1 Corinthians 15:20-29
But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For “God has put all things in subjection under his feet.” But when it says, “all things are put in subjection,” it is plain that he is excepted who put all things in subjection under him. When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all.
Christ Has Been Raised: The Resurrection and the End of Death
Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God, our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
We are in the middle of our Easter sermon series. We've been working through the resurrection chapter of Paul’s letters—First Corinthians, chapter 15. This is the chapter where Paul talks about the implications of the resurrection for Christians who, at that time, didn’t believe that people rose from the dead. These Corinthians.
So far in our series, we’ve talked—
The first time, we talked about the witnesses of the resurrection.
That we Christians, we don’t believe despite evidence—we believe because there were people who saw Jesus die, saw Him buried, and then saw Him alive.
And we believe because those people carried that testimony, wrote it down, and even died for it.
Last time, we talked about the resurrection—about how living as disembodied spirits floating around in heaven is not the goal of the Christian life, but the resurrection.
That Jesus, who died and rose, will raise us from our graves as well.
Christ the Firstfruits: A Reading from 1 Corinthians 15
And so today we’re continuing on in 1 Corinthians chapter 15, starting at verse 20:
“But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead.
For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at His coming those who belong to Christ.
Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power.
For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death.
For God has put all things in subjection under His feet. But when it says ‘all things are put in subjection,’ it is plain that He is excepted who put all things in subjection under Him.
When all things are subjected to Him, then the Son Himself will also be subjected to Him who put all things in subjection under Him, that God may be all in all.”
Who Is Subject to Whom? Clarifying Paul’s Complex Language
Now, I think the first thing we have to do before we dive into the meat of this sermon is explain that last couple of sentences, because that’s a little confusing, isn’t it?
St. Paul uses the word "Him" to refer to a lot of different people, and there’s a lot of subjection going on.
So what we’re going to do is make it a little more plain English.
What it says is that when Christ returns, He will rule over all things—except for the Father. That’s it.
But St. Paul has to go, “When the Bible says all things will be put in subjection under Christ, it means—except the Father.”
That’s what he was trying to say there.
And of course, we know that because Christ is subject to the Father, because He’s also not just God but a human being.
And so just as we are subject, so is He.
But that’s not really the main point of what Paul is trying to talk about here. What he’s trying to talk about is something about death and resurrection.
Death Is the Enemy—Not a Friend
He says that Christ will rule—where He is now, at the right hand of the Father—until all the enemies are destroyed.
“Every rule and authority and power. For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet.”
And then it says: “The last enemy to be destroyed is death.”
So I think that’s really important in talking about the resurrection—is reminding ourselves that death is the enemy.
Now, when we say that, we all think: “Well, of course, Pastor. That’s why we celebrate Easter.”
We got together on Easter Day, we read the story of Jesus coming out of the tomb, and you told us: “The power of death is destroyed forever.” Duh.
Bucha.
We all know that, and we say it, but sometimes when we get to funerals, we forget the language that death is the enemy.
And so what we need to do is remind ourselves—some very simple definitions.
What Does It Mean to Be Alive or Dead?
What does it mean to be alive?
And what does it mean to be dead?
Now again, you’re probably looking at me going, “Pastor, we know what it means to be alive. We also know what it means to be dead. Why are we going through this again?”
It’s about how we talk when we’re dealing with the end of life.
So let’s say—what does it mean to be alive?
If you look at the story of Adam when he was created, God formed his body out of the ground, and He gave him the breath of life.
And so you are alive when you are living and breathing. You have a body and soul. Pretty straightforward.
You are dead when that is not the case.
Our soul goes to be with Christ our Savior while we wait for the resurrection.
And what that means is that we have to remember:
When we say the phrase “eternal life,” it has to be life—not death.
If Jesus destroyed the power of death, we are only alive if our bodies and souls are together—living and breathing.
Jesus Rose—Body and Soul
Jesus did not say, “I’ve died on the cross, my body is placed in the tomb, and now my soul rests with my Father forever in heaven.”
His soul left His body—and it came back.
He rose from the dead.
And now He is alive—body and soul—forever.
And that’s what it means that Jesus destroyed the power of death.
He did not die and go to heaven to remain there—He rose, so that we could live too.
Funeral Language: “Homegoing” and Other Mistakes
And what that means is—death is still our enemy. Death is still the enemy.
And we can understand how we sometimes misuse this if we look at the way we talk at funerals.
I’m going to use the example of my paternal grandfather.
See, my grandfather died at a ripe old age, after many, many years of illness.
He had a heart attack the very first time right when I was being born.
That was a long time ago.
And ever since then, he struggled with heart things.
And then eventually, he died of COPD—which is a really long thing—like slowly your lungs fill, there’s fluid, and it takes a while.
He had years of decline because of that.
His body slowing down.
He couldn’t eat salt—which might’ve been the worst part, right?
So finally, when the funeral came, we took comfort that the suffering was over.
And that happens for a lot of us, right?
We say, “He is with Christ. His spirit is with our Savior in paradise, waiting for the last day.”
But it didn’t mean we didn’t miss him.
We still wanted him to be alive—because life is better than death in all circumstances.
It was still sad when he died—because life is better.
We still grieved in hope, knowing that our Savior died for him, and that he will rise with us on the last day.
We still grieved with a sure and certain promise that because he was baptized, he will be with our Savior until we see him again—and Christ calls him out of the grave.
But the trouble that sometimes we have is—at funerals, we act as if death is life.
We talk about them “going to be with Christ” and living eternal life then—
or even worse, every once in a while, I will see a funeral called a “homegoing.”
Have you heard that before?
Some of your faces are all wrinkled. I’m glad to see that.
But some of you are nodding—yes.
They’ll say that when the person dies, they’re actually “going home.”
Which is the opposite of the Christian message.
Death is the enemy—not our salvation.
Jesus Christ did not die and leave His body in the tomb.
He rose from the dead.
And so sometimes when we do things like that, we try to stop giving permission to be sad at the funeral.
We tell people, “You should be happy—they’re in salvation now,”
which just… isn’t real.
No matter what happens, when someone dies, it’s always sad.
And it’s okay to mourn and weep when that happens.
What we are is—we are comforted by the joy of Christ’s resurrection, knowing that He will return.
Christ, the Firstfruits—And My Blackberry Bush
And that’s what this “firstfruits” metaphor is all about.
Paul says:
“But each in his own order: Christ, the firstfruits, then at His coming, those who belong to Christ.”
Of course we’re talking about fruit—which means I’m going to tell you about my garden. You’re all used to that, right?
I have been growing blackberries for the very first time, and they have sprouted in a crazy way that I never expected.
I have this wall of blackberries at my house, and I bet there are a thousand flowers and blackberries growing on my three vines.
I’ve been tending them and watching them.
And this week—actually yesterday—there was one ripe blackberry.
I’ve been watching it for days.
It started turning pink… and then darker, and darker, and darker.
And I picked it yesterday. And I gave it to my wife.
And it was sour—but amazing.
That was the firstfruits.
Nothing else is ripe right now.
We’ve got green berries of various sizes—some are teeny tiny, some are the right size.
Then we’ve got flowers, and things that will soon be flowers.
And what’s going on here is—it helps us see exactly what Christ is for us.
He’s that first blackberry, and we’re waiting for all the rest.
I’m really excited, because this is just a foretaste of the feast to come in my house—because I’m going to get a lot.
But it’s even better that Jesus is a foretaste of the feast to come in the resurrection.
That all who have died in Christ—this is not where they stay.
We will follow the pattern of Him that is to come.
Death is not salvation. Life is.
And when Christ returns, He will restore all the dead to everlasting life.
Grieving with Hope—and the Promise of Baptism
And it should change how we talk around that time—especially at funerals.
Because we are allowed to be sad.
We’re allowed to mourn—which, in fact, is good.
But at the same time, we have the comfort of the firstfruits—Christ, that very first blackberry.
He is the one who will show us what all the others will be like.
He is the one who shows us what that last day will be—when all of us are called from the dead and live in new life.
And that promise is delivered to you in baptism.
Because Romans chapter 6 tells us that in baptism, you died with Christ, and you rose with Him,
so that you will have new life. Life.
Christ is that very first who comes to give us life.
And we know that on the last day, He will destroy that enemy.
And He will reign forever with us.
In His name. Amen.
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