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November 24, 2002
Christ the King Sunday
1 Corinthians 15:20-28
Pastor Joel Zank

Christ Must Reign!

(1 Corinthians 15:20-28) But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him. Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, 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 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. 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.

In name of Christ our King, dear fellow redeemed,

I don't know about you, but every once in a while something happens in life that just takes the wind out of my spiritual sails. It might be something significant, a health problem in the family, or the death of a loved one; or sometimes it may be just a lot of little things all happening at once-work that doesn't get done, the pressure of deadlines that must be met, the tension of disagreements that arise, these and other daily troubles can make my life seem pretty hopeless.

Why? What's wrong with me? What's wrong with my faith in Christ? Well, for one thing I don't always exercise my faith. I don't always lean on Jesus. There are things that I know about him in my head that don't always translate into joy for my heart and peace for my soul. Take the theme of this Sunday for example. This is Christ the King Sunday. I know that Jesus is King. I know that his resurrection from the dead and his ascension into heaven mark him as our victorious King. But if I'm going to treat that news like some piece of trivia, simply filing it away in my brain, it's not going to mean much to my every day life. The Apostle Paul knew that better than anyone, so guided by the Holy Spirit, he takes the truth about Christ's kingship and turns it into life-changing news. He shows us today that "king" is not merely a polite title for Jesus. It describes his activity, his work in our world and in our lives-work that is crucial to our well being as Christians. In fact, if we are to remain and live as the people of God, Christ's kingship is an absolute necessity. For this reason Paul teaches us today that Christ Must Reign! He must reign to give hope to the dying. He must reign till death is destroyed.

Christ must reign to give hope. Hope is such a precious commodity. That's because discouragement comes so naturally to us sinners. Every problem that we have, whether it's work related or a part of our home life, reaffirms what our conscience is always telling us-we deserve to be miserable because we have sinned against God. Job, a man who was no stranger to trouble put it this way, " "Man born of woman is of few days and full of trouble. He springs up like a flower and withers away; like a fleeting shadow, he does not endure" (Job 14:1-2). Job doesn't mince any words. He gets to the heart of what's really bothering us-sin's ultimate punishment-death. Everything that goes wrong in life reminds us that God wasn't exaggerating when he told Adam: "Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground...for dust you are and to dust you will return" (Genesis 3:17,19).

I've peered into too many caskets to think that God was only talking to Adam. Every funeral I attend validates the truth of Paul's bad news here in our text: Verse 21 - "...death came through a man;" Verse 22- "...in Adam all die." When our father sinned, he brought death not only to himself but to all of us because we inherited his sin. Science can boast of miracle cures and smart drugs, but in spite of all of the bravado, the death rate remains the same among us sinners-one per person and because we're sinners, you and I can't do a thing about it.

No, if something's going to be done about sin and the death to which it always leads, it's going to take a better man than you or I to do it. That man is Jesus, the God-man. The truth is, he has already battled sin by living above it, so far above it that he was never guilty of even one impure thought, let alone a hateful word or selfish action. Conceived by God's Holy Spirit, Jesus wasn't even tainted by the sin of his human mother. He was born holy and lived holy-a fact that made him the perfect man to take on death. Now, of course, the irony of it all is that a perfect man doesn't have to die. He has no sin to pay for in death's prison. But remember Jesus came to bail us out of our debt of sin. So he stood before God and claimed responsibility for every sin that would ever be committed throughout the history of earth. He took ownership of every sinner's guilt, Adam's guilt, even yours and mine. For our wrongs he died. With our sin he entered hell and paid the entire punishment God's justice required of us. We know there's no suffering left for us. Jesus made sure to tell us, "It is finished." And then to prove that we don't have to be afraid of even the grave, Jesus bowed his head and died so that three days later he could burst out of the tomb as the "...firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep" (1 Corinthians 15:20).

That's how Paul refers to Jesus in our text, the firstfruits, that is the first of many more to come. Did you notice something else? Paul doesn't say the firstfruits of those who have died, but of those who have fallen asleep. I would guess that almost everyone here has seen what death can do to a person-how it silences a loved one's laughter, makes his or her touch grow cold. Paul wants us to know that what death has done to our loved ones and what it threatens to do to us is nothing compared to what Jesus has done to death for all those who belong to him, for all of us who believe in him through the faith he has worked in our hearts. For all who know Jesus as Savior, death is nothing more than slumber, a peaceful sleep from which Jesus our King will awaken his followers at the end of time. He who wiped death's sleep from his own eyes will have no trouble wiping it from ours!

Of course, for this great truth to comfort and encourage us in our daily lives, Christ must reign in our hearts through his Word and promises. What good does it do us to have a Resurrected King, if we forget that his resurrection means as much to us as his death for our sins? Christ lives not to retire in heaven but to reign in our hearts and by his reign give hope to the dying. We need that hope! Our eyes witness death all around us. Our aches and pains tell us that death pursues us, too. But our Risen Lord says, "Trust me! I've undone Adam's sin!" Our Risen Lord says, "Because I live, you also will live" (John 14:19).

We cling to these words by faith, but what if the troubles of life overwhelm our faith? What if the forces of Satan rob us of our faith? What if the future is too terrible for our faith to handle? What good would Christ's resurrection do us then? I'm afraid no good at all. But, then, that's not really our concern-in the sense that we don't create or strengthen faith. That's the work of Christ our King. This is why the writer to the Hebrews says, "Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart" (Hebrews 12:2-3).

During his life on earth, our King stood up to our enemies to save us from our sins. As our Risen King he must stand up to our enemies to bring us safely home to heaven or we will never get there. This is what Paul has in mind when he tells us today that Christ must reign till even our last enemy, death, is destroyed. He who is responsible for creating and strengthening our faith through his own Word and sacrament, has been commissioned and empowered by his Father to reign over every force and power, seen and unseen, to hold in check all that threatens our faith till he comes to take us home. As long as the world endures Christ will do this for his people. Paul says "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 [God] "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" (1 Corinthians 15:25-27).

Everything and everyone but God himself is ruled by Jesus. That's why Paul can say in Romans 8 that even our worst troubles must work out for our good and serve God's plan to bless us. Even a powerful enemy like death must serve Jesus as the avenue by which Jesus brings the believer's soul into everlasting bliss.

For the time being Jesus uses his defeated enemies to accomplish his purposes, but soon, very soon those enemies will have outlasted their usefulness and they will be destroyed. Paul reports: "Then the end will come, when [Jesus] hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power... 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" (1 Corinthians 15:24). Satan and his allies will soon be imprisoned in hell. And death will be done away with altogether when the dead in Christ arise never to die again. In that moment, with his mission accomplished Jesus will turn the kingdom over to his Father. The kingdom of grace that Jesus has ruled in love will come to an end, giving way to a kingdom of glory in which Father Son and Holy Spirit, our Triune God will be all in all with not a hand or a voice raised against them.

All this awaits us dear friends. We're traveling from grace to glory. This is news live by! There's no reason for us to be discouraged, not ever. Christ must reign and because he must, "...neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is ours in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 8:38-39). Amen.