Easter Sunday - Christ Has Won the Victory - 1 Corinthians 15:51-57

Christ Has Won the Victory

1 Corinthians 15:51-57

What a glorious day! It’s Easter! Maybe you decided to wear your Easter finest even though you’re not coming to church today. Have you planned an Easter egg hunt in your backyard? Katelyn is cooking a great Easter ham for us today. She and Nicholas dyed eggs, too. It’s still Easter, after all!

You can almost forget about what’s going on the in the world right now. You can almost forget about your daily problems and struggles. You can almost forget. But today, God is going to show us, Easter isn’t about forgetting about those problems. Easter is about standing with Jesus in victory over sin and death.

I. To defeat sin and death

             The whole world recognizes death is a problem. People go to all kinds of trouble to keep themselves alive. Even the staunchest nihilist, who says life has no meaning or value, doesn’t immediately resort to death by their own hand. God has created us to be self-preserving. Most suicides happen because something in that person’s brain overrode their instinct to stay alive. They needed help.

            People want to be immortal. They want to live as long as they can. Legend has it, that hundreds of years ago, Ponce de Leon discovered Florida while he was searching for the Fountain of Youth. Nowadays, people look for immortality in a pill, in an exercise regimen, or in a new kind of diet. Slow down the aging process. Live until you’re 90, 100, 120, 150. Live forever.

            Scientists have discovered an animal they think might be immortal. The hydra is less than half an inch long and lives in the ocean. What causes the aging process in humans and in all other forms of life doesn’t happen in hydra. They continually regenerate their cells, and so, under the right circumstances could live forever. Of course, hydra are much less complex than a human being.

            But even though hydra are considered immortal, they still die. They don’t live under the right circumstances for immortality. They live in the ocean where disease, predators, and water contamination can kill them. Hydra don’t die of old age. They die from something else.

            And scientists have said the same would be true for human beings even if they found a cure for aging. You could still get a terminal illness. You could still die in an accident. Someone could still kill you. War would still break out. Something new could come along that kills all kinds of people. Even if you didn’t die of old age, you would die of something else.

            The Holy Spirit tells us today, it’s not even just aging or disease or accidents that kill us. It’s not just the natural circle of life. It’s sin. “The sting of death is sin.” A stinger like you find on a wasp. Death stings because it’s not just a natural end of life. Death is the ultimate reminder and the ultimate consequence for sin.

            Sometimes, when a person dies, it’s obvious they caused their death. They were driving recklessly. They had a heart attack because they ate at Whataburger every day. They overdosed on drugs. Other times, people just die. They die in their sleep. They die in a horrible accident they didn’t cause. They just don’t make it.

            But here God tells us that whether directly or indirectly, it’s our fault we die. As he said through the prophet Ezekiel, “The soul who sins is the one who will die.” You might not die in a car wreck because you were driving like a maniac. You might not die from Covid-19 because you haven’t left your house in three weeks. But you, like everyone else, will die. Death is inevitable. And it will be your fault.

            Death was inevitable for Jesus, too. But it wasn’t his fault. He willing gave himself up to death. Not because he thought death was the better alternative. Not because he thought life had no meaning. He died to bring meaning to life. He came to take the sting of death himself. The stinger of death is like a honey bee’s. The stinger of sin was left in Jesus and death was torn apart. With death defeated, Jesus could not stay dead. He rose again. We, like taunting fans say, “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” It has none. Jesus has won the victory.

II. He shares the victory with us.

            But what if we were just the fans? I know a lot of us who like sports will refer to our team as we. “We need to sign so-and-so.” “We just need to play better defense.” “Remember when we won the Superbowl back in ’95?” If I had the talent, I’d love to play for the Cowboys, but sadly I don’t. When they win the Superbowl again, I’ll be happy, but I won’t really be able to say I won.

            Actually, when I was growing up, I wanted to be a hockey player. I watched every Stars game I could on channel 27. I wanted to be just like Mike Modano. I’d go out in our garage, put on my roller blades, and leave all kinds of dents in the garage door with my many goals. I thought if I could just become like Mike Modano, one day I could play in the NHL and win the Stanley Cup.

What if we were just Jesus’ fans? He won the victory, and we just watched. Sure, we could look up to him, maybe even try to learn from him, so one day in our battle with death, we could come out victorious just like he did. If only we could live the perfect life. If only we could have our chance with death, instead of death coming and taking our life by force.

Sadly, I never became an NHL superstar. And sadly, we’ll never be able to defeat death on our own. But, “thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!” Jesus doesn’t just keep his victory to himself. He doesn’t say, “If you just eat right, get plenty of sleep, and follow the Ten Commandments, you can defeat death like I did.” He says, “My victory is your victory. You have defeated sin and death because I have defeated sin and death.”

See how freely he gives the victory for you. You don’t have to pay for it. You don’t have to network for it. Jesus comes to you in his Word and says, “Take this. It’s yours. Believe it.” The fear of death and hell is gone. No punishment for sin remains. The stinger Jesus took, that was your stinger. It’s gone.

And that means death can’t hold us either. Not even the signs of death you already find in your body will be able to hold onto you. The Holy Spirit says through Paul, “Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: ‘Death has been swallowed up in victory.’”

Our bodies will be changed. How that will be exactly, we don’t know. But we do know that our bodies will no longer be perishable. Our bodies will not wear out. Our minds won’t get sick or tired. Our knees won’t ache. Our feet won’t swell. Our immune system won’t attack itself. Cancer will be gone. No pandemic will touch us. We will be immortal because “Death has been swallowed up” in Christ’s victory.

So now, we walk with Christ as victors in this world. We’re, in a way, like a ruler who visits a nation he’s conquered. Do the people there love him? No. Will they try to fight back against him? Yes. Will they try to kill him. If only they had the chance. But there isn’t much the conquered nation can do. They’ve been defeated.

Sin, death, and the devil do not love us. Satan will try everything to defeat us. He will even stir up people against you. He will use disease and death to try to get you to turn away from God. He will lure you with wealth and power. If you were alone, they could defeat you. But you are not alone. You walk with Christ who has given you the victory. With Christ, you cannot be defeated.

On a day like today, you can almost forget about the problems in your life. But on a day like today, Christ shows you that you don’t have to forget about them. Instead, by faith in him, stand firm against them. They are already defeated now and will be defeated completely forever in heaven. “Thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!” Amen.