The God Who Raises the Dead
January 19, 2022 · 1:40:15 · Watch on YouTube ↗
These notes - summary, key points, and highlighted thoughts - were generated by AI from the recording and are not the preacher’s exact words.
Summary
Continuing the study of 1 Corinthians 15, the preacher opens the very heart of the gospel - the resurrection. Death entered the world through one man, Adam, but life and resurrection came through one Man, Christ, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. Each comes in his own order: Christ first, then those who belong to Him at His coming.
Leaning on John 5 and the promise 'sit at My right hand until I make Your enemies Your footstool,' he shows that those joined to Christ have already passed from death to life and will not come into judgment. Christ reigns until every enemy is subdued, and the last enemy, death itself, is destroyed; at the end He hands the kingdom to the Father, that God may be all in all. Just as all came to Joseph in Egypt for bread, no one reaches the Father except through the Son. A testimony of a man set free after twenty years of addiction reveals the living power of this gospel, while Paul's 'I die daily' and stories of believers who suffered in labor camps call the church to hold this hope even unto death.
A closing meditation on Psalm 23 pictures God as the Shepherd who leads us through the valley of the shadow of death. His rod and His staff - law and rescue - comfort us; trials are not abandonment but the very means by which He draws us near, completes the salvation He began, and brings us home to dwell in His house forever.
Key Points
- Death came through Adam, but resurrection and life come through Christ, the firstfruits of all who have died.
- Those who belong to Christ have already passed from death to life and will not come into condemnation.
- Christ reigns until every enemy is under His feet; the last enemy destroyed is death, and then He delivers the kingdom to the Father.
- As all came to Joseph for bread, so no one reaches the Father except through the Son.
- The gospel carries real power to set people free, as shown by a man delivered from decades of addiction.
- Suffering, and even a daily readiness to die, do not cancel hope; they are carried by faith in the God who raises the dead.
- In Psalm 23 the Shepherd's rod and staff comfort us through the valley; trials draw us nearer and finish the work He began.
Devotional
When trials press in and the shadow of death falls over us, it is easy to wonder whether God still remembers His mercy. Yet the same Lord who raised Christ as the firstfruits walks with you through the valley, His rod and staff steady at your side. He does not promise a road without suffering, but He does promise to finish what He began and to bring you safely to His house. Hold fast to the living hope of resurrection, and let every hard day draw you closer to the Shepherd who has called you His own.
Death entered through one man, and resurrection came through one Man; the last enemy to fall will be death itself.
Whoever has the Son has the Father; whoever comes to Christ finds the Bread of life.
The rod and the staff are not a sign that God has left you - they are how the Shepherd carries you through the valley.
