Our scripture reading for this evening comes from Paul's first letter to the Corinthians. 1 Corinthians chapter 15, verses 20-28. Beloved of the Lord, this is God's holy, inspired, and perfect word. Let us give careful attention to what God has to say to us this evening. 1 Corinthians 15, verses 20-28. 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 His feet, 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 our reading from our confessions this evening come from the Heidelberg Catechism, Lord's Day 22, question and answers 57 and 58. You can find this on page 29 at the back of your Psalters. Page 29. The Heidelberg Catechism, Lord's Day 22. I'll read the question and have you all respond together with the answer. Page 29 at the back of your blue Psalters. Catechism asks in question 57. How does the resurrection of the body comfort you? Not only my soul will be taken immediately after this life, to Christ its head, but even my very flesh, raised by the power of Christ, will be reunited with my soul and made like Christ's glorious body. How does the article concerning life everlasting comfort you? Even as I already now experience in my heart the beginning of eternal joy, so after this life, I will have perfect blessedness such as no eye has seen, no ear has heard, nor man has ever imagined. A blessedness in which to praise God eternally. Well friends, as we just read, we've read these words from the Catechism here in Lord's Day 22. And as we look at here at the catechism, as the catechism continues to expound and explain to us what we believe when we confess the Apostles' Creed, the creed that we confessed here this evening already, what do we believe, what does it mean when we say that we believe in the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting? Well, friends, as we begin this evening, let's just be brutally honest. You all, I, every single person, will die. After the sin of Adam, the curse of death hangs over all of us. And this inevitability of death is wonderfully and poignantly described for us in the words of Shakespeare. By way of his character, Richard II. The King of England, as he contemplates that even he, this great King, who has all this power and authority, even death will come for him. And Shakespeare's Richard II, he speaks about the absurdity of death. He writes this, the King confesses this. No matter where, of comfort no man speak. Let's talk of graves, of worms, and epithets. Make dust our paper, and with rainy eyes write sorrow on the bosom of the earth. Let's choose executors and talk of wills, and yet not so. For what can we bequeath? What can we pass on save our deposed bodies to the ground? So the king here is lamenting that all he can give, After all these riches, all he can pass on to the coming generations is his body to the ground to be wasted away. But the king not only stops there, but the king laments that even death will come for him. Not even he, the great king, can escape death. Richard II goes on to say, For you have but mistook me all this while. You have misunderstood me all this time. I live with bread like you. I feel want, I taste grief, I need friends. And subjected thus, how can you say to me that I am a king? And so what Shakespeare's Richard II is really contemplating here is that death is inevitable. It comes for all of us, even kings and princes. It is one thing that none of us can escape. Adam's curse comes for all of us. And yet, my brothers and sisters, we as sons and daughters of the King, we as believers, we do not die, we do not face death in fear, we do not face death in doubt, but we face death in hope and in comfort because we belong to our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. And when we look at the New Testament, we see how Jesus, we see how the Apostle Paul speaks to us about death. Remember how Jesus and Paul speak about the death of believers as those who have fallen asleep. As we just heard here in 1 Corinthians 15, verse 20, Paul says that those who die in Christ are those who have fallen asleep. And this metaphor for death here, this metaphor of sleep, it seems to imply that someday those who have fallen asleep, as it were, they will awaken. They will rise from their sleep. They will rise from death. And John, the Apostle John, when he sees this great and glorious vision, his vision recorded for us in the book of the Revelation, John, when he sees the death of believers, He describes the death of believers not as hopelessness, not as something to be feared, but John calls it the first resurrection. Our death, your death, friends, is your first resurrection because that is the first place that you experience the wonderful transforming grace of Jesus Christ. You see, friends, Christians, we as believers die in hope. We die with assurance. but even though as we all know and we all experience in this life that we will die what happens to us where do we go after death well throughout the history of the church the church has sought to answer this question in numerous ways and one way in which the church answered this question during the Middle Ages and up until the time of the Reformation was that, especially in the Church of Rome, the Church of Rome taught that those who died, even believers, those who died in Christ, did not go immediately into the presence of Jesus. They did not go immediately to be with their Savior. But the Church of Rome taught and still teaches to this day, my brothers and sisters, That most Christians, most Christians must experience a time of purifying, purging fire in a place known as purgatory. They must go to purgatory, says Rome, to be cleansed from all the remaining sin that's left over from this life. But this whole doctrine, this whole idea of this place known as purgatory, was really one of the sparks that ignited the Reformation. And the reformers, the author of our catechism here, or Sinus, they had two major objections to this doctrine of purgatory. Firstly, they said, well, there's simply no scriptural warrant for it. There's nowhere in God's Word where we hear of this place known as purgatory, this place where all of our remaining sin is purged away with fire. But secondly, and maybe an even more important objection to this understanding of the afterlife, is that it implies that we must add something to the work of Christ. Namely, that being purified in purgatory instead of by the perfect righteousness and work of Jesus Christ alone. Thus, the author of our catechism, Zacharias Ersinus, objected to this idea of purgatory this way. He said, No fire after death. No place known as purgatory. But only the blood of Christ purifies our souls in this life from all sin. So friends, when we ask the question, where will I go? Where will I be after my death? Our catechism tells us explicitly here that you will be immediately in the presence of Jesus. Remember what the catechism said as it explains what we confess here in the Apostles' Creed. How does the resurrection of the body comfort you? Notice how it begins this answer. Not only my soul will be taken immediately after this life to Christ, to Christ its head. So friends, what the Catechism here is telling us is that when your body dies, when your body dies, your soul will immediately go to be with Christ. Immediately. No place of purging, no place of fire, notice purgatory, but immediately into the presence of Jesus. We see this indicated in numerous places in the New Testament. Just to mention a few this evening, 2 Corinthians 5, verse 8, Paul says, We would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. Away from this body and home with our Lord Jesus Christ. No place of purgatory, no place of purging mentioned by the Apostle Paul. And Paul also says in Philippians 1, verse 23, he says, My desire is to depart and be with Christ. To be immediately with Christ seems to be Paul's implication here. And then, of course, those famous words of our Lord Jesus Christ, as He spoke to the thief on the cross, He said to that thief, that sinner like all of us, He said to that thief, today, this very day, you will be with Me in Paradise. So we see here, friends, of the New Testament consistently tells us that we will be immediately, after our deaths, we will immediately go to be with Jesus. But remember here how the Catechism frames this understanding of these two articles from the Apostles' Creed. Notice how it frames these questions. Firstly, in question 57, how does the resurrection of the body comfort you? And then question 58. What does the article concerning life everlasting, or how does the article concerning life everlasting comfort you? The catechism is here again picking up on that central theme that runs throughout the body of the catechism. It's my comfort. My comfort in life and in death. How can I have hope? How does my confessing to believe in the resurrection of the body and life everlasting, How does that bring me assurance and consolation in this life? Well, friends, what we see here, and the two central points we see that we'll spend some time looking at this evening, is that you can have comfort. You can have hope, brothers and sisters. Firstly, because you will be raised like Jesus. You can have hope in this world of sin because you will be raised like Jesus Christ. And secondly, what we see here in the Catechism, what we'll see in 1 Corinthians 15, is that you can have hope, you can have comfort, because you will live in paradise with Jesus. You will live in that perfect promised land for all eternity with Jesus Christ. So let's spend some time then looking at this first point. That you can have hope, you can have comfort, because you will be raised like Jesus. The Catechism explains that when we confess to believe in the resurrection of the body, it tells us here that it explains it this way, but even my very flesh will be raised by the power of Christ, will be reunited with my soul, and made like Christ's glorious body. Even though our bodies die, even though our bodies will die, And we'll be separated from our souls at death. God's Word promises us, friends, it promises you that you will be raised again. You'll be raised again by God Himself. We see this very clearly here in 1 Corinthians 15, verses 20 and 23. Remember what the Apostle wrote to the Corinthian Christians here. Verse 20, 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. As we saw earlier, What we see here, the Apostle Paul is telling us is that Adam's sin, Adam's rebellion against his creator, Adam's sin guarantees our death. As we saw earlier, death is the one thing that none of us can escape. And Paul makes this absolutely clear by taking us back to that first man, the man, Adam. Through Adam's sin and his rebellion against his Creator, He brought the curse of death upon each and every one of us. Upon the whole human race. As God Himself says in Genesis 3.19, after He had cursed the serpent and after He had cursed the woman, God now comes to this One who was supposed to be the King and supposed to rule over this Garden of Eden. He comes to Adam and says, to Him. Genesis 3.19 By the sweat of your brow you will eat food until you return to the ground. Since from it you were taken, for dust you are, and to dust you will return. And Adam, by all of us being his sons and daughters, we all will die. We all say, with the words of Richard II, what can we bequeath? What can we pass on save our deposed bodies to the ground? And yet, friends, Adam, the curse of Adam is not Paul's primary focus here in these verses. Paul's primary subject here is Christ. It's the work of Jesus Christ and our connection, our being united to Him. And if Adam's sin guarantees our death, then what Paul says here is that Christ's resurrection guarantees our resurrection. Notice what Paul says at the beginning of verse 2. But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. There's no doubt about it in the mind of the Apostle Paul. Jesus Christ has been raised. And throughout this chapter in verse 15, Paul is responding to this objection raised in verse 12. At the end of verse 12, Paul gives this hypothetical critique or objection that he now responds to. How can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? Paul, throughout this passage, and is responding to this objection, some in the Corinthian churches were objecting that there could be a general resurrection of the dead. But Paul proceeds by defeating this objection by pointing to the fact that Christ has been raised. And if Christ has been raised, if Jesus Christ was raised from the dead, then you also, Paul is saying, you also will be raised on the last day. That is Paul's point. Jesus' resurrection guarantees your resurrection. And notice how the language Paul uses here. He uses the language of firstfruits. He uses it two times here in verses 20-23. And in the Old Testament, the firstfruits were given to God to signify that the remainder of what was offered also belonged to God. That this first part was but the beginning of more to come. And so this language Paul uses here of the first fruits is that Jesus Christ, His resurrection, is that first offering given to God. And the first fruit, the first offering, guarantees the delivery, guarantees the payment of the final, the last fruits. Namely, our resurrection, our resurrection from the dead. Paul's point here then is that Christ, Jesus Christ brings life. Where Adam and where his curse has brought death, decay, sweat, and toil, Jesus Christ gives life. Jesus Christ brings resurrection. And so then, friends, the resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth, the resurrection of Jesus is the turning point of the ages. It means that men and women, sinners, sons and daughters of Adam, are no longer under that curse. By His resurrection, Jesus reverses that curse. He defeats the powers and all our enemies. We are no longer under the curse of death, but under the blessing of new life and resurrection in Christ. But when will this resurrection happen? We don't see it here in our day. Well, Paul tells us in verse 23. Then, the end of verse 23, Then, when He comes, those who belong to Him. When Jesus Christ returns in glory on that last day, the souls of believers, our souls will be reunited with perfect and glorious bodies. And Paul mentions this last day later in chapter 15. Notice how Paul describes this last day when Christ will come and raise us from the dead, beginning in verse 51. 1 Corinthians 15.51 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 sin? Where, O death, is your victory? So how does our hope, How does our belief in confession and the resurrection comfort you? How does it bring us comfort in this world, friends? Well, it means that even though your bodies die, even though they waste away, even though they hurt, even though our minds become cloudy and we become forgetful, friends, your death is not the final word. Your body will be raised. We will be raised not to more death and not raised to more decay and more suffering, but we'll be raised imperishable as Paul has just told us. We will be raised to eternal and everlasting glory as we'll see in our second point. So why can you have comfort and hope, friends? Because the tomb is empty. We can have hope because the tomb is empty. He is risen. He is risen indeed. That is why we can have hope in the resurrection. That's what brings us comfort in this life, that we will be raised like Jesus Christ. But secondly, what we see here in the Catechism and also here in 1 Corinthians, is that we can have comfort for our souls. We can have hope. We can have assurance in this world as we face death. You can have comfort because you will live in paradise. You will live in paradise for all eternity with Jesus. Notice how the Catechism explains this confession of believing in a life everlasting and how it gives us comfort. Even as I already now experience in my heart the beginnings of eternal joy. Notice what the Catechism says then. So after this life, I will have perfect blessedness. I will have perfect blessedness. This, friends, brothers and sisters, this is our great hope, our great expectation. That we will inherit a life free of all pain, suffering, and evil. And this life, this promise to us, Paul most eloquently states for us here in 1 Corinthians, beginning in verse 24. Remember what the Apostle says here. Then the end, 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. And in these verses here, the Apostle Paul takes us beyond what he's already explained to us in verses 20 and 23. It goes beyond this resurrection from the dead. After the resurrection, Christ will come. Christ comes and He offers the kingdom, the new heavens, the new earth. He offers them as a gift to His Father. You see, the Son, Jesus Christ, had sworn to the Father. He had made a covenant with the Father that He would come to live, to die, and to rise for those chosen by the Father. But He also swore, He also made a covenant with the Father that He would defeat and conquer all His enemies and all of our enemies, including the great enemy, the great curse that hung over Adam, even death itself. In His resurrection and ascension, Jesus dealt the death blow to all of our enemies, to all of His enemies. He dealt that death blow. But friends, it's not until that last and final day when all these enemies will be finally and forever conquered and subjected under the Son, Jesus Christ. Remember how the Apostle John records this rather sobering vision of the great rider on the white horse in Revelation chapter 19, 11-16. I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice, he judges and makes war. His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. Out of His mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. He will rule them with an iron scepter. He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. On His robe and on His thigh, He has this name written, King of Kings and Lord of Lords. This is that final day when Jesus Christ comes and perfectly and finally subjects all of our enemies. But friends, how does this give you comfort in this world? Well, friends, Christ's conquest, Christ's victory, ensures for us a perfect paradise. This life of perfect blessedness, as the catechism describes it, this life of perfect blessedness is ensured by the perfect and everlasting victory of Jesus Christ over all His enemies. Our hope, friends, is indeed a paradise, the new Garden of Eden. And many of us think that paradise is, in very earthly terms, We think of it as maybe a tropical beach where we can relax and have no cares in the world. But friends, eternal paradise is much greater and much more glorious than some beach with some palm trees and some sand. Jesus Christ, the true and second Joshua, goes before us and conquers and wins for us an eternal promised land. A promised land free of all pain, all suffering, all death, and all decay. In this Garden of Eden, in this promised land, there will be no serpents. There will be no serpents to tempt. Because they have all been finally and forever defeated by King Jesus, the rider on the white horse of Revelation chapter 19. And this is your hope then, brothers and sisters. This is where you are to find comfort for your souls. Your King, Jesus Christ, He ensures that you will live and reign with Him in eternal paradise. A paradise where there is no sin, no temptation, no heartache, no power that can keep you, that can keep you from inheriting and entering this promised land. And we have this hope. We have this assurance. We have this comfort. Not because you're so great. Not because you're so steadfast. Not because you're so obedient. Not because you live in victory. No, friends, the only reason, the only reason this inheritance is promised and assured to us is because you belong to your faithful and all-powerful and conquering King, Jesus Christ. So take comfort, brothers and sisters. Take comfort from all that we've heard from God's Word and from our catechism. That after death, you will immediately be with your King. Your soul will be united with an eternal and imperishable body. And that you, you in that glorified state, will live in eternal paradise with your King. Indeed, friends, this hope, our comfort, our hope in the resurrection of the body and life everlasting is such as no eye has seen, no ear has heard, nor man has ever imagined. Hallelujah. Amen. Let's pray. Our gracious God and Heavenly Father, we are overwhelmed and in awe by the promises that we have heard this evening. The promise that even though we all suffer, even though we all experience the outcomes of Adam's sin and take part in that curse that You placed upon the whole human race after his rebellion and sin. We are overwhelmed by the truth of the Gospel. That You did not leave us in such a state. That You did not leave Your creation. You do not leave Your people to suffer under that curse and under the weight of that curse. But Lord, You sent Your Son. You sent Your Son, our King and our Savior, to live, to die, and to rise as the second Adam. The One who never was unfaithful. The One who never rebelled or sinned against You and Your law. And the One who won for us a perfect and imperishable inheritance. A new Garden of Eden. The perfect promised land. A land free of sin and death and pain. And so, Father, we ask that You would seal these promises to our hearts. Seal these promises to our hearts by Your Holy Spirit. And be with us as we leave this place that we might be those who constantly have this hope, this everlasting comfort for our souls. And may that be the motivation by which we honor You in all that we say, in all that we do, in all that we think. We ask this all in the name of Christ our Savior. Amen.