Body Life (3): Body 2.0 (Resurrection) 2016-0131

. 4 min read

2016/01/31 Christ Church,
Mountain Top
Call to Worship, Psalm 92
Children, Luke
6.39-49
Message, 1 Corinthians 15 (1-14,
35-58)
The problem in Corinth:
      The
“spiritual” who do not need their inferior bodies
      Believe
in Christ’s resurrection, but NOT that of his followers
            Just
the immortal (and superior) soul
      Body
issues
Paul’s response:
      Resurrection
of Jesus at the center of the gospel proclamation
            (kerygma)
      Resurrection
of Jesus is the reason that we will be resurrected
            Can’t
have one without the other
      Death
and sin are partners
            Can’t
defeat one without defeating the other
      What
does resurrection mean for the body? 2 analogies
      KEY:
What does resurrection mean for our living?
Afterlife conversation:

      Nothing

            No
immortal soul, no future for the body, nothing
            Difficult
to explain why we should have any larger concern
      Immortal
soul (NOT body)
            Movie
Ghost, our eternal destiny based on
being good/bad
      Angelic
existence: “God needed another angel”
            Clouds,
harps, wings
      Reincarnation,
immortal soul (NEW body)
            Our
next life based on how pure we are in this one
            Object:
Nirvana, no personal consciousness or body
      Resurrection,
immortal soul, immortal body
            Our
next life is a gift of the grace of God-incarnate
Funerals:
      He’s
in a better place
      She
looks good, at peace
      Where
is hope located?
      Death
inevitable
            Irma
to the cemetery salesman
Repeated phrase, “not in vain” –
impact of resurrection for living
Faith not in vain, 15.2, 14
Grace not in vain, 15.10
Proclamation in vain if Christ is
not raised, 15.14
Labor in the Lord is not in vain,
15.58
      Labor
in vain (product of sin, Genesis 3.17-19)
Vain Faith, unpacked in the
partner problems of Death & Sin
      You
are still in your sins, 15.17
      Those
who have died in Christ have perished, 15.18
Continuity and Change: Two
Analogies
      Seed
: Bodies
      Adam
: Christ
      Continuity:
seed and plant, DNA
            (yet
change, after burial)
      Change:
image of Adam or image of Christ (last Adam)
            “as
all die in Adam, so all will be made alive in Christ” 15.22
            (yet
continuity – Adam, image)
“We will ALL be changed” –
resurrection applies even to those who have not died (“rapture”)
Jesus, “the first fruits” (15.20)
from the dead, the MODEL for our resurrection. Things Jesus could do in his
resurrected body:
      Walk
      Eat
      Talk
      Touch
and be touched
      Enter
through locked doors, without opening them
      Be
recognized – and be unrecognized (changed)
Trojan Horse and Jesus’
resurrection
      The
last enemy to be destroyed is death, 15.26
      Death
has been swallowed up in victory, 15.54
Early Fathers (Aulen, Christus Victor, 52-53)
      Cheese
in a mouse trap (Augustine)
      Bait
on a hook (Gregory of Nyssa)
Christ “concealed himself under
the veil of our nature, in order that, as happens with greedy fishes, together
with the bait of the flesh the hook of the Godhead might also be swallowed, and
so, through Life passing over into death, and the Light arising in the
darkness, that which is opposed to Life and Light might be brought to nought.
For darkness cannot endure when the Light shines, nor can death remain in being
where Life is active”
Implications for our living:
      The
message (kerygma) matters
      God’s
grace changes lives
      Faith
in Jesus gives victory over both sin & death
      All
we do to serve and obey Jesus LASTS
            (Unlike
our labor under the effects of sin)
The curse, broadly speaking, is
undone!
Resources:
Gordon Fee. 1987. The First Epistle to the Corinthians.
Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.

Gustav Aulen. 1986 (1968). Christus Victor: An historical study of the
three main types of the idea of the atonement.
New York: Collier.