multiple readers)
Questions to help breakdown the passage and enable better comprehension:
20-28: How did death come? How did resurrection come? And who is the last enemy?
29-33: What is the end point of this life - the point to which each of our lives is headed, the point toward which the entire universe is headed? (Resurrection in Christ)
34-38: What does a resurrection body look like? (We don’t know - it’s as different as a seed and the plant it produces)
39-44: Why do you think Paul is using this metaphor of a seed for the resurrection of the dead?
45-50: Who is the Last Adam? What is the natural end of our lives?
51-57: What is the hope of Christianity? (Resurrection). What is the last enemy to be defeated? How is that enemy defeated? (Jesus rose from the dead, conquering death. When the dead are raised in Christ, death will be defeated forever).
There’s a lot in the passage, but it’s one of the most important in the entire New Testament. Our great hope is the resurrection of the body. One day, we who have died with Christ will be raised from the dead to resurrection life with him. This is great news.
We have great hope for the future. If you have not given your life to Jesus, I urge you to do so today. You can participate in what God is doing with this world and be a part of the future in God.
What does this have to do with us now? What does this have to do with our lives today, June 5, 2014?
We talk a lot about resurrection in church, about eternal life. But this is not just something for the future. This is something that we experience here and now. Before Christ, we were dead in our sins, dead in our addictions, helpless in those things that bring us pain and sorrow and death. When we come to Jesus, we have life, even life to the fullest. We call this resurrection life.
I want to watch a quick music video, and then we’re going to do something a little funky to illustrate this new life.
Here’s what we’re going to do. We’re going to go outside and plant a seed.
When you plant it, I want you to think about something in your life that needs to die with Jesus. Like the music video we saw, perhaps there is an addiction, a habit, or a practice in your life that needs to die with Jesus. Perhaps there is something from your past that has already died with Jesus, something that attests to resurrection in your life. That’s awesome.
We’re going to plant this seed, water it, and send it home with you. In the coming weeks, you can watch it grow and become something completely different, yet made of that same material. Somehow God makes it grow. May this model your life. May those things that cause death, destruction, sorrow, in your life be buried with Christ and raised in new life. That’s what a resurrection life is.
Plant the seeds.
Close in prayer.
