Be Steadfast, Be Immovable

In one paragraph

Pastor Jonathan closed out six weeks in 1 Corinthians 15 by working through verses 35 to 58, the longest passage the series had covered. The section deals entirely with the resurrection, specifically what kind of body believers will have when the dead are raised. His aim was to answer the skeptical questions Paul was already fielding in Corinth and to show why the answer changes everything about...

Read together

1. 1 Corinthians 15:30-34 reviewed as last week's passage leading into this week's section
2. 1 Corinthians 15:35-58 the main passage read and preached through
3. Romans 6:23 the wages of sin is death, used to explain the sting of death
4. Romans 3:23 all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, used alongside the wages of sin
5. Romans 7:24-25 oh wretched man that I am, who will deliver me, leading into thanks be to God through Jesus Christ
6. Isaiah 25:8 death is swallowed up in victory, quoted as the source Paul draws from in 1 Corinthians 15
7. Hosea 2:14 oh death where is your sting, identified as the Hosea source Paul marries with Isaiah
8. John 11:25-26 I am the resurrection and the life, whoever believes in me shall never die

Talk about it

1. Pastor Nathan used seeds to illustrate that what goes into the ground is related to, but very different from, what comes up. How does that image change the way you think about your own body and what resurrection might mean for it?
2. Pastor Nathan listed four contrasts Paul makes between our natural bodies and our resurrection bodies: perishable and imperishable, dishonor and glory, weakness and power, natural and spiritual. Which of those contrasts means the most to you right now, and why?
3. Pastor Nathan described the first Adam and the last Adam, saying every human being born into the first Adam is born to die, while those who trust in the last Adam are born again to live. How would you explain that contrast to someone who had never heard it before?
4. Pastor Nathan quoted John Piper saying that what makes death terrifying is sin, and what gives that terror such force is that the entire law of God stands behind it. Then Paul pivots to 'thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.' How does that pivot land for you personally?
5. The sermon closed with Paul's therefore in verse 58: be steadfast, be immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing your labor is not in vain. After six weeks in this chapter on the resurrection, what is one specific way that confidence in the resurrection should change how you work or serve this week?