The Season of Resurrection: Part 1

SUNDAY, March 31
First Corinthians 15:1-25 

Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.

3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6 Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. 8 Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. 9 For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. 11 Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.

12 Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14 And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. 15 We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19 If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.
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20 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. 23 But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. 24 Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. 25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.

The Preacher declares that “all is vanity.” (Eccl 1:2) Everything, from the highest spiritual pursuit to the lowest carnal pleasure, is useless. It is, as John Cougar Mellencamp wrote, “Paper in Fire.” 

Nothing lasts. Build a house and it will eventually fall into disrepair. Earn wealth and power and it will be spent, or mis-spent, by someone else after you are gone. Forge a life for yourself and you will still go the way of all men: you will die.

Death is the great revealer. No one can cheat. Plug your brain into a computer preserving your consciousness for a thousand years. Then one day a mouse comes along, chews through the power cord, and deletes you from existence. All that ingenuity and money spent to lengthen your life is proven fruitless by the whims of a tiny rodent. From the human point of view, death cannot be avoided. It unveils our hopes, dreams, and efforts to be nothing but vain pursuits. 

The world around us is filled with vanity and fruitlessness. Pornography serves as a prominent example. Pursuing erotic images creates a false intimacy with a woman (or women, or men) who does not know you or care about you, and may not even be a real human being. You do not know her or care about her. You could spend hours, days, and years scrolling images and rewatching videos. Nothing will change for the good. No goals  will be accomplished. No love is made. No children are begotten.  In the end it will just be you alone with your device and your shame. It is vanity.

The grace of God, however, is not in vain, Saint Paul rightly asserts. (I Corinthians 15:10) It was the grace of God that called Paul from the fruitless way of pursuing righteousness through the Law. Paul once believed that if he were a good Jew, the best of the Jews-which, indeed, he became (Philippians 3:4)-he would earn the favor of God. But his endeavors were vain. This vanity was revealed to him on the road to Damascus where he found himself kneeling before the only righteous and just Man, the only One who could and did earn God’s favor: the crucified, risen, and glorified Jesus Christ.

Paul, nor you or I, could earn God’s favor. Through the death and resurrection of Jesus, however, God’s grace and favor is poured out upon us freely and openly, transforming our lives from meaningless vanity into fruitful work. Paul was called by God’s grace out of the vain pursuit of righteousness and into the fruitful work of announcing the outpouring of God’s favor onto all people in Jesus Christ. The heroic efforts that Paul now made were not in vain because they had the command and blessing of God, but also because they were aimed at things that will truly endure forever. Paul might die, but the resurrection of Jesus means that, not only will Paul rise from the dead, but so will all who have believed his Gospel. The labor he puts into this mission is not in vain, but on the contrary, produces true fruit that will never die.

In Christ, your life and labor are not in vain. (I Corinthians 15: 58) Those things that have the command and blessing of God can never be truly fruitless. Service rendered to your neighbor is not wasted time, but the gift of time given to one that Christ has spilled His blood to redeem. A man making love to his wife produces and strengthens the bond of love and, if God blesses, bears the fruit of children. Telling others about the deeds of God is not vanity, but spreads the light of the Gospel, simultaneously glorifying God-the only being truly worthy of glory and honor-and adding to the number of those who are saved. 

Every task, from the lowest mundanity to the highest profundity, is given immortal purpose.  Your work is not “paper in fire,” but gold in fire, refined and forged by the Spirit of God. The resurrection of Jesus is not in vain. By God’s grace and favor, your life bears fruit that will last.