Because He Lives: The Promise of Resurrection

Pastor Derek Evans | Until The Whole World Knows Ministry

Central truth: Jesus Christ rose bodily from the dead, and those who belong to Him will share in resurrection life. This promise gives the Church a sure hope, shapes our care for grieving people, and calls us to honor Christ with our bodies today.

Main Scripture — 1 Corinthians 15:20–23 (KJV)

But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.

For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.

For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming.

Introduction — Our hope has an empty tomb

The Church must know what it means when we proclaim that Jesus lives. We are confessing more than the lasting influence of a great teacher. We are declaring that the crucified Lord truly rose from the dead. His body was not abandoned to the grave. Death did not have the final word over Him, and death will not have the final word over those who belong to Him.

This truth deserves a permanent place in our preaching. Resurrection belongs at the bedside, in the funeral service, in the discipleship lesson, and in the decisions we make when nobody is watching. A church can speak frequently about overcoming present obstacles while saying very little about the victory Christ has secured over death itself. Yet the gospel does not end with a temporary improvement in our circumstances. It announces the risen Savior and the coming completion of His redeeming work.

In First Corinthians fifteen, Paul addresses people who were questioning the resurrection of the dead. His answer begins with the gospel they received: Christ died for our sins, was buried, and rose again. He then explains the consequences of denying resurrection and the hope established by Christ's victory. Let us follow his reasoning carefully. Our confidence must rest upon what God has accomplished, and our expectation must remain within what His Word promises.

STAND FIRM IN THE RISEN CHRIST.

1. Christ's resurrection establishes the foundation of our hope

1 Corinthians 15:17 (KJV)
And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.

1 Corinthians 15:20 (KJV)
But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.

Paul refuses to treat the resurrection as an optional detail. If Christ has not been raised, the entire claim of Christian salvation collapses. A dead redeemer could not bring us into the life Paul proclaims. Forgiveness, the apostolic witness, and the hope of believers who have died would all be undermined. This is why we must resist reducing Christianity to helpful principles that could remain unchanged if the tomb were still occupied. The gospel stands upon an act of God in history.

Notice the turn in Paul's argument. After describing the consequences of unbelief, he announces the reality of Christ's resurrection. His assurance does not come from ignoring the difficult question. He answers it by returning to the risen Lord. Earlier in the chapter, he identifies witnesses to Christ's resurrection, including Peter, the twelve, and others. The message entrusted to the Church is therefore a testimony to what God has done, calling people to faith in Jesus rather than confidence in religious imagination.

Paul calls Christ the firstfruits. The picture points to the beginning of a harvest and helps explain the relationship between Christ's resurrection and the future resurrection of His people. Jesus has already risen, and those who belong to Him will be raised at His coming. We must preserve the order Paul gives. The promise does not mean every aspect of resurrection glory has already become our present experience. Believers still grow older, suffer loss, and face death while awaiting what Christ has secured.

The contrast between Adam and Christ also matters. Humanity's condition is marked by sin and death, while the life promised here is bound to Christ. Paul immediately identifies the people raised at Christ's coming as those who are His. We should not use the passage to teach that repentance and faith are unnecessary or that every person is automatically saved. The pastoral invitation is to turn to Jesus, trust His saving work, and belong to the One whose victory answers our deepest need.

This foundation protects ministry from becoming centered entirely upon immediate outcomes. We pray for healing because we believe the Lord is compassionate and powerful. We minister freedom in the authority of Jesus Christ. Yet our confidence in His victory cannot depend upon every prayer receiving the answer or timing we desire. The resurrection has already occurred. Its truth remains when a hospital room is quiet, when a family is grieving, and when a faithful servant has unanswered questions.

Church, examine what you are asking people to trust. An impressive personality cannot carry the weight of their eternal hope. A spiritual experience cannot replace the Savior. Even a sincere minister's understanding is limited. We must keep bringing people to the crucified and risen Christ, opening the Scriptures and explaining His gospel plainly. When someone asks why there is hope beyond death, our answer must begin with Him. When we preach deliverance, its center must remain His lordship and redemption.

Make this practical in your home and congregation. Read the resurrection accounts together. Teach new believers why the empty tomb matters to salvation. Allow children to ask honest questions and answer from Scripture without inventing details. When you pray, thank God for the living Savior before presenting the burdens of the day. This trains the heart to receive every circumstance within the larger truth of Christ's victory. Our hope is grounded in a Lord who truly lives.

2. The promised resurrection gives grief a sure hope

1 Thessalonians 4:13–14 (KJV)
But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.

For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.

1 Thessalonians 4:16–18 (KJV)
For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:

Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

The Thessalonian believers needed instruction concerning Christians who had died. Paul answers their concern with the promise of the Lord's coming and the resurrection of the dead in Christ. His purpose is pastoral. He wants the congregation to understand that death has not excluded their departed brothers and sisters from the future Christ has promised. Those who died belonging to Jesus have not been forgotten. The Lord Himself will accomplish what no human strength can accomplish.

We must notice what Paul says about sorrow. He does not command the church to feel nothing. He distinguishes their grief from sorrow without hope. Christian faith makes room for tears because love recognizes the pain of separation. At the tomb of Lazarus, Jesus wept. We should never make a grieving believer feel that tears have cancelled their testimony. Resurrection hope can remain firmly present in a heart that aches. Faithfulness does not require emotional numbness or a carefully managed appearance.

The comfort Paul gives has definite content. The Lord will come, the dead in Christ will rise, and His people will be with Him. This is stronger than saying that a loved one's influence will continue in our memories, though those memories can be precious. God's promise concerns people whom He will raise. Christian hope reaches beyond what we can preserve through photographs, stories, or treasured possessions. The living Christ holds the future of those who belong to Him.

At the same time, we must avoid offering certainty where Scripture has not authorized us to give it. A funeral is not an occasion for inventing conversations from heaven, reporting imagined messages from the deceased, or announcing revelations to ease a family's distress. We can speak honestly about the promises given to those in Christ, entrust judgment to the righteous Lord, and minister compassion to everyone present. Truth and tenderness belong together. Comfort becomes dependable when it rests upon God's Word.

This has direct implications for pastoral care. Visit the grieving after the funeral as well as before it. Bring a meal, help with an ordinary responsibility, and remember that difficult anniversaries may arrive long after public attention has moved elsewhere. Listen without forcing a quick explanation for the loss. A bereaved person may need to repeat a story or sit quietly with someone who will remain. The church embodies its confession of resurrection hope through patient, practical love in the present.

Our Pentecostal expectation of God's power should deepen this compassion. We can pray earnestly and expect the Holy Spirit to strengthen the brokenhearted without demanding a particular outward response. We should not label continuing grief as demonic bondage merely because it makes us uncomfortable. Nor should we imply that receiving appropriate counseling is a failure to believe God's promises. Our responsibility is to care faithfully, uphold the truth of Christ, and encourage support that respects the person's needs.

Believer, bring your sorrow before the Lord honestly. You do not need to pretend that separation is easy. You may thank Him for the life of someone you love while also admitting how deeply you miss them. Let trusted believers carry practical burdens alongside you. Return to the promise of being with the Lord, allowing Scripture to steady your heart over time. Resurrection hope does not demand that you hurry through grief. It assures you that death cannot overthrow the future God has promised in Christ.

3. Future resurrection calls us to honor Christ with our bodies now

1 Corinthians 6:14 (KJV)
And God hath both raised up the Lord, and will also raise up us by his own power.

1 Corinthians 6:19–20 (KJV)
What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?

For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.

Paul brings resurrection into his teaching about the believer's bodily conduct. In First Corinthians six, he confronts sexual immorality and the assumption that bodily behavior can be separated from belonging to the Lord. The body has significance in God's redeeming purpose. He raised Jesus, and He will raise His people. Therefore, what we do with our bodies matters. Future resurrection establishes a reason for present holiness rather than permission to disregard the responsibilities of everyday life.

This corrects the idea that only an inward spiritual experience matters while outward conduct is insignificant. Our bodies belong to the Lord. The Holy Ghost dwells in believers, and redemption places our lives under Christ's ownership. We must hear this personally. Our confession reaches the way we use our hands, eyes, mouths, strength, and sexuality. Worship includes the body that stands in the sanctuary and the same body that returns home. The Lord's claim continues after the service has ended.

The price of our redemption directs attention to Christ's sacrifice. Paul is appealing to people who have been purchased, not telling them to purchase acceptance through impressive behavior. Holiness flows from belonging to Jesus. When we repent of bodily sin, we return to the lordship of the One who has shown us mercy. This makes correction both serious and hopeful. Sin must be confronted, but the person responding to conviction should be directed toward Christ's cleansing and a faithful path of obedience.

Consider the practical questions this raises. Are private habits consistent with the Lord we publicly confess? Are we treating another person's body as something to exploit, consume, ridicule, or control? Do our relationships honor the faithfulness and purity Scripture commands? A spiritual title does not exempt anyone from these questions. Ministry leaders must welcome accountability, and congregations must refuse to excuse harmful conduct because someone appears gifted. The body belongs to God, and other people must be treated with dignity.

Our care for bodily life also extends into ordinary discipleship. Food, rest, appropriate medical care, and responsible attention to physical limitations are not enemies of spiritual devotion. These practices do not make us immortal, and no routine can guarantee health. They can, however, express wise stewardship of the life entrusted to us. We should encourage believers to seek appropriate help when needed rather than interpreting every physical difficulty as evidence of personal disobedience. The promise of resurrection includes people whose bodies are presently weak.

This truth should shape the way churches welcome people. A member with a disability is fully worthy of belonging, service, and respect now. Someone who cannot stand through a worship service is not offering an inferior devotion. A homebound believer has not become spiritually unimportant because public attendance is difficult. Resurrection hope teaches us to value people in their embodied lives while awaiting God's final renewal. Make room, offer assistance without condescension, and listen to what people actually need.

Finally, resist using the coming resurrection as an excuse to neglect today's obedience. The Lord who will raise us also commands us to love, serve, and honor Him now. Choose one concrete response to this teaching. End a practice that dishonors Christ, seek trustworthy accountability, repair a harmful pattern of speech, or provide practical care for someone whose strength is limited. Ask the Holy Spirit for help and follow through with humility. Our bodies are destined for resurrection, and our present lives should testify that we belong to the risen Lord.

Conclusion — Let the promise shape the present

Christ has risen. His people will be raised. The Lord has given the Church a hope that reaches beyond the grave and a calling that reaches into today's decisions. Let this truth become more than a sentence in our statement of faith. Preach it clearly. Carry it gently into the presence of grief. Allow it to examine the way you honor God with your body.

We do not need invented promises to strengthen this message. The promise God has given is sufficient. Jesus lives, the dead in Christ will rise, and His people will be with Him. Until that day, let our ministry direct attention to the Savior, our fellowship make room for sorrow, and our conduct honor the One who redeemed us.

Stand firm in the risen Christ. Receive His hope. Honor Him with the life He has entrusted to you.

Closing Prayer

Father, we thank You for raising Jesus Christ from the dead. Establish our confidence in His finished work and teach us to understand the hope You have promised. Comfort those who grieve, and make us faithful companions to people carrying sorrow. Holy Spirit, search our conduct and lead us into obedience. Help us honor the Lord with our bodies, receive correction humbly, and care for others with patience and dignity. Keep our preaching centered on Jesus and our expectation grounded in Your Word. We belong to the risen Savior. In Jesus' mighty name, Amen.

Pastor Derek Evans
Until The Whole World Knows Ministry

Deliverance is the children's bread, all are welcomed.