1 Corinthians 15:24-28 Then the end will come, when he hands over the Kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. 25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death. 27 For he “has put everything under his feet.” Now when it says that “everything” has been put under him, it is clear that this does not include God himself, who put everything under Christ. 28 When he has done this, then the Son himself will be made subject to him who put everything under him, so that God may be all in all.
 
FROM Jesus’ teachings in Matthew 24-25, we have learned God ordained great distress to be in the world between Jesus’ resurrection and his return. As Jesus reigns in Heaven at God’s right hand now, he is working to defeat the enemy Satan’s dominion, authority and power. The one man Adam unleashed this evil in the Garden of Eden. And now the one man, Jesus Christ risen and ascended Son of God, will one day bind Satan into the fiery pit. Christ will claim his victory. Death will be no more.
   Paul then clarified Jesus’ rule will not be above the Father’s. “Everything” does not include God the Father. This seems a strange comment regarding the Trinity. Who would think the Son would rule the Father? But remember, all types of lies and deceptions enter the human mind. Paul was teaching into a culture dominated with mythologies of gods having sons and daughters who warred against each other. When we teach Jesus’ truth, we are constantly at war with cultural mindsets that will reshape Jesus’ words into people’s own ways of thinking. An unbelieving mindset is impossible to change without the Holy Spirit’s renewing force. Jesus will defeat evil. He will give the keys of the Kingdom to the Father as he fulfills the Father’s will.
   This also speaks to the nature of the Trinity. As the Bible often tells us, each person of the Trinity has a role in mankind’s redemptive history and future. God’s authority rests through the work each has done. God the Father sent the Son through the Spirit. The Spirit empowered the Son to his work as a man and raised him from the dead. The Son completed the mission on earth and is now working to complete his mission to defeat evil. One day the work will be done. Mankind will be redeemed, and the Son will return us to the Father.
   One day the world will live in the perfection of Paul’s words of Ephesians 4:4 There is one body and one Spirit – just as you were called to one hope when you were called – 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.  
   This is how God created the world. He will recreate it to fit his perfect image.
 

1 Corinthians 15:20-23 But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. 22 For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. 23 But each in his own turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him.  
 
PAUL gets to the truth of his point. Jesus is risen. Case closed. Don’t argue about the obvious. Accept it. Believe it. Live it.
   What does it mean Jesus is the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep? It’s a common description of Jesus’ resurrection, used seven times in the New Testament. Firstfruits comes from the first grain offering God commanded the Jews to bring to him in Exodus 23:19 “Bring the best of the firstfruits of your soil to the house of the Lord your God.” and Leviticus 23:10 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When you enter the land I am going to give you and you reap its harvest, bring to the priest a sheaf of the first grain you harvest. 11 He is to wave the sheaf before the Lord so it will be accepted on your behalf; the priest is to wave it on the day after the Sabbath.”  The Feast of Firstfruits celebrated the first fruits of the harvest. They were to be offered to God with the expectation God would bless the harvest with much more. It correlated with Pentecost to remember the giving of the Law. It is no accident the Holy Spirit delivered the firstfruits of the church through the apostles on Pentecost.
   Jesus, of course, is the sacrificial Lamb of God, offered to the Father. His resurrection is the beginning of the harvest of the Kingdom of God on earth into eternity. He is the first, the best offering to the Father. Any who die in Christ are gathered into the same eternal harvest.
   Because Jesus is the firstfruit of the resurrection, he reversed Adam’s curse of death. Jesus’ offering brought mankind into God’s life blessing. Born into Adam’s sin nature, we can now be made alive through the death and resurrection of the one man, Jesus Christ.
          Verse 23 speaks to the order of Jesus’ Second Coming Paul wrote in 1 & 2 Thessalonians. Christ will come with the souls of the saved who are in Heaven. The dead will rise to meet him and be formed anew with their souls. Those alive will then join with Christ and the resurrected bodies. No “rising” or entrance into Heaven will occur before Jesus comes again. There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under Heaven (Ecclesiastes 3:1) including the coming of the Christ and resurrection of the dead. You can trust you will rise into Heaven if you follow the firstfruits of resurrection.

1 Corinthians 15:12-19 But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14 And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. 15 More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. 19 If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men. 
 
PAUL certainly spoke to our future as Christians. If Jesus is not raised, we have no eternal life. There is no point in believing, following and worshiping a “Lord” who still lies in a grave.
   Paul wondered how some could hear the resurrection preached and not believe. We could ask about 25% of people in America today who reject the resurrection even though they say, “I’m a Christian.” Hearing, of course, is not always believing. But, how indeed, can one listen to such preaching and then say, “I believe most but not all of the Bible?”
   Of course, this points to sin’s hold on our hearts. Paul’s question was perhaps rhetorical. In other words, he knew the answer. As he had received the favor of God’s grace, most of the world and some in the church had not yet experienced this transformational gift to believe.
   Paul was speaking into their doubt to use it as a means of convincing them. It’s as if you had someone in your home, standing by your front door. Your guest was not believing the door was there even though you told him specifically of its existence. “How can you say there is no door?” when the door was right before them.
   To the unbeliever we say, “How can you say there’s no resurrection when the evidence of the resurrection is put before you? Are you not listening, seeing and hearing? What shield is over your mind to keep the evidence from you? Do you think gospel teachers are false witnesses? Do you wonder why we preach what we preach, do what we do? Are you not convinced Jesus’ resurrection is the hinge for your eternal life? Think about it! Your loved ones who did not confess Jesus before their deaths are lost. There is no hope for them. Have you no hope for eternal life?” If we live in such unbelief we are to be pitied.
   Paul had an absolute knowledge of Jesus’ resurrection for the same reason the other apostles did. He had seen and spoken to the risen Jesus. He also knew 500 others saw Jesus alive and teaching them after the cross. Thousands of Jews came to be saved in Jesus’ resurrection truth. Paul was urging the unbelievers in Corinth to understand the truth.
   This remains the church’s task for the world. 

1 Corinthians 15:7-11 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, 8 and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born. 9 For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve 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 to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them –  yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. 11 Whether, then, it was I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed.
 
PAUL continues to give historical evidence of Jesus’ resurrection. When Paul writes he appeared to James, he referred to Jesus’ half-brother who also wrote the epistle James. There is no written evidence of Jesus’ appearance to James, but commentators believe Paul could have learned about this when he visited the apostles and believers there for the first time in Jerusalem (Acts 9:26-28). As Paul testified to Jesus’ resurrection power, we can assume others, including James, would have shared their stories.
   Paul was humble to point to himself as the last apostle chosen. And he was extremely contrite to consider God’s enormous grace on his life, even though he had persecuted the Jews. This is certainly a testimony to the power of forgiveness. Forgiveness heals a broken heart to become whole in Jesus’ resurrection power. Forgiveness gives life to the dead, joy to the sad, hope to the desperate. Yes, we can all rejoice as Paul, “By the grace of God I am what I am.” We can live purposefully to put God’s grace into effect fo the Kingdom of God.
   But then Paul seems to elevate himself above the others to say I worked harder than all of them. This may have been Paul’s response to overcome the other apostles’ advantages. They had been fully with Jesus for three years. He had not. He had persecuted the church with a vengeance, even coming against the apostles at times. That’s why Paul’s writings are filled with a special sense of God’s grace. He knows his previous life and his works won’t save him. So his response to grace is to work as hard as he can for the Lord, who eternally loves him.
   Paul urged the Corinthians to believe in Jesus’ resurrection power to save and transform. He knew it very personally. He hoped they would know Jesus as he did.
  

1 Corinthians 15:1-6 Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. 2 By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. 3 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures 5 and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. 6 After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep.  
 
A Christian finds it easy to celebrate Jesus’ resurrection on Easter Sunday. Our hearts are hopeful in this blessed gift God has bestowed upon us. We worship a Living Lord! But what can happen during the course of normal life and weekly worship? Might our faith become dull to the joy? Are there times we doubt the story and perhaps even minimize Jesus’ glorious victory over death?
   1 Corinthians 15 is a long chapter of Paul’s defense of Jesus’ life, death, resurrection and return. Paul spent a good deal of time building up the church, preaching the gospel and teaching the gospel’s application. After his departure, the Corinth church had many problems, so he wrote this and 2 Corinthians to inspire, rebuke and encourage them back toward the truth. Here, he wrote at length to inspire the church back toward that “Easter joy” each of us should experience every day because we know Jesus is raised to glory.
   Paul first gave a brief summary of Jesus’ activities after the resurrection. Paul reminded them of the gospel he preached. It’s always a good thing to stop and remember the absolute history of the gospel. That’s why he hold Christmas and Easter as special historical marks of the church and Jesus’ life. Then he reminds the church of a crucial truth: they have taken their stand on that gospel. He has watched them stand on the truth amid a very pagan culture. He has heard their confessions and has seen their faith in action.
   Paul reminds them of the gospel’s future power for their souls if they hold firmly to the truth. The gospel has little power if we hear it but reject its heart-transforming work. Faith become useless, and our belief has no merit.
   Paul also teaches the power of passing on the gospel. He received it. He preached it. Absolutely crucial to know is the fact that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures. Paul gave credit to the Old Testament prophets for their words to point to Jesus’ life, death and resurrection. God’s story was being told from long before the Corinthians heard it.
   Then he closes this section with more eyewitness evidence of Jesus’ resurrection. He speaks of Peter’s encounter specifically, perhaps because the Corinthians knew Peter. Or it can be Paul’s affirmation of Jesus’ forgiveness, even to those who deny him. Paul also confirms, as Luke did (Acts 1), that Jesus ministered to many people over 40 days between his resurrection and ascension. Many of those were still alive at this writing, so there was much evidence the crucified Jesus of Nazareth came out of the grave.
   Born into new life, this is your inheritance. Praise Jesus, and live in Easter joy each day.
 

Romans 13:11-12 And do this, understanding the present time. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. 12 The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.
 
WHAT is it like for you when you dress for church? Does your destination have any influence on the clothes you wear? Or do you dress with whatever is convenient? Perhaps you have some special worship clothes. Or perhaps you don’t. Depending on the culture in which you live, clothes are a very important part of worship attendance. Your outward appearance indicates to others who you are and where you are going. You want to please the Lord with your best.
   What else happens as you dress for church? Does your mind begin to put on the armor of light? In other words, do you decide to take off some anger you’ve kept in your heart all week? Are you thinking it’s a good day to dwell on God’s Word instead of other media?  Perhaps you’re putting in your mind a list of people to pray for. You might add confession to your wardrobe. As you put on your clothes for church, are you putting on a calmer spirit? Do you give more attention to your spouse and to your children? Do you set aside the world’s issues, so you can be settled well into the Lord’s house?
   Romans 13 is one of those chapters where Paul writes of some life actions and attitudes we must wear as we prepare for Heaven. For a third time in his letters he mentions “armor” as an illustration of a particular defense against sin and offense for Christ. As we dress for Heaven, we must wear the armor of light, so Jesus’ power will shine through our lives into the world. It’s time for us to act with urgency as if the church bells are ringing, the music has begun or the timer on the screen is clicking down to zero. The hour has come! Wake up! Our salvation is nearer. The night is nearly over. The day is almost here. Put aside the deeds of darkness. Put on the armor of light!
   Sometimes we are late for church because we dress to slowly or don’t use our time well. Don’t be late for Heaven. You won’t have another day to go when the Lord sounds his trumpet.
 

Romans 6:3-5 Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. 5 If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection.
 
WE often speak of baptism as being an outward sign of our faith in Jesus Christ. It is also a covenantal act for parents and the church to commit a child to grow up into faith. The parents and the church are to guide the child to one day live in a true baptism of confession as the Holy Spirit indwells him.
   In these verses, Paul relates baptism first to the service of Christ. He wrote of this service commitment when he taught how the Israelites were baptized into Moses in 1 Corinthians 10:2 They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. 3 They all ate the same spiritual food 4 and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ. 5 Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them; their bodies were scattered over the desert.
   This describes how Israel became a nation set apart – consecrated – from other nations. God also set them apart from their past in Egypt. They were consecrated into the law at Mt. Sinai, as they promised, “We will do everything the Lord has said.” (Exodus 19:8) But we know they didn’t, and they perished in the desert.
   In a like manner, in our Spirit-empowered confession of Jesus Christ, we are baptized into Christ’s service. But we are not consecrated by the law. When the Spirit empowers us to confess, “Jesus is my risen Lord and Savior.” we die to sin and live for Christ. The Spirit sets us apart from our past, from sin’s death into life through Christ’s death and resurrection. Our souls rise to live a faith life for Jesus. Sin, then, violates our Christian confession. There is no place for it in our soul because we are dead to sin.
   We see this power of change in Jesus Great Commission: “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” (Matthew 28:19-20) Baptism is not an end but a beginning. It leads to teaching and obeying – service for God. Baptism connects our sin to Jesus’ atoning sacrifice. We die to sin and live for Christ in Christ.
   This is one reason our lifestyle is so important to our faith. From Genesis to Revelation, God tells us he wants our active participation in a holy relationship with him. Set apart from sin, set into a life of faith, we are God’s own. As we await Jesus’ return, let’s be sure we continually strive to live into that baptized life. 

Romans 5:1-8 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. 6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
 
MANY of us may be familiar with some of these verses, especially 6-8. Paul’s basic teaching here begins, also, with God’s providential love and grace to save us: we have been justified through faith. Believers’ sins have been made right because God has determined to save us through faith in Jesus Christ. Paul emphasizes we have peace with God to help us understand it is more than possessing peace. In our salvation, peace is our right relationship with God. We hold onto this precious gift because God has acted to make us right through our Lord Jesus Christ. This peace reflects God’s presence as the Spirit unites the saved to the Savior: Romans 14:17 For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.
   Through Jesus, we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. How good to know we stand in God’s presence! We can consider the Jews in the desert Tabernacle standing around the altar as the cloud of glory expressed God’s presence. People stood with Jesus. These were temporary connections to God’s personal presence. The Christian, though, has an eternal presence with God. To gain access to God’s presence is God’s gift to you. You will stand forever with him through Jesus Christ. What joy you can know because you trust God will always protect you from judgment and welcome you into Heaven.
   That is the power of Paul’s “perseverance message.” We don’t have to persevere in our own power. God’s power is with us through each trial. He uses trials to strengthen our faith and heighten the anticipation of the day we stand in Jesus’ presence.
   Consider what God has done to save you to Heaven: God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit. He has died for the ungodly.  And God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
   Through Christ you have a secure hold on your faith. 

2 Thessalonians 2:6-9 And now you know what is holding the man of lawlessness back, so that he may be revealed at the proper time. 7 For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way. 8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming. 9 The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders.
 
In the world of the Thessalonians and the world today two events are happening simultaneously. First, the secret power of lawlessness is already at work. We may not think it is secret because so much evil is visible wherever we look. But there is a Spiritual war constantly occurring that holds evil from dominating the world. The devil is doing the unseen work. One day his work will become more visible through an antichrist, the man of lawlessness.
   The secret refers to something God will reveal. Lawlessness is the hidden force from which all sin springs. The lawlessness is still secret because the LORD God is restraining it. As we know, the world has much good to celebrate. There is law enforcement, education, economy, healthcare and the church. Although wars and criminal acts are far too common, the world has yet to see the real horror of complete lawlessness. This will happen when the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way.
   Who holds back the man of lawlessness? It seems that the Thessalonians knew that answer as Paul said, “Now you know what is holding the man of lawlessness back.” Apparently Paul had previously taught this. So Paul referred to it here but did not repeat it. There are three possibilities: (1) government and law, which help to curb evil (2) the ministry and activity of the church and the effects of the gospel (3) the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit seems the obvious choice. Who but God can hold back evil? No human organization is strong enough to keep Satan at bay. The Holy Spirit is holding back the man of lawlessness until the appointed time to he is to be revealed and do his evil work.
   Then comes the common question: Why will God allow this evil man to act with unrestrained wickedness? The most common and Bible-based answer is to know this is how God will judge the world for its opposition to God. He will show people and nations their own sinfulness, rejecting the lordship of Christ.
   The man of lawlessness has not yet come; he will be revealed in God’s time. The Bible encourages true believers not to fear this time. We know Jesus saves.  
 

2 Thessalonians 2:1-5 Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask you, brothers, 2 not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by some prophecy, report or letter supposed to have come from us, saying that the day of the Lord has already come. 3 Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. 4 He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God. 5 Don’t you remember that when I was with you I used to tell you these things? 
 
IT is essential to see in these two letters to the Thessalonian church that Paul’s language about Jesus’ Second Coming is constant. Note he says, Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask you, brothers. This is the same language Paul wrote in 1 Thessalonians to describe all from the graves and on earth gathered to Jesus in the air. There is one way Jesus is coming. Paul continued to emphasize it.
   One reason he does so is due to false letters and teachings that were forged with his name to the church. Jesus had warned about false teachers many times, and they were continually at work as the devil’s agents to destroy the apostles’ work. Some had taught Jesus had already returned! (And that lie continues today.)
   Then Paul pointed to an absolute sign Jesus’ return is near. That day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed. But some will say this is too unclear. Who is the lawless man? Is he the devil? Might he be a world religion leader with absolute power? And there are many more conjectures. Here then, is another ongoing debate in the church: Who is the man of lawlessness?
   Although no one can name the man, all Christians who are alive when he begins to rule will be able to identify him. In short, he is the central antichrist of the age. He will be a man who will subvert the church’s authority and proclaim himself as God. Unlike the antichrists who are in the world now, this particular man will control a good portion of the world. Many in the false church and from other religions will fall under his deceit. The truly faithful will reject him because the Holy Spirit will protect t hem. They will be subjected to his persecutions. It appears the lawless man will establish himself in Jerusalem’s temple.
   This passage closes with Paul’s reminder to the church he has previously taught this. We can understand there was much debate in the church about the end. Paul, then, had to keep teaching them.
          This speaks to all our hearts to be continually attentive to God’s Word. We can often hear the Bible and rejoice in its teachings. But there is much information in the world that will cause us to focus on the world’s view instead of God’s truth. We must keep our thoughts current on the Scriptures, so we can stand against anyone and anything, so we can stand for Jesus.