Turn with me to 1 Corinthians 15. 1 Corinthians 15. A powerful chapter dealing with the resurrection of Christ. We read together the first 28 verses and then 50 through 58. 1 through 28 and 50 through 58. Hear now the Word of God. Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you, otherwise you have believed in vain. From what I received I passed on to you as of first importance, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Peter and then to the twelve. After that, He appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then He appeared to James and then to the apostles. And last of all, He appeared to me also as to one abnormally born. For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God, I am what I am, and His grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. Whether then it was I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed. But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless, and so is your faith. More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that He raised Christ from the dead. But He did not raise Him, if in fact the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile, you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men. but Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive, but each in his own turn, Christ the firstfruits. Then when He comes, those who belong to Him. Then the end will come when He hands over the kingdom to God the Father after He has destroyed all dominion, authority, and power, for he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death, for he has put everything under his feet. Now when it says that everything has been put under him, it is clear that this does not include God himself, who put everything under Christ. When he has done this, then the Son himself will be made subject to him who put everything under him, so that God may be all in all. And skipping over to verse 50, I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Listen, I tell you a mystery. We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true. Death has been swallowed up in victory. Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. Turn with me also to our confessional reference, Heidelberg Catechism, Lord's Day 17, page 24 in the back of the Psalter hymnal. Lord's Day 17. One question and answer for us to consider, that is number 45, page 24, question and answer 45 as we recite what we believe together with this answer. The question asks us, how does Christ's resurrection benefit us? First, by His resurrection, He has overcome death so that He might make us share in the righteousness He won for us by His death. Second, by His power, We too are already now resurrected to a new life. Third, Christ's resurrection is a guarantee of our glorious resurrection. Dearly beloved congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior was born of the Virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate. He was crucified, died, and was buried. He obediently walked the path of humiliation all the way to eternal death and the hell of God-forsakenness on behalf of and in the place of His people. And by doing so, Jesus Christ accomplished redemption. But you see, it didn't end there. It couldn't end there. His work of accomplishing redemption was finished, but His work of applying the redemption to His people wasn't finished and still isn't finished. As the victor, our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ also walked the path of exaltation, a path which we also outlined in the Apostles' Creed, with these steps. He rose again from the dead, ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of God the Father. From there He shall come to judge the living and the dead. You see, Jesus Christ is the victor not because He is dead, but because He is alive today and forevermore. And the first step on our Savior's path of exaltation is His resurrection. Now notice that the catechism, the question, doesn't spend any time debating about whether or not the resurrection is a fact. Did it really happen or not? It assumes it's a fact. And rightly so. Although the lies began immediately with the chief priest bribing the soldiers to say, His disciples came at night and stole Him away while we slept. And although throughout the ages there have been many different theories trying to prove that the resurrection is false, and although many just simply cannot believe that something like this would be possible, in spite of all of this, the faithful church throughout the ages has rightfully believed and confessed that Jesus actually rose from the dead. The Word of God says so. All four Gospels tell the resurrection story. The angel's words, that is, the very Word of God, through his messengers to the women at the tomb, recorded in Luke 24, are awesome. Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here. He is risen. And Paul states in the very beginning of 1 Corinthians 15 that he preaches only the word he received, that word which he says, by which you are saved. And that word is that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures. And that He was buried. That He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures. In other words, Paul is saying that the resurrection of Christ was a necessary part of God's redemption plan. Oh, we know that that's true of every step as we talk about the ordo salutis, the order of salvation, and all of Christ's work. Everything we have considered so far. Even His ascension. How important that is to this redemption package. But here too, without the resurrection, God's plan is incomplete and it's ineffective. Of course, as we read, Paul gives a list of the eyewitnesses to the resurrected Christ, including himself. And Paul is challenging here, he's challenging those who say that there is no such thing as resurrecting from the dead. He challenges them by saying, now think about this for a moment. if there is no resurrection from the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. Now think about the ramifications of this he is saying. He goes on to explain that if Christ has not been raised, then everything they do, their preaching, their sermon writing, their faith, their good works, their suffering, persecution, everything they do in the name of Christ is all in vain. It's meaningless. It's for nothing. It's a waste of time. And in the same way that they are then false witnesses of God, saying that God accomplished something which in fact He did not. If the resurrection is not true. And then in verse 19, he says, If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men. If that's the case, then we are what some say that we are. that faith is just for the weak. Those who cannot stand on their own two feet, they need something to grab onto. Anything, doesn't matter what it is, so they grab onto faith for this life. If that's all the further, beloved, that our hope extends, then as Christians, we deserve to be the laughingstock of the world. But the fact is, Paul says Christ has indeed been raised from the dead. And therefore, believers, by the grace of God, are not most pitiable. Not the most to be pitied, but they are the most blessed. Lord's Day 17, reflecting the teaching of Scripture, focuses on the believer's benefit or profit from the fact of Christ's resurrection. And we could summarize this benefit with one small word. Life. Life. That first step on the Savior's path of exaltation, the resurrection, secures the believer's life. And therefore, with joy, we might consider this morning the benefit of justification to life. Secondly, the benefit of sanctification of life. And then finally, the benefit of glorification for life. How does Christ's resurrection benefit us? First, by His resurrection, He has overcome death so that He might make us share in the righteousness He won for us by His death. You see, the resurrection of our Savior, Lord Jesus Christ, establishes or re-establishes our right, the believer's right before God. Remember, in sin, man absolutely forfeited his right to the existence of life as God created him to enjoy. And in the place of that life was death. The wages of sin. And what was the character of death as punishment for sin? Remember? Separation. Separation from God spiritually, physically, and ultimately, eternal separation. Now often when we think of death, we think of that which we observe around us even again in these past few days for some of us. Even as boys and girls, we think of physical death. The dying of the body when the soul or the spirit and the breath of life is separated from that body. And it's no secret, beloved, as we look at the world around us that man fights against physical death. The world is constantly looking for that fountain of youth. Many are in search of that secret to live here forever, which they will not find. And the goal of society is to look younger the older you get. Jesus said in Mark 8, verse 37, For what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? And the expected answer is that he would give everything. And the truth is that if physical death were removed, much fear and sorrow would vanish from the world. But we still live in a world that is surrounded by death. And in this world, those who believe by grace through faith are constantly bombarded with the fact of sin and its wages. So often, we know this to be true, the evening news alone lays before us the evidence of spiritual death displayed in one crime after another. Read the newspaper as well. We see all around us the curse pronounced upon life in rebellion against God. as even as believers we are called to take up our cross as we endure the effects of sin. Well, where then is the believer's comfort of deliverance from all of this evidence around us? Where is the comfort of deliverance? Well, it's certainly not in ourselves. It's not in the power of positive thinking as is preached by some today. All we have to do, they say, to rise above this evidence of sin is to think positive, looking for the positive in all things, turning your scars into stars. But congregation, our comfort for deliverance is not from any created thing. We are more than conquerors in Him who loved us, who gave His life for us. Our comfort is only found in the work of Jesus Christ, especially here, the resurrection of Christ, by which He conquered death for His people forever. and secured life. The good news of Jesus Christ, the Gospel, is not simply a new perspective of positiveness, but it is a new reality in Christ brought by the power and grace of God. Our Savior overcame death and our sin by His death. Romans 4, verse 25 says, who, that is Christ, was delivered up because of our offenses and was raised because of our justification. raised, that we might be justified. By His suffering and death, Jesus paid the penalty for our sin as He bore the curse of God's wrath and His punishment. And by His resurrection, God the Father, as it were, accepted that payment as complete, paid in full. With the wages of sin removed, death is overcome. And there remains life in Christ. That's the new reality. And again, that right to life which had been completely forfeited because of sin is restored because Jesus Christ has won righteousness for us by His death, as the catechism says, or as the older version says, He obtained it for us. We didn't do it. He's the one that secured it. Every bit of it. His resurrection, which proves His victory, is the ground upon which we have the right to stand before God. It is the reason believers enjoy the benefit of justification to life. In that beautiful hymn, Praise the Savior, we sing these words, Our work faileth, Christ's availeth. He is all our righteousness. At His death, for three days, all seemed quiet, as if death was victorious. But no, death could not keep its prey. But up from the grave He arose. His is the victory. And the spoils of war, his righteousness, he freely gives to his people. By God's grace, his people, believers, stand before him justified. With once again a right to life in fellowship with God. A right given to us by Jesus Christ. Boys and girls, what does it mean to be justified? Well, God looks at us in Christ and He no longer sees sin and sin's wages. That has been forgiven. That's the one part of it. But then He sees us in Christ as righteous. Our sins are completely cast away and we are clothed in the righteousness of Jesus Christ. We have a new standing before God. Why does God see His elect as righteous? The Catechism says that Christ makes us share in the righteousness He won for us. He makes it a very part of us. He makes us share in that. How does He do this? Well, Lord's Day 23, question and answer 60, gives a beautiful definition of justification. How are you right with God? Question 60 asks, only by true faith in Jesus Christ, even though my conscience accuses me of having grievously sinned against all God's commandments and of never having kept any of them. And let me point out that that's a very important thing. That indeed, each one of us ought to be accused by our conscience that we have grievously sinned against all of God's commandments. If your conscience doesn't accuse you of that, there's something drastically wrong. And even though I am still inclined toward all evil, Nevertheless, without my deserving it at all, out of sheer grace, and here it comes, God grants and credits to me the perfect satisfaction, righteousness, and holiness of Christ, as if I had never sinned nor been a sinner, as if I had been as perfectly obedient as Christ was obedient for me. All I need to do is to accept this gift of God with a believing heart. Notice, it says, He grants and credits His righteousness to me. Another word for this that we use is imputation. Imputation, that's what it means. He grants and credits using an accounting analogy. He freely gives it to me and in doing so, He erases the balance of my account on that ledger which reads complete unholiness, unrighteousness, and disobedience. And He, as it were, writes over that then, perfect holiness, righteousness, and obedience. He changes my standing before God from guilty to not guilty. He changes my punishment from death to life. He applies His redemptive work to my account. That's justification. But you see, I won't do it. He has to do it. You won't do it. All of Christ's benefits could be right before your eyes or my eyes. Within arm's length even. And left to ourselves, we won't even lift so much as a finger for these benefits. But Jesus Christ places His benefits in our hands. And we then cling to Christ's righteousness by grace through faith so that, for example, when it doesn't appear that around us there is much change, after all, the number of deaths hasn't gone down, has it? It's still one for one. No one can escape the bony fingers of death or the dismal grave with its decay. Yet the believer who clings to Christ's righteousness can say, O death, where is your victory, O death? Where is your sting? Death for the believer is a shadow. And we know that sometimes a shadow can be frightening, right, boys and girls? Especially in the middle of the night, in the darkness, a shadow can be terribly frightening. But what can a shadow never do? A shadow cannot hurt you and me. It cannot harm us. It can do no damage to you and me. Jesus Christ has removed for the believer what is so terrible about death. And while the world continues to give testimony to the remaining power of sin and death, the believer can confidently confess that there is salvation and life in Christ because he has overcome death and removed that separation between God and His people. It's just a shadow. But not only does our Lord apply His saving work to our account, Not only does He change our standing before God, but our Lord also applies His saving work to our very being. He changes our condition. The believer also enjoys the benefit of sanctification of life. The catechism says that second benefit, by His power, we too are already now resurrected to a new life. You see, this new life is not simply, not only a pronouncement upon us, that's what justification is. It's a declaration, a legal term, as in a court of law when the judge says either guilty or not guilty. Justification is a declaration upon you and I. It happens at a point in time that God says not guilty for the sake of Jesus Christ. But that new life is not only a pronouncement, a declaration, it is also worked in us by the Holy Spirit through sanctification. That sanctification then flows out of that justification. And it continues on throughout our life. The resurrected Lord sent His Holy Spirit to empower His people unto new obedience. And what is in view here, beloved, is the transformation from the old man to the new man. Christ's resurrection applies that which His sacrifice and death accomplished, as question and answer 43 of Lord's Day 16 explains. What further advantage do we receive from Christ's sacrifice and death on the cross? through Christ's death our old selves are crucified put to death and buried with Him so that the evil desires of the flesh may no longer rule us but that instead we may dedicate ourselves as an offering of gratitude to Him. And 2 Corinthians 5 verse 17 says Therefore if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation. Old things have passed away. Behold all things have become new. This new life congregation is the life of the regenerated man that is directed toward the will of God. By God's grace, believers have been lifted up out of the grave of sin to newness of life. The old man, the old life, is really a living in the grave. It is a living death. The stench and rot and decay of the old life ruins all that is around it. Oh, you know, we look around and for some, that life may look good on the outside. But they are nothing more than whitewashed sepulchres, tombs that are rotting on the inside. But the new life is totally different. The man possessed by the legion of demons demonstrates this. Before, he was like a wild animal walking naked among the tombs and he was a threat to society. But after Jesus had compassion on him, he sat at our Lord's feet clothed, also clothed with a sane mind. Believers are new people by the power of the Holy Spirit who live by a new principle of life and that principle is not the death of the flesh but it is the principle of life in the Spirit according to the standard of God's law. And that principle, as Paul says in Galatians 2, is Christ living in me. He is the vine and His people are the branches that draw life-giving sap from Him. We know that the vine lives out through the branches and the branches give expression to the living vine. I'm reminded of that, especially with the fruitless mulberry trees in our backyard. When Jack chops them off and cuts all the branches and leaves off, the tree looks dead for a few months. You wonder if it's ever going to come back. And when we first moved here a year ago, they were completely chopped off. But then about this time of year, here comes the green. proof again that that tree is alive. The branches grow only because of the life of the vine. Believers grow only by the power of Christ who said, apart from me, you can do nothing. And therefore then, believers give expression to the world of the living Christ. Did you hear that? The world is to see through you and me that Christ is alive. And, beloved, that growth is a daily process in this life. Believers are raised up to a new life today, but will enjoy the perfection of it in the life to come. Sanctification is a process in the power of the Holy Spirit of daily renewal and growth, putting off more and more sin and its pollution, and being renewed more and more after the image of God. And this growth depends upon daily communion with Christ, as Paul says in Philippians 3, verse 10, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection. Beloved, justification is the work of Christ for us. Sanctification is the work of Christ in us through His Spirit. He causes us to believe justification, to believe that indeed our sins are forgiven, to believe that indeed God sees us as righteous, even though we don't always feel righteous. but that He sees us as righteous in Christ. He causes us to believe justification by faith. And He causes us to experience sanctification by renewal. You see, those are sadly mistaken who believe that they can sing, then in the Lord be joyful, in song lift up your voice, be glad in God, ye righteous, rejoice, ye saints, rejoice. From Psalm 32, when in reality there is no evidence of sanctification. There are many, as it has been described, who dust off their faith around Easter time as they make their annual pilgrimage to church for their one service a year, but give little or no evidence of new obedience the rest of the year. You see, this is to act as if the impossible is possible, and that is to truly profess the risen Christ, but not share in His resurrection life. It's impossible. It's impossible. One who is able to truly profess the risen Christ shares, must share of necessity in his resurrection life. To boast of forgiveness, but to continue to stroke and pamper the old man is to be foolishly deceived. But one who is a new creation cannot do that. Beloved, the power of Christ's resurrection is that the past is forgiven through justification to life. The present is meaningful through sanctification of life, but also the future is certain as the believer enjoys the benefit of glorification for life. The Catechism says, Third, Christ's righteousness is a guarantee of our glorious resurrection. Boys and girls, this guarantee, this pledge is God's promise that because Jesus rose again and His body and soul were once again reunited, the very same thing will take place for the child of God. Paul says again in 1 Corinthians 15, 19, if only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men. But his point is that our hope goes way beyond this life. It doesn't end when we take our last breath. The believer's hope is eternal. And as Peter says, it is a living hope. And it's not only real in principle today, but it will be a reality in the life to come. Paul gives a beautiful picture of the intimate connection between Christ's resurrection and the believer's resurrection in verse 20. But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. The firstfruits point to the fact that indeed the grain is ripening and there will be a harvest. But also those firstfruits are joined with the full harvest yet to come. They represent that full harvest. The firstfruits guarantee the harvest. When Christ rose again from the dead with a glorified body, that meant that quite a harvest was coming. And the Bible describes Christ as the head of His body, the church. And you can't separate the head from the body. If you do, there's no life. Everybody knows that. If you cut off your head, what happens? There's no life. And we also know that of those who were brought back to life, like Lazarus and the centurion's daughter and Dorcas, none stayed alive save Christ. But they all eventually died physically once again. But Jesus Christ is visible proof and a pledge, a guarantee that we too shall be raised to life for eternity. Romans 8 verse 11 says, But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. The body must follow the head. And our confidence is verse 54 says, When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true. Death has been swallowed up in victory. we shall be raised an imperishable body conformed to His glorified body, His glorious body, as Paul says in Philippians 3. One day in the new heavens and the new earth, all will be perfect with our bodies as well. There in that place, there will be no more growth or development, no more physical or mental handicaps, no more depression, no more vanity, no more effects of sin. There. There will only be the strength and power and the glory of the Lord forever and ever, the believer's soul is resurrected in this life through regeneration. So that upon physical death, that soul goes immediately into the presence of God, as Paul says, for to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. And then our bodies will be resurrected, rejoined with our souls upon the return of Christ. A mystery, you bet. But that's what will take place. And because Jesus Christ lives, the believer enjoys the benefit of life through justification, sanctification, and one day glorification. The exalted resurrection of our Savior points to His decisive victory over death, hell, and the devil so that we can confidently sing death no longer is the stronger, hell itself is captive-led. And we can live in the confidence, beloved, that soar we now where Christ has led, following our exalted head, made like Him. Like Him we rise. Ours the cross, the grave, the skies. Alleluia. What a reason to rejoice, huh? Even in tribulation? Because our Savior lives. This is the believer's hope, and only for the believer. Apart from the Lord Jesus Christ, one is still overcome by death. Those who do not serve the risen Savior will forever experience the sting of death and the victory of the grave. It is only through repentance of sin and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ that one can enjoy Christ's victory over eternal death and that one can enjoy the celebration of eternal life. Those who only by the grace of God through faith and the risen Savior enjoy already today the security of eternal life. Only they can heed the words of Paul in verse 58 of chapter 15. Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. Why is this true? Because Christ the Lord is risen today. Alleluia. Amen. Shall we pray? Father, indeed, what reason we have to rejoice. To say, Alleluia, what a Savior. As we consider the salvation that you have given to us, Sometimes that term salvation can be so broad and we know that there is so much that is included, yet it is a package. It is a precious treasure which is sealed and given to us by your Holy Spirit. Father, may we rest assured in this gift of salvation. May we desire to be those who give expression to the world that indeed Christ is alive. May we not hide our light under a bushel. May the world see when they look at us the light of Jesus Christ shining forth powerfully and brightly and that if it is Your will they might glorify our Father in Heaven. Thank You, Lord, for Your precious gift of salvation. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.