The God of Life

Based on 1 Corinthians 15:12-20

What happens after we die? That’s probably one of the few questions that every human being has asked themselves. It’s a difficult question to answer beyond what we observe when any living creature dies. The body decomposes, returning minerals into the soil. But is that all? Do we simply cease to exist or is there something more? For most people, the idea that when we die that there is nothing else, that it’s simply lights out, is not a satisfying answer. For some, the thought that there is nothing that happens after we die is actually a bit alarming. But what would that something be? We are left to speculate. And there has been a lot of speculation among humanity for these past several thousand years.

One answer is that when we die, our souls leave our bodies and go somewhere else. Maybe the soul goes to the great consciousness from which it came. Or it goes to inhabit another body through reincarnation. Or it goes to heaven or maybe hell. I came across an interesting explanation of what might happen when we die a few years back. It goes like this. God remembers every moment of our lives. God doesn’t forget anything about us. So, although when we die we disintegrate and become elements in other living creatures, we remain in God’s eternal memory. We are living memories in God. An interesting explanation that may not work for everyone.

What happens after we die was an issue in the church in Corinth. It was a big enough issue that Paul had to address it in his letter to the church. All of chapter 15 is about this issue. It appears that not all the Christians were on the same page when it came to belief in the resurrection. For Paul, it clearly mattered to him what people believed about the resurrection. This was not an agree to disagree moment. For Paul, belief in the resurrection was a central part of the gospel message. Our salvation depended on what we believed about the resurrection.

What did some of the Christians believe about resurrection? Paul doesn’t explicitly say. He only says that he has heard some do not believe there will be a resurrection from the dead. This is hard to understand when Paul made it clear in his proclamation of the gospel that Jesus died for our sins, was buried, and after three days rose from the dead. Did some of the Christians think that only Jesus rose from the dead but no one else will? Did some think that at baptism people experience a spiritual resurrection at that moment? We unfortunately don’t know what exactly it was that they thought about resurrection.

But it is clear what Paul thinks about resurrection. He is letting the Corinthians know that when God rose Jesus from the dead, that this was not a one and done. No, Jesus was the first of many who will rise from the dead. Paul says that Jesus’ resurrection is the first fruits of the resurrection. The first fruits offering which the Jews would have known about was the first offering of what was harvested from the fields. That first offering is offered to God as an act of gratitude. In the same way, when Jesus rose from the dead, that was the first of what would be a harvest of resurrection at some point in the future.

For Paul, we can anticipate experiencing resurrection ourselves. We will rise from the dead just like Jesus did, with real bodies. But these bodies won’t wear out or be ravaged by disease. They will be indestructible bodies that our souls will inhabit for eternity. This hope of experiencing the resurrection is central to the gospel message, Paul says. Our salvation depends on having this hope in our own resurrection. To not believe it is to make belief in Jesus a vain belief. Paul goes so far as to say that those who don’t believe in their own resurrection are still lost in their sins. How so?

Let’s remember what death is understood to be. If we go back to the book of Genesis, we find the ancient story of Adam and Eve. It is in this story that we are told that death is the consequence of sin. Death is a curse. It was not part of God’s intent. We might remember when Jesus was having an argument with some Sadducees, who did not believe in the resurrection, Jesus said to them that God is the God of the living and not the dead. God is the source of life. Death is not what God is about.

When Paul says that if there is no resurrection we are still lost in our sin, what he means is that if we die and stay dead, that means we are still under the curse of sin. Death is the punishment of sin. So, if we stay dead, we haven’t been delivered from that punishment.

But Jesus removed the curse. When he died on the cross for our sins, was buried, and then was raised from the dead after three days, the curse of death was broken. Death has been defeated. This is the good news! Because of Jesus we are set free from the curse. Does this mean there are no consequences for our sin? No. Does this mean that we won’t die? Of course not. There are consequences for the sins we commit. Sin harms our relationship with God, others, the earth, and ourselves. We will all die. But we won’t stay dead. We will live on, not as disembodied spirits floating around but in real, substantial, spiritual bodies. As Jesus was raised, so will we.

But what difference does this make in our lives right now? It is certainly good news to have hope that there is something for us after we die, that we don’t simply cease to exist, fade to black. But does belief in the resurrection make any impact on how we live today? That’s not an easy question to answer. There’s surely more than one answer. Perhaps you could say that since we are going to live forever and that our life on this world is merely a blip in time, then why really be concerned about this world? As I have heard people say, it’s all going to burn anyway so why should we be concerned about the problems of the world? Our singular focus ought to be to proclaim the gospel and save as many people as possible before judgment day. Nothing else matters. I have also heard this phrase that some Christians are so heavenly minded that they are no earthly good. They simply don’t care much about the state of the world. Best to persevere through this life of woe until we are finally released from this old world and be at home with Jesus. Why care about the changing climate or social justice?

I don’t believe that’s the best way to let the hope of the resurrection to influence our lives in this world. Instead, I suggest that our hope in the resurrection reinforces a core belief about who God is. God is the source of life. God is the God of the living. God loves what God has made and seeks to redeem it from the stain of sin and the curse of death. God conquers death so that creation can be set free from its curse because God is all about life, abundant, creative, harmonious, flourishing life. Anything, any action, that contributes to the flourishing of life is what God is about. Resurrection reinforces this belief about what God is about. God is the God of life.

This core belief impacts how we live in our daily lives. To believe that God is about life and not death, and that by God’s grace we have been set free from the curse of sin and death so that we can experience eternal life, how does this impact how we live today? I submit to you that this belief in God motivates us to care for all that God has made, including our own bodies, including the earth itself. It is a reason to embrace life, to contribute to the flourishing of all life. Far from being uncaring or ambivalent about the state of the world, belief in the God of resurrection means contributing to what God is up to, which is redemption, flourishing, the mending of creation that is being ripped apart by sin.

Do you recall what we have been talking about the past few weeks? We have looked at what Paul said about spiritual gifts, that we all have one for the purpose of being used for the common good. Paul challenged us to express equal mutual concern for all. He reminded us that the central motivation for all we do is to be love, along with faith and hope. After saying all of this, about how we are to build up and care for community, he talks about resurrection. Belief in the resurrection is where we place our hope. It is this hope that encourages us to press on in our care for the world, to not despair that the forces of death will ultimately win, but in fact death has been defeated. Our lives of faith, hope and love are not in vain. It is the promise of resurrection that secures this. Glory be to God, the one who conquers death and the grave and provides for us life everlasting.