Today, on Real Life Radio.
Paul said, I’ll stick around for your sakes that you might learn more Bible, but I want to go home. Think of that. How can he be so bold?
Because he knows what he’s talking about. How can he know what he’s talking about? Because there’s a scriptural biblical witness and there’s a natural witness.
This is Real Life. Welcome to Real Life Radio with Pastor Jack Hibbs. I’m David Jay thanking you for joining us today as we listen, learn, and are challenged by God’s Word, the Bible.
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On today’s edition of Real Life Radio, Pastor Jack now continues his series called First Corinthians with the message titled, What Are You Wearing? First Corinthians was written by the Apostle Paul to the Church of God in Corinth, and he shares with us about getting rid of our old clothes. You see, we need to be dressed for eternity.
Just like we have a natural body here on earth having clothes that will fade and tear, we’ll have a spiritual body in heaven having a white robe that never wears out. So today we’ll learn that in Christianity, death is a necessary part of our process. Just as our bodies die so that we can live eternally in heaven, we need to die to ourselves while living here on earth.
Now, with his message called What Are You Wearing? Here’s pastor and Bible teacher, Jack Hibbs.
When we look around at what we wear, in most cases, you pick out something to wear. Now, tomorrow is supposed to be my day off. Normally, I would roll out of bed, put on my bathing suit or board shorts, whatever, and an old crummy t-shirt because that’s what I wear on my day off.
You say, Pastor, I can’t see you in that. It doesn’t matter. You’re not supposed to see me on my day off, I guess, anyway, but that’s what I like.
It’s comfortable. Are you with me? Okay.
And it’s for the day. It’s for that. And so, when you think about eternity, the Bible makes it very clear throughout scripture that we are to be dressed for eternity.
Just like you and I put clothes on, we are to have a certain garment on regarding eternity. The Bible tells us. For example, in the Book of Revelation, over and over again, there are those Old Testament saints, like David, like Jonah, or Daniel.
The Bible says they will be given white robes for eternity. They’ll be wearing white robes. The Bible talks about the Tribulation saints, those believers who are yet in the future, who during the seven year horrific peril on earth, who will come to put their faith in Christ, the Bible says they will be granted white robes.
And of course, the church, you, right now for the last 2,000 years, you who believe in Christ, the Bible says you are given fine white linen. The Book of Revelation says, which are the righteous acts of the saints? That’s you, it’s amazing.
Eternity, and the question is, what are you wearing or are you dressed for eternity? In 1 Corinthians 15, 35, Paul is gonna take on the skeptics. Now watch this, this is fun.
Imagine right now, we’re going now for the home stretch. He’s gonna push now hard in the closing end of chapter 15. He’s gonna glide to a beautiful finish in chapter 16.
But he right now today is winding up a pitch and he’s delivering a fastball. Listen, it’s not a curve ball. It’s not a slider.
It’s not a spit ball. He’s delivering a fastball right down the middle because he’s not afraid of the truth. And that ball is flying over the home plate.
And listen, he is intending everyone to take a swing at it. It’s perfect pitch. You got to hit it.
And Paul is thinking like that regarding some skeptics in Corinth who do not believe in the resurrection. And Paul is going to use words that you would not want me to use in church, but today I’m going to use them. Paul uses them and I’m going to use them.
So I’m biblical. So, oh, my goodness, what is that? What is that?
Just hang on. It’s so powerful. Follow along with me, if you would.
Verse 35, but someone will say, how are the dead raised up? And with what body do they come or come forth? Verse 36, foolish one, what you sow is not made alive unless it dies.
And what you sow, you do not sow that body that shall be, but mere grain, perhaps wheat or some other grain. But God gives a body as he pleases to each seed its own body. That’s a law, by the way, of nature.
It’s awesome. Verse 39, all flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one kind of flesh of man or mankind, another flesh of animals, another flesh of fish or of birds. There are also celestial bodies, be it angelic or the heavens above, or, and terrestrial bodies, those things of this world.
But the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial, this world, is another. There is one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, another glory of the stars, for one star differs from another star in glory. So, also is the resurrection of the dead.
The body is sown in corruption. It is raised in incorruption. It is sown in dishonor.
It is raised in glory. It is sown, or buried, in weakness. It is raised in power.
It is sown a natural body. Go ahead and pinch yourself. That’s what that word means.
Your worldly body for this world. It is raised a spiritual body, not a ghost. The word means a body fit for eternity.
There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. And so it is written, the first man, Adam, became a living being. You’re gonna wanna hang around to wait and find out what that means.
And the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. Verse 46. However, the spirit is not first, but the natural.
In other words, you’re born into this world before you’re born again. And afterward, the spiritual. The first man was of the earth, made of dust.
The second man is the Lord from heaven. As was the man of dust, so also are those who are made of dust. And as is the heavenly man, so also are those who are heavenly.
And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, Adam is our dad, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly man. What an amazing thing. I could say amen and we could go home now.
That is so plain, crystal clear if apparently from this passage, you’re thinking. That’s a huge assumption. Are you thinking?
You say, pastor, you’re insulting me. Just wait. It hasn’t even begun yet.
I’m serious. Paul is saying this. You skeptics and Corinth in the church, you are saying in a mocking tone and manner, that’s what’s implied in verse 35, you’re asking two questions and you think you’re so clever in asking these questions.
You are saying, how are the dead raised up? And what body do they come forth with? That question or those questions creates a response from Paul, which is awesome.
Church, get ready. Dressing for eternity. What are you wearing?
Number one, verses 35 to 38, is that we need to get rid of some old clothes. We need to get rid of some clothes as it were regarding our lives, regarding faith and regarding our real existence, getting rid of our old clothes. And I’m not talking about setting stuff in a pink bag out at the curb for someone to come pick up.
We do do that. And we don’t even think about why we’re doing that. But in the same token, I want you to think about what you take out to the curb and leave for someone to take away.
God wants you as a human being to take something out to the curb as it were and leave it and live a brand new life. And there’s a great reason for it. Number one, verses 35 to 36 is this, getting rid of our old clothes and getting dressed for eternity means that we’re gonna be using our knowledge wisely.
I want you to write that down. Use your head. Watch what he says.
Someone’s gonna ask, how are the dead raised up? It’s a sarcastic question. The way it’s structured, it’s sarcasm.
Someone’s gonna say to Paul, either someone has said to Paul, they wrote him a letter, or this is what’s rumored around the city of Corinth. Oh yeah, how are the dead raised up? How can this possibly be?
We’re Greeks, we know everything. We’ll give you Paul resurrection of the spirit life because the flesh is evil, the flesh is wicked, and it should die. Let it rot.
We’ve seen what happens to a dead body, turns into dust, and the wind blows it away, and that’s the end of it. How in the world can that live again? Now that actually, if you don’t know what the Bible has to say, that is a fair question to ask.
But if you’re really honestly asking the question, friend, if you’re in this building today and you’re asking that question about what Christians believe and what the Bible teaches, you would say today, that’s ridiculous. Everybody knows that either through cremation or the grave, what happens in 30 years or 30 minutes via cremation, it’s all dust. Are you trying to tell me that God will reassemble that?
The answer to that is absolutely yes. It all matters on how big your God is. On the scientific side, why should that rock your world?
Because just because you extract all the moisture out of a human being’s existence, you’ve got this molecular dust pile. That doesn’t change. It’s there.
And I want you to be thinking about that. Use your knowledge wisely. Verse 36, hang on to your seats.
He says, foolish one, what you sow is not made alive unless it dies. That sounds like a ridiculous statement, but it’s so true and everybody knows it. You say, are you crazy, pastor?
Nope.
I know what I’m talking about. First of all, circle the word foolish. Are you ready?
Mark it down. The Greek word is ephron. You walk up to somebody in Greece and you say, you ephron you, and you know what?
You’re probably going to get beat up. Why? Do you want to know what it means?
The word means you stupid, empty headed, egotistical, egocentric, unbelieving, unwise person. Couldn’t you just see Paul? This little Hebrew guy coming up there, comes up and he says, what is it you don’t believe in?
You don’t believe in the resurrection? Ephron. Man, I’d love to see this.
You empty-headed person. The word means you’re not thinking. And listen, he lays it out before a human audience.
Use your head. We use the same word, use your head. We say things like, what were you thinking?
What’s up there anyway? Excuse me, we say things so sweet and so nice. We say things like, the lights are on, but nobody’s home.
It’s the exact same meaning. Wow. You don’t know what you’re talking about, Paul is saying.
You’re listening to Real Life with Pastor Jack Hibbs. You know, to hear more episodes and maybe catch up in the series, just go to jackhibbs.com. That’s jackhibbs.com.
And for now, let’s get back to our teaching. Once again, here’s Pastor Jack.
He is announcing that for biblical theology and for Christian theology, which is biblical theology, death is not the end. Death is a necessity in our lives that serves a purpose. Death.
How can I say that? Because the Bible says that God has conquered death. The Bible says that the Lord Jesus in his death and resurrection has taken away the sting and the power of the grave.
God’s conquered death. We are so gripped by this temporal view of life, and we fear death. Let me tell you something.
If you’re a Christian, as you guys all know, the Bible says to be absent from the body, that means you die. It’s to be present with the Lord. What could be better than that?
Paul says, I’ve got an issue in my life. You guys need me to stay and teach the Bible, he says to them, but I would rather and far better be out of here and with the Lord. Paul said, I’ll stick around for your sakes that you might learn more Bible, but I wanna go home.
Think of that. How can he be so bold? Cuz he knows what he’s talking about.
How can he know what he’s talking about? Because there’s a scriptural biblical witness and there’s a natural witness. And we’ve often said in this pulpit that the God of nature is the God of salvation, the God of the Bible.
And that display of nature and the Bible will never contradict each other. The author’s the same. But you gotta use your knowledge wisely.
And Paul brings forth an argument that is simply, and I mean that simply, brilliant. It is awesome. Because he’s introducing to the thinking of those skeptics, death is a liberator to the Christian.
Death. Listen, the Bible tells us in John’s Gospel, chapter 12, verse 24. Listen to this.
And listen, before I read it, John 12, 24, Jesus, what occupation was Jesus? Carpenter. How did he know?
This verse I’m gonna read you, how did he know this? He said, well, he’s God. I know, I know, I’m just settin you up.
But John 12, 24, most assuredly I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and it dies, it remains alone or all by itself. But if it dies, it produces much grain. Mark this down, would ya?
This is amazing. You see this? Look what I got right here.
What is that? Corn. By the way, the way our crops are going in the Midwest right now, I’m gonna hang on to this.
It could get pretty rare here come this fall. Can you see the kernels right here? If I take one of these right here, I have no idea.
Maybe some of you botanist, maybe you know. I don’t know how many corn kernels are on an ear of corn, and I don’t know how many ears of corn are on a stalk of corn. But I know where it came from.
It came from one of these little guys right here. Inside here is locked information that is genius. Did you know that?
And let me tell you a little bit about it. If you were to take this out and let it dry in the sun, and leave it, you can leave it out, you can leave it out for 500 years. Isn’t it weird?
And take it and put it in the ground. When you put it in the ground, it dies. You say, what?
When you put it in the ground, the chemicals from the earth cause it to die. At the moment of its death, it shoots out a microscopic little root, and it begins to grow. In its death, it’s buried, it begins to grow.
Every day, do you know this? The God is so amazing. In my hand right here, I have the power right here to feed the entire world forever.
Mathematically, did you know that? There should be no starvation in the globe. One kernel of corn can produce an entire stock which produces ears of corn, and I don’t know how many kernels are on each ear, and if you plant those, my friends, you cover the earth in corn, there should be no starvation.
The only reason why there’s starvation, by the way, if you look around the world, is because of political reasons. Go figure that one out. It’s not the environment.
God has done his part. Man’s doing everything possible to mess it up. One kernel falls under the ground and dies and brings forth this.
And that’s exactly what Jesus said. Unless you die, you live or you exist by yourself. But the moment, think about this, the moment you’re put into the ground, this happens.
Now, you see, you just went from corn to us. Well, I spiritualized it this way in the sense that when a believer dies and the Gospels preached at their funeral, I’ve seen non-believers get saved and fruit is produced from that dead person’s life. Actually, their body’s the only thing that’s dead, isn’t it?
Think about that for a moment. I think that’s very encouraging. But he’s talking, Paul is saying, listen, you guys, you’re a skeptic, aren’t you hoping for a harvest?
Aren’t you hoping this summer or fall for some corn? And everybody would say, even a godless person would say, yeah, man, I’m looking forward to a harvest. Every time you and I pluck an apple from the tree, a tomato from the plant, corn from the stock, we should be thinking God is showing us over and over and over again, the power of his resurrection.
The power, he’s put it in nature. He’s screaming at us that when the caterpillar goes up the side of your house and spins the chrysalis and then flies away, he was re-it, the caterpillar was reconstituted. Can you imagine flying, I don’t know what they think.
I don’t know, I have no idea. Can you imagine, this is awesome. Oh my goodness, no more earthbound.
This is great. The corn is corn. If I plucked off a kernel and said, what is this?
You’d say corn. If I held the stock up, you’d say corn. And if I showed you Kansas covered in this, you would say, it’s corn.
But it’s different every time you look at it, isn’t it? And that’s exactly what Paul is arguing about the resurrected life. Your body will be raised from the dead.
There’ll be a vacancy where you once were, but you’ll be reconstituted by the power of God. Resurrection, not reincarnation. Resurrection, not resuscitation.
Resurrection. And we need to remember that. It is an awesome thing to think.
Next, verse 37 is applying what you and I already know. He says, what you sow, what you put in the ground, you do not sow that body that shall be. We just heard how that changes.
But mere grain, perhaps wheat or some other grain. In the book of Acts, Paul was in Athens, Greece at this time, of Acts 26, and he says, why should you think it incredible that God should raise the dead? Isn’t that a great statement?
Isn’t that a great question? How big’s your God? Can your God raise the dead?
And I love that challenge. He’s so bold, because the evidence is overwhelming. God, in a sense, in nature, announces, I raise the dead every day.
Isn’t that fun? I raise the dead every day. It’s a great, great, beautiful picture that he gives us.
Applying what you already know. Listen, I’m gonna move on from this, but it’s just a simple challenge. Look around.
If you’re a skeptic, look around and ask yourself, is there reproduction taking place in the world in which I live in? How does it come about? How is it happening?
What’s the science to it? And you’ll be applying what you already know, but we so often fly over the things that are so simple, but in reality, they explain so much. And Paul is saying, some of you at Corinth, you think you’re so smart, and you’ve never even figured this out, that God raises the dead, and it’s easy for him.
That resurrection is coming to all those. Some to eternal life, yes, the Bible says, some to eternal destruction, but resurrection is coming. The third thing is this, is recognizing the design of God.
Look at verse 38, to recognize God’s amazing engineering. It says in verse 38, but God gives a body as he pleases. Circle the word pleases.
The word implies engineering or engineered. God gives a body as he’s engineered to each seed its own body. And this is a scientific fact.
Everything reproduces after its own kind. You all know that, we know that. If you plant grape seed in the ground, you are not gonna get an oak tree.
You say, that’s so dumb. I can’t believe that. The Bible says everything produces after its own kind.
And that is a scientific fact. So, watch what he says. It pleases God to engineer as he sees fit, and he has seen fit to be ordered, reasonable and logical.
I want you to think of this. God’s design, recognizing it. The Bible says in Genesis 1, 27 and 28, that God made us after his own image, says the Bible.
Verse 28 says in Genesis 1 that God blessed them. And by the way, the Bible says, listen, God said, God said, be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth, subdue it, have dominion over it. That word means use it to your joy.
Use the earth to your joy. Should we take care of the planet? Yes.
Should we worship it? No. According to the Bible, should we be fruitful and multiplying?
Yes. That should be a theme for a marriage retreat. Be fruitful and multiply.
Anyway, okay, I’m getting off the… Fill the earth and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.
Why? Because God takes care of the balance. Should we be wise?
Yes. Use your brain. No one should be a better custodian of the earth’s environment than a Christian.
Why? Because our God made it.
Pastor and Bible teacher, Jack Hibbs, here on Real Life Radio with his message called, What Are You Wearing? So glad you could be with us today. You know, this message is part of Pastor Jack’s series called, First Corinthians.
It’s a series on the Corinthian Church and the Apostle Paul’s bold call for purity. And we’ll continue on the next edition of Real Life Radio. What if the rapture happened tomorrow?
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This program is made possible by the generous contributions of you, our listeners. Visit us at jackhibbs.com, that’s jackhibbs.com. Until next time, Pastor Jack Hibbs and all of us here at Real Life Radio wish for you solid and steady growth in Christ and in His Word.
We’ll see you next time here on Real Life Radio.
