An Empty Grave

1st Corinthians 15:12-23

1. A Fulfilled Promise.

A.        John 2:19 “Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”

·      John 10:18 “No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.”

B.        1st Corinthians 15:4 “And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:”

·      He was buried/Fact, He rose again/Fact, All to fulfill a promise.

C.        Hebrews 13:20 “Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant,”

·      In this blessing, we recognized God’s attributes: peace, power (brought by our Lord Jesus from the dead), loving care (that great Shepherd), and the giver of a great promise (the blood of the everlasting covenant).

2. A Finished Foe.

A.        1st Corinthians 15:26 “The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.”

·      Destroyed: to render idle, unemployed, inactivate, inoperative, to cause a person or thing to have no further efficiency, to deprive of force, influence, and power. This is what the resurrection did to death.

B.        1st Corinthians 15:54 “So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.” 55 “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?”

·      1st Corinthians 15:20 “But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.”

C.        Hosea 13:14 “I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death: O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction: repentance shall be hid from mine eyes.”

3. A Powerful Future.

A.        Romans 8:11 “But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.”

B.        John 11:25-26 “Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:” 26 “And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?”

C.        Philippians 3:10 “That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;”