Resurrection Sunday: The Sting of Death ~ 20250420~ Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org
04/20 Resurrection Sunday: Sting of Death Removed (1Cor.15); Audio available at: http://www.ephraimbible.org/Sermons/20250420_resurrection-sunday-sting-of-death.mp3
Today is Resurrection Sunday; He Is Risen! [He Is Risen Indeed!]
The tomb is empty. Death has been decisively defeated by our Lord Jesus Christ.
Death The Unavoidable
Death. Here’s the ugly fact. Death is a reality we all have to face. The death rate among humans is roughly 100%. Likely all of us know someone who has died. Maybe you or someone you know are facing death soon. It’s a reality every one of us, sooner or later, must face. And none of us has any guarantee of tomorrow. Every breath is a gift. The preacher (Ecclesiastes) says it is better to go to a funeral than a wedding;
Ecclesiastes 7:2 It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for this is the end of all mankind, and the living will lay it to heart.
Everybody will face death one day, and wisdom says we ought to take it to heart. The Psalms tell us:
Psalm 39:4 “O LORD, make me know my end and what is the measure of my days; let me know how fleeting I am! 5 Behold, you have made my days a few handbreadths, and my lifetime is as nothing before you. Surely all mankind stands as a mere breath! — Selah
Psalm 90:10 The years of our life are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty; yet their span is but toil and trouble; they are soon gone, and we fly away. 11 Who considers the power of your anger, and your wrath according to the fear of you? 12 So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.
Psalm 144:4 Man is like a breath; his days are like a passing shadow.
Death is a reality we would all like to ignore, busy ourselves with something, anything, that will keep our minds off that grim reality. We use euphemism to attempt soften its blow, like ‘he passed away’; ‘she’s no longer with us’ or ‘gone on to a better place’, ‘gone on ahead’; sometimes we try to make light of it; ‘she’s pushing up daisies’ or ‘he’s six feet under’. Death, when we are forced to face it, seems foreign, unnatural. We seek to avoid it at all costs. Why?
Death Is Unnatural
First of all, we learn from the Bible that death is unnatural. It is foreign. It is our enemy. But it is what we deserve.
Romans 5:12 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—
It all started in the garden.
Genesis 2:8 And the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed.
... 15 The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. 16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”
Rules, rules, rules. So oppressive, so limiting. You just don’t want me to have any fun at all. Understand, God made a luscious garden, and he put the man and his wife, both naked and unashamed, into the garden and said ‘enjoy!’ Look, touch, taste, enjoy, everything!’ It is all made for you, for your good, for your pleasure. Only one thing is off limits. Only one rule. A test; will you obey, will you trust, will you believe that I am good and give you every good thing to enjoy (Ps.84:11)? Or will you doubt my character, will you question my goodness, will you choose your own wisdom and make your own rules? Today there are over 2,000 different types of fruit, and each type of fruit has many varieties; apples for instance come in 7,500 varieties. What it was then we can only imagine, but they easily could have enjoyed endless variety, and each other, for a hundred years without ever feeling the need for something new. They had purpose, to tend and protect the garden, and they had the privilege of walking with their Creator, getting to know him every day. And God was not unclear about the consequences. “in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”
Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, …
We don’t know how long they lasted, but it may not have been even a full day before they listened to the lie of the serpent, began to distrust their Creator, and stepped out into open rebellion. How much of that garden, made specifically for them, would they never have the opportunity to enjoy?
It all started in the garden. Death was not part of the original creation; it began as a result of our rebellion that day. My sin doesn’t affect only me; it affects everyone around me. Their sin affected all of creation: Romans 8 tells us:
Romans 8:20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.
Death Is Not The Worst Of It
Here’s the reality we all endure.
Isaiah 59:2 but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear.
You probably came on resurrection Sunday to hear an encouraging message filled with hope… hold on, we’ll get there! But first, it gets worse.
Death is not the worst of it. If it were just ‘game over,’ ‘dust to dust,’ ‘the end,’ that wouldn’t be so bad. But here’s what Hebrews tells us:
Hebrews 9:27 And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment,
And here’s what Jesus says in Matthew 13:
Matthew 13:40 Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. 41 The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers, 42 and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Jesus is clearly warning us. And you might be thinking, ‘yes, finally, those evil people will get what they deserve.’ But hold on a minute; raise your hand if you’ve ever had a covetous thought. That means you wanted something someone else had. That’s commandment 10 of the big ten (Ex.20:17). You’re all a bunch of lawbreakers. Do you see what Jesus says about all law-breakers?
Jesus he gives us a really important piece of wisdom:
Matthew 10:28 And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
Fear God. Don’t fear people. The worst people can do is kill you. But the just judgment of God is far worse.
Here’s what 1 Corinthians 15:56 says:
1 Corinthians 15:56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.
Wasps and hornets wouldn’t be so bad if it weren’t for their stings! You see, death stings because the death is the consequence of our sin. And the power of sin is the law. God’s law shows us the standard we are to measure ourselves by, and demonstrates how far we fall short. How are you doing at loving God with all your heart and soul and mind and strength? How are you doing at loving your neighbor in the same way as you love yourself? (Mt.22:37-39). Death stings because it is a reminder that we are lawbreakers and we deserve the just wrath of an all holy God.
The Gospel
So where’s the good news in all of this? Well, it starts by a proper diagnosis of our disease.
1 John 1:6 If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. ...8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. ...10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
But there’s good news in the middle of all that;
1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
If we confess; if we agree with God that sin is sin and we are guilty sinners, he is faithful to cleanse us and to forgive us. He is faithful; he promised and he will make good on his promise. When we confess, he is faithful to forgive and cleanse, every time.
And he is just ...wait, how can God justly sweep our sins under the carpet and treat us as if we had never sinned? That’s the heart of the good news. Let’s look at 1 Corinthians 15, where Paul concisely states the gospel he preached.
1 Corinthians 15:1 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.
This is the gospel we must be trusting in in order to be saved; The Messiah died for our sins. Jesus took the sting out of death because he stepped in as my substitute and let that stinger sink right into him. The sting of death is my sin and the power of sin is the law, and he stood in my place and took the legal consequences of my sin on himself. The judicial sentence was carried out on him. He was executed as a criminal on a Roman cross. In those three hours of darkness he experienced the wrath of God against my sin. He paid my legal debt in full. He died, and he was really dead; they buried him. The soldiers made sure he was dead by piercing his side to release a flow of blood and water. On testimony of the centurion Pilate released the corpse to Joseph. Nicodemus met him with about 75 pounds of spices.
Full Circle; Death in the Garden; Life from a Garden
John 19:40 So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews. 41 Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid. 42 So because of the Jewish day of Preparation, since the tomb was close at hand, they laid Jesus there.
We rebelled against our Creator in a garden. The sentence of death was given in that first garden. But Jesus proved fully obedient to his Father in another garden; ‘Yet not my will but yours be done’. Jesus was buried in a garden. But he didn’t stay dead. The Father raised him up on the third day as a declaration that his wrath toward my sin was satisfied in Jesus. The sacrifice of Jesus on the cross was accepted by the Father on my behalf. And he proved he was truly alive by appearing to many eye-witnesses.
We all will experience death one way or another, but for the believer in Jesus, the sting of death is removed. Death has a say, but it does not have the final say. The resurrected Jesus took the sting out of death for me.
Death Swallowed Up
Here’s how 1 Corinthians 15, the resurrection chapter, ends:
1 Corinthians 15:51 Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. 53 For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. 54 When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” 55 “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” 56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Are you in Christ by faith? Have you agreed with God about your sin, and received the forgiveness that is only available at the cross, through the finished work of Jesus? Are you clinging to this good news; receiving it, standing in it, being saved by it, holding fast to it?
1 Corinthians 15:58 Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.
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2025.04.20 Sermon Notes
Resurrection Sunday: The Sting of Death (1 Cor.15)
Death is unavoidable
Ecclesiastes 7:2; Psalm 39:4-5; 90:10-12; 144:4
Death is unnatural
Romans 5:12; 6:23; 8:20-22; Genesis 2:8, 15-17; Psalm 84:11
Death is not the worst of it
Isaiah 59:2; Hebrews 9:27; Matthew 13:40-42; 10:28
Exodus 20:17; 1 Corinthians 15:56; Matthew 22:37-39
Our diagnosis
1 John 1:6, 8, 10
The good news
1 John 1:9; 1 Corinthians 15:1-11
-Christ died for our sins and was buried
-he was raised and appeared to eye-witnesses
-Confess your sins and trust in Jesus!
Full circle; life from a garden
John 19:40-42
Death is swallowed up in victory!
1 Corinthians 15:51-58
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Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org