Castlebar Christian Fellowship

1 Corinthians 15:24-34

JESUS RETURNS

INTRO - THE RETURN OF JESUS
"Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many crowns, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. From his mouth comes a sword with which to strike the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the wine press of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords." - Rev. 19:11-16
"For 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 shall rise first. Then 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." - 1 Thess. 4:16-17
"Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and with great glory. And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other." - Matt 24:30-31
"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angles with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on the right, 'Come you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world'... Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.'" - Matt 25:31-34; 41
"Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death." - 1 Cor. 15:24-26
Do you ever wonder how it's all going to work out..? I mean sometimes we live as if life on earth is all there is but we need to get out of that mindset! As Christians we are called to live for tomorrow, we are called to live for the day when Jesus will return, "the day of Jesus Christ". We are to have his eternal kingdom ever in our hearts and minds, because how we live today will matter tomorrow, and we don't want to build anything today that will embarrass us tomorrow!
Last time I was preaching we looked at the how pointless Christianity would be if Jesus had not been raised from the dead. Then we went on and looked at how the fact of Christ's resurrection secures our resurrection when he returns in glorious majesty to gather, judge and reign. Paul now focuses our attention on the return of Jesus. Let's read his words together:
[V24-28esv] "Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For "God has put all things in subjection under his feet." But when it says "all things are put in subjection", it is plain that he is excepted who put all things in subjection under him. When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all."

When Jesus took up the mission of salvation from his Father, he came to earth as a baby, and lived and grew up. He worked, he taught, preached, healed, and did miracles. He died, was buried, was raised, paying the full price for our sin and then he ascended to his Father again and is now interceding for us, his people. However his mission has not been fully completed for he has still to return. When he returns he will gather his people like a shepherd gathers his sheep then will he fight, conquer, rule, judge and condemn his enemies to eternal punishment. At his first coming he came in humility to pay the price for sinful humanity, to offer himself as the atoning sacrifice for sin, to make salvation possible and he gave us an example to follow, but when he returns he will come in all his power and glory and spender and he will come to gather, reign and judge the world.
Before we go any further let me make something clear. As Christians we are called to follow the example of Jesus in his first coming. In other words we are called to sacrifice ourselves for the ultimate good of others.... So when we read passages like Revelation 19 and these verses in 1 Corinthians 15 we need to make it clear that these passages are not calling us to be a militant church... There are two extremes Christians tend to go on this issue today. The first extreme is to focus so much on trying to work out all the details of the second coming that we forget we're meant to be following the example Jesus set us in his first coming... The second extreme is that we avoid declaring the return of Jesus to fight, conquer, rule and judge, because it's too controversial to talk about such things in a world were tolerance and political correctness are the chief virtues. If we are to be faithful to God then we will follow the example Jesus set us in his first coming..., and we will warn of his return. By the way if we are truly striving to follow the example Jesus set us in his first coming then we will warn others of his second coming because that is one of the things Jesus did..!
With all that said, let me point out that the doctrine of the second coming occupies a large place in the bible, some would say the largest. From Genesis to Malachi in almost every book there are clear predictions of the second coming. Also while Jesus' first coming was predicted in detail in the OT, the emphasis is given to the second coming. There are mentions of his second coming without any mention of his first coming. But there is no mention of his first coming without a mention of his second coming with it. In the NT there are around 400 mentions of Christ's return, that is, one in every twenty verses. So it's clear from scripture that the return of Jesus is to be at the forefront of our minds, that we should live our lives with our eyes ever fixed on the return of Jesus.
So what insights does Paul give us about the return of Christ in 1 Corinthians 15? He tells us three things:
1. When Jesus returns he will be the destroyer of all that opposes the rule of God and he will reign until all things are in complete subjection to him. - V24-25
When Jesus returns to earth he is coming as the destroyer of everything evil, everything which is not how God intends it to be will be crushed. He will conquer permanently every enemy of God. Every rule and authority and power that has set itself against or above God! Every world system that refuses to bow the knee to Jesus will be crushed. The biblical picture we're given of Jesus' return is that of a warrior king in battle who has had enough of Satan and all the rebellion, and injustice, and corruption, and unrighteousness of sinful humanity. He will conquer every enemy of God and take back the earth that he created which is rightfully his and if people don't submit to his Kingship he will kill them and the birds of the air will feast on the flesh of all the kings and captains and presidents and mighty people and all people rich and poor small and great who reject his Lordship.
He will wipe out every trace of sin and evil and rebellion and he will crush Satan and his demons and all people and nations who oppose his rule, and assign them to suffer in hell forever! A pastor was asked why it was so hard to get men to church today? He replied; "because the Jesus they are presented with is a Jesus they could beat up and it's hard to worship someone you can beat up." This Jesus is not a Jesus you can beat up. This is the all-powerful Lord in all his glory who has had enough and has come to put everything right by taking full control, so that he can usher in his eternal kingdom of peace and safety and love and righteousness and joy and perfection.
Perhaps you think this isn't fair, it's not loving, Jesus shouldn't do that, that makes God out to be cruel and vengeful. Well let's think about this. Nobody likes judgement and hell but who has a better idea? Let's consider the options. Someone might say; "why doesn't God just forgive everybody and let all people into heaven?" Well it's not as simple as that because what about people who don't want to change their ways. Imagine being a person who trusts in Jesus as saviour and on his promise of one day living in a new world where God reigns. A place that is safe, were there is no need to fear anything. A place where there is no pain or suffering but only endless joy, satisfaction, peace and love. But then when that person gets there she finds that God accepted all people into his new world after all including unrepentant murderers and rapists and thieves and terrorists etc, how would you feel, how could you trust God again, because the new world you find yourself in would look a lot like the old one! Would that be fair?
Then someone might object and say well why doesn't God only let the good people into heaven and send the bad people to hell. But then we have to ask, where is the line between a good person and bad person? How good to you have to be to get in and how bad do you have to be not to? And anyway we all know none of us are totally good. Jesus said: "No one is good but God". All people have a dark side, yes for sure some more than others, but we all do. So if God only let people into heaven who are less bad then they would still corrupt it, wouldn't they? So what does God do? He invites and draws people to come to Jesus in repentance and faith to be forgiven and transformed to make them ready for his eternal kingdom. He cleanses them of sin, gives them a new nature, and ultimately perfects them, through death and resurrection, so they are ready for his new heaven and new earth. So if you want to be ready for heaven, then admit you need to change, trust in Jesus' death on the cross for your sin and ask God to transform you and make you fit for his new world!
Again someone might object how can a loving God reject people? I would reply by asking how can a loving Father not? God is preparing place for his children whom he has adopted through Jesus. What kind of father would allow unrepentant unchanged murderers and thieves and paedophiles into his home? Would God be a good father if he allowed people into his family home when he knows they will corrupt and harm his children and ruin the paradise he has prepared for them? And anyway the only people God rejects are those who have already rejected him.
Then someone might say but why, destruction, why hell, why eternal punishment? Why not just annihilate those who don't want to change? Well imagine this, imagine Adolf Hitler standing before God on judgement day as all the pain and torture he has inflicted on the lives of millions is read out. Then it comes to the punishment and God simply says annihilate him! Hitler would be delighted, "what no pain no torture." Would that be justice? Does he not deserve to suffer? There is one thing you can be sure about with Jesus as judge - the punishment will always fit the crime because those eyes of fire see everything exactly as it is.
You see it's easy to say that it's not fair and not loving if you haven't thought it through, but when you think it all through is there any other option? God has been patient with sinful humanity for thousands of years, since the beginning of time, he has offered his Son in the greatest act of love to atone for sin, he offers to change those who come to him in repentance and faith to fit them for his heaven, but there will come a time when he will say enough is enough, it's time to crush all the rebellion and create a new heaven and a new earth where my redeemed children can live in eternal safety, and freedom, and peace, and satisfaction and love in the presence of their Father! God is longsuffering but he is not ever-suffering! He knows when enough is enough.
2. When Jesus returns he will destroy death
Death is one of things we fear most. Many people don't know what is beyond the grave. Death separates us from people we love and sometimes the fear of our own death or the death of a loved grips us. It's something we try not to think about too much. But one day after Jesus returns, after we are raised with immortal bodies, death will be destroyed. In the end as Revelation 20:14 confirms it will be thrown into the lake of fire along with all the other enemies of God. Then Jesus will create a new heaven and a new earth where death will never be seen. Imagine living in a world without death...
We will look at this again in more detail since it comes up again later on in the chapter.
3. Then when all things are in complete subjection to Jesus and all enemies are destroyed he will hand his Kingdom back to his Father that God might be all in all. - V28, 24
There is coming a day after the return of Jesus when he will hand over the kingdom to his Father. From the time of his incarnation until the time when he presents the kingdom to the Father, Jesus is in the role of a servant, fulfilling his divine task as assigned by his Father. But when the final work is accomplished, he will assume his former, full, glorious place in willing submission to his Father. This in no way implies that Jesus is inferior to the Father, but only that he has a different function or role. The Father, Son and Spirit are all equal in nature as God as we know, but they have differing roles as we learned in chapter 11...
So then with the plan complete, with all his people safe and with all his enemies destroyed, Jesus will hand the eternal kingdom - a renewed heaven and earth filled with the redeemed of God and free form all the effects of sin - over to his Father whose will he will have carried out perfectly! At this point "the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him". In other words he will hand the kingdom over to the Father, who had handed everything over to him "that God might be all in all." This means that everything will be completely under the control of God forever. The new heavens and new earth will be saturated in the sovereignty and love of God. God's presence will cover it like a canopy, we'll be living in the glorious presence of God. All resistance will be gone all enemies gone, no sickness, total safety, total peace, no death... Everything that hurts and harms, by division, will be gone and the perfect unity of the triune God will reign over all creation in their sovereign rule of love, over a perfectly united and redeemed and resurrected people, in a perfect universe where righteousness reigns!
Do you get this? This is our future!
Paul continues:
[V29-34esv] "Otherwise what do people mean by being baptized on behalf of the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized on their behalf? Why am I in danger every hour? I protest, brothers, by my pride in you, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die every day! What do I gain if humanly speaking, I fought with beasts in Ephesus? If the dead are not raised, "Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die." Do not be deceived: Bad company ruins good morals. Wake up from your drunken stupor, as is right, and do not go on sinning. For some have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame."
Paul brings us back to the main crux of his argument. It's hard to know what is meant in verse 29 referring to baptism of the dead, it's obviously something to do with a practice in Corinth. According to Gordon Fee there are 40 different possibilities so I'm just going to dodge this verse because I don't want us to miss the main point.
The thing that gives Paul greatest satisfaction in his ministry is seeing people becoming Christians and experiencing eternal life through his sacrificial work. All the pain and hardship is worth it for that. But if the dead are not raised to live in God's eternal kingdom then what is the point? If the dead are not raised then there is no judgement and there is no eternal kingdom to live for so we may as well take the advice of the world and "eat and drink for tomorrow we die."
Some of the Christians in Corinth had begun to doubt the resurrection, but how did they get to that point? They listened to the wrong people! They allowed the thinking of the day to rob them of their glorious hope. "This life is all there is so let us eat and drink for tomorrow we die. Let's make the most of now because there is no resurrection, there is no judgement, there is no coming King and there is no eternal kingdom of bliss. So we may as well let ourselves go and make the most of now by doing what everyone else does" And because they had listened to the world around them they began to live like the world because "bad company ruins good morals."
You will become like the people you spend most time with. You will become like those who you read the most. You will become like those you listen to most. You will begin to act like those you hang about with most. So if the people you spend time with most, read most, listen to most, hang out with most have a different world view than the one God gives us in scripture then your thinking and your morals will potentially be ruined by the thinking of the age we live in. Then you will begin to lose sight of the bigger picture, you will lose your love for God! Your incentives to live for him, and sacrifice for him and to live differently from the world around you will disappear. Paul says to such people "Wake up from your drunken stupor, as is right, and do not go on sinning. For some have no knowledge of God. I say this to you shame."
See here's what happens when you start listening to the wrong voices and spending too much time with the wrong people, or listening to the wrong music, or watching too much TV... your thinking becomes intoxicated with worldliness. With the ways of the world, with the thinking of the world! So you lose all your biblical bearings, you're not quite sure what the whole thing is about, you're kind of just staggering through the whole Christian thing not knowing where you are going! Then you wonder why things seem so pointless and hopeless. They are so because of your lack of knowledge of God. You have lost sight of him and all he has done and all he has promised. And it is a shameful thing for someone to call themselves a Christian and have no knowledge of God because it makes them a walking contradiction... If we truly know God then we will not live like the world around us. We will live in light of who he is, and in light of what he's done, and in light of what he's promised! We will not live as if this life is all there is. We will live for tomorrow, for the day when Jesus returns, for the day when we will be raised and given immortal bodies, for the day when Jesus will crush all the rebellion, and destroy Satan, sin and death, for the day when he will reign on this earth, for the day he will usher in a new heaven and a new earth, for the day when he will hand the kingdom over to his Father, for the day when we will live in a world saturated with and ruled by the love and sovereignty of God!
We must make sure that we know the God we claim we are going to spend eternity with, because all our hope is in HIM!
Call to Action - Live For Tomorrow
Call non Christian to put their trust is Jesus... to they are ready for the day when Christ returns.
Call Christians to life with their eyes ever fixed on the day when Christ returns.

Conclude by reading Rev. 21:1-8 and 22:6-9