Jesus was the first to rise
from the dead. 500 people saw
him. He was the first to
experience the divine paradox. You
must learn to die before you can learn to live.
Paradox:
an assertion seemingly opposed to common sense, but that may yet have some
truth in it. Bad is good and good is bad.
Cool is hot and hot is cool. Do
we live to die or are we dying to live?
Have you seen the unseen? Have
you heard what could not be expressed? Have
you died to live? Is it possible?
Scripture
Text: 1Cor 15:35 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.
The
Divine Paradox:
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1.
Of finding one’s life, yet eventually losing it
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Matt. 10:39 ;
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2.
Of losing one’s life, yet eventually finding it
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Matt. 10:39
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3.
Of being unknown, yet being well known
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2 Cor. 6:9
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4.
Of dying, yet possessing life
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2 Cor. 6:9
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5.
Of dying, yet being able to give life
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John 12:24
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6.
Of being sorrowful, yet always rejoicing
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2 Cor. 6:10
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7.
Of being poor, yet making many rich
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2 Cor. 6:10
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8.
Of having nothing, yet possessing all things
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2 Cor. 6:10
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9.
Of hearing words that cannot be expressed
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2 Cor. 12:4
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10. Of
being strong when one is weak
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2 Cor. 12:10
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11. Of
knowing the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge
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Eph. 3:19
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12. Of
seeing the unseen
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2 Cor. 4:18
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[1]
1.
We must die before we can live.
Seeds die and are
planted before they can grow. Our
bodies die and are planted before they can live.
Romans 6:4 Baptism is
symbolic of our death. We die to
self to live to Christ. I must
decrease so He may increase.
2. We must all suffer Loss
- Denying self, gain: We
must take up cross - loss of selfish desires.
Don't fill the desires of flesh as world.
Gain of following Jesus - taking up cross.
So then loss of denying self is not loss at all, but we must take up
our cross - be obedient - sing in choir - teach a class - work in dinners -
labor of love.
3. We must loose our life to find it. Keep life on earth -
loose life to come.
Loose Life to Gain It.
If we gain the world and lose our soul where is the profit in this.
A.
Worldly people spend life tome work for what?
B.
Christians have given God our soul, but what about our life on this
earth?
Spent
for self for God.
4.
God Will Raise Us Up and give us life.
(v. 42-50)
a.
Buried in Corruption and raised in incorruption
b.
Buried in Dishonor and weakness and raised in honor and power.
c.
Sown a natural body and raised a spiritual body.
d.
Adam was a natural man and Jesus is the spiritual man.
e.
We bare Adam’s Image and we must bear Christ’s.
f.
Flesh and blood cannot inherit heaven.
g.
God will gie you a Spiritual life now.
5.
We will all Be Resurrected. (Acts
24:15)
Resurrection
of Just and Unjust, life and death. Will
you be in the resurrection to life? You
can have new life, now. Then you
will be raised up in his image.
6. Jesus
will reward our work (vs 27) - when He comes.
He will reward. But we
receive guaranteed benefits now on this earth.
Have you invested in God's work?
A.
Lose life to Christ. Allow
Him to live in you. By denying
yourself.
B.
Jesus lost His life, was our gain of life.
C.
Deny self - to take up cross - lose pride to humility, self to Christ.
Matt 16:25
For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his
life for me will find it. 26 What good will it be for a man if he gains the
whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his
soul?
[1]Willmington,
H. L. Willmington's Book of Bible Lists. Wheaton, Ill.: Tyndale
House, 1987.