It Is God's Will That You Live Forever with Christ!

3/31/24

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Sermon Transcript

Good morning. Let me start by thanking Justin and the elders for inviting me to speak at this Gospel meeting. I’ve been looking forward to it and I’ve enjoyed preparing the lessons. And I’ll also thank them for choosing such a wonderful topic - What is God’s Will for You? It’s a great topic. And last night we looked at God’s will that we be saved. This morning, God’s will that we walk with Christ. And now, God’s will that we live forever with Christ.

We live in the great age of invention. Whatever the problem, you can be absolutely certain that someone is working on an invention to solve that problem. And let me tell you, as a patent lawyer, that fact makes me very happy. But there is one problem that will never, never be solved by any invention of man, no matter how hard we try or how long we work on that problem. And that problem is the problem, the great problem of death.

Hebrews 9:27, “And just as it is appointed for men to die once, and after that comes judgment.” We each have an appointment with death followed by judgment. But the world has neither of those things on its calendar. People live with a denial of death. They view death as something that happens to other people, but not to them. And that attitude is not new. We also see that attitude in the Bible.

In Luke chapter 12, we find Jesus’ parable of the rich fool. Let’s start reading in verse 16 of Luke chapter 12. “And he told them a parable, saying, ‘The land of a rich man produced plentifully.’ And he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? For I have nowhere to store my crops.’ And he said, ‘I will do this. I will tear down my barns and build larger ones. And there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years. Relax, eat, drink, be merry.”’” But God said to him, "Fool, this night your soul is required of you. “Then the things you have prepared, whose will they be?”

Did you see it? Look at verse 19 again. “I will say to my soul, ‘Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years.’” Notice how confident this man was in his continued existence on this earth. He had laid up goods for many years. Death was something that happened to other people. It was not something he needed to worry about. His plans did not include his death.

The psalmist describes the attitude of such people. Psalm 49:11, “Their inward thought is that their houses shall continue forever and their dwelling places to all generations. They call their lands after their own names.” And James, of course, also describes such people in James chapter 4, starting in verse 13. “Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit,’ yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist, a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.”

So what then can we say about that rich fool in Luke chapter 12? What we can say is that he was a mist with long-term plans. He thought his house would continue forever, as the psalmist told us. Each of us lives on the edge of the grave. And if my plans do not take that fact into account, then God’s statement to that rich fool in Luke chapter 12, verse 20, applies equally to me, thou fool.

That statement from God to that rich fool was the interruption in his regularly scheduled programming. Suddenly his castle building came to a halt, and that same interruption is coming for every person on earth. And how quickly, how quickly it can happen. In just a moment, this rich man left his riches behind. In just a moment, this happy, hopeful, secure man became wretched and hopeless and despairing in just a moment. Rather than living many years to enjoy his riches. As he had planned, he discovered that he would be departing this life that very night. And what about all those great possessions that he had been so worried about? He would be leaving them all behind for someone else to enjoy. Could there be any better word to describe such a person than the word Jesus chose, “Thou fool”?

You know, William Barclay describes a conversation between two men, one who was ambitious and young and one who was much wiser and much older. When asked his I guess I’ll make my fortune. And the older man said, and then? And the younger man said, “Well, I guess eventually I’ll retire.” And the older man said, “And then?” And the younger man said, “I guess I’ll enjoy my retirement.” And the older man said, “And then?” And the younger man thought for a second and said, “Well, you know, I guess someday I will die.” That matters. What happens after we die? When viewed from eternity, that is the question. And then? And yet it is the one question that most people never consider. Like that young man they never give it a thought. Death is the great problem and it is a problem that will never be solved by the arm of man but does that mean there is no solution to the great problem of death? No, it does not mean that. There is a solution to the great problem of death and we find that solution in the great promise of Christ. The great promise of Christ. That solution to the great problem of death comes not from man, comes from God.

You know, we know the word gospel means good news but why is the gospel the good news? What’s so good about it? The gospel is the good news only because it deals with the problem of death. That is why and only why it is the good news. How do we know that? Because if the gospel did not deal with the problem of death, then the Apostle Paul tells us it would not be good news but would rather be bad news. 1 Corinthians 15, starting in verse 17, “And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, then we are of all men most miserable.” That’s bad news, not good news. The gospel is the good news because and only because it gives us hope for what happens after this life. That’s what Paul is telling us. If the gospel of Christ did not solve the problem of death it would be bad news but it does solve the problem of death. Not man, not science, not medicine, but the gospel and only the gospel solves the problem of death.

In 2 Timothy 1:10 Paul tells us that Jesus abolished death, abolished death and brought life and immortality to light out through the gospel. Paul writes, and that solution to the great problem of death is the great, great promise of the gospel, the great promise of Christ. John 8:51, “Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.” John 11:25-26, “Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.’”

Never see death? Never die? How do we reconcile that promise with what we read earlier in Hebrews 9:27 about our own appointment with death? Well Jesus answers that question earlier in the Gospel of John. John 5:24, “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment but has passed from death into life.” Jesus’s promise of life is a promise of eternal life. It is not a promise that we will avoid physical death but it’s instead a promise that we will avoid spiritual death. It is a promise for what happens after we die. It is the promise that we will pass from death to life.

And the promise of eternal life, it is not just a promise that we will exist forever. It is not. That humans will exist forever. That’s not a promise, that is a fact. And it is true whether or not someone obeys the gospel of Christ. Matthew 25:46, “And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” Both the life and the punishment are eternal. We will all exist eternally. So what then is eternal life? How is it different from eternal punishment? I think Paul helps us answer that question. 2 Thessalonians 1:9, “They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might.”

Eternal life is eternal existence in the presence of God. Eternal punishment is eternal existence away from the presence of God. And so the great promise of Christ is not that we will avoid physical death in this life. The great promise of Christ is that we need not fear physical death in this life. Why? Because we know we will pass from death into life. We know that after we die we will be raised from the dead to spend eternity in the presence of God Almighty. That is the great promise of Christ. And if we want to know more about that great promise, we could start by reading the writings of the Apostle John. We’ve already looked at a number of things John wrote. The phrase eternal life is found 43 times in the Bible, over half of which appear in the Gospel and letters of the Apostle John. John has more to tell us about eternal life than the rest of the Bible combined.

John 3:16, we all know that one. We all know that one. “God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:36, “Whoever believes in the Son of God has eternal life.” John 4:14, “Whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” John 6:27, “Do not work for the food that perishes but for the food that endures to eternal life.” John 6:40, “For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.” 1 John 2:25, “This is the promise that he made to us—eternal life.” The great promise of Christ. We could go on and on looking at what John has to tell us about eternal life. But let’s pause and ask this question. Why? Why does John tell us so much about eternal life?

You know, we don’t know for sure, but perhaps the answer comes from when John wrote that epistle and when John wrote that gospel account. The evidence suggests that John wrote those books late, late in his life. At a time when John must have known that he was very close to passing from death into life himself. And I think those books were written by someone who was missing Jesus. We know that John had a special relationship with Jesus. I think they were best friends and I think John was missing his best friend, and was looking forward to seeing him again, spending eternity with him. John, I think, wanted nothing more than to leave the problems of this world behind and spend eternity with Christ Jesus, his friend. And so again and again in the book and the letters of John, we read about that great promise of eternal life.

And you know what, that’s not just true about John, is it? Jesus is also my best friend. Jesus is also your best friend. You’ll never have a greater friend than Jesus. John 15:13-14, “Greater love has no man than this, that someone would lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you.” What a friend we have in Jesus. And our great friend has given us a great promise, eternal life. Our great friend has solved that great problem of death. But how? How did Jesus do it? The answer is Jesus won the great victory. So far we’ve looked at the great problem. We’ve looked at the great promise. But is that promise just an empty promise? And if not, how do we know? How do we know? How can we before our death have faith, have faith in a promise for something that will happen after our death? The answer is the great victory. That is the answer. In the face of the great problem we can have faith in the great promise because of the great victory.

What is the great victory of Christ? Where did that happen? When did it happen? Should we look for some great earthly battlefield with the great armies of the earth arrayed against each other? Should we look for some great heavenly battlefield with the legions of angels arrayed against the forces of darkness? No, to find the great victory of Christ we must look to the cross of Christ. Hebrews 2:9, “But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.” Later in the same chapter, Hebrews 2:14, “Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.”

Christ conquered death on the cross. Christ freed us from the fear of death through his own death on the cross. Jesus won the great victory on the cross. And Christ’s death on the cross is of first importance when it comes to the gospel. 1 Corinthians 15:3, “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures.” Would mankind ever, ever have conceived of such a symbol as the cross? Isn’t the cross itself powerful testimony to the divine origin of the Scriptures?

The choice of the cross as a symbol is even more surprising when we think about the horror, the horror with which it was regarded in the ancient world. The cross was invented by barbarians at the edge of the known world and then it was taken over by the Greeks and by the Romans. Its purpose was to delay death until the maximum amount of torture had been inflicted. Death could sometimes take days. Our own word excruciating comes from the Latin word for cross. Cicero the Roman called the cross a most cruel and disgusting punishment. He said the very word cross should be removed not only from the person of the Roman citizen but from his thoughts, from his eyes, and from his ears. And it was that same symbol of the cross that Christianity moved front and center. It is that same symbol of the cross, the one the Romans never wanted to even think about, that Paul said he boasted in nothing else. Galatians 6:14, “But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.”

Many people today are like those ancient Romans; they do not want to ever think about the cross. Why? Why do so many people today want to avoid thinking about the cross? Because the cross reminds them of things they do not want to think about: death, blood, sin, suffering. The cross reminds us that suffering is an inescapable part of our life on earth and the cross goes further than that; it invites us to share in the suffering of Christ. The cross, it is an offense to the wisdom of this world, to the wisdom of man. The cross cuts across all the vain philosophies of modern man. The cross proclaims that we are not saved, cannot be saved, will never be saved by the wisdom of man.

And the cross is an offense to the pride of man. To accept the cross is to accept the fact that I am lost without Christ. To accept the cross is to accept the fact that I need something I cannot provide for myself. The cross of Christ is an utter and absolute condemnation of all mankind. Why? Because it is because of our sin that Jesus came to die on that cross. There’s no room at all for human pride. None. The cross is an offense to the values of modern man. The cross reminds us that there is one way and only one way to God the Father. Jesus told us that in John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father except through me.” The cross of Christ makes that same statement. If there is another way to God the Father that avoids the cross of Christ, then Jesus died for no reason. The cross of Christ demands, demands that there be no other way to God the Father.

Now modern politically correct man recoils at the idea that Christianity is true and all other religions are false. But to say otherwise is to call Jesus a liar and is to empty the cross of its power. So many people today refuse to look at the cross because it confronts and refutes their earthly wisdom, their earthly pride, and their earthly values. But to a Christian, to a child of God, the cross is a symbol of victory. The cross is a symbol of life. Christ forever changed the cross. When Christ touched the cross, he forever changed that ancient symbol of death and despair to a symbol of life and hope. Jesus changed the cross completely and isn’t that always the case when the author of life touches something?

But why? Why is the cross, that terrible symbol of death, now a wonderful symbol of life? The answer to that question is because of what happened three days later. Belief in Christ begins with the belief, the faith, that Jesus Christ is living today and reigning today at the right hand of God the Father. There is no Christian faith apart from the resurrection of Christ. 1 Corinthians 15:17, “And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.” If Jesus is dead and buried, then why should I obey anything He commanded? Why should I follow someone if He is simply leading me to join Him in the grave? The resurrection of Christ is the basis for Christian faith. Absent the resurrection of Christ, there is no Christian faith. And doesn’t that make perfect sense? Isn’t the resurrection the answer to all of our questions, the answer to all of our problems, including the great problem of death?

What is the answer to the problem of evil in this world? The answer is, He lives. We know that evil will not triumph in this world for the simple reason that evil has already lost. And we know that because of the resurrection of Christ. What is the answer to the problem of pain in this world? The answer is, He lives. We know that our pain is temporary. We know that the resurrection gives meaning to our pain and to our suffering as we partake in Christ’s suffering. We know we will also partake in His triumph and we know that because of His resurrection.

What is the answer to that great problem of death? The answer is he lives. Is death the end? The resurrection of Christ answers that question with a resounding no, it is not the end, it is not the end. But absent the resurrection of Christ, all of those problems remain. If Jesus does not live, then we have no solution to the problem of death. We have no solution to the problem of evil in this world. We have no solution to the problem of pain. If Christ is not raised, then those who have died will remain forever in the clutches of death. If Christ is not raised, then death still reigns supreme and undefeated. But because Jesus has been raised, because Jesus lives, death has forever been defeated. 1 Corinthians 15:54, “Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your sting?”

The resurrection is the source of our hope in Christ Jesus. 1 Peter 1:3, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. According to His great mercy, He has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” It is the basis of our hope. The hope, the promise, it is this: What happened to Jesus can happen to us. Like him we will die, but his resurrection is a promise that death is not the end. It is a promise that death will not forever keep us in its clutches. The resurrection of Jesus is the key to all of the promises. None of the great promises of eternal life in the Bible have any meaning apart from the resurrection of Christ. Without the resurrection of Jesus, His grave would be the grave of all our hopes. If Jesus was not raised, then he’s not coming back to claim his own. If Jesus was not raised, then he did not go to prepare a place for us. Absent the resurrection, the inescapable conclusion is that when we die, God abandons us. Absent the resurrection, those who have died in Christ are no different than those who have died apart from Christ. If the dead are not raised, then Christians are placing their hope in someone who is dead. If the dead are not raised, then the world is right. The cross is utter foolishness and we are utter fools to believe in it.

As we’ve already seen, Paul comes straight to the point. 1 Corinthians 15:19, “If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.” Well, why is it that we don’t have hope only in this life? Because He lives. In fact, the very next verse in 1 Corinthians 15 tells us. We just read verse 19. Absent the resurrection we’d be of all men most miserable. But look at verse 20. “But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.” The resurrection of Christ is the dividing line between the despair in verse 19 and the victory, the triumph in verse 20. Yes death is the great problem and yes Jesus gave us a great promise but the fulfillment of that great promise of Christ is based entirely on His great victory. Our hope of eternal life depends entirely on the great victory of Christ in His death on the cross and in His resurrection from the dead three days later.

Jesus lives. Let’s proclaim that fact. Let’s live that fact. So far we’ve looked at the great problem of death. We’ve looked at the great promise of eternal life. We’ve looked at the great victory of Christ. How can we enjoy that great promise? How can we experience and share in that great victory? What must we do to inherit eternal life with Christ? The answer is that we take hold of the great promise by obeying the gospel of Christ and fighting the good fight of faith. 1 Timothy 6:12, “Fight the good fight of faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.” Fight the good fight of faith and when does that begin? When do we first take hold of eternal life? When do we begin our great fight of faith? The Bible could not be any more clear about the answer to that question. We first take hold of eternal life. We begin our fight of faith when we are raised from the watery grave of baptism and not a moment before.

Galatians 3:27, “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.” As many of you, what does that mean? It means if I want to know who’s put on Christ, I have to find out who’s been baptized. That’s what that verse means. That’s what Paul’s telling us in Galatians 3:27. Those two sets are the same. As many of you as were baptized have put on Christ and doesn’t that make perfect sense? After all, just think for a moment about everything we’ve looked at so far in this lesson. We looked at the great problem of death. We looked at the great promise of eternal life. We looked at the great victory of Christ on the cross and in his resurrection. All of that is shown in our baptism. All of it is shown in our baptism. The great problem, the great promise, the great victory. We experience it all in our baptism. It’s all shown in our baptism.

In baptism we see our own death. In baptism we see the great promise of eternal life with God. In baptism we see the death of Christ on the cross. In baptism we see the resurrection of Christ. In baptism we see our own resurrection. Listen as Paul explains it. Romans 6, starting in verse 3. “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.”

It’s all shown in our baptism. Colossians 2:12, “Having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead.” Our death, his death, his resurrection, our resurrection, it’s all shown in our baptism. But baptism is not the end of the Christian life. Baptism is the beginning of the Christian life. The end of the Christian life on this earth is death. Death is the finish line for the race that we are running and what happens when we win that great race and cross that great finish line? Revelation 2:10, “Be faithful unto death, and I will give thee the crown of life.” Passing from death to life. It happens when we pass that finish line. Those who enter that race through their obedience to the gospel and who then finish that race by remaining faithful unto death, they win that race and they are given the crown of life, eternal life.

Faith, faith, faith is the victory. 1 John 5:4, “For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.” When we started this lesson we were faced with the great problem of death and now at the end of the lesson we see that our appointment with death is still on our calendar. But now at the end of our lesson everything is different, isn’t it? Death is no longer a great problem. Death is no longer something we should fear. Death is no longer something we should dread. Instead death has become our great goal. Death has become our great finish line, the great finish line of our great race. Death has become the moment when we like Paul will say, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” 2 Timothy 4:7. Yes, Jesus solved the great problem of death but Jesus conquered death by dying and when Jesus died he forever changed the meaning of death.

We see that in Hebrews 9. That’s where we started this lesson. Hebrews 9. We earlier read Hebrews 9:27. Why don’t we keep on reading this time and also read verse 28? Hebrews 9, starting in verse 27, “And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment.” Let’s keep reading, “So Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly awaiting his appearance.” That’s the answer. Verse 28 is the solution to the problem in verse 27. Verse 27 is the bad news. Verse 28 is the good news. Because of what Jesus did for us, we can be among those who are eagerly waiting for Him to appear a second time. Why? So we can live for all eternity in His presence.

Is that your hope this morning? Is that your goal? Is that your anticipation? Is that your blessed assurance? Have you laid hold of eternal life this morning? The answer is yes, if you have obeyed the gospel of Christ, if you are living faithfully according to his word, fighting that good fight of faith. But the answer is no, if you have not obeyed the gospel or if having started the race you have fallen from Christ. If you are in that situation today outside of Christ and apart from the promises of Christ, then the good news of the gospel is good news for you. It is God’s will that you live forever with Christ. You can lay hold of eternal life by obeying the gospel of Christ today. Your sins will be washed away in the watery grave of death in your baptism and you will be raised to walk and newness of life. And then and only then will the great promise of Christ be your promise to enjoy. Then and only then will the great problem of death not be your problem. Then and only then will the great victory of Christ be your victory. If we can help in any way this morning, please come while we stand and while we sing.