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“The Sting of Death” 1 Corinthians 15:50-58
“The Sting of Death” 1 Corinthians 15:50-58
“The Last Four Things”
A Sermon Series
“The Sting of Death”
1 Corinthians 15:50-58
Introduction
This four-week series helps us understand what the Bible says about the end of life and what follows after death. The congregation will finish the series confident that God is just and has good plans for those who love him.
Sarah Winchester’s husband had acquired a fortune by manufacturing and selling rifles. After he died of influenza in 1918, she moved to San Jose, California. Because of her grief and her long time interest in spiritism, Sarah sought out a medium to contact her dead husband. The medium told her, “As long as you keep building your home, you will never face death.”
Sarah believed the spiritist, so she bought an unfinished 17-room mansion and started to expand it. The project continued until she died at the age of 85. It cost 5 million dollars at a time when workmen earned 50 cents a day. The mansion had 150 rooms, 13 bathrooms, 2,000 doors, 47 fireplaces, and 10,000 windows. And Mrs. Winchester left enough materials so that they could have continued building for another 80 years.
Today that house stands as more than a tourist attraction. It is a silent witness to the dread of death that holds millions of people in bondage (Heb. 2:15).
Hebrews 2:15 “Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.”
Death Defined
We begin our study at the beginning of creation, man was originally designed to live forever, but because of Adam and Eve’s sin of rebellion they were cursed by God, Genesis 3:22-23 “Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—” 23 therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken.” Adam lived 930 years but eventually died. Death became apart of every person’s life because we all inherit a sin nature from Adam – and we cannot take of the tree of life.
Death is God’s grace so that we don’t have to live in a fallen state forever.
Death is inescapable, so in wisdom we face it as a reality. For most people death comes slowly, it the end of a process of decay or our mortal bodies. We are born, grow up, reach a physical peak, then we begin a downward progression. Out strength fades until the body fails. For some it comes quickly, and unexpectedly.
Jesus says in Matthew 10:28 (Luke 12:4-5), “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” In our being we have a physical body, and a soul. Ecclesiastes 12:7 “and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.” So at death there is a separation of the physical body, and the spirit. James tells us that the body separate from the spirit is death (James 2:26). So death is not the end of one’s existence, but a transition from one state of existence to another.
“In addition to physical death, Scripture speaks of spiritual and eternal death. Physical death is the separation of the soul from the body; spiritual death is the separation of the person from God; eternal death is the finalizing of that state of separation – one is lost for all eternity in his or her sinful condition.”[1] Both happened to Adam and Eve when they partook of the forbidden fruit; physical death hundreds of years later, spiritual death happened immediately after they sinned. From that point on, something had to die in order to cover their sin and shame.
Ephesians 2:1-2 tells us that apart from the work of the Holy Spirit in drawing us unto salvation, we are spiritually dead “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—” Apart from a relationship with Jesus, you are spiritually dead (in your trespasses and sins).
The eventual eternal death is what Revelation 21:8 calls “the second death.” “But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”
There is a time while we are physically alive, that we can be made spiritually alive or remain spiritually dead, and in that state (while physically we perish) we transition on to eternal life (to be with God forever), or we transition to eternal death, the second death, where we remain apart from God forever. While we are alive physically we can choose spiritual life or remain in spiritual death, and upon our physical death we remain in that state for eternity.
Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” All have sinned and fall short of God’s requirements to enter His presence and to live with Him in eternity. But in His grace He offers as a gift, eternal life through faith in His Sin Jesus. We earn death (eternal spiritual separation from God) because of our sin – God offers salvation through faith, by His grace. But again, the ability to choose eternal life is limited to this life, while we are alive.
For the unbeliever death is a curse, a penalty, an enemy.[2] Because it is what locks them into their state of rebellion and sin forever. That person is cut off from God not only in this life (the curse of sin), but also in the next (the curse of death). For the believer death still happens but the curse of death is gone. Jesus became the curse for us by dying on the cross (Gal. 3:13). When the believer transitions into eternal life, they are free from the curse of sin and death; they go to be with their heavenly Father.
In chapter 15 of 1 Corinthians, after a lengthy discussion about Christ’s resurrection he turns his argument to praise and celebration. Once we understand that death has no hold on us, we sing this victory song with Paul.
1 Corinthians 15:50-58
I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.
In this passage Paul is discussing Jesus’ return, and the resurrection of the dead. But it is also the final end for death. In order for believers to inherit eternal life, “There must be a change by death from the natural body to the spiritual body.”[3] Jesus after His resurrection appeared to the disciples, and His body was changed (Heb. 2:14) before He returned to the Father. So flesh and blood, that which is perishable cannot inherit the kingdom of God that which never perishes or diminishes.
51 Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.
Paul is telling us mystery, not all who believe in Jesus will die. When Jesus returns, all those who are alive will not die, but he says, “we shall all be changed.” Those who are believers will receive the resurrection body. But this also includes all who have put their faith in Christ and have already died. They too will be changed.
(v. 52) “in a moment,” this is from the word “atom” – which at the time was thought to be the smallest indivisible There will be a moment in time when Jesus returns.[4] There are three phrases used, “in a flash,” “in the twinkling of an eye,” and “at the last trumpet.” All are instantaneous (not a process). When you hear the war[5] trumpet everything changes. When the trumpet blasts, instantly all those Christians will be given incorruptible bodies – prepared for eternity.[6]
1 Thessalonians 4:16; “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 will rise first.” Matthew 24:31 “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.”
53 For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. 54 When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”[7] 55 “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?[8]”
There has to be a time in the future when every believer must change from this earthly body, and “put on,” to put on as a garment, their new spiritual body. They will move from perishable to imperishable.
(v. 55) When Jesus was raised from the dead, he broke the power of death for those who put their faith in Him. But it still remains our enemy. It breaks up relationships, it causes grief and loss, it disrupts families, etc. We don’t fear death, but it still torments us.
But upon Jesus;’ return, we will say “O death, where is your sting,” – scorpions have stingers, bees have stingers, snakes have fangs with poison, “the serpent death has lost his poison fangs. “Death still stings because of sin and the law, and death continues to reign over the believer in this age; but God promises the final victory through our Lord Jesus Christ (15:57).”[9]
Paul is giving us a vision of “a stingless death because Jesus has absorbed the sting on the basis of how his death and resurrection addresses the problem of human sin and law.”[10] Christians still die, but we go to be with God, the sting of consequences of sin have been removed. The fangless serpent death strikes, but it has no fangs.
56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 58 Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.”
(v. 56) “The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.” Where there is law, there is rebellion against that law, which is sin. The law tells us what sin is, and we are not able to keep the law. Romans 5:12 “Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because wall sinned—” Sin means “to miss the mark;” the mark is set by the law.
So, we cry out to God in thanks, that we have victory over sin through Jesus. “We cannot live sinlessly and thereby fulfill the law, nor can we remove sin once we have committed it, or remove the consequences, which is death. But on our behalf Jesus lived a sinless life, fulfilling the law, removed our sin by Himself paying the penalty for it, satisfying God with a perfect sacrifice; and conquered death by being raised from the dead.” [11]
(v. 57) “who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” – Paul is not referencing a future victory over sin and death, when Jesus returns and we enter into eternity – instead, God gives us the victory, and even better “he keeps on giving us the victory” “The victory is bestowed upon us hour by hour.”[12] God keeps giving and our proper response is thankfulness, “But thanks be to God.”
(v. 58) Therefore, “be steadfast, immovable,” “to continue on, keep on becoming steadfast, unshaken.”[13] It has the idea of being seated, motionless. We approach the mission that God has given us with a steadiness and assurance. There is nothing that can pull us away from, “always abounding in the work of the Lord.” We are pulled away by false doctrine, fear of death, or the sense of failure. Our hope in Jesus’ resurrection and in His return is our motivation to remain faithful. Don’t allow your heart to be drawn away from the work of the Lord – be steadfast in it.
We must remain connected to our moorings in faith because we know that “your labor is not in vain.” Revelation 22:12 “Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay each one for what he has done.”
Paul’s view on Death
Philippians 1:20-23 “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. 22 If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. 23 I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better.”
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[1] Millard Erickson, Christian Theology, Second Ed. (Grand Rapids, Michigan; Baker Academics, 1998) 1175.
[2] Erickson, 1177.
[3] Archibald Thomas Robertson, Word Pictures In The New Testament, Volume IV (Nashville, Tennessee; Broadman Press, 1931) 198.
[4] Robertson, 198.
[5] W. Robertson Nicoll, The Expositor’s Greek Testament, Volume II (Grand Rapids, Michigan; WM B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1967) 941.
[6] See Acts 7:59; Phil. 1:23
[7] Isa. 25:8
[8] Hos. 13:14
[9] Mark Taylor, The New American Commentary, 1 Corinthians (Nashville, Tennessee; B&H Publishing, 2014) 411.
[10] Taylor, 414.
[11] John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary, 1 Corinthians (Chicago, Illinois; The Moody Bible Institute, 1984) 446.
[12] R. C. H. Lenski, The Interpretation of St. Paul’s First and Second Epistles to the Corinthians (Minneapolis, Minnesota; Augsburg Publishing House, 1963) 751.
[13] Robertson, 199.
“The Lifestyle of the Children of God” 1 John 3:1-11
“The Lifestyle of the Children of God” 1 John 3:1-11
Love Made A Way
A Sermon Series on Atonement
“The Lifestyle of the Children of God”
1 John 3:1-11
Introduction
A man purchased a white mouse to use as food for his pet snake. He dropped the unsuspecting mouse into the snake’s glass cage, where the snake was sleeping in a bed of sawdust. The tiny mouse had a serious problem on his hands. At any moment he could be swallowed alive. Obviously, the mouse needed to come up with a brilliant plan.
What did the terrified creature do? He quickly set up work covering the snake with sawdust chips until it was completely buried. With that, the mouse apparently thought he had solved his problem.
The solution, however, came from outside. The man took pity on the silly little mouse and removed him from the cage. No matter how hard we try to cover or deny our sinful nature, it’s fool’s work. Sin will eventually awake from sleep and shake off its cover. Were it not for the saving grace of the Master’s hand, sin would eat us alive.
The Destiny of Those Who Hope In Christ (vv. 1-3)
See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. 3 And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.
(v. 1) “See what kind of love,” – “It is the way that God has loved us which shows us how great His love is for us,”[1] John begins this section by pointing out how wonderful the love of God is those who place their faith in Jesus, The expression of love that John highlights is that “we should be called children of God.” The Father loves us therefore He calls us His children. God has chosen “us” to be in God’s family – He has chosen to give us His love. In our being called the children of God, there is privileges, a title, and possessing His nature.
But it is not just that we are called “children of God,” John adds, “and so we are.” Not just in name but also in nature.[2] Who God is has become immersed into the child – His nature becomes our nature (as a biological parents passes on their nature to their children). But there is also the sense that when Jesus returns (parousia), how the believer will be changed is also wonderful.[3] God shows His love for His children in how He makes them like Him.
“Adoption is the legal act by which our Father places us into his family; regeneration is the spiritual birth by which we receive the nature of our Father.” – Spurgeon
But just because God loves you, doesn’t mean the world[4] will love you. (v. 1) John makes a similar argument in the gospel of John 15:18, “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you.” When the world hates the Christian, it is hating that part of the Christian’s life that has been transformed and is being transformed into the image of Christ (that part of the believer’s life that they don’t understand). They do not belong to this world any longer. The more God changes the Christian’s life, the more the world (who is not like Him) no longer knows and understands them.
In Genesis 37 there is the account of how Joseph’s brothers felt toward him, (remember Joseph was his father’s favored son), Genesis 37:4 “But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not speak peacefully to him.” Genesis 37:8 “So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words.” And by v. 18 “They saw him from afar, and before he came near to them they conspired against him to kill him.” The brothers hated Joseph because of his relationship to the father.
(v. 2) “and what we will be has not yet appeared;. . .” “the what suggests something unspeakable, contained in the likeness of God.”[5] Romans 8:29 “For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, . . .” In eternity we will be like Christ (not God, not the same in equality, or degree, but in similar nature). 2 Corinthians 3:18 “And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another.” “Although our present status as children of God is wonderful, our future state will be even more extraordinary.”[6] What we will become is veiled until his coming. There is a lot we don’t know . . .
(v. 2) “but we know that when he appears we shall be like him,” We are being changed into the image of Christ, and in the future when he appears we will be like him, in that we have been changed. Philippians 3:20-21 says, “. . . we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, . . .”
(v. 2) “because we shall see him as he is.” “That is, not seeing him as he was in the days of his earthly ministry, nor seeing him with the eyes of faith, but seeing him as he now is in heavenly glory – the sight of him, the author says, will be enough to make us pure like him.”[7] So it makes no sense to say that we are anticipating the return of Jesus (who has freed us from our sin), to remain in that sin when He could arrive at any moment. Sin signifies rebellion against God, but yet we wait for Jesus’ return?
Everyone Who Hopes In Christ Has a Lifestyle of Being Purified of Sin.
(v. 3) “everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.” Everyone who rests upon Him; The destiny of everyone who rests in/hopes in Christ is to be conformed to the image of God in Christ (this is how love is defined in this passage). The Holy Spirit works and convicts us of sin, He does His work, but we also play a part. We purify ourselves by repenting (turning from) sin, praying, fasting, and avoiding sinful things in our lives. We change our habits. But notice he says, “purifies himself as he (Jesus) is pure.” The standard of holiness is not another Christian, a mentor, no, the standard that we seek to follow is Jesus.
Our Incentive to Be Holy: His Immanent Return and Our Devotion to Him.
But what is the incentive to change; why should we put off old sinful behavior, and to put on new righteous actions? It is our “hope in him” – when the Bible uses the word hope, it is not the same as we use it today, as in “I hope it rains soon, my grass needs some water.” No, it is a certainty about something in the future. As in, “My hope in heaven is found in Christ.” This hope knows that one day we will see Him, “face-to-face.” “The Christian hope is incompatible with moral indifference.”[8]
Luke 12:35-38 is a parable Jesus told about how believers must be ready for Jesus’ return. The setting of the parable is where the master has left for a wedding, and will at some point return. But in that culture a wedding would last a week, so the servants must “Stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning, 36 and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the wedding feast, so that they may open the door to him at once when he comes and knocks. 37 Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will dress himself for service and have them recline at table, and he will come and serve them. 38 If he comes in the second watch, or in the third, and finds them awake, blessed are those servants!” Our incentive of a changed life is our love for Jesus – our relationship and devotion to Him.[9]
The Evidence of Those Who Practice Lawlessness (vv. 4-10)
4 Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. 5 You know that he appeared in order to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. 6 No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him.
(v. 4) “Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness. . .” Notice that it does not say, “everyone who sins” but everyone who makes it a practice of sinning (an ongoing habitual practice, a lifestyle of sin). All Christians sin, but they do not make it a practice to sin. They are convicted of sin in their lives, by the Holy Spirit, and then they repent from that sin. They are in agreement with God that it is wrong, gross, destructive, and needs to leave the believer’s life. The lawless person is the one who has a lifestyle of sin, the one who “keeps on sinning.”
And when John says, “sin is lawlessness,” he does not mean sin is a violation of the Mosaic law, but rather that “sin constitutes opposition to and rebellion against God, like the opposition and rebellion of Satan.”[10] Your actions reveal what you hold to be true.
Sin; a willful disregard for God. A rebellious revolt against God’s will.
Being with the Devil.
(v. 5) “You know that he appeared in order to take away sins[11], . . .” Jesus was sent “by God to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins (2:2; 4:10), and it is his blood that cleanses us from all sin (1:7). To “take away sins” here is to be understood as making forgiveness available by offering himself as the atoning sacrifice for those sins. Thus, John can say in 1:9 that God, in light of Jesus’s death, is both faithful and just when he forgives our sins. Our sins “have been forgiven on account of his name” (2:12). The author can say to his readers that “you know” these things because they stand at the very heart of the gospel message that they have heard from the beginning.”[12]
Jesus appeared in order to take away sins.
(v. 5) “. . . and in him there is no sin.” Because Jesus never sinned; he was without sin – and we are becoming like Him. Therefore, as children of God, who are being transformed into His image, we are becoming less sinful (but will never be sinless until eternity). “To tolerate sin, or to ignore sin in human conduct is to undermine the purpose of Christ’s work.”[13] You can’t be on mission with Jesus, while doing that which He is completely against.
7 Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. 8 Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. 9 No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God.
There is the word “practices” again; so whoever keeps on doing righteous acts is righteous. But the one who keeps on doing, a habitual practice, sinful behavior is not saved, does not know God. It does not mean that Christians get it right, 100% of the time, but the majority of choices are righteous. It also doesn’t mean a lost person will get it wrong 100% of the time. But there is a saying, “like father, like son.”
When Jesus was talking with the Jewish spiritual leaders he said, John 8:44 “You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”
(v. 8) “Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning.” John is making an argument of influence – “Just as the Christian lives under the influence of God living in him, so do sinners live under the influence of the devil and allow themselves to be seduced by him.”[14] Christians do what God does, Non-Christians do what the devil does. Satan has always sinned and sought to persuade others to do as he does, “from the beginning.”
God created everything perfect, the devil brought sin into the world and corrupted it. God is in the process of restoring it back, the devil seeks to constantly undo what God has done. God has redeemed the Christian, the devil seeks to pull them off track and turn back into sin.
(v. 8) “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.” The works of the devil are the sins which we commit, which Paul called “works of darkness” (Romans 13:12; Eph 5:11). To “destroy” has the idea of loosen, to undo, to dissolve, to break.[15]
Jesus appeared to destroy the works of the devil.
Why did God not just remove the devil, so that his work of rebellion and sin would stop? Why allow Him to remain to cause chaos in His creation? For the same reason He was allowed in the Garden of Eden – Man has to choose to follow good or evil. So when Christ appeared, His work was to break the chains of sin that bound us. Eventually, Satan will be removed from the earth and his influence will end.
(v. 9) “God’s seed abides in him,” This reminds us of Jesus’ parable of the sower. A farmer walks out to scatter seed across his field. The Path: Some seeds fall on the hard footpath where birds eat them. Rocky Ground: Some seeds fall on thin soil over rock, sprout quickly, but wither in the hot sun because they lack deep roots. Among Thorns: Some seeds fall where thorns grow up and choke the young plants. Good Soil: Some seeds fall on fertile ground and produce a massive harvest, yielding thirty, sixty, or a hundred times what was sown. The Word of God has landed on the fertile heart of the believer, and is growing. (Matthew 13:1–23, Mark 4:1–20, and Luke 8:4–15.)
(v. 9) Again John is not saying that Christians never sin, but it is impossible for them to have habitual sins in their lives, “No one born of God makes a practice of sinning,” because the “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.” Because God is present in the life of the believer, sin cannot remain. (darkness and light cannot remain in the same space). Sin/darkness is going to diminish (and in eternity be gone completely).
And Jesus’s work of destroying the work of the Devil has freed them from their sin. So you cannot be righteous without practicing righteousness – not because doing righteous things makes one righteous, but you are doing what comes natural to your nature. “Apple trees produce apples.”
10 By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.
When the Bible discusses race, there are two races of people. Sons of God and Sons of the Devil. They are distinguished by two simple tests: those who practice righteousness or do not practice righteousness. The second test is those who love, and those who do not love. To illustrate all that he has talked about, John gives the examples of how you treat other people, one’s “brother.” God loves humanity so much that he gave his Son so that they could be free from sin – Those who love God, love what He loves (people).
11 For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.
We have heard that we should love our brothers since the beginning of the gospel, and as far back as the beginning of time with Cain and Abel (see v. 12). But here “brothers” refers to other Christians, other “children of God.” It is walking in love that we don’t want to do anything that will cause harm to God (grieve the Holy Spirit), others because of a sin a commit, or to myself. God loves us by getting rid of sin, we love others by not sinning against them.
We began with considering how great the Father’s love is for us; and then an expression of that love is that He inparts His nature to us. It makes complete sense then that the test of a relationship with God is how His supposed children express love to others. If the children have the same nature as their father then they will naturally love others.
If we go back to the Luke 12 parable of the master returning from the wedding feast, – the second half of the parable deals with the servants who were not ready for the master’s return, “. . . 45 But if that servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed in coming,’ and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and get drunk, 46 the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know, and will cut him in pieces and put him with the unfaithful. 47 And that servant who knew his master’s will but did not get ready or act according to his will, will receive a severe beating. 48 But the one who did not know, and did what deserved a beating, will receive a light beating. Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more.”
______________________
[1] Marianne Meye Thompson, The IVP New Testament Commentary Series, 1-3 John (Downers Grove, Illinois; Intervarsity Press, 1992) 87.
[2] Canon A. E. Brooke, The International Critical Commentary on the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, The Johannine Epistles (Edinburgh, England, Morrison and Gibb Limited, 1971) 81.
[3] Brooks, 81.
[4] The “world” is defined as, those who are unbelieving in Christ. Worldly people.
[5] Archibald Thomas Robertson, Word Pictures In The New Testament, Volume VI (Nashville, Tennessee; Broadman Press, 1933) 220.
[6] Daniel Akin, The New American Commentary, 1, 2, 3 John (Nashville, Tennessee; Broadman & Holman Publishing, 2001) 135.
[7] Colin G. Kruse, The Pillar New Testament Commentary, The Letters of John (Grand Rapids, Michigan; William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2020) 126.
[8] Brooks, 83.
[9] David Allen, 1-3 John, Fellowship in God’s Family (Wheaton, Illinois; Crossway Publishing, 2013) 144.
[10] Kruse, 138.
[11] See John 1:29 “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.”
[12] Kruse, 129.
[13] Thompson, 94.
[14] Kruse, 132.
[15] Herschel H. Hobbs, The Epistles of John (Nashville, Tennessee; Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1983) 87.
“The His-story of Those Who Believe: Part Two” Ephesians 1:12-14
Love Made A Way
A Sermon Series on Atonement
“The His-story of Those Who Believe: Part Two”
Ephesians 1:12-14
Introduction
This four-week series looks at four atonement images or metaphors in Scripture: adoption (family), redemption (marketplace), justification (legal), and rescue/victory (conquest). A well-rounded understanding of the ways God has provided our redemption inspires us to live well as redeemed, victorious, free children of God.
III. The Future (vv. 12-14)
(review) The Past – Blessed, Chosen, Adopted; The Present – Redeemed; Forgiveness, Wisdom, Insight
“. . . so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. 13 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, . . .”
When Paul says “so that we who were the first to hope in Christ…” – The first to place their faith in Christ were Jesus’ Jewish disciples, then Paul as an apostle (still a Jew) but the church in Ephesus is Gentile, so when he says, “In him you also, when you heard the word of truth. . .” Paul is saying that both Jew and Gentile have the seal of the Holy Spirit; both are equal in standing before God.[1]
The Word of Truth
“when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him,” Our salvation is rooted on the gospel being true and that we have placed our complete belief in it for our salvation. The gospel describes who Jesus is, and what He has done. No one can become a Christian without this ‘word of truth.” Being a Christian is not about a feeling, an emotional outpouring, crying – these things may happen, but the mind (understanding the truth), moves us to respond in faith in Jesus.
There are many who claim to be Christians, but their understanding of reality is rooted in their own preferences, their own ideas about life, their own feelings about what is right and what is wrong – but the word of truth, the gospel is all that really matters. The gospel declares all humanity to be sinners in need of a Savior. The gospel declares that God is love (not in that he tolerates sin), but in His love He completely destroys it.
Our opposition to cults, other religions, is not based on feelings (being a Christian makes me happy, or feel good), but that Christianity is truth and anything else that conflicts with the gospel is false.[2] There are groups that may change your life, but there is only one way to have eternal life.
When Paul writes young Timothy and is instructing him on how to pastor, he tells him to “preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. 3 For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, 4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.” Paul doesn’t tell Timothy to tell people to show up for worship, or to live better lives, but to preach the word.
J. I. Packer once wrote in a preface to the Christian Directory by Richard Baxter, where he describes the church of his day as “egocentric, zany, simplistic, degenerate, half-magic spell non-sense, which is all the world sees when it watches religious tv or looks directly at the professed evangelical community.” Packer went on to say “our how-tos, how to have a wonderful family, better sex, financial success in a Christian way, how to cope with grief, life passages, crises, fears, frustrating relationships, what not else, gives us a formula to be followed by a series of supposedly simple actions on our part, in the manner of painting by numbers.” His premise is that the church of today doesn’t want the truth, or they don’t even want to think, they want easy answers, and a little Bible so they can check the box.
The Word of God, the word of truth, the gospel is two pronged; one side is the teaching and proclamation of the Word, and the other side is how a person responds to it. Some when they hear it come to a realization that they are sinners, repent of their sin, and are saved from the wrath to come. These people start churches, and turn the world upside down. They continue to share what they heard to others. Some when they hear the word of truth, reject it, and try to stop it (Paul was stoned, the early church was persecuted, and even today martyrs die because of their proclamation of the word of truth and its rejection).
It is the Holy Spirit working in a person’s life that enables them to comprehend the word of truth, and their state of separation from God because of their sin, who Jesus is and His work upon the cross and the “draws them” to salvation. God has given us His Word, and the Holy Spirit uses that Word to move in a person’s heart to cry out for salvation, “how can they believe in whom they have not heard?” 1 Corinthians 12:3 “. . . no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except in the Holy Spirit.”[3]
We hear the Word of God, We Believe the Word of God,
and We Hope In the Word of God.
An Inheritance (guaranteed redemption) Sealed with the Holy Spirit
As a means of guaranteeing His promises to those who have received Jesus Christ, God has sealed [them] in Him with the Holy Spirit. Every believer is given the very Holy Spirit of God the moments he trusts in Christ. It is not a separate event (as in you place your faith in Christ, and then later are sealed. No, the two events happen simultaneously).[4] He is there to empower us for ministry, and function through the gifts He has given us. The Holy Spirit is our Helper and Advocate. He protects us and encourages He also guarantees our inheritance (see v. 11) in Jesus Christ.
The sealing of which Paul speaks here refers to an official mark of identification that was placed on a letter, contract, or other important document. The seal usually was made from hot wax, which was placed on the document and then impressed with a signet ring. The document was thereby officially identified with and under the authority of the person to whom the signet belonged.
The Seal of The Holy Spirit
M. Lloyd-Jones said regarding the church’s inability to understand the sealing of the Holy Spirit, “It is one of the most vital of all the New Testament doctrines with respect to revival and reawakening in the Christian Church.”[5]
Our Inheritance of Salvation is Secure[6]
In ancient times the seal of a king, prince, or noble represented security. When Daniel was thrown into the Lion’s Den, King Darius placed his seal over the entrance “so that nothing might be changed in regard to Daniel” ( 6:7). No one can change our salvation, not even ourselves through sin.
Jesus’ tomb was secured with a wax and seal, Matthew 27:66 “So they went and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone and setting a guard.” No one was allowed to open it, upon penalty of death by the Roman government.
In the book of Revelation 6:9-10 it is discussing Jesus and him being worthy to open a scroll set apart for the end of time, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, 10 and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.” So a seal secures something, to be opened at a designated time, by the proper person, and that security is only as powerful as the one whom the seal represents. Today, no contract is complete until both parties sign the dotted line. The Holy Spirit in the life of the believer is God’s signature of promise.
Jesus even prayed in His High Priestly Prayer, for those who would choose to follow Him, John 17:11 “Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, . . .” The Holy Spirit keeps us, secures us as the Fathers’.
Our Salvation is Authentic (a certificate of authenticity)
When God gives us His Holy Spirit at conversion, it is as if he stamps us with a permanent seal that reads, “God’s own for eternity.” Out on the plains cattle ranchers would brand their cattle (permanent) so that they could not be stolen and so they could easily be identified.[7]
The Seal of the Holy Spirit Gives Believers Authority
When the Holy Spirit seals believers, He marks them as God’s divine children, who from that moment on entirely and eternally belong to Him. As God’s children there are expectations for them to do, the presence of the Holy Spirit in their lives gives them the authority to do those things.
“When Christians are sealed with the Holy Spirit they are delegated to proclaim, teach, minister, and defend God’s Word and His gospel with the Lord’s own authority.”[8]
In John 6:27 (turn there) those that Jesus had fed the day before approach Jesus asking for proof that Jesus was the Messiah, and Jesus responds, “Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.” Jesus by saying that God the Father has “set his seal” upon him is saying “God has made it clear that I am His Son, that I, the Son of Man, am the Son of God in that He has sealed me, has given me authority, has authenticated my claims, has established my ministry, and has anointed me as the Messiah.”
Children of God Have the Authority to Speak on His Behalf;
Make Sure You Get the Message Right.
2 Timothy 2:15 “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.”
The Believer’s Inheritance Is Guarantied
“(v. 14) who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.”
The purpose of Paul’s teaching about the Holy Spirit’s presence in our lives is so that we can be grounded, unmovable, established, steadfast in our daily lives. God has plans and work for us to do. His presence keeps us grounded and moving forward until the work is complete. We can keep moving forward because we have a promise from God. (v. 14) “guarantee,” It is a promise of something that is to come, like an engagement ring, a down payment, God’s first installment of what is to come, is the presence of the Holy Spirit in the believer’s life.
God’s presence in our lives today, is but a “down payment” (a portion of the whole[9]) of what is to come in our future. The Holy Spirit’s presence today is the guarantee (the promise) that more is to come later. Our inheritance (our redemption in eternity and a full relationship with God) is guaranteed by the presence of the Holy Spirit in their lives.
This fills us with encouragement, and emboldens us to keep pressing onward. This sealing of the Spirit tells us two things about heaven; 1) We will experience God more fully than we do today and 2) we will be free from sin so that we will become like Him. Right now we know God and are known by Him, but in eternity it will be so much better, and while today we are growing in righteousness (turning from sin), in eternity we will be completely freed from it. 1 Corinthians 13:12 “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.”
When something in the future was so certain that it could not possible fail to happen, the Greeks would often speak of it as if it had already occurred. (aorist passive indicative) Our every conceivable need is met by God’s gracious provision in accordance with His divine promises. We are promised peace, love, grace, wisdom, eternal life, joy, victory, strength, guidance, power, mercy, forgiveness, righteousness, truth, fellowship with God, spiritual discernment, heaven, eternal riches, glory – those and every other good thing that come from God.
Even with all these promises and blessings from God, they are not the ultimate goal of our salvation. Man is redeemed for the purpose of restoring the divine image marred by sin, “to the praise of his glory.” Because God’s intention in creating men was that they should bear the divine image, salvation’s goal is creation’s goal – to redeem back all of creation (including mankind) so that God receives the glory that is due Him. We bear His image so that we may reflect His glory.
So in this opening chapter of Ephesians Paul uses three ways to think about our salvation, in the past (chosen before the foundation of the world), in the present where were are saved but also need to work out our salvation (there are things we need to learn and grow in our relationship with God, sanctification) so we have forgiveness and wisdom and insight, and the future (where we will be complete, perfectly existing as God originally designed humans to be) – to perfectly bear His image. All of creation will be restored.
Jude closes his letter with, “Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, 25 to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.”
Invitation
It all comes down to do you have a relationship with Jesus.
- The Past (Blessed, Chosen, Adoption)
- The Present (Redemption; Forgiveness, Wisdom & Insight)
- The Future (Inheritance; Sealed; security, authenticity, ownership, authority)
____________________
[1] “They were first called Christians at Antioch.” Acts 11:26
[2] D. M. Lloyd-Jones, God’s Ultimate Purpose, An Exposition of Ephesians 1:1 to 23 (Grand Rapids, Michigan; Baker Book House, 1978) 233.
[3] See also Ephesians 2:8 – grace/faith is a gift from God.
[4] Peter T. O’Brien, The Pillar New Testament Commentary, The Letter To The Ephesians (Grand Rapids, Michigan; William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1999) 119.
[5] Lloyd-Jones, 244.
[6] MacArthur, 35. Security, Authenticity, Ownership, and Authority.
[7] See also Ezekiel 9:4-6.
[8] MacArthur, 36.
[9] J. Armitage Robinson, Commentary on Ephesians, Exposition of the Greek Text (Grand Rapids, Michigan; Kregel Publications, 1979) 36.
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