Deo Gloria
March 20, 2025
Easter Sermon
Pastor Martin Bentz
Text: 1 Corinthians 15:51-57
Theme: Rejoice in Jesus’ Resurrection!
- Your sin has been forgiven.
- Death has been defeated.
- Eternal life is yours.
“Death has been swallowed up in victory.” That’s a pretty bold statement, don’t you think: “Death has been swallowed up in victory”? After all, it sure doesn’t seem that way at times. I mean, as far as I can tell, the funeral home is still a pretty busy place. Death is still taking people down one after another after another. Or when you go to a funeral and see the body of a friend or loved one lying in a casket, and people are standing around crying or hanging their heads with heavy hearts, it sure doesn’t seem like death has been swallowed up in victory. Or when you go to the cemetery to put flowers on your grandfather’s grave and you get this lump in your throat and you’re fighting back the tears because you miss him so much, it sure doesn’t seem like death has been swallowed up in victory. So how can Paul say that then? How can you or I say that? Because 2,000 years ago on that very first Easter, Jesus rose from the dead. The one who was dead came back to life. And that changes everything. Jesus’ resurrection not only has tremendous implications for Jesus, it has tremendous implications for us and for our lives. And Paul touches on some of those in these verses from 1 Corinthians ch. 15.
For starters, it means your sin has been forgiven. In these verses Paul refers to sin as the sting of death. Picture a bee. A bee has a stinger. You want to be careful around that. That stinger can sting. That stinger can hurt. In fact, if you’re allergic, it could even be fatal.
Death has a stinger too. It’s called sin. And each and everyone one of us has been stung—numerous times. Instead of listening to God’s warning and being careful not to sin, we have sinned, repeatedly. And that sin has resulted in a lot of pain and suffering in our lives. It’s resulted in hurt feelings and ruined reputations and broken and strained relationships and broken homes and broken hearts. And that isn’t even the worst part. The worst part is that it’s fatal. Sin results in death—death for our bodies and ultimately eternal death for our souls in hell. That’s what the Bible says, “The wages of sin is death”(Romans 6:23). Or as Paul puts it in Romans ch. 5: “Just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned”(v. 12).
But what if someone took sin away? That would change things, right? What if someone took your sins away and my sins? That would great! That would be wonderful! That’s what Jesus did by his suffering and death on Calvary’s cross. You see, someone had to pay the penalty for sin. Unlike so many earthly judges, God is a just judge. He is not going to give you a pass for breaking his laws. If you did the crime, he is going to see to it that you do the time. If you broke his laws, then you are going to get the punishment you deserve: death—unless someone takes that punishment for you.
Now do you understand what Jesus did on Good Friday? Jesus wasn’t a criminal. He never did anything wrong. And yet he ended up suffering and dying on a cross. Why? Because of you and because of me, because of the crimes we had committed, because of the wrongs we had done. You see, because of God’s great love for you and me and everyone else, he didn’t want to see us get the punishment we deserved for our sins. So he sent his Son Jesus to take our place, to be our substitute, to take our sins upon himself and suffer and die in our place so that we might be spared, so that we might be forgiven. And Jesus’ resurrection is the proof, proof that sin has been paid for, proof that your sins have all been taken away. Paul says it like this is Romans ch. 4: “He [Jesus] was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification”(v. 25). The word “justification” means “to declare not guilty.” Jesus was raised to life because of our justification, because we had been declared not guilty. Rejoice, friends! Rejoice in Jesus’ resurrection! Your sin has been taken away. Death has lost its stinger.
Secondly, Paul declares that death has been defeated. Let’s go back to that picture of a bee. Would you be afraid of a bee if it had no stinger? No. If bees didn’t have any stingers, I’d look at them a whole lot differently. I wouldn’t be concerned when they were buzzing around me as I was picking strawberries in our garden or picking apples from our apple tree. I wouldn’t be concerned at all because I knew they couldn’t hurt me.
So if death has lost its stinger, do you really need to be afraid of death anymore? True death can still sting. Death can still hurt. It stings when you look in the mirror and you see all those wrinkles you never used to have and all that gray hair you never used to have and you realize your time in this world is getting shorter instead of longer. It stings when you go to the funeral of a family member or friend and see them lying in a casket. It stings when you can’t go and talk to your grandpa or grandma anymore or give them hug or invite them to your birthday party. Yes, death does still sting at times; but it can’t hurt you, not the real you.
Who is the real you? Is it your body? Is it that bag of bones as we often call it? Or is the real you the soul that lives inside your body, the soul that is peering out of your eyes? The real you is your soul. And death cannot hurt your soul. Even when your body dies, your soul will not. It will go on living with Jesus in heaven.
But what about your body? Is death the end for your body? Not at all. Sure, it will rest for a while in the grave—that much is true. Paul acknowledges that in v. 51 where he mentions that some of us will sleep for a while. And he’s referring to our bodies. Our bodies will rest or sleep for a while in the grave; but they won’t stay there. As Paul also makes clear, on the last day when Jesus returns, Jesus will wake our bodies up again. He will bring them back to life, and they will be changed, in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye—changed into perfect, glorious bodies. So death has lost its sting. Even for our bodies, death has lost its sting, because one day Jesus will bring our bodies back to life and make them better than ever.
So how do we know all this? How do we know death is not the end—for us or for our bodies? Because of Jesus’ resurrection. Jesus died on Good Friday, but he didn’t stay dead. He came back to life on Easter morning. And this is the promise he made to his disciples: “Because I live, you also will live”(John 14:19). “Because I live, you also will live.” Jesus’ resurrection is the proof of your resurrection. His victory over death is your victory over death. Death could not hold Jesus and it won’t be able to hold you either because you belong to Jesus. Rejoice, friends! Rejoice in Jesus’ resurrection! Death has been defeated. Death has been swallowed up in victory.
And eternal life is yours. Remember those wrinkles I was talking about and all that gray hair you never used to have? And then there’s the bifocals and the hearing aid, and the artificial knee, and the artificial hip, and the cane and the walker. They’re daily reminders, aren’t they, daily reminders, at times annoying and discouraging reminders, of our mortality? Our bodies and minds are far from perfect. They are weak and frail and lowly and imperfect. And the older we get, the easier it is to see that.
But they aren’t going to stay that way. As Paul tells us in these verses, one day they will be changed. On the Last Day when the trumpet sounds and Jesus returns in all his glory, our bodies will be changed—changed from lowly bodies to glorious bodies, changed from mortal bodies to immortal bodies, changed from corruptible bodies to incorruptible bodies, changed from bodies that are subject to sin and suffering and death to bodies that are filled with life, perfect life, unending life. When that day comes, you can take those bifocals and just throw them in the trash. You can take those hearing aids and just throw them in the trash. You can take that cane or that walker and just throw it in the trash. You won’t need any of that stuff ever again. No more arthritis or stiff joints. No more heart disease or Alzheimer’s or cancer. No more cold bugs or flu bugs or COVID. No more sickness, no more suffering, no more pain—ever again. I know it’s hard to imagine, but that’s what we have to look forward to because of Jesus and his resurrection. Instead of sickness and suffering and pain and death which hound us and pester us and debilitate us all throughout our lives in this world, you and I have something better to look forward to—life; perfect life and perfect health and perfect rest and perfect peace in a perfect place that never ends. The apostle Paul says it like this in Philippians ch. 3: “Who (and he’s referring to Jesus Christ)….Who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body”(v. 21). And 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.(vv. 54-57)
Rejoice, friends! Rejoice in Jesus’ resurrection! Because of Jesus’ resurrection, your sin has been forgiven, death has been defeated, and life, eternal life, is yours. Amen.